NEWS
By Jacques Kelly and Jacques Kelly,SUN STAFF | February 3, 2001
John Francis Baker, former president of the Hecht Co. department stores, died Wednesday of pneumonia and complications from Parkinson's disease at the Genesis Eldercare Network at Spa Creek in Annapolis. He was 83 and had lived in Roland Park before retiring to Annapolis seven years ago. Mr. Baker was named general manager and vice president of what was then called the Hecht-May department stores in Baltimore in 1962. He was subsequently promoted to the chain's presidency and board chairmanship of what is now the Hecht's stores in Baltimore and Washington.
BUSINESS
By John E. Woodruff and John E. Woodruff,Tokyo Bureau | April 18, 1993
Tokyo -- Remember the $65 cantaloupes in those late-1980s stories about lavish Japanese department stores? The $750 neckties? The $4,300 designer suits?Well, they're still there, and that's a big problem -- nobody's buying them these days.For four decades, legendary names such as Takashimaya, Isetan and Matsuya presided regally over the retail segment of Japan's postwar "economic miracle." These symbols of extravagance became a "must see" for millions of tourists from the United States and other countries.
BUSINESS
By Lorraine Mirabella and Lorraine Mirabella,SUN STAFF | December 4, 1998
Consumers hunted bargains in the nation's stores in November, favoring discounters and specialty chains over department stores, and leaving winter apparel untouched on the racks amid spring-like weather throughout much of the nation.The nation's biggest retailers, which reported November sales yesterday, just barely met expectations, as gains at Wal-Mart Stores Inc. and Gap Inc. helped offset sharp declines at department store chains such as Sears, Roebuck and Co."The department stores have taken a bloodbath," said Kurt Barnard, president of Barnard's Retail Trend Report in Upper Montclair, N.J. "The discount stores are doing quite well and thriving at the expense of the department stores."
BUSINESS
By ANDREA K. WALKER and ANDREA K. WALKER,SUN REPORTER | March 12, 2006
READING, Pa. -- Down the steps of the Boscov's Department Store here, past the display of patio furniture, near the ladies in gift-wrap and squeezed into the basement, you'll find the chain's corporate headquarters. The modest, quaint central suite seems to befit the 40-store company begun 85 years ago by a Russian immigrant in this blue-collar city folded in the Lebanon Valley of eastern Pennsylvania. The halls are a little dark, a little dank. The furniture's a bit dated. The buyers who choose the merchandise to be sold in stores sit crammed behind tall cubicles plastered with family photos and photocopied cartoons.
NEWS
By Kerry O'Rourke and Kerry O'Rourke,Staff writer | October 31, 1990
Get out those credit cards, shoppers -- two new department stores opened in the county this week.Montgomery Ward & Co. in Cranberry Mall in Westminster and Peebles Department Store in Carrolltowne Mall in Eldersburg opened Monday, with grand opening ceremonies planned later this week.Montgomery Ward, Cranberry Mall's largest anchor, also is opening an Auto Express center.A grand opening ceremony for Peebles, which replaced the Jamesway store that closed in July, will be at 1 p.m. Saturday.
NEWS
By Hanah Cho, Andrea K. Walker and Tyeesha Dixon and Hanah Cho, Andrea K. Walker and Tyeesha Dixon,sun reporters | November 25, 2006
The day after Thanksgiving is a special time for Michelle Robinson. Growing up in Atlanta, she and her mother would head to Macy's downtown to browse, shop and eat at the department store's cellar-level market. So, she and her sister-in-law, Jessica Robinson, arrived early yesterday at the Macy's in Towson Town Center expecting to snag some great deals. Though fans of department stores, the women left disappointed. "Macy's is known for great sales," said Michelle Robinson, 36, of Westminster, who managed to pick up a jacket for her husband but nothing else.