Three Months of May

The May Department Stores Co. (St. Louis) announced that sales fell 1.7 percent and same-store sales fell 4.9 percent for the company's second quarter ending Aug. 3, 2002.

For the six months ended August 3, sales fell 0.3 percent and same-store sales decreased 3.6 percent.

On August 3, the company completed its previously announced plan to combine its Kaufmann's division (Pittsburgh) with its Filene's division (Boston), and its Meier & Frank division (Portland, Ore.) with its Robinsons-May division (Los Angeles). The retailer says these moves will save approximately $60 million pre-tax.

Year-to-date, May has opened two of the 11 new department stores it has planned for 2002: a Lord & Taylor store in Houston and a Kaufmann's store in Cleveland. Nine new stores will open in the second half of 2002: two stores each for Lord & Taylor, Hecht's and Foley's; and one store each for Filene's, Robinsons-May and Famous-Barr. The company's David's Bridal operation has opened 13 stores year-to-date and plans to open an additional 17 by year-end. At the end of the second quarter, May operated 436 department stores under the names of Lord & Taylor, Famous-Barr, Filene's, Foley's, Hecht's, Kaufmann's, L.S. Ayres, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May, Strawbridge's and The Jones Store, as well as 163 David's Bridal stores, 238 After Hours Formalwear stores and 10 Priscilla of Boston stores in its Bridal Group.