Shoppers Not Sold on New Macy's Stores

A man walks past a window at Macy's Department Store, Wednesday, Jan. 3, 2007, in University Heights, Ohio. Federated Department Stores Inc. still has some wooing to do to convince shoppers at former May Department Stores Co. stores that Macy's is now the store for them. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak) (Tony Dejak - AP)

Terry Lundgren said in the sales statement Thursday that Federated's results in December indicate that consumers are responding favorably to the nationwide strategy and "we remain confident that our future direction is sound."

Marshal Cohen, chief analyst at NPD Group Inc., a market research company, said Federated appears on track with its scheduled plans.

"The good news is that they've done a very good job of maintaining the integrity of the brand and have closed some weaker stores," he said. "The bad news is that the challenges to retail as a whole are much greater."

Megan Fugate, 25, of Cambridge, Mass., who left Macy's downtown Boston store empty-handed Wednesday, thinks department stores may have too much for shoppers pressed for time.

"People are getting more specific over what they are looking for and a lot of the brands that Macy's is carrying even have stand-alone stores now," Fugate said. "So, you don't necessarily have to have a department store."

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Associated Press Business Writer Ashley M. Heher in Chicago and Associated Press writers Daniel Nephin in Pittsburgh and Rodrique Ngowi in Boston contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

Macy's: http://www.macys.com

Federated Department Stores: http://www.fds.com