more great news from Federated

7 anchor stores in malls will close

By Bob Fernandez
Philadelphia Inquirer Staff Writer

PHILADELPHIA - Federated Department Stores Co. said yesterday that it would close seven Strawbridge's stores in Pennsylvania, South Jersey and Delaware. The company would not give an exact date, but Pennsylvania officials have been told they will close by mid-March.

The stores are in malls with Macy's outlets, which are also operated by Federated and will remain open. About 1,000 employees could lose their jobs.

"The unfortunate reality is that some people will lose their jobs," Macy's spokeswoman Elina Kazan said yesterday. She said she could not give an exact figure. But according to filings the retail chain made with the Pennsylvania Department of Labor and Industry alerting officials to the closings, the department stores employ between 130 and 220 full- and part-time workers per store.

The closings are the fallout of Federated's acquisition last year of May Department Stores Inc., which owned Strawbridge's and Lord & Taylor stores, among others. Federated now operates Strawbridge's, Lord & Taylor, Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores locally.

In malls with Strawbridge's and Macy's stores, the company expects to consolidate the staffs of the stores and keep the "best" employees for the surviving Macy's, Kazan said.

The Strawbridge's stores that will close are in Cherry Hill Mall; Christiana Mall in Newark, Del.; Deptford Mall; Montgomery Mall in North Wales; Oxford Valley Mall in Langhorne; Springfield Mall in Delaware County; and Willow Grove Park.

Kazan said the company had not made a final decision on the Strawbridge's site in the King of Prussia mall.

Changes will be coming for customers, too. On Jan. 29, Strawbridge's customers will be allowed to use their credit cards in Macy's stores. Strawbridge's customers should get Macy's credit cards by this summer, she said.


Federated to shutter 5 distribution centers

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Federated Department Stores Inc. said on Thursday about 750 employees would be affected when it shutters five distribution centers in 2006 to cut costs and streamline its Macy's division after buying the May Department Stores Co. last year.

The company will offer some employees transfers to other Federated facilities and offer severance packages to others as it begins closing facilities in Portland, Oregon, and Baltimore, Maryland, among other locations.

Costs related to the move are included in the previously announced estimate of approximately $1 billion in one-time costs spread over three years beginning in 2005.

The department store operator said that new distribution center technology will allow it to handle more goods with fewer facilities and that reducing its distribution network would help cut costs and keep prices down.