RETAIL SHARES PLUNGE/2 CALIFORNIA STYLE VIA VIETNAM/20 WWDWomen’s Wear Daily •WEDNESDAY The Retailers’ Daily Newspaper • February 28, 2007 • $2.00 Sportswear Big on Glamour PARIS — The collection John Galliano showed for Christian Dior on Tuesday was a brilliant blockbuster, a glorious celebration of the grand and glamorous. The designer played with rich materials, including lots of fur. Here, a vibrant coat in an oversized trapeze shape that’s lavished with it, worn with a matching skirt. For more on the shows, see pages 6 to 10. Federated Net Rises in Fourth Quarter, to Become Macy’s Group By David Moin part of its drive to become a truly sluggishness as a result. oodbye, Federated, hello, nationwide brand. Federated The company also demonstrated GMacy’s Group. revealed the planned name change continued confidence in its $17 The department store giant in reporting improved fourth- billion megamerger with May by said Tuesday that it will drop the quarter profits and sales, despite a issuing upbeat guidance for 2007. 78-year-old Federated name and grueling year converting 400 May Federated said the heavy lifting switch to the Macy’s moniker as doors to Macy’s and some sales See Federated, Page 18 PHOTO BY GIOVANNI GIANNONI GIOVANNI PHOTO BY 2 WWD, WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 28, 2007 WWD.COM Stock Market Sees Broad Sell-off WWDWEDNESDAY Sportswear FASHION Despite Consumer Confi dence Rise John Galliano staged a brilliant spectacle that encompassed everything 6 that is Dior, a collection that was womanly, sensual and celebratory. By Arthur Zaczkiewicz and Vicki M. Young The Conference Board said Tuesday the index rose to 112.5 this month, up from 110.2 last month. etail shares fell sharply Tuesday as inves- The increase was due in part to gains in both the GENERAL Rtors’ jitters over a cooling economy sent Present Situation Index, which rose to 139 from Federated Department Stores has revealed plans to change its name to major indices deep into the red. 133.9, and the Expectations Index, which inched 1 Macy’s as it continues to turn itself into a nationwide department store. The sell-off came despite a report from the up slightly to 94.8 from 94.4. The S&P Retail Index plunged 3.6 percent Tuesday, as the Dow Jones Conference Board that showed consumer confi - “Consumer Confi dence now stands at a fi ve- 2 dropped 3.3 percent and the S&P 500 fell 3.5 percent. dence at a fi ve-year high. and-a-half-year high, as improving present-day At the bell, the Dow Jones Industrial Average business conditions and an easing in the propor- Target Corp.’s fourth-quarter earnings jumped 19.2 percent, to $1.12 plummeted 3.3 percent, or 416.02 points, to tion of consumers claiming jobs are hard to get 2 billion, on a revenues gain of 16.3 percent, to $19.71 billion. 12,216.24, while the S&P 500 lost 3.5 percent, or have combined to lift consumers’ spirits,” said Wal-Mart took a 35 percent stake in Taiwan retailer Trust-Mart, doubling 50.33 points, to 1,399.04. The Nasdaq lost 3.9 per- Lynn Franco, director of the Conference Board 4 its footprint in China and surpassing Carrefour’s store count there. cent, or 96.65 points, to 2,407.87. The S&P Retail Consumer Research Center. Index plunged 3.6 percent to 510.78. Franco said while it “appears that the pace of Dillard’s Inc. reported fourth-quarter earnings jumped 57.4 percent, to Investors pulled back on fears the economies economic growth exhibited in the fi nal months 4 $155 million, boosted by a net income tax benefi t of $64 million. of the U.S. and China were cooling fast. Also send- of 2006 has carried over into early 2007, and may MAINSTREAM: Better departments are springing forward to offer more ing a chill through the markets were worries that have even gained a little momentum,” consum- private, exclusive and upscale merchandise this season. stock valuations were in need of a correction. ers’ outlook was little changed from last month. 14 In addition, investors fretted over a sui- Consumers’ assessment of present conditions For advertisers on the Academy Awards, the big prize up for grabs was cide bomber attack at a U.S. military base in improved slightly; respondents who claimed con- 16 the potential to benefi t from the telecast’s aura of elegance and glamour. Afghanistan. Vice President Dick Cheney was ditions were “good” rose to 29.4 percent from 28 WEST: A generation after the Vietnam War, a fi rst wave of Vietnamese- at the base, but was not injured. percent. Those saying conditions were “bad” fell Americans is moving into leadership positions in the fashion industry. In the retail sector, steep declines were seen to 14.3 percent from 16.2 percent. 20 across every channel, and shares of most com- Respondents were also a little more optimis- Classifi ed Advertisements.............................................................23-27 panies fell between 3 and 4 percent. There were tic about jobs; those saying jobs were “hard to some steeper losses, however. Nordstrom dropped get” fell from 19.7 percent to 17.5 percent, a fi ve- To e-mail reporters and editors at WWD, the address is fi rstname. 7.6 percent, to $52.29; Gander Mountain lost 8.3 and-half-year low. However, while respondents [email protected], using the individual’s name. percent, to $10.17; Aéropostale shed 4.3 percent, said jobs were easier to fi nd, they didn’t say they to $36.22, and Caché lost 4.9 percent, to $22.13. seemed plentiful. Those who said jobs were plen- WWD IS A REGISTERED TRADEMARK OF ADVANCE MAGAZINE PUBLISHERS INC. COPYRIGHT ©2007 FAIRCHILD FASHION GROUP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. PRINTED IN THE U.S.A. The sell-off began in the early afternoon tiful fell to 27.7 percent from 29.6 percent last VOLUME 193, NO. 44. WWD (ISSN 0149–5380) is published daily (except Saturdays, Sundays and holidays, with one trading session when the Dow plunged 200 month. additional issue in January and November, two additional issues in March, May, June, August and December, and three points. Within an hour, the loss had swelled to The outlook for the next six months was some- additional issues in February, April, September and October) by Fairchild Fashion Group, which is a division of Advance Magazine Publishers Inc. PRINCIPAL OFFICE: 750 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017. Shared Services provided by 550 points. Individual retail stocks fell between what mixed as the percentage of those who said Condé Nast Publications: S. I. 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