Federated must divest Hyannis stores
Federated Department Stores, the corporate owners of Filene's and Macys department stores, must divest overlapping stores to competing retailers in seven Massachusetts locations, including Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis.
According to an agreement announced by five attorneys general, including Massachusetts AG Thomas Reilly, the agreement requires Federated Department Stores to sell either Macy's or Filene's at Downtown Crossing in Boston; Macy's stores at the South Shore Mall in Braintree, the North Shore Mall in Peabody, the Natick Mall, and Westgate Mall in Brockton; and Filene's stores at the Burlington Mall and Cape Cod Mall in Hyannis.
The objective is to foster choices for consumers by encouraging a new department store to move into the stores being divested. Competitors may be retailers not currently operating in Massachusetts and could include Nordstrom, Dillards or Neiman Marcus. Earlier this year, Federated, the parent company of Macy's and Bloomingdale's, announced plans to acquire the May Company, which operates Filene's and Lord & Taylor.
Other states participating in the settlement are New York, California, Pennsylvania and Maryland.
