Eighty-one years ago on the morning of March 6,
1929, millions of Americans opened their edition of The
New York Times to find a headline that would send the
business and retail world into a spin of excited chatter and
speculation - "Abraham & Straus and Filene's to Unite." The
announcement marked the beginning of the evolution
of what was to become one of the largest and most
influential corporations in retail history.
Federated Department Stores, Inc. (renamed Macy's, Inc. in
June 2007) was born through the combination of Abraham
& Straus of Brooklyn, Filene's of Boston, F&R Lazarus &
Co. of Columbus, OH, and Bloomingdale's of New York.
Each of these retailers was an established, prominent
presence with a rich history of its own. In joining together,
they agreed to maintain their separate identities while
linking their financial interests. These pioneers recognized
the immense opportunity that lay before them and on
November 25, 1929, Federated Department Stores was
incorporated as a revolutionary new company in
American retail.
As Federated emerged in the years of the Great Depression
and World War II, it became apparent that the corporation
was equipped with both resilience and flexibility. It
adapted to the times by implementing innovative retail
firsts, such as "pay when you can" credit policies and
arranging merchandise by size rather than color, brand or
price. Not surprisingly, one of the best and boldest ideas
of the time belonged to Fred Lazarus, the retailing legend
and president of F&R Lazarus. He became concerned
in 1939 upon realizing that Thanksgiving would fall on
the last day of November. This meant fewer shopping
days in the coveted holiday shopping season between
Thanksgiving and Christmas, a circumstance that could
push many retailers from the black to the red. Mr. Fred,
as he came to be called, proposed a brazen solution when
he suggested to President Roosevelt that in the future,
Thanksgiving be anchored to the fourth Thursday in
November. The President supported this proposition, and
within two years it passed through Congress into law.