Cincinnati, OH, Oct. 17--Federated Department Stores Inc. plans to close its Lazarus-Macy's store in downtown Columbus, Ohio in August, and write down the assets in its third-quarter results. The writedown is expected to be about $12 million.
However, Federated doesn't expect the writedown to affect its third-quarter earnings estimate of 30 cents to 33 cents a share. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call expect Federated to earn 33 cents a share for the period.
Last week, the company raised its third-quarter guidance and affirmed fourth-quarter estimates due to better-than-expected September sales.
In a press release Friday, the department-store chain said the Columbus store's sales have declined more than 60% since 1995. It won't pursue a new location in the downtown area.
The store, which opened in 1909 and was remodeled in 1998, has about 200 employees and Federated plans to offer most of them positions in other Columbus-area stores.
Federated said it remains "firmly committed" to the area and currently operates nine Lazarus-Macy's stores in Franklin and Delaware counties, in central Ohio, including five stores within the Columbus city limits.
Federated operates more than 450 stores in 34 states.
