Macy's 2008 Annual Report Download - page 8

• risks associated with an outbreak of an epidemic or pandemic disease;
• the potential impact of national and international security concerns on the retail environment,
including any possible military action, terrorist attacks or other hostilities;
• risks associated with the possible inability of the Company’s manufacturers to deliver products in a
timely manner or meet quality standards;
• risks associated with the Company’s reliance on foreign sources of production, including risks related
to the disruption of imports by labor disputes;
• risks related to duties, taxes, other charges and quotas on imports; and
• systems failures and/or security breaches, including, any security breach that results in the theft,
transfer or unauthorized disclosure of customer, employee or company information, or the failure to
comply with various laws applicable to the company in the event of such a breach.
In addition to any risks and uncertainties specifically identified in the text surrounding such forward-
looking statements, the statements in the immediately preceding sentence and the statements under captions such
as “Risk Factors” and “Special Considerations” in reports, statements and information filed by the Company
with the SEC from time to time constitute cautionary statements identifying important factors that could cause
actual amounts, results, events and circumstances to differ materially from those reflected in such forward-
looking statements.
Item 1. Business.
General. The Company is a Delaware corporation. The Company and its predecessors have been operating
department stores since 1820. On May 18, 2007, the shareholders of the Company approved a change in its
corporate name from Federated Department Stores, Inc. to Macy’s, Inc., effective June 1, 2007. On June 1, 2007,
the Company’s shares began trading under the ticker symbol “M” on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”).
Upon the completion of the Merger, the Company acquired May’s approximately 500 department stores and
approximately 800 bridal and formalwear stores. Most of the acquired May department stores were converted to
the Macy’s nameplate in September 2006, resulting in a national retailer with stores in almost all major
markets. The operations of the acquired Lord & Taylor division and the bridal group (consisting of David’s
Bridal, After Hours Formalwear and Priscilla of Boston) have been divested and are presented as discontinued
operations. As a result of the acquisition and the integration of the acquired May operations, as of January 31,
2009, the continuing operations of the Company included more than 840 stores in 45 states, the District of
Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names “Macy’s” and “Bloomingdale’s.”
During 2007, the Company conducted its operations through seven Macy’s divisions, together with its
Bloomingdale’s division, macys.com division and bloomingdales.com division (which also operated
Bloomingdale’s By Mail during 2007). During 2008, the Company consolidated its Minneapolis-based Macy’s
North organization into New York-based Macy’s East, its St. Louis-based Macy’s Midwest organization into
Atlanta-based Macy’s South and its Seattle-based Macy’s Northwest organization into San Francisco-based
Macy’s West. The Atlanta-based division was renamed Macy’s Central. In conjunction with these division
consolidations, the Company restructured the field organizations in these geographical areas to better localize
product offerings and service levels.
On February 2, 2009, the Company announced its intent to consolidate all of its Macy’s branded operations
into a single organization. Under the new structure, central buying, merchandising planning, stores senior
management and marketing functions for both Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s branded operations will be located
primarily in New York. Corporate-related business functions, such as finance, human resources, law, property
development and purchasing will be located primarily in Cincinnati. Macy’s stores nationwide will be grouped
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