Foley's
Encyclopedia
Foley’s was a chain
Chain store
Chain stores are retail outlets that share a brand and central management, and usually have standardized business methods and practices. These characteristics also apply to chain restaurants and some service-oriented chain businesses. In retail, dining and many service categories, chain businesses...

 of department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

s owned by May Department Stores
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was a national department store chain in the United States, founded in 1877 by David May. The company ceased to exist in 2005 when it was merged with Federated Department Stores, Inc . Prior to the merger it was headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri...

 and headquartered in Downtown
Downtown Houston
Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district...

 Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

. As of August 30, 2005, the division was dissolved and operation of the stores was assumed by Federated's Macy's West
Macy's West
Macy's West was a longtime division of Macy's, Inc. , representing one of the New York-based department store chain's earliest notable acquisitions and westward expansions...

 and Macy's South
Macy's South
Macy's Central, with its divisional flagship store at Lenox Square, and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a division of Macy's, Inc.. It has stores in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.Following Federated's...

 divisions. Foley's operated stores in Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

 and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

. On Sept 9, 2006 Foley's and all the regional May Co. stores names were phased out and rebranded as Macy's.

History

This company was founded in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, in 1900 as Foley Brothers. It was originally acquired by Federated Department Stores
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....

, Inc. in 1947.

In the 1970s, Foley's opened stores in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

 and in the 1980s opened in San Antonio
San Antonio, Texas
San Antonio is the seventh-largest city in the United States of America and the second-largest city within the state of Texas, with a population of 1.33 million. Located in the American Southwest and the south–central part of Texas, the city serves as the seat of Bexar County. In 2011,...

. By 1987, Foley's absorbed Federated's Dallas-based Sanger-Harris
Sanger-Harris
Sanger-Harris was a department store chain from 1961 to 1987. It was formed by Federated Department Stores in 1961 from two Dallas, Texas chains, Sanger Brothers and A. Harris and Co., that dated from the 19th century...

 chain with stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex
The Dallas–Fort Worth–Arlington Metropolitan Statistical Area, a title designated by the U.S. Census as of 2003, encompasses 12 counties within the U.S. state of Texas. The area is divided into two metropolitan divisions: Dallas–Plano–Irving and Fort Worth–Arlington. Residents of the area...

; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Oklahoma City is the capital and the largest city in the state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, the city ranks 31st among United States cities in population. The city's population, from the 2010 census, was 579,999, with a metro-area population of 1,252,987 . In 2010, the Oklahoma...

; Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa, Oklahoma
Tulsa is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 46th-largest city in the United States. With a population of 391,906 as of the 2010 census, it is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with 937,478 residents in the MSA and 988,454 in the CSA. Tulsa's...

; Tucson, Arizona
Tucson, Arizona
Tucson is a city in and the county seat of Pima County, Arizona, United States. The city is located 118 miles southeast of Phoenix and 60 miles north of the U.S.-Mexico border. The 2010 United States Census puts the city's population at 520,116 with a metropolitan area population at 1,020,200...

; and Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque, New Mexico
Albuquerque is the largest city in the state of New Mexico, United States. It is the county seat of Bernalillo County and is situated in the central part of the state, straddling the Rio Grande. The city population was 545,852 as of the 2010 Census and ranks as the 32nd-largest city in the U.S. As...

.

In 1988, Federated was purchased by real estate developer Campeau Corporation
Campeau Corporation
Campeau Corporation was a Canadian real estate development and investment company founded by entrepreneur Robert Campeau. It was infamous from its ultimately unsuccessful acquisitions of American department store holding companies Allied Stores in 1986 and Federated Department Stores in 1988...

, which immediately sold Foley's along with Filene's
Filene's
Filene's was a Boston-based department store owned by Federated Department Stores , and May Department Stores . It operated throughout New England and in New York.-Early years:...

 to May Department Stores
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was a national department store chain in the United States, founded in 1877 by David May. The company ceased to exist in 2005 when it was merged with Federated Department Stores, Inc . Prior to the merger it was headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri...

 to finance its deal. In two short years Federated filed for bankruptcy, disassociated itself from Campeau, and merged with Campeau's other retail holding company Allied Stores
Allied Stores
Allied Stores was a department store chain in the United States. It was founded in the 1930s as part of a general consolidation in the retail sector by B. E. Puckett. See also Associated Dry Goods. It was the successor to Hahn's Department Stores, a holding company founded in 1928...

. After its acquisition by May Company, Foley's closed several stores in Dallas it considered underperforming (including the downtown Dallas flagship store) and its Albuquerque, N.M., location, while also taking over two Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...

 stores, one under construction in Oklahoma City and the other at San Antonio's Rivercenter.

Over the next decade, May spent heavily to build new stores, replace outdated stores and refurbish existing stores. In 1993, May Department Stores consolidated May D&F into Foley's, which brought Foley's name to the Denver-Aurora
Denver-Aurora Metropolitan Area
The Denver-Aurora-Broomfield, CO Metropolitan Statistical Area is a United States Census Bureau defined Metropolitan Statistical Area in the State of Colorado that includes the City and County of Denver and nine suburban counties. The Census Bureau estimates that the population was 2,357,404 on...

, Colorado Springs
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado Springs is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and most populous city of El Paso County, Colorado, United States. Colorado Springs is located in South-Central Colorado, in the southern portion of the state. It is situated on Fountain Creek and is located south of the Colorado...

, Boulder
Boulder, Colorado
Boulder is the county seat and most populous city of Boulder County and the 11th most populous city in the U.S. state of Colorado. Boulder is located at the base of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of...

 and Fort Collins-Loveland
Fort Collins, Colorado
Fort Collins is a Home Rule Municipality situated on the Cache La Poudre River along the Colorado Front Range, and is the county seat and most populous city of Larimer County, Colorado, United States. Fort Collins is located north of the Colorado State Capitol in Denver. With a 2010 census...

 markets and re-introduced Foley's to the Albuquerque market. In 1995, the Tucson locations were transferred to May's Robinsons-May
Robinsons-May
Robinsons-May was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada, previously with headquarters in North Hollywood, California...

 division. In 2001, Foley's expanded into Louisiana after May Co. acquired several Maison Blanche
Maison Blanche
.Maison Blanche was a department store in New Orleans and later also a chain of department stores. It was founded in 1897 by Isidore Newman, an immigrant from Germany....

 locations that had become Parisian stores from Proffitt's
Proffitt's
Proffitt's was a department store chain based in Alcoa, Tennessee. On March 8, 2006, the Proffitt's and McRae's stores were converted into Belk stores. Belk acquired the two chains in July 2005 from Saks Incorporated.-Beginnings:...

 (now Saks Incorporated
Saks Incorporated
Saks Incorporated , founded in Birmingham, Alabama in 1998, is headquartered in New York City, New York, and is a Fortune 1000 operator of high-end department stores in the United States under the nameplate Saks Fifth Avenue. Saks evolved from Proffitt's Inc. after Proffitt's changed its name in...

).

Foley's was re-acquired by Federated
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....

 when it took over May Department Stores
May Department Stores
The May Department Stores Company was a national department store chain in the United States, founded in 1877 by David May. The company ceased to exist in 2005 when it was merged with Federated Department Stores, Inc . Prior to the merger it was headquartered in Downtown St. Louis, Missouri...

 on August 30, 2005. In 2006, Federated started the conversion of Foley's into Macy's. Soon advertisements started to read "Foley's - Now part of the Macy's Family". On September 9, 2006, the Foley's stores were renamed Macy's as part of Federated's nationwide rebranding of all former May locations. In 2005 Federated announced that it will close Foley's 1,200 employee headquarters in Downtown Houston
Downtown Houston
Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district...

.

Timeline

FOLEY'S
1900: Foley Brothers was opened by brothers Pat and James Foley, two young and enterprising Irishmen, on February 12 with $2000 borrowed from an uncle. The 1400 square feet (130.1 m²) store located at 507 Main Street in Houston, Texas
Houston, Texas
Houston is the fourth-largest city in the United States, and the largest city in the state of Texas. According to the 2010 U.S. Census, the city had a population of 2.1 million people within an area of . Houston is the seat of Harris County and the economic center of , which is the ...

, was stocked with calico, linen, lace, pins, needles, and men’s furnishings.

1905: With business booming, Pat and James purchased the building next door and added ready-to-wear
Ready-to-wear
Ready-to-wear or prêt-à-porter is the term for factory-made clothing, sold in finished condition, in standardized sizes, as distinct from made to measure or bespoke clothing tailored to a particular person's frame. Off-the-peg is sometimes used for items which are not clothing.Ready-to-wear has...

 clothing for women and children as well as millinery
Hat
A hat is a head covering. It can be worn for protection against the elements, for ceremonial or religious reasons, for safety, or as a fashion accessory. In the past, hats were an indicator of social status...

.

1911: The store moved to the 400 block of Main Street and was incorporated with capital of $150,000.

1916: Foley Brothers ranked third in retail volume in Houston with $400,000 in sales. The original 10 employees had grown to 150, and the company had 750 active charge accounts and 23000 square feet (2,136.8 m²) of space.

1917: Pat and James sold Foley Brothers to George S. Cohen and George’s father, Robert, a Galveston merchant. Foley Bros. grew tremendously under this new management and by 1919, sales neared $1,000,000.

1922: Foley Bros. moved into a three-story building next door to 400 Main Street. Later that year, the store became the city’s largest department store
Department store
A department store is a retail establishment which satisfies a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice of multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...

. Shoes, a beauty shop, and radio sets were included.

1941: When the United States entered World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

, Foley Bros. diverted the efforts of the advertising and personnel departments to bond drives and other wartime services. All sales promotions were suspended during this time.

1945: Federated Department Stores
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. is a department store holding company and owner of Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores. Macy's Inc.'s stores specialize mostly in retail clothing, jewelery, watches, dinnerware, and furniture....

 president Fred Lazarus, Jr.
Fred Lazarus, Jr.
Fred R. Lazarus, Jr. was the Jewish-American founder of Federated Department Stores . Born in Columbus, Ohio, Fred, the second of four brothers , grew up working in his family's store, F...

, came to Houston to visit his son, who was stationed at a nearby Army camp. Mr. Lazarus discovered that Foley Bros. was for sale and bought it.

1947: Now part of Federated, Foley’s opened its doors at 1110 Main Street on October 20 in downtown Houston
Downtown Houston
Downtown Houston is the largest business district of Houston, Texas, United States. Downtown Houston, the city's central business district, contains the headquarters of many prominent companies. There is an extensive network of pedestrian tunnels and skywalks connecting the buildings of the district...

. Federated spent $13 million to build this new store, which was heralded by the press as the nation’s “most modern department store.”

1951: The first official Foley’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was held.

1960-1967: Sharpstown, Foley’s first branch store opened. Pasadena, Almeda-Genoa, and Northwest stores soon followed.

1971-1979: Memorial City and Greenspoint opened in Houston, and Highland Mall
Highland Mall
Highland Mall, is a shopping mall located in north Austin, Texas, on Airport Boulevard west of I-35 and north of US Route 290. Opened in 1971, Highland Mall was Austin's first suburban shopping mall...

 opened in Austin
Austin, Texas
Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of :Texas and the seat of Travis County. Located in Central Texas on the eastern edge of the American Southwest, it is the fourth-largest city in Texas and the 14th most populous city in the United States. It was the third-fastest-growing large city in...

.

1980-1987: San Jacinto, North Star
North Star Mall
North Star Mall is a premier shopping mall in San Antonio, Texas with anchor tenants Dillard's, J.C. Penney, Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue, and Forever 21, as well as over 200 specialty stores, some exclusive to the San Antonio market, including Arden B, Armani Exchange, The Cheesecake Factory,...

, Willowbrook, Barton Creek, West Oaks, Ingram Park, Deerbrook, Post Oak
Post Oak Mall
Post Oak Mall is a regional shopping mall in College Station, Texas owned by CBL & Associates Properties. Construction on the mall began in summer 1979 and it opened February 17, 1982. It initially housed 80 stores with four anchors...

, College Station, and Padre Staples
La Palmera
La Palmera is an indoor and open-air shopping mall located along the shopping corridor of South Padre Island Drive at Staples St. in Corpus Christi, Texas, United States...

 opened.

1988: The May Department Stores Company acquired Foley’s in Houston and Filene's
Filene's
Filene's was a Boston-based department store owned by Federated Department Stores , and May Department Stores . It operated throughout New England and in New York.-Early years:...

 in Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 from Federated.

1993: The May D&F division in Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

 and New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

 was consolidated with Foley’s, creating a 49-store division that was the largest in May Company.

1995-1998: Temple, Northwest Austin, Sugar Land, Northwest Albuquerque, Laredo, and Park Meadows opened. Fort Collins reopened after extensive remodeling. Purchased Jones & Jones in McAllen, Texas, and converted to Foley's.

2000-2004: NorthPark, Broomfield, Hurst, Baybrook Mall
Baybrook Mall
Baybrook Mall, is a shopping mall located 30 km southeast of downtown Houston at Interstate 45 South and Bay Area Blvd in Friendswood, Texas, United States. It has five major anchors and more than 170 stores and restaurants...

, Beaumont, Cielo Vista, Houston Galleria
Houston Galleria
The Galleria, stylized theGalleria, is an upscale mixed-use urban development centrally located in the Uptown District of Houston, Texas, United States. The development consists of a retail complex, as well as the Galleria Office Towers complex, two Westin hotels, and a private health club...

, Lake Charles, Denton, and Sunland opened. Foley’s acquired one McRae's
McRae's
McRae's was a mid-range regional department store chain founded and based in Jackson, Mississippi, with locations in Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida. The nameplate was in existence for more than a century.-History:...

 store and two Parisian stores in Louisiana. Cortana and the Mall of Louisiana
Mall of Louisiana
Mall of Louisiana is an upscale shopping mall in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and is located between I-10 and Bluebonnet Blvd.Built in 1997 by developer Jim Wilson & Associates which also built the Riverchase Galleria in Alabama, it is the second largest mall in Louisiana and is currently owned and...

 in Baton Rouge and Acadiana in Lafayette joined Foley’s. Memorial City and Baybrook reopened in new buildings.

2004: The May Department Stores Company acquired Marshall Field's
Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...

, which was headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

  May’s seven divisions now included Foley’s, Filene's
Filene's
Filene's was a Boston-based department store owned by Federated Department Stores , and May Department Stores . It operated throughout New England and in New York.-Early years:...

, Robinsons-May
Robinsons-May
Robinsons-May was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada, previously with headquarters in North Hollywood, California...

, Famous-Barr
Famous-Barr
The Famous-Barr Co. , St. Louis, Missouri, was a division of Macy's, Inc. . It was formerly the hometown division of The May Department Stores Company, which was acquired by Federated on August 30, 2005. On February 1, 2006, it was subsumed into the newly created Macy's Midwest division.The...

, Hecht's
Hecht's
Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores located mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States....

, Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor, colloquially known as L&T, or LT, based in New York City, is the oldest upscale, specialty-retail department store chain in the United States. Concentrated in the eastern U.S., the retailer operated independently for nearly a century prior to joining American Dry Goods...

, and Marshall Field's
Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company was a department store in Chicago, Illinois that grew to become a major chain before being acquired by Macy's Inc...

.

2005: La Cantera, Garland, and Loveland opened. May and Federated Department Stores, Inc. announced plans to merge. The transaction closed in the third quarter.

2006: On February 1, 2006, the Foley's organization in Houston was dissolved and operation of its locations in Louisiana
Louisiana
Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...

, Oklahoma
Oklahoma
Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,751,351 residents as of the 2010 census and a land area of 68,667 square miles , Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state...

, and Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

 (except El Paso) were assumed by Atlanta-based Macy's South
Macy's South
Macy's Central, with its divisional flagship store at Lenox Square, and headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, is a division of Macy's, Inc.. It has stores in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.Following Federated's...

 while operation of locations in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...

, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...

, New Mexico
New Mexico
New Mexico is a state located in the southwest and western regions of the United States. New Mexico is also usually considered one of the Mountain States. With a population density of 16 per square mile, New Mexico is the sixth-most sparsely inhabited U.S...

, and El Paso, Texas
El Paso, Texas
El Paso, is a city in and the county seat of El Paso County, Texas, United States, and lies in far West Texas. In the 2010 census, the city had a population of 649,121. It is the sixth largest city in Texas and the 19th largest city in the United States...

 were assumed by San Francisco-based Macy's West
Macy's West
Macy's West was a longtime division of Macy's, Inc. , representing one of the New York-based department store chain's earliest notable acquisitions and westward expansions...

. On September 9, 2006, the Foley's nameplate was replaced as part of Macy's nationwide rebranding of all former May Company locations.

External links

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