The May Department Stores Company

This article is about the defunct holding company. For its department store chain in California, see May Company California. For its department store chain in Colorado, see May-Daniels & Fisher. For its department store chain in Ohio, see May Company Ohio. For the unrelated New York–based chain, see J.W. Mays.
The May Department Stores Company
Company typePublic
IndustryRetailing
Founded1877; 147 years ago (1877) in Leadville, Colorado, U.S.
FounderDavid May
DefunctAugust 30, 2005; 19 years ago (2005-08-30)
FateAcquisition/merger with Federated Department Stores (Macy's).
SuccessorFederated Department Stores aka Macy's, Inc.
Headquarters
St. Louis, Missouri
,
U.S.
Area served
United States
Products
  • Clothing
  • footwear
  • accessories
  • bedding
  • furniture
  • jewelry
  • beauty products
  • housewares

The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri.[1] It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905.[2] After many changes in the retail industry, the company merged with Federated Department Stores (now Macy's, Inc.) in 2005.

This company was only a holding company that bought, sold, and merged regional department stores, such as Foley's and L.S. Ayres. During most of its history, the operations of the various divisions were kept separate and had their own buyers and credit cards. The latter were not accepted at other May-owned stores. At times, two different May stores operated in the same geographical market, but they were aimed at different customers. Most decisions for each of the regional store companies were made by management at the local headquarters and not by the holding company in St. Louis.

Some of the regional stores shared names that were similar to the parent company, such as Los Angeles–based May Company California. All it had in common with the parent was that these stores were headed by a different member of the May family as the president of their respective regional store chain. They were separate legal entities.

  1. ^ "Federated and May Announce Merger; $17 billion transaction to create value for customers, shareholders. Archived July 16, 2012, at archive.today" Business Wire, 28 February 2005. Retrieved on August 19, 2009.
  2. ^ The Drive to Differentiate - Macy's, Inc Archived April 8, 2008, at the Wayback Machine