The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company , formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis , Missouri. It was founded in Leadville , Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many changes in the retail industry, the company merged with Federated Department Stores (now Macy's, Inc. ) in 2005.
38-467: This company was only a holding company that bought, sold, and merged regional department stores, such as Foley's and L.S. Ayres . During most of its history, the operations of the various divisions were kept separate and had their own buyers and credit cards. The latter were not accepted at other May-owned stores. At times, two different May stores operated in the same geographical market, but they were aimed at different customers. Most decisions for each of
76-621: A new division. In 1965, May acquired G. Fox & Co. of Hartford, Connecticut . In 1966, May acquired the Meier & Frank chain based in Portland, Oregon , adding it as a new division. David's grandson Morton May became the chairman in 1951 and headed the company for 16 years. Morton May was active in St. Louis civic affairs and was a patron of the St. Louis Art Museum . In 1968, Venture Stores
114-427: A partnership with Edgar H. Drew. After two years, Drew left and L. H. Flanders came in as co-owner. In 1893, McNamara turned the store's ownership over to Dennis Sheedy and Charles Kountz and, in 1894, the company was reorganized under the name, "Denver Dry Goods Company". For a while, it was claimed to be the largest department store west of Chicago . A description on one postcard from 1916 read, "The Largest Store in
152-739: A separate division and changing the name to Strouss . In 1956, May acquired the Daniels & Fisher Company of Denver, merging it with May stores in the area to create a new May-Daniels & Fisher division. In 1958, May acquired the Cohen Brothers Department Store in Jacksonville, Florida , turning it into the May Cohens chain. In 1959, May acquired the Hecht Company of Baltimore , adding it as
190-630: The Denver-Aurora , Colorado Springs , Boulder and Fort Collins-Loveland markets and re-introduced Foley's to the Albuquerque market. On February 2, 1997, the 2 Arizona locations (both in Pima County ) were transferred to May's Robinsons-May division. In 2001, Foley's expanded into Louisiana after May Co. acquired several Maison Blanche locations that had become Parisian stores from Proffitt's (now Saks Incorporated ). Foley's
228-832: The Mall of Louisiana in Baton Rouge and Acadiana Mall in Lafayette joined Foley's. Memorial City and Baybrook reopened in new buildings. 2004: The May Department Stores Company acquired Marshall Field's , which was headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. May's seven divisions now included Foley's, Filene's , Robinsons-May , Famous-Barr , Hecht's , Lord & Taylor , and Marshall Field's . 2005: La Cantera (San Antonio), Firewheel Shops (Garland), and Centerra (Loveland CO) opened. May and Federated Department Stores, Inc. announced plans to merge. The transaction closed in
266-1008: The 1970s, Foley's opened stores in Austin and in the 1980s opened in San Antonio . By 1987, Foley's absorbed Federated's Dallas-based Sanger-Harris chain with stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex ; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma ; Tulsa, Oklahoma ; Tucson, Arizona ; and Albuquerque, New Mexico . In 1988, Federated was purchased by real estate developer Campeau Corporation , which immediately sold Foley's along with Filene's to May Department Stores to finance its deal. In two years Federated filed for bankruptcy, disassociated itself from Campeau, and merged with Campeau's other retail holding company Allied Stores . After its acquisition by May Company, Foley's closed several stores in Dallas it considered underperforming (including
304-585: The Canadian Consumers Distributing . It closed its stores in 1996. In 1986, May acquired the Associated Dry Goods holding company and its chains (including J. W. Robinson's and its Florida division , Loehmann's , Lord & Taylor , Caldor , Joseph Horne Company , The Denver Dry Goods Company , Goldwater's , Hahne and Company , L. S. Ayres , H. & S. Pogue Company , Stewart Dry Goods , and Sibley's ),
342-482: The Central West, 400 Feet long-Seven Acres Floor Area, 1,200 Employees, A $ 2,500,000 Stock, 15th to 16th on California Street Denver Colorado." The Denver Dry Goods Company later became part of Associated Dry Goods (ADG) and, in the 1970s and early 1980s, it was considered one of ADG's most profitable operating units, just behind Lord and Taylor . ADG invested in expanding The Denver, both with suburban stores in
380-905: The Filene's division, yet both retaining the Meier & Frank and Kaufmann's names. In 2004, May Department Stores took over the Marshall Field's chain from Target Corporation . In 2005, May was acquired by Federated Department Stores for $ 11 billion (~$ 16.5 billion in 2023) in stock, with all former May divisions being folded into Federated's various Macy's branches . In 2006, over 400 former May stores, with their wide variety of long-standing brand names, were consolidated and renamed as Macy's. In addition, Federated sells off three former May chains ( David's Bridal , Lord & Taylor and Priscilla of Boston). On February 28, 2005, Federated Department Stores , Inc., announced that they would acquire
418-996: The Foley's organization in Houston was dissolved and operation of its locations in Louisiana , Oklahoma , and Texas (except El Paso) were assumed by Atlanta-based Macy's South while operation of locations in Arizona , Colorado , New Mexico , and El Paso, Texas were assumed by San Francisco–based Macy's West . On September 9, 2006, the Foley's nameplate was replaced as part of the Macy's nationwide rebranding of all former May Company locations. Strawbridge's added to division in 1996 Meier & Frank added to division in 2002 ; Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution (2001, to Meier & Frank) The Denver Dry Goods Company The Denver Dry Goods Company , also known as "The Denver",
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#1732779757076456-624: The Lord & Taylor chain, ceased to exist as Federated consolidated its operations under the Macy's mastheads including the stores most famous names Marshall Field's , Filene's , and Kaufmann's , as well as the last nameplate to still have the May name ( Robinsons-May ). All locations that were not sold off were rebranded as Macy's, except for one Hecht's location in Friendship Heights . That
494-1166: The Maison Blanche nameplate. In 1993, May Company California and J.W. Robinson's merged to form Robinsons-May . In that same year, Filene's absorbed the G. Fox division, Kaufmann's absorbed the May Company Ohio division, and Foley's absorbed the May D&F division. In 1995, May acquired the John Wanamaker chain based in Philadelphia . In 1996, May acquires the Strawbridge's chain based in Philadelphia. In 1998, May acquired The Jones Store chain based in Kansas City, Missouri . In 1999, May acquired Zions Cooperative Mercantile Institution based in Salt Lake City , folding it into
532-810: The May Department Stores Company was founded in Leadville during the Colorado silver rush . In 1889, the headquarters moved to Denver . In 1899, May acquired the E. R. Hull & Dutton Co. of Cleveland, renaming it the May Company, Cleveland, later named the May Company Ohio . In 1905, the headquarters moved to St. Louis . In 1910, the business was officially incorporated as the May Department Stores Company. In 1911, The Famous Clothing Store (owned by May) and
570-496: The May company for $ 11 billion. To help finance the May Company deal, Federated agreed to sell its combined proprietary credit card business to Citigroup . The merger was completed on August 30, 2005 after an assurance agreement was reached with the State Attorneys General of New York , California , Massachusetts , Maryland and Pennsylvania . By September 2006, all of the May regional nameplates, except for
608-706: The Meier & Frank subsidiary. In 2000, May Department Stores purchases David's Bridal . In 2001, Meier & Frank absorbed the ZCMI name, entering the Utah marketplace. In that same year, Hecht's acquired five Proffitt's stores in Nashville TN, entering the Nashville marketplace. In 2002, Meier & Frank operations consolidated with the Robinsons-May division while Kaufmann's operations consolidated with
646-776: The William Barr Dry Goods Company merged to create Famous-Barr . In 1912, May acquired the M. O'Neil Co. (O'Neil's) department store of Akron, Ohio . In 1923, May acquired A. Hamburger & Sons Co. in Los Angeles and renames it May Company California . In 1946, May acquired the Kaufmann's chain based in Pittsburgh , retaining it as a separate division. In 1947, May acquires Strouss-Hirshberg Co. based in Youngstown, Ohio , retaining it as
684-403: The beginning of the twentieth century, the May Department Stores Company created a real estate division that handled the purchase of land and the construction of the buildings that would house their new stand-alone department stores. Starting in 1947, when they wanted to open a new store for their May Company California division, May entered the new open-air shopping center development business with
722-463: The building next door and added ready-to-wear clothing for women and children as well as millinery . 1911: The store moved to the 400 block of Main Street and was incorporated with capital of $ 150,000 (~$ 3.57 million in 2023). 1916: Foley Brothers ranked third in retail volume in Houston with $ 400,000 (~$ 7.74 million in 2023) in sales. The original 10 employees had grown to 150, and
760-439: The company had 750 active charge accounts and 23,000 square feet (2,100 m ) of space. 1917: Pat and James sold Foley Brothers to George S. Cohen and George's father, Robert, a Galveston merchant. Foley Bros. grew tremendously under this new management and by 1919, sales neared $ 1,000,000 (~$ 13.1 million in 2023). 1922: Foley Bros. moved into a three-story building next door to 400 Main Street. Later that year,
798-633: The construction of what would later become the Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza in Los Angeles. After that time, May became a major shopping center, and later mall developer when they began to develop new malls to house their newly proposed department stores. During the mid-1980s, the company noticed that their stock was vastly undervalued and therefore was at risk of becoming a hostile takeover target. May Department Stores needed to re-purchase some of its company's stock to increase
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#1732779757076836-560: The deal along with a proposed 11th store at Lakeland Square Mall . May acquired Foley's in Houston and Filene's in Boston from Federated Department Stores whereas May Florida was also acquired by Maison Blanche. As a result, May withdrew from Florida by closing the Gateway location and converting those at Roosevelt Square, Regency Square , Volusia Mall , and Orange Park Mall under
874-620: The downtown Dallas flagship store) and its Albuquerque, N.M., location, while also taking over two Lord & Taylor stores, one that was under construction in late 1988 at Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, part of the mall's 1986-1988 expansion (Opened Spring 1989), and the other at San Antonio's Shops at Rivercenter . Over the next decade, May spent heavily to build new stores, replace outdated stores and refurbish existing stores. In 1993, May Department Stores consolidated May Daniels & Fisher into Foley's, which brought Foley's to
912-422: The greater Denver market and stores in far-flung locales such as Billings, Montana . Also under ADG, the downtown Denver store was renovated. Many Colorado residents fondly recall the store.s motto, "Where Colorado Shops With Confidence". The store was acquired by May Company as part of Associated Dry Goods Corp. in 1986 (which had acquired it in 1966). Nine of the 12 locations were shut down and sold off and
950-534: The largest-ever retail acquisition in history at that time. In 1987, May renamed the five-unit May-Cohens as May Florida and sold the ten stores from Robinson’s of Florida to Maison Blanche so as to give them a foothold in the Floridan market. Stores at Tyrone Square , Orlando Fashion Square , WestShore Plaza , Altamonte Mall , University Square Mall , Countryside Mall , Southgate Plaza , Edison Mall , Coastland Center , and The Florida Mall were included in
988-494: The regional May Co. stores names were phased out and rebranded as Macy's. This company was founded in 1900 by brothers Pat and James Foley, in Houston, Texas , as Foley Brothers. It was originally acquired by Federated Department Stores , Inc. in 1945. In 1961, Foley's opened its first branch store at the Sharpstown Shopping Center and continued to add Houston branches over the next five decades. In
1026-475: The regional store companies were made by management at the local headquarters and not by the holding company in St. Louis. Some of the regional stores shared names that were similar to the parent company, such as Los Angeles–based May Company California . All it had in common with the parent was that these stores were headed by a different member of the May family as the president of their respective regional store chain. They were separate legal entities. In 1877,
1064-518: The share price. To accomplish this, they needed to obtain cash quickly, which they did by making a deal with Prudential Insurance in which the insurance company gave May $ 550 million in exchange for 50% ownership of May Centers. In 1992, Prudential purchased the rest of May Centers and renamed the company CenterMark. Strawbridge's added to division in 1996 Meier & Frank added to division in 2002 ; Zion's Cooperative Mercantile Institution (2001, to Meier & Frank) Foley%27s Foley's
1102-515: The store became the city's largest department store . Shoes, a beauty shop, and radio sets were included. 1941: When the United States entered World War II , Foley Bros. diverted the efforts of the advertising and personnel departments to bond drives and other wartime services. All sales promotions were suspended during this time. 1945: Federated Department Stores president Fred Lazarus, Jr. , came to Houston to visit his son, who
1140-541: The third quarter, as a result of the merger Federated also in the process reacquired two of their former Department store chains Foley's & Filene's (Which Federated originally sold to May Company.) putting them back under the Federated Department Stores corporate umbrella for the first time since 1988. 2006: Domain Mall (Austin), and Northfield Stapleton (Denver CO) opened. On February 1, 2006,
1178-604: Was a department store which was established in the Denver Dry Goods Company Building in Denver, Colorado , in 1879 by Michael J. McNamara and L. H. Flanders as M. J. McNamara & Company and later The McNamara Dry Goods Company. The beginnings of the company can be traced back to 1876 when they had both worked as clerks at another dry goods store in Denver. In 1877, McNamara left that store and formed
The May Department Stores Company - Misplaced Pages Continue
1216-561: Was a regional chain of department stores owned by Federated Department Stores (1947–1988, 2005–2006), later owned by May Department Stores (1988–2005) and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas . On August 30, 2005, the division was dissolved and operation of the stores was assumed by Federated's Macy's West and Macy's South divisions. Foley's operated stores in Arizona , New Mexico , Colorado , Oklahoma , Texas and Louisiana . On September 9, 2006 Foley's and all
1254-781: Was consolidated with Foley's, creating a 49-store division that was the largest in May Company. 1994–1998: Mall of Mainland, Temple, Woodlands, Northwest Austin, Sugar Land, Northwest Albuquerque, Laredo, and Park Meadows opened. Fort Collins reopened after extensive remodeling. Purchased Jones & Jones in McAllen, Texas, and converted to Foley's. 2000–2004: NorthPark Center, Broomfield, Hurst, Baybrook Mall , Beaumont, Cielo Vista, Houston Galleria , Lake Charles, Golden Triangle Denton, and Sunland opened, some at former Montgomery Ward sites. Foley's acquired one McRae's store and two Parisian stores in Louisiana. Cortana Mall and
1292-428: Was demolished on Sunday, September 22, 2013. 1900: Foley Brothers was opened by brothers Pat and James Foley, two young and enterprising Irishmen, on February 12 with $ 2000 borrowed from an uncle. The 1,400-square-foot (130 m ) store located at 507 Main Street in Houston, Texas , was stocked with calico, linen, lace, pins, needles, and men's furnishings. 1905: With business booming, Pat and James purchased
1330-466: Was founded when Target co-founder John F. Geisse went to work for May Department Stores. Under an antitrust settlement reached with the Department of Justice , May was unable to acquire any more retail chains at the time, and the department store company needed a way to compete against the emerging discount store chains. In August 1978, May sold the 70-store Consumers chain of catalogue merchants to
1368-596: Was re-acquired by Federated when it took over May Department Stores on August 30, 2005. In 2006, Federated started the conversion of Foley's into Macy's. Soon advertisements started to read "Foley's – Now part of the Macy's Family ". On September 9, 2006, the Foley's stores were renamed Macy's as part of Federated's nationwide rebranding of all former May locations. In 2005 Federated announced that it would close Foley's 1,200-employee headquarters in Downtown Houston . The former Downtown Houston Foley's store
1406-644: Was rebuilt and rebranded as Bloomingdale's . In advance of the retail consolidation, May's credit call center in Lorain, Ohio , ceased operations on July 1, 2006. Lord & Taylor , the lone department store division not to be largely converted to the Macy's nameplate, was sold to a group of investors at NRDC Equity Partners, LLC for $ 1.2 billion (~$ 1.75 billion in 2023) in October 2006. David's Bridal and After Hours Formalwear were sold in November 2006. Around
1444-1192: Was stationed at a nearby Army camp. Mr. Lazarus discovered that Foley Bros. was for sale and bought it. 1947: Foley's opened at 1110 Main Street on October 20 in downtown Houston . Federated spent $ 13 million to build this new store, which was heralded by the press as the nation's "most modern department store". 1951: The first official Foley's Thanksgiving Day Parade was held. 1960–1967: Sharpstown , Foley's first branch store opened. Pasadena, Almeda-Genoa, and Northwest stores soon followed. 1971–1979: Memorial City and Greenspoint opened in Houston, and Highland Mall opened in Austin . 1980–1987: San Jacinto , North Star , Willowbrook , Barton Creek , West Oaks, Ingram Park , Deerbrook, Post Oak , College Station, and Padre Staples opened. Federated merges Foley’s and Dallas-based Sanger Harris as Foley’s. 1988: The May Department Stores Company acquired Foley's in Houston and Filene's in Boston from Federated. 1989-1991: Rolling Oaks Mall (San Antonio), The Parks at Arlington (Arlington), Tucson Mall, and Vista Ridge Mall (Lewisville) opened 1993: The May D&F division in Colorado and New Mexico
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