Federated shuts five stores
US department store giants trims numbers
January 17 2004
US retailer Federated Department Stores is to close five more underperfoming stores.
The closure of two Rich’s-Macy’s outlets in Alabama and Georgia, and three Lazarus-Macy’s- two in stores in Ohio and one in Philadelphia- adds to the already-announced closure of another Ohio branch of Lazarus-Macy’s.
Ronald Klein, chairman of the company’s Rich’s/Lazarus/Goldsmith’s-Macy’s division said: “The decision to close a store always is difficult because we recognise the impact it has on our employees and the local community.
“While as a business we cannot continue to operate nderperforming store locations, we are committed to acting esponsibly in all such cases.”
The 370 employees affected will be offered enhanced severance benefits and outplacement support, with Federated expecting costs around $15m related to the closures, as well as around $35m lost in annual sales.
Both the Rich’s and Lazarus chains added the Macy’s brand to their chains last year as the company moves to link more of its store to the flagship Macy’s brand. Federated also operates the Bloomingdale’s and Burdines chains, with around 460 stores in total.
