Federated Unveils the Future

Federated Department Stores Inc. (Cincinnati) has released a listing of 42 stores that will be upgraded as part of the retailer's “reinvent the department store” strategy in time for the 2002 holiday season.

By mid-November, the company said 34 of its existing stores will be retrofitted with such current reinvent elements as enhanced fitting rooms, high-visibility directional signage, convenient price-check devices, comfortable lounge areas, in-store computer kiosks, revamped juniors and young men's departments, shopping carts and numerous other merchandising and visual innovations. An additional eight new Federated stores will open this fall with “reinvent” innovations already in place.

“We've made a powerful commitment to the process of constantly reinventing and improving the department store,” said chairman and ceo James Zimmerman. “This initial rollout of our most successful strategies represents the fastest and most comprehensive introduction of new store initiatives in Federated's history, and it is an important milestone on our path of continuous improvement.”

Zimmerman said the most successful elements of the program will be integrated incrementally into all new and remodeled full-line Federated store locations over time.

Federated had announced its “reinventing the department store” initiative two years ago by testing a wide range of design and merchandising concepts in selected pilot stores, then rolling out the most successful elements to other locations. Numerous elements of the initial reinvent strategy were tested in full-force beginning in the fall of 2001, when the company opened a prototype Lazarus department store at Easton Town Center in Columbus, Ohio.

Some of the “reinvent” features include: high-energy visual presentations in Juniors and Young Men's departments, plus upgraded music systems and upscale vending machines; a newly designed Children's department; contemporary fitting room environments; fitting room lounges with flat-screen TVs, telephones and sofa banquettes; fashion-trend visual presentations at high-traffic intersections; navigation signposts throughout the store; in-store computer Internet kiosks in Juniors departments that allow customers to check e-mail and local entertainment venues; an maverage of 30 price-check stations located throughout the store; and convertible shopping carts at entrances and in Home departments, featuring child seats, mesh storage areas and hooks for merchandise or a handbag.

Other innovations being tested in various stores nationwide as part of the ongoing reinvent process include centralized and pass-through customer service areas, radio frequency phone systems, plasma TV screens, in-store childcare, customer refreshment venues and sit-down Internet stations.

Of the 42 test stores, the eight new ones are Macy's in Jersey City, N.J.; Orlando; Westminster, Calif..; Temecula, Calif..; Santa Cruz, Calif..; and Scottsdale, Ariz.; Rich's in Columbus, Ga.; and Bon Marche in Yakima, Wash.

The 34 upgraded stores include: Macy's in Miami; Paramus, N.J.; Wayne, N.J.; Bridgewater, N.J.; Yonkers, N.Y.; Garden City, N.Y.; Huntington Station, N.Y.; Lake Grove, N.Y.; Burlington, Mass.; Springfield, Pa.; Santa Clara, Calif.; Pleasanton, Calif.; Sherman Oaks, Calif…; San Diego; Concord, Calif.; Palo Alto, Calif.; Torrance, Calif.; Glendale, Calif.; Thousand Oaks, Calif.; Mission Viejo, Calif.; and Las Vegas; Rich's at Lenox Mall and North Point in Atlanta and in Kennesaw, Ga; Lazarus at Tuttle Crossing in Columbus and in Cincinnati; Goldsmith's in Memphis; The Bon Marche in Tukwila, Wash.; Kennewick, Wash.; and Bellevue, Wash.; and Burdines in Orlando, Tampa, Hialeah, Fla., and Miami.