Word: chaine
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...Field's, the hallmark department store that has stood at that address since the White Sox were the White Stockings. Come September, the store's new parent, Federated Department Stores, will rechristen it Macy's, and loyal Marshall Field's customers are both angry and genuinely sad. "For some chain to come into Chicago and think we're New York is totally misguided," says June Cuci, 48, who has been shopping at Field's since her childhood. Even film critic Roger Ebert lamented the loss. "I thought the day would never come," he wrote. "I am looking at my Field...
Sentimental shoppers will have a lot to cry about in the coming months. With the merger last year between department-store chains Federated and May, 78 stores are going to close. But Macy's, with its name attached to more than 800 stores, will soon expand as big as a balloon in its Thanksgiving Day parade. The majority of the hometown retailers owned by May, including Marshall Field's, will be converted to the Macy's nameplate this fall, among them Kaufmann's in Pittsburgh, Pa.; Filene's in Boston; Strawbridge's in Philadelphia; Foley's in Houston; Famous-Barr...
...industry failed to respond to customer complaints that department stores were boring, the service nonexistent and the merchandise ubiquitous without being interesting. "Department stores have lost sight of their customer. It's that simple," says Janet Hoffman, a San Francisco--based retail strategist for Accenture. Sales tumbled, and chain after chain of historic, family-owned retailers--Gimbels, Woodward & Lothrop, Wanamaker's, Montgomery Ward--closed their doors or were swallowed up by stronger companies. In 1980, about 35 major department-store chains were in business; today there are only 13. The merger is the category's last-gasp effort to save...
...customers. Those looking to linger will find soft lighting and plush chairs. Mingling teens can cram tables together in a flexible seating area. "It's something [McDonald's] should have done years ago," says restaurant analyst Howard Penney of Friedman Billings Ramsey. The design suggests a certain coffee chain, but Penney says it could give McDonald's an edge over fast-food rivals...
...announce its entry into India, and Christian Dior, Giorgio Armani, Gucci and the others are on their way. Nor is the traffic one-way. Indian companies are now expanding abroad. The Tata Group, the country's largest conglomerate, recently announced huge investments in South Korea, and its Taj hotel chain has just taken over New York City's tony Pierre Hotel; software giants such as Infosys and Wipro are scouting for acquisitions abroad. Then there's the cultural dimension to the new confidence. Three Indian restaurants in London now have Michelin stars; Bollywood is suddenly fashionable; and remixes of Hindi...