Macy's Returns To Consumer Electronics
By Alan Wolf -- TWICE, 6/10/1999
Macy's is back in the consumer electronics business.
After abdicating the category three years ago-as has most of the department store channel-Federated is using its Macy's brand name to sell CE products, only this time over the Internet.
Beginning yesterday, Macy's web site, Macys.com, added a link to Roxy.com, the three-year-old consumer electronics e-tailer based in Hopkinton, Mass. While Macy's CE pages appear under the department store's banner, Roxy is handling all product sourcing, sales, customer service and fulfillment.
The assortment, pitched as part of a special Father's Day promotion, includes recordable CD players and bookshelf audio systems from Philips; home theater systems by Pioneer; DirectTv; and DVD players from Philips and Panasonic.
Macy's link to Roxy goes beyond the Internet: Federated recently purchased Fingerhut, the general merchandise catalog, which holds a 40% stake in Roxy.
Roxy CEO Michael Jeans said his company's products and online marketing expertise, combined with Macys.com's customer base and strong retail brand name, "will help fulfill the promise of consumer electronics as the next major growth market in Internet retailing."
A Roxy spokesperson added that "Federated sees an opportunity online that may not fit into its brick-and-mortar strategy" given the still untapped potential of online CE sales.
Macy's last appeared on the TWICE Top 100 Retail Registry in 1996, when Macy's East and fellow Federated division Jordan Marsh were ranked together in 56th place for their combined 1995CE sales of $156.7 million.
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