Bon Marche May Become Part Of Macy’s West But Northwest Retailer Denies Speculation That It Will Be Absorbed By Sister Chain

Is The Bon Marche, a Northwest retail fixture for more than 100 years, about to lose its independence and corporate identity?

Top management at The Bon’s Seattle headquarters denies it, but they acknowledge that retail analysts and vendors are abuzz with reports that within six to 12 months, the store will become part of “Macy’s West.”

Cincinnati-based Federated owns Macy’s, the well-known national chain with western headquarters in Los Angeles, and The Bon, which operates 40 Northwest stores, including two in Spokane.

Said John Buller, The Bon’s vice president of marketing: “We have been informed that the changing of The Bon to Macy’s West will not happen (because) we outperform Macy’s West. Our attitude is to take care of ourselves and the rest will follow.”

Buller added, however, that The Bon will begin selling some Macy’s private label products by next spring - and said that move “will continue to fuel the speculation.”

A Federated spokesperson would only say that “Federated has no current plans on the horizon for name changes.”

Still, many retail insiders say the merger is probable, given Federated’s well-documented tendency to consolidate.

Since it merged with R.H. Macy & Co. in December, Federated has retired three divisional nameplates - I. Magnin, Abraham & Straus and Lazarus.

Also, analysts say, a Bon merger would be in line with a perceived (though not officially acknowledged) Federated strategy of expanding Macy’s name across the nation.

It’s unclear how any merger would affect The Bon’s 7,000 employees, or whether such a move would lead to the closing of any Bon stores.

“Everything and everybody will be affected,” said Howard Davidowitz, chairman of Davidowitz & Associates, a national retail consulting firm in New York. “A lot of people will lose their jobs - it could be as high as 15 percent to 20 percent on a head count.”

Davidowitz said the jobs of those tied to individual Bon stores, such as department managers and sales people, would be the most stable. But he said middle management positions, such as buyers, could be consolidated to the Los Angeles-based Macy’s offices.

Some retail strategists question the wisdom of risking the Macy’s name, often associated with Manhattan’s Thanksgiving Day parade, with Northwest shoppers, who are known as fiercely loyal to local companies.

“The name equity of The Bon in this region is so strong,” said Anne Brixner, a Seattle retail strategist. “If there were to be such a change, I just don’t see that Macy’s would be warmly embraced by the people of this region.

“In Southern California,” Brixner said, “if Bullock’s changed to Macy’s, people might shrug their shoulders and say, ‘Next.’ But here, people wait for the Bon’s one-day sales. Initially, they might be pretty skeptical about a name change. It would be tantamount to Frederick & Nelson going away.”

But Dick Outcalt, another Seattlebased retail strategist, thinks a merger with Macy’s would boost Bon sales.

“A very high and increasing share of The Bon’s volume is done by tourists,” he claimed. “Tourists will be presold and much more impressed with the Macy’s name. Long-term it makes a lot of sense.”

He estimated a full transition, including changing signs and importing Macy’s signature departments such as its famed housewares cellar, could be completed within two years.

Outcalt dismissed the alleged parochialism of Northwest shoppers while noting Federated’s several years of experience in merging stores.

“We’re quite well-traveled as a region,” Outcalt said. “The Northwest has become much more accepting of strange words like Target and Wal-Mart.”

Certainly, Northwest shoppers have gotten used to changes in the retail industry. Two years ago, bankruptcy wiped out Frederick & Nelson, then a 102-year-old institution.

Replacing The Bon with Macy’s may be its best chance of survival against Seattle’s Nordstrom, which is fortifying its home-front operations. Nordstrom has sunk $6.5 million into renovating its Puget Sound stores, including a massive make-over and 100,000-square-foot expansion of its Bellevue store. The East Side store will be Nordstrom’s second largest when it’s completed next month.

A 45,000-square foot Nordstrom Rack is scheduled to open Aug. 25 in Auburn’s SuperMall of the Great Northwest. And the company expects to move its downtown Seattle headquarters into the 300,000-square-foot headquarters of the former F&N store by the fall of 1997.

The new downtown Seattle Nordstrom store would be connected to a 340,000-square foot retail development. Nordstrom spokeswoman Brooke White declined comment on the speculation regarding The Bon.