Shaking up Regional Retail -- Federated-May

This is a big business section story around the country.

The New York Times has some great articles (they'll only be accessible for a week). "No Longer the Queens of the Mall, Department Stores Try Makeovers" has some good quotes including:

"In the last eight years, department stores have lost about $2.5 billion in
sales, according to the market research firm NPD Group, money lost to the
discount merchants and specialty shops. The consolidation of department store
companies since World War II - what will remain will be a few independent
chains, some regional names and a few more prominent labels like Saks Fifth
Avenue, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Dillard's - reflects that reduced presence."

"'It is no longer the department store that's the lure,' said Marshal Cohen
of NPD. 'It's no longer even a shopping mall anymore - it's an entertainment and
lifestyle mall with playhouses, community halls and restaurants.'"

There's more good stuff in the article.

They also have a story about the impact on St. Louis, where May Company is based, and fears that the downtown Famous-Barr department store will be closed.

The Washington Post has "Shaking up Regional Retail: Federated-May Merger Likely to Bring Closings, Reshuffling" with a nice map that shows that in the DC area, there aren't a lot of store overlaps between the companies (because Hecht's has been quite good at jockeying for position to remain dominant). The Baltimore market, which Hecht's also leads, has slightly more overlap, as reported in the Baltimore Sun--Marcy Station, a Westfield mall in Anne Arundel County, Owings Mills Town Center, and White Marsh Mall. OTOH, the LA Times reports that in Southern California, there are 28 shopping malls that have stores from both companies.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch has six articles on the merger, which is a big deal to the city which will lose a major headquarters corporation, and thousands of jobs will be lost in the consolidation. This article, "Big Changes in Store," includes links to the other stories.