TheBuzz
TheBuzz
As rumors whirled and official comment on a potential sale of Liberty House to Federated Department stores was virtually unattainable, opinions were not. Liberty House and
Macy’s -- what if?"I've been predicting this for almost a year now, as Macy's expressed an interest in them before," Retail Strategies President Doug Smoyer said.
According to Cincinnati-based retail analyst Stanley Eichelbaum, a Federated buy-out of Liberty House would be "very good for the sake of Hawaii."
Eichelbaum is president of international research and consulting company Marketing Developments Inc. and regularly vacations in the islands.
Despite what he called his "great fondness for Liberty House," he said "Federated is by far the most astute merchandiser of the traditionally priced merchandisers."
"They came out of a bankruptcy as probably the greatest example of right-management of a bankruptcy to enhance position," Eichelbaum said. "They have proven their resilience in acquisition growth, integration of an acquisition, and furthering performance of acquired units."
Federated opened a Macy's in newly expanded space in Puerto Rico's Plazas Las Americas shopping center last year.
Eichelbaum said Puerto Rico and Hawaii present similar challenges to a nonlocal retailer. However, the chain is up to the task, he said.
"Federated is a pretty diligent research organization that knows how to adapt to unique markets. They have certainly had a learning curve in Puerto Rico, but I would assess that every retailer moving out of the comfort level of its primary normalcy of operating has to have some level of growing pains."
Eichelbaum, a one-time Federated executive, said he believes any retail analyst would speak well of the company's performance.
If Federated were to enter the Hawaii market, Eichelbaum said, "They aren't going to be competitive, they're going to be dominant right away."
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
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