Federated Department Stores, Inc.

   The history of Federated Department Stores, Inc., began with John Shillito, when he founded Shillito's Department Store in Cincinnati, Ohio, in 1830. In 1929, Shillito, F & R Lazarus, Filene's, and other family-owned stores joined together and formed a holding company, Federated Department Stores, Inc. Fred Lazarus in 1939 convinced President Franklin D. Roosevelt to move the Thanksgiving holiday to create a longer Christmas selling season. It was also in that year that Allied Stores (formed in 1935) joined Federated to offer credit to customers. During the next few decades, various acquisitions took place throughout the retail business. In 1988, Campeau Corporation, which had acquired Allied Stores in 1986, acquired Federated. After filing for bankruptcy in 1990, a new public holding company was formed in 1992, consisting of 220 stores in 26 states in the United States. The world-famous Bloomingdale's joined the Federated group and, in 1996, Macy's also became part of the group. By the turn of the century, department stores were struggling for identity and began losing market share to the huge mass-market chains that developed trendy merchandising teams and joined forces with recognized designers. Lord & Taylor—also part of the Federated group, but not necessarily a perfect fit into the Macy's-Bloomingdale's profile mix—eventually felt the brunt of these various competitive market forces, and talk of closing these stores began. In 2005, Federated merged with the May Company, creating the largest department store conglomerate in the United States. In 2006, Lord & Taylor was sold to NRDC Equity Partners for $1.195 million.

   See also Chain store; Retailer.