 Famous Barr in downtown St. Louis is located in the Railway Exchange Building, headquarters for the May Company.
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May Company Ends Its Reign As a National Retailer After a Century in St. Louis
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) March 1, 2005 - Federated Department Stores, Inc. and The May Department Stores Company have entered into a merger agreement. The $17 billion transaction, announced February 28, was approved by the boards of directors of both companies on Sunday.
The deal will establish Federated as a $30 billion national retailer whose economies of scale and scope of operations - stores in 49 states, Guam, Puerto Rico and the District of Columbia - will enable it to compete more effectively in the highly competitive retail sector.
In an announcement, Terry J. Lundgren, Federated's chairman, president and chief executive officer, said, "This is truly an exciting day in American retailing. Today, we have taken the first step toward combining two of the best department store companies in America, creating a new retail company with truly national scope and presence."
Completion of the deal is contingent on regulatory review and approval by the shareholders of both companies, a process that is expected to take several months. The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2005.
Once completed, Federated will operate more than 950 department stores, along with approximately 700 bridal and formalwear stores. In addition, 15 new states, mostly in the nation's heartland, will be layered onto Federated's existing 34-state operating base, with relatively little overlap between the companies' locations. As a result, Federated for the first time will have a truly national retail footprint, with stores in 64 of the nation's top 65 markets.
In 1877, David May opened the first store of what was to become The May Department Stores Company in Leadville, Colo., a silver-mining boom town. The company moved its headquarters to St. Louis in 1905. One hundred years laters, after a long history of buying competing retailers across the country, the May Department Stores Company will merger with Federated Department Stores.
"In today's retail environment, competition comes from every conceivable retail format. To succeed, we have to operate more efficiently and compete more effectively against players at all levels of the retail demographic," said John Dunham, May's president and acting chairman and chief executive officer. "There is no question that this is a bold and exciting move, and one I believe will have a positive impact on competitive retailing for American consumers in the longer term."
Federated said that while it intends to merge May's St. Louis corporate headquarters functions into its own Cincinnati and New York corporate offices, beginning this year, its intention is to make St. Louis the headquarters of one of the major operating divisions going forward in order to take advantage of the considerable talent pool that exists there. Federated also said it intends to honor May's extensive philanthropic commitments to the communities in which it operates, and to continue that practice.
While no division consolidations or store name changes are planned before 2006, Federated said it is likely that most of May's regional department stores ultimately will be converted to Macy's.
Missourians Can Obtain Free Credit Reports
ST. LOUIS, (SLFP.com) February 27, 2005 - Missourians should take advantage of the upcoming opportunity to order free copies of their individual credit reports.
Beginning March 1, a recent change in federal law requires the three nationwide consumer credit reporting companies to provide residents of Missouri and 11 other Midwestern states with free copies of their credit reports upon request, once every 12 months.
"Reviewing your credit reports on a regular basis can help you spot not only inaccuracies that could hurt your credit rating, but also fraudulent attempts by identity thieves to steal your credit," stated Missouri Attorney General Jay Nixon.
The three credit reporting companies - Equifax, Experian and Trans Union - have set up a Web site for consumers to order their credit reports. Consumers will need to provide their name, date of birth, and Social Security number. For security purposes, the credit reporting companies also may ask consumers for information only the consumers would know.
Those who use the Web site should be able to access their information immediately. Consumers also may order the credit reports by calling toll-free 877-322-8228; information requested that way will be mailed within 15 days. Consumers who wish to mail in a request can obtain a form from the Federal Trade Commission.
Information in a credit report often includes a person's address; a payment history of bills; and whether the person has been sued, arrested, or filed for bankruptcy. The information is used by employers, creditors, insurers, lending institutions and others to evaluate applications for credit, loans and jobs, among other things. Consumers may want to order their reports from each of the three credit reporting companies because each report may contain different information not contained in the other reports.
Nixon says the recent news that identity thieves had stolen personal information on approximately 145,000 Americans from the data collection business Choicepoint highlights the need for consumers to obtain a copy of their credit report.
"There are several steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft or minimize its impact if it happens to you," Nixon says. "Checking your credit report should be part of that process."
Identity thieves can use personal information such as Social Security or credit card numbers to open up accounts in their victims' names. When bills on those accounts are not paid, the delinquent information would show up on the credit reports of the victims.
Under the change to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, the free reports are being phased in across the country over a nine-month period, which began with states in the West on Dec. 1, 2004. Besides Missouri, the other states being phased in on March 1 include Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin. Consumers can request their free credit reports any time after their states are phased in; there is no deadline by which they have to order the report.
If consumers find inaccurate information in their credit report, they should contact the credit reporting company in writing to tell the company what information they believe is inaccurate. Under the Fair Credit Reporting Act, both the credit reporting company and the person, business or organization that provided the information are responsible for correcting inaccurate or incomplete information.
Nixon also cautions consumers to beware of "phishing" attempts that might be related to the free credit reports. The three credit reporting companies and www.annualcreditreport.com will not send consumers e-mails asking for the personal information. Any e-mails or pop-up ads claiming to be from annualcreditreport.com are most likely scam attempts, Nixon said.
Consumers Would Pay Too Much Under New Home Energy Requirements, Say Home Builders
ST. LOUIS, (PRNewswire) February 27, 2005 - Energy cost savings hyped in controversial changes to the residential energy requirements of the International Energy Conservation Code would take 40 to 90 years to materialize, depending on climate, according to a report issued by the Department of Energy (DOE).
The changes, which were initiated by proprietary interests, will ratchet up code requirements for insulation in wood-framed walls, adding at least $600 to the cost of an average new home while saving only about $15 a year in energy costs. The National Association of Home Builders opposes this increase in wall insulation requirements.
"NAHB supports building codes that promote energy efficiency, but home buyers should not bear the burden for expensive new requirements that provide little benefit," said Jerry Howard, executive vice president and CEO of the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB). "Seven to ten years, the average time a new home buyer lives in his new home, is a more appropriate payback period for energy cost savings."
The modifications increase wall insulation requirements (or R-values) in all climate zones for all types of wood-framed construction. According to the DOE report, the primary effect of the insulation changes was "instantly prohibiting products that would otherwise maintain market share interests and could be compliant within the original DOE RICC code change proposal if other energy efficiency measures within the building code exceed code requirements." Many insulation types, including sprayed cellulose and expanding foams, would not achieve the prescribed ratings without going to more expensive two-by-six walls.
The modifications were initiated in late 2003, after the Department of Energy proposed major reforms to simplify compliance with the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). During a hearing on this proposal, proprietary interests pressed for last-minute modifications, including the onerous insulation requirement, which were later approved by the International Code Council as part of the 2004 supplement to the 2003 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC). Both NAHB and DOE opposed the changes.
Last year, NAHB and other groups requested that DOE do a cost-benefit analysis on the modifications because stakeholders did not have a chance to study them before they were adopted. "We applaud the Department of Energy for conducting this important analysis and making their non-biased findings public, despite pressure from interest groups to change the results," said Howard.
Bond to Reintroduce Federal Parents As Teachers Legislation
JEFFERSON CITY, (SLFP.com) February 27, 2005 - As part of a statewide tour focusing on early childhood education, U.S. Senator Kit Bond announced last week that he will reintroduce his legislation to expand the successful Parents as Teachers program.
"Being a parent is hard work and babies do not come with directions. We must help parents and give them the education and support they need to promote their young children's healthy development and prepare them for success in school and life," said Senator Bond.
This week, Bond is holding events throughout the state to mark the 21st anniversary of Parents as Teachers and detail legislation he has written, the Education Begins at Home Act, which will expand the program nationwide.
While serving as Missouri's governor, Bond discovered first-hand the importance of Parents as Teachers (PAT) when his son Sam was born. After his positive experience with the program, Bond signed into law legislation which mandated PAT in every school district in the state of Missouri.
Since the program was created over 2 million families nationwide have received the education and support they need through PAT. While this is a tremendous accomplishment, Bond stressed that there are more families that can and must be reached through the program.
Bond's Education Begins at Home Act establishes for the first time a dedicated federal funding stream to support the expansion of Parents as Teachers at the state and local level. The $500 million in federal funds over 3 years included in Bond's legislation will expand services to over 2.7 million families nationwide, allowing ten times more families to be served by PAT.
The Education Begins at Home Act will:
- Provide $400 million over 3 years to states to expand access to PAT;
- Encourage and foster more collaboration between PAT and Early Head Start Grantees;
- Provide $50 million over 3 years to fund innovative ideas and partnerships at the local level to expand access to PAT in communities with limited English proficiency; and
- Provide $50 million over 3 years to reach more military families by expanding access to PAT in schools and community organization that serve military families.
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