Synonymous with Florida retailing for 106 years, the Burdines name will be retired by the end of January.
By MARK ALBRIGHT
Published September 14, 2004
Federated Department Stores Inc. on Monday said it will shorten the names of five of its hyphenated regional department store nameplates to simply Macy's as the department store giant caps a three-year rebranding campaign.
Burdines-Macy's name tags, shopping bags and credit cards will begin changing to Macy's before Christmas.
Being erased from the marquees along with the Burdines name are Lazarus in the Midwest, Rich's in the Southeast, Goldsmith's in Tennessee and Bon Marche in the Pacific Northwest. All were once strong regional department store companies that were acquired, merged and purged over the decades.
While Burdines' retailing legacy dates from a general store in Miami's pioneer days, the chain's founding family sold to Federated in the 1950s. Burdines opened its first Tampa Bay area stores in 1977. After Federated acquired and later closed Maas Brothers in 1992, Burdines moved to the better mall locations.
The latest news comes as no surprise. Federated officials confirmed this was the long range plan within a year of buying Macy's out of bankruptcy in 1994.
They also left huge hints of the future when they switched to hyphenated names such as Burdines-Macy's over the past two years. The chain never changed any of the building signs. Now, new Macy's building signs are being ordered as Macy's emerges as a chain of 423 stores in 34 states, Guam and Puerto Rico. The company also expects to save a lot of marketing money because it will be supporting only two brands, not seven.
The decision ends Federated's multiyear transition of shaping Macy's as the company's moderate to better goods chain while Bloomingdale's becomes its national high-end brand.
"By focusing all of our efforts on Macy's and Bloomingdale's, two of the best known and most formidable retail nameplates, we will be able to maximize the incredible potential inherent in both of these brands through distinctive, consistent and far-reaching marketing initiatives," said Terry Lundgren, Federated's chairman and chief executive officer.
With 63 stores and annual sales of $1.5-billion, Burdines-Macy's is the third largest of Federated's department store units.
All of Macy's private brands - ranging from I.N.C, to Alfani and Charter Club - were blended into the Burdines-Macy's offering two years ago.
The regional buying and marketing organizations were overhauled in a consolidation completed a year ago. That reorganization left Burdines apparel buying and administrative staff in Miami relatively intact. As a result, the 500-person Miami support staff is one of the few in the nation to outfit and manage a department store chain that covers only one state. Federated did so because the Florida apparel customer has different needs, seasons and styles than the rest of the country.
"We're only changing the name this time so we continue to have the best of both worlds," said Carey Watson, vice president of advertising for Burdines-Macy's.
