PeakDash

Industry: Retail

Post 200 Category: Top Companies Headquartered Outside Region

Revenue: n/a

Net Income/Loss: n/a

Earnings per share: n/a

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Stockholder equity: n/a

Auditor: n/a

Stock: MAY

Assets: n/a

Market capitalization: $10.90 Billion

52-week high: 37.46 4/11/2005

52-week low: 23.04 10/15/2004

Acting chairman and CEO: John L. Dunham

Employees: 132000

Local employees: 8500

Description: May is one of the nation's largest department-store chains, with 492 department stores in 46 states, Puerto Rico and the District under the names of Hecht's, Lord & Taylor, Marshall Field's, Famous-Barr, Filene's, Foley's, Kaufmann's, L.S. Ayres, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May, Strawbridge's and the Jones Stores. The company also owns about 700 David's Bridal, After Hours Formalwear and Priscilla of Boston stores.

Developments: After several years of weak sales and a particularly disappointing fourth quarter in which sales were lower than expected and weaker than its competitors', May underwent its own version of shock therapy. It agreed to a $10.4 billion takeover by Federated Department Stores, which has 459 stores, including the well-known Macy's chain. The deal, which would combine the nation's two biggest department store chains into a retailing colossus, must still be approved by shareholders and regulators. The two chains had been in on-again, off-again merger talks for a while, but disputes over who would lead the newly created firm had always stalled the discussions. That logjam was broken when May Chairman Eugene S. Kahn abruptly resigned in January, following disappointing financial results. May has encountered many of the same problems as other department-store chains: It is caught between mass merchants such as Target and specialty stores such as Victoria's Secret. Its prices are also in the middle, between the discounters and luxury stores. Should the merger with Federated go through, financial analysts say, the local Hecht's name may be in jeopardy, as Federated seeks to expand Macy's into a national chain. Federated has been putting the Macy's name on the regional chains it already operates. Other May corporate names, including Lord & Taylor and Marshall Field's, are likely to remain. Federated had tried to buy Marshall Field's from Target Corp. last year. The winner was May, which paid $3.2 billion in July. With the merger, Federated will get the gem it has long sought. To replace Kahn, May named President John L. Dunham as its chairman and chief executive. In other developments, Hecht's and local Lord & Taylor stores agreed to widen pathways between clothing racks, lower some cash registers and remove barriers to fitting rooms to make stores more accessible to people who use wheelchairs, settling a four-year-old lawsuit filed on behalf of Washington area shoppers with disabilities. Hecht's chief executive Frank J. Guzzetta left to head Marshall Field's. Guzzetta was an active booster of the District, championing retail development downtown at a time when many national chains avoided the area. Replacing Guzzetta was Jeffrey A. Kantor, who came from the Filene's/Kaufmann's division, where he had been overseeing cosmetics, accessories, dresses, suits, intimate apparel and hosiery.

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