hnson, 1996, 1). The store joined the Federated company in 1930, one year after the formation of the loose federation noted above. Bloomingdale's and Federated encountered trouble in the 1980s and neared bankruptcy. Ralph Lazarus inherited the leadership position of Federated from his father and continued in that position until 1981. The next two CEOs did little to keep the company growing, and growth indeed stopped as May Co. rose to prominence and as companies that were new to the market like Nordstrom and Dillard advanced rapidly. Federated made disappointing ventures into small towns. The company did acquire Ralph's, a leading Southern California supermarket chain, and this turned out well. Still, by 1989, Federated was no longer the leading company and no longer the innovator, though it was financially strong. The second leader in the field was Allied Stores, derived from the Hahn chain founded in 1929. Robert Campeau bought Allied in 1988 and in 1989 bought Federated. Both companies declared bankruptcy in 1990, and in 1992 the companies emerged from bankruptcy as Federated Department Stores. Federated purchase 50 percent of R.H. Macy's unsecured debt in 1993 from the Prudential Insurance Company of America, and this set the stage for a 1994 merger agreement between the two companies (Hoover's Handbook of American Business 1995 492).
Bloomingdale's in recent years has made more of an effort to expand and has increased operations in California in particular. Bloomingdale's was long part of the New York retailing scene and marked by the glamour of New York fashion. However, retailing has changed and has worn away the glamour aspect of the business. Operating profits have been reduced for many retailers, and many of the old leaders of these companies are also leaving:
With their departures, an old way of life is ending--the days when a great merchant saw his store as theater and stocked it with sumptuously presented...