FDS.com redirects to the Macy's department store

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Federated Department Stores, Inc.

Federated Department Stores Inc or FDS are one of the biggest department store chains in the United States, with almost 900 units. The two brands under which it activates are Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s. Macy’s accounts for approximately 90% of the company’s revenue, while luxury oriented Bloomingdale’s accounts for the rest. As we speak the company has decided to change its name to Macy’s Inc and this change will occur from 1st June 2007. The performance of the company was good enough to propel it to an impressive 76th place in the famous Fortune 500 list.

Website

FDS.com is obviously meant as a hopping point to the two websites representing the two major brands that the company holds. As a whole, the website is directed towards the possible investors and employees for obvious reasons, as very few consumers are aware of the link between the company and the brand names under which it functions.

The most interesting on this website is the company history section. Although biased due to understandable reasons, the facts presented are interesting even for the casual reader as it draws parallels between the history of the United States itself and the history of the company. The rest of the website closely mirrors the corporate standards for web design beginning with the corporate policies, the presenting of the career opportunities, the involvement in the local communities and ending with sensible information for the stock owners.

History

Federated Department Stores has one of the longest and richest histories in the arena of American corporations. The whole story began in Columbus, Ohio in 1929, when 4 department stores merged into a holding, however the oldest of these department stores, Lazarus, was founded in 1851 . A year later, in 1930, the company of the Bloomingdale brothers joined. As the company expanded in the next few decades the offices were moved to Cincinnati, Ohio in 1945.

After World War II the company went on a frenzy of acquisitions both of rival retail stores and the building of new ones fueled by the economic growth and the relatively underdeveloped business in which it functioned. In the 1980’s the company had an enormous amount of brands and stores, the business seemed to have reached the maturity and the future seemed bright. However, all this was about to change.

In 1992, Federated Department Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy, after the hostile takeover from Robert Campeau and his Allied Stores. In the years that followed, the company struggled to survive and engaged in a radical reorganization, in the effort to reduce costs. These efforts paid off and soon afterwards the company reemerged stronger than before

In 1998 the company also entered the e-commerce field (as one of the late comers) and was one of the losers of the dot com bubble that emerged through some uninspired acquisitions. This seems to have created a rigidity towards the online environment and a strong preference for more traditional

The most recent takeover in the company’s history is also its most important. In 2003 FDS acquired Macy’s, which would eventually the flagship of the company. As time passed, the company dropped more and more brand names in order to standardize its procedures and increase it efficiency. This is the reason for which, at this moment, there are only 3 brands left (including the Federated Department Stores name here) and these will probably be reduced further still to only 2, as the company changes its name to Macy’s Inc.

Federated Department Stores In Popular Culture

Given the impressive history of the retail stores that have joined to create the Federated Department Stores Inc, this company has left a heavy footprint in American history. Beginning with the anecdotal case in which a company executive convinced F. D. Roosevelt to change the date of Thanksgiving to maximize profits for retail businesses, continuing with the involvement in the World War II effort, the economic boom that followed it and ending up with the current anti corporate movements that despise the “one size fit all” policy, Federated Department Stores Inc were always a presence in the American conscience. Obviously though, this past is not without controversies. Even the change of the name from Federated Department Stores to Macy’s is prone to create a backlash, as many of the traditional customers are beginning to feel alienated by a company they don’t recognize anymore. However, the impressive financial results prove that these decisions were sound although with a cost of image.