Bloomingdale’s to get West Coast flagship
Federated plans major San Francisco development
November 12 2003
Quintessential New York department store Bloomingdale’s is to get a counterpart in San Francisco.
Owner Federated Department Stores has announced plans for a major new development in downtown San Francisco as part of the company’s strategy to maximise the value of its two best known department brands, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.
The new 337,000 sq ft Bloomingdale’s store in the Westfield San Francisco Centre, will be on five levels, and second in size and product range only to the flagship Bloomingdale’s on 59th & Lexington in New York.
Federated is also combining its nearby Emporium property, adjacent to the centre, with the new development to create a 1.5m sq ft destination which will include 200 specialty stores and boutiques, a nine-screen cinema and upmarket restaurants.
The development will be the US’s largest urban shopping center west of the Mississippi and is expected to attract 25m visitors a year. The opening is planned for 2006.
Michael Gould, Bloomingdale’s chairman said: “The San Francisco store will be our West Coast landmark, as our New York flagship is in the East. We’re thrilled to be a part of this project, and we look forward to bringing our fashion leadership to San Francisco customers as we solidify our presence with a downtown store in this important market.”
Federated has also announced details of plans to rebrand six of Macy’s seven Florida stores as Burdines-Macy’s, as part of its broader national branding strategy to develop the Macy’s brand.
One store will close in a market where Federated’s Burdines brand and a Macy’s store currently overlap.
Federated president and chief executive Terry Lundgren said: “With the co-branding of Burdines and Macy’s in Florida, beginning early next year, we will have extended the marketing potential inherent in a national Macy’s brand to all of our traditional department store retail operations across the United States.
“We’ve been pleased thus far with the benefits of expanding the Macy’s brand in all of our regional markets, and we believe the excitement and positive customer response we have seen elsewhere will be replicated in Florida as this strategy continues to unfold.”
The announcements came as Federated, which has found sales hard to come by in a tough US retail market over the past year announced sales for the first nine months of 2003 of $10.2 billion, a 2 per cent drop on the same period last year. On a same-store basis, sales for the first 39 weeks of 2003 are also down 2 percent.
The third quarter saw three new Bloomingdale’s store open, and Macy’s West expand its presence in Hawaii.
