Shareholders approve Federated name change

Federated Department Stores Inc. said Friday that shareholders approved a change in its corporate name to Macy's Inc. The change will be effective June 1.

The company's shares on the New York Stock Exchange will begin trading under the ticker symbol "M" on the same date.

"This move will increase awareness of Macy's which represents about 90 percent of the revenue of our company," Terry J. Lundgren, chairman and president/CEO of Federated, said in a statement.

Federated, Cincinnati, first announced plans to change its corporate name in February, months after the company had already converted more than 400 stores acquired from May Co. to the Macy's nameplate last fall. That move was supported with a national advertising campaign.

While Macy's has long been a well-known brand on the West and East coasts, Federated may find that brands such as Marshall Field's are more deeply ingrained in the Midwest than it expected.

Last week Federated reported that its first quarter sales decreased 0.2 percent. While the company said it was pleased with sales in legacy Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores, "sales in the new Macy's locations were disappointing in the quarter," Mr. Lundgren said in a statement released at the time.

Federated Department Stores Inc. was originally chosen as the company's name in 1929 by a group of family-owned department stores that joined together under a corporate holding company umbrella. However, over the past couple of years, all the regional nameplates in the Federated portfolio have been converted to Macy's, making Macy's a national brand for the first time.

The company now operates Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores.