Behind the holiday shopping scene

Correction appended

For stressed-out holiday shoppers, Terry Lundgren has a few suggestions about where to go: Macy's and Bloomingdale's.

Lundgren, the CEO of Federated Department Stores Inc. - which owns the Macy's and Bloomingdale's department store chains - spoke last night in Huntsman Hall to an audience of about 150 people, discussing Federated's recent acquisition of May Department Stores as well as Macy's nationwide re-branding campaign.

"Federated Department Stores is made up of over 850 stores and makes over $27 billion in sales each year," Lundgren said. "So there's a really complex set of functions to selling that sweater to the woman across the counter."

Lundgren said that the acquisition of all Macy's department stores in 1994 essentially doubled the size of the company, making it a nationwide chain.

On Sept. 9, Macy's completed what Lundgren called its "gigantic launch," unveiling 400 new Macy's stores across the country.

"It was a massive undertaking," he said, "just massive. Even just changing the 400 store signs was gigantic. That project alone was the single largest signing project in the history of America."

Fortunately for him, both consumers and Wall Street reacted well to the launch.

"The good news is, our stock went up $2 when we announced the deal, which is very unusual for an acquiring company," he said. And "remarkably, there was not a huge change in customers' attitudes [and sales] after regional names such as Strawbridge's changed to Macy's, even though some consumers had shopped there for, like, 100 years."

Strawbridge's flagship store was based in Center City and was a staple of the region.

Customers will also reap the benefits of the merger this holiday season, Lundgren said.

After getting feedback from thousands of customers, Macy's made numerous internal changes, including upgrades in the sizes and locations of fitting rooms, the addition of storewide price scanners, larger signs indicating specific departments and adding shopping carts.

"I hated the idea of shopping carts. I thought it was cheap and looked terrible," Lundgren said. "Yet women said, 'We can't carry our fondue sets around the store all day,' so we caved. It only took 100 years."

Lundgren said that the value of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade "can't be quantified."

"But I can tell you it's not going away, not on my watch. Everyone knows the Macy's brand because of it," he said. "Well, that and the movie Miracle on 34th Street. We still say the real Santa Claus is at Macy's."

Engineering and College freshman Song-I Yang called Lundgren's speech "eye-opening."

"Now, when I walk into a store, I'll be more aware of all the work that goes into it," she said.

Correction: This story incorrectly states that the acquisition of all Macy's department stores in 1994 essentially doubled the size of the company. In fact, it was the company's acquisition of May's department stores this September that doubled the company's size.

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