"If consumers do what they say, they have accepted that the name has changed to Macy's," he said, referring to extensive opinion surveys Cincinnati-based Federated conducted while planning the switch. The stores that will have new signs are The Bon Marché, in the Northwest; Burdines, in Florida; Goldsmith's, in Tennessee; Lazarus, in the Midwest and East; and Rich's, in the South. In all, Federated is converting 184 stores into Macy's, which already has 239 East and West coast units.

Some of the pluses Lundgren outlined in his speech included the ability to have a single national advertising campaign for the stores, as opposed to concentrating on regional advertisements. He stressed that the two chains Federated will be left with, Macy's, and the upscale Bloomingdale's, are by far the strongest brand names the company owns.

Lundgren revealed that the two chains' Manhattan flagship stores bring in more than $1 billion in annual sales, and that a third store, the 90,000-sf Bloomingdale's, which opened in SoHo last year was performing beyond expectations. Federated might consider opening more units like the SoHo stores, which is less than half the size of the average Bloomingdale's Lundgren said. "My guess is that it is an option we'll have in the future," he said.