The May Department Stores Company Reviews Strategies And Initiatives at Annual Meeting
May 21 2004 - 12:22PM
PR Newswire (US)
The May Department Stores Company Reviews Strategies And
Initiatives at Annual Meeting ST. LOUIS, May 21
/PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The May Department Stores Company
reviewed with shareowners its strategic objectives and announced
preliminary proxy results at its annual meeting held today in
Richmond, Va. In remarks for the meeting, Gene Kahn, May's chairman
and chief executive officer, expressed his thanks to associates.
"We appreciate all that our associates accomplished in 2003 and are
excited and optimistic about May's potential in 2004 and beyond,"
he said. Mr. Kahn also stated that May is focusing on offering
distinctive and authoritative merchandise assortments and executing
five sales-getting initiatives that are becoming more visible to
the customer on the sales floor: -- Delivering newness and fashion
faster. After several years of choosing basic merchandise,
consumers are showing their desire for more fashion and style. This
provides tremendous opportunity to grow sales by being at the
forefront of identifying and delivering newness and trend-right
merchandise. -- Identifying new traffic generators and reinforcing
May's position as a gift headquarters. Nonapparel giftables led the
way to improved results in the fourth quarter of last year, and May
is on the offense to deliver even more excitement and fun to every
location in 2004. -- Growing proprietary product sales. May
continues to evolve and grow its proprietary brands to provide the
style and fashion that attract a broader customer base and to make
its selling floors stand out from the competition. -- Pursuing
better segments of the business. May is making assortments more
distinctive by aggressively pursuing higher price lines. The
customer is definitely responding to luxury, and fashion is showing
little price resistance. This is revitalizing department stores,
and May's goal is to attract this customer to capture a larger
share of the better business. -- Editing merchandise selections.
Unnecessary duplication is being eliminated to ensure greater
clarity of offering. May is making the shopping experience easier
and more satisfying by editing assortments to offer the customer
the best selection within each merchandise category. Mr. Kahn told
shareowners that May is focused on serving a broader customer base
and meeting those customer's needs for all of life's occasions,
styles, and stages. In 2003, May continued to pursue the young
adult consumer, particularly the younger female customer, while
still serving the needs of the core baby-boomer segment. In
addition, he noted that May stepped up the repositioning of Lord
& Taylor to return the icon franchise to its strength as an
upscale retailer. Lord & Taylor is creating a more dynamic
merchandising presence by offering the newest fashion looks,
trend-forward styles, and unique brands not found in mainstream
stores. May also narrowed Lord & Taylor's focus to its best-
performing core markets, announcing plans last year to divest 32
stores. Mr. Kahn said that May is strengthening the in-store
presentation to better showcase fashion and newness and to
demonstrate how ideas work together. May is reallocating selling
floor space to ensure new products move to prominent positions,
improving clarity of signage, and continuing to make the shopping
experience more pleasant with wider aisles, brighter lighting, and
easier-to-shop floor configurations. May's Bridal Group, the
nation's largest retailer of bridal apparel, continued to build its
national presence by expanding its geographic reach in 2003. Last
year's acquisition of 225 tuxedo stores positioned our tuxedo
business in major new markets in the West and Midwest and doubled
the number of our tuxedo stores in the United States. The Bridal
Group, said Mr. Kahn, provides a platform for sales growth - more
than 20% of the wedding registrations in May's full-line department
stores are by David's Bridal customers. Wedding registries often
give engaged couples a unique introduction to May's department
stores' strong selection of merchandise for the home. Mr. Kahn
concluded his remarks by emphasizing the significance of May's
continuing commitment to lower operating costs, increase cash flow,
and grow operating earnings. May ended the year with $300 million
less inventory, while still meeting customers' expectations for
both quality and selection. Mr. Kahn also stressed May's commitment
to offering distinctive, fashionable merchandise and fresh,
exciting ideas in every product category, in every store. He said,
"Bringing this commitment to life on our selling floors --
supported with improved inventory management and strong operating
disciplines -- positions us for continued sales and earnings
growth." In 2004, May's $600 million capital expenditure plan
includes opening eight new department stores and remodeling or
expanding 12 stores. The Bridal Group plans to open 30 David's
Bridal stores, 20 After Hours stores, and two Priscilla of Boston
stores. To date this year, one department store, five David's
Bridal stores, and four After Hours stores have opened. Earlier
this year, May increased the annual dividend rate to 97 cents per
share, its 29th consecutive year of increased dividends, and its
93rd year of uninterrupted dividends. Shareowners elected five
directors: Eugene S. Kahn, chairman and chief executive officer of
May; Helene Kaplan, of counsel to the law firm of Skadden, Arps,
Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; James M. Kilts, chairman of the
board and chief executive officer of The Gillette Company; Russell
E. Palmer, chairman and chief executive officer of The Palmer
Group; and William P. Stiritz, chairman of the boards of Energizer
Holdings, Inc, and Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. Board members whose terms
continue are: John L. Dunham, president of May; Marsha J. Evans,
president and chief executive officer of the American Red Cross;
Michael R. Quinlan, chairman emeritus of McDonald's Corporation;
Joyce M. Roche, president and chief executive officer of Girls
Incorporated; Edward E. Whitacre Jr., chairman of the board and
chief executive officer of SBC Communications, Inc.; and R. Dean
Wolfe, executive vice president of acquisitions and real estate for
May. Shareowners also ratified the appointment of Deloitte &
Touche LLP as independent accountants, approved amendments to an
incentive compensation plan and to a stock option plan, and
approved a shareowner recommendation concerning a classified board.
The May Department Stores Company currently operates 439 department
stores under the names of Lord & Taylor, Famous-Barr, Filene's,
Foley's, Hecht's, Kaufmann's, L.S. Ayres, Meier & Frank,
Robinsons-May, Strawbridge's, and The Jones Store, as well as 215
David's Bridal stores, 458 After Hours Formalwear stores, and 10
Priscilla of Boston stores. May operates in 46 states, the District
of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For more information, contact Sharon
Bateman at (314) 342-6494. This release also contains
forward-looking statements as defined by the Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While this release reflects all
available information and management's judgment and estimates of
current and anticipated conditions and circumstances and is
prepared with the assistance of specialists within and outside the
company, there are many factors outside of our control that have an
impact on our operations. Such factors include but are not limited
to competitive changes, general and regional economic conditions,
consumer preferences and spending patterns, availability of
adequate locations for building or acquiring new stores, and our
ability to hire and retain qualified associates. Because of these
factors, actual performance could differ materially from that
described in forward-looking statements. DATASOURCE: The May
Department Stores Company CONTACT: Sharon Bateman, +1-314-342-6494,
for The May Department Stores Company
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