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Federated to Grow Direct-to-Consumer Business

Federated Department Stores announced a capital investment of approximately $100 million in 2007-2008 to support continued growth in its direct-to-consumer businesses, including bloomingdales.com, macys.com, Bloomingdale’s By Mail, macysweddingchannel.com and bloomingdalesweddingchannel.com.

The company said that it is seeing exceptional online sales growth in new Macy’s markets such as Illinois, Texas and Utah.

“We anticipate our direct-to-consumer businesses will grow to more than $1 billion in sales by 2008 from about $620 million in 2006,” said Terry Lundgren, Federated’s chairman, president and CEO. “Supporting this growth requires additional investment so we can scale up the volume of business while enhancing customer service, delivery efficiency and online-site functionality.”

Macy’s, The Knot Strike Deal

Further expanding the company’s online reach, Federated Department Store’s Macy’s unit recently signed a contract with The Knot, making the retailer the exclusive provider of products on TheKnot.com wedding registry. Financial terms of the two-year agreement were not disclosed.

Under the terms of the deal, the companies will launch The Lifestyle Registry on The Knot’s Web site that helps couples put together a wedding registry.

Tesco’s Fresh & Easy Format Launches Web Site

Tesco’s U.S. format, Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Market, has launched an information-based Web site, www.freshandeasy.com.

The site features background on the company, job-search capabilities and a glimpse into what shoppers can expect from its stores.

A map on its “Where We Are” page identifies the six markets (four in Southern California, one in Arizona and one in Nevada) where Tesco plans to make its U.S. debut.