George Whalin Stores Quotations

I think May deciding to sell its Chicago stores to Federated is a very real possibility, ... Federated desperately wants more of a presence in the Midwestern market.

If the mall has other good stores in it, they shouldn't have any problem attracting other retailers.

Generally retailers would like to have employees come to the store when they most need them. They want to staff stores when they are the busiest, like on weekends, near the holidays or when the weather is good or bad.

The retail business in general is strong, and Federated is doing well, considering it has stores in major cities such as New York and San Francisco, where the affluent shopper is driving a lot of sales.

They have significant challenges ahead. May stores had a lot of loyal customers, and it won't be easy to convert them.

The department store business has gone through enormous changes in the last 10 years and we aren't through yet. It's a retail format that doesn't have a great future in it. Consumers have decided traditional department stores aren't their favorite places to shop.