Federated Moves Mark the End of Marshall Field’s

Cincinnati, Marshall Field’s is out, and Macy’s is in. Federated Department Stores, which acquired Marshall Field’s when it bought May Department Stores in August, decided to roll out the Macy’s nameplate to all 62 Marshall Field’s stores.

Federated also announced that it plans to cut up to 6,200 jobs beginning in 2006. About 1,700 of the cuts will fall at May’s St. Louis headquarters. Another 4,500 cuts will occur as the chain phases out divisional operations in Boston, Houston, Arlington, Va.; and Los Angeles.

Referring to the decision to drop the Marshall Field’s name, Federated CEO Terry Lundgren said: “We have great respect for the legacy and traditions of Marshall Field’s and we carefully researched customer preferences and studied alternatives before making this decision to incorporate Marshall Field’s into the nationwide Macy’s brand.”

The Marshall Field’s banner dates back to 1852 and has tremendous brand equity, particularly in Chicago, where some had speculated that Federated would keep the department store’s traditional identity.

By cutting costs and consolidating banners to Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s across the country, Federated intends to save $175 million in 2006 and $450 million in 2007.

Federated also plans to sell the Philadelphia-based bridal group it acquired from May. This group includes 245 David’s Bridal stores and 454 After Hours Formalwear stores.