Three Chains, at Crossroads, Wait for Macy’s Word : Employees, Clients Ponder Fate of Bullock’s, I. Magnin and Bullocks Wilshire

At the Bullocks Wilshire flagship store, that Art Deco masterpiece in Los Angeles’ Mid-Wilshire district, workers went about their business last Tuesday morning with perhaps a bit more briskness and efficiency than usual.

Vacuum cleaners whirred, and salespeople with dust mittens took frequent swipes at their countertops.

Why the fuss? “Mr. Macy,” an elevator operator with salt-and-pepper hair and mustache said with a wink.

Mr. Macy, indeed. The workers were readying the venerable store for a tour by Edward S. Finkelstein, their soon-to-be new boss. On April 1, R. H. Macy & Co., of which Finkelstein is chairman, won the right to buy Bullocks Wilshire, Bullock’s and I. Magnin for $1.1 billion from Campeau Corp.

The Canadian real estate developer wore down Macy’s in a tenacious struggle for the chains’ Cincinnati-based parent company, Federated Department Stores, and already has agreed to sell off many of its parts to help defray some of the anticipated $8.8 billion in costs from the deal.

In the meantime, employees of the Bullock’s department store chain and its upscale specialty store cousin, Bullocks Wilshire, as well as workers at the elegant I. Magnin, based in San Francisco, are wondering what changes are in store at their stores.

So are customers.

“I’m afraid it might get junky,” sniffed one matron at Bullocks Wilshire. “I hope they have the sense to leave it as it is. But they seldom do.”

In recent conversations, Bullock’s officials and Finkelstein have indicated that it is premature to say what Macy’s plans for the three chains will be. As might be expected in the gossipy retailing world, however, the rumor mill is working overtime.

Bullocks Wilshire stores will be converted into I. Magnins, goes one version. Another has I. Magnins becoming Bullocks Wilshires. Yet another speculates that the original Bullocks Wilshire will remain, but the I. Magnin two blocks down on Wilshire Boulevard will close.

“I think it’s premature to comment either way,” said James E. Gray, who became chairman of Bullock’s and Bullocks Wilshire in January. “That’s Mr. Finkelstein’s decision. He may decide to leave everything alone.”

Some customers figure that would be just dandy.

Toni Lagunoff, a Brentwood resident who grew up in Beverly Hills and said she has always considered Bullock’s her first choice for apparel shopping, fears a loss of selectivity should Bullock’s take on too much of Macy’s style.

“My fear is that they’re going to do mass buying and make every store the same,” she said. “Now, every Bullock’s store is different. Macy’s is not as selective. . . . It has too much merchandise and a less expensive look to it.”

Started in 1907

Even so, Macy’s could bring some new life even to a successful store such as Bullock’s, noted Thomas H. Tashjian, vice president for retail trade at Seidler Amdec Securities, a Los Angeles investment house.

“Bullock’s has always held a premier position in the heart of the Southern California consumer for quality goods and for an upscale ambiance and, quite frankly, I don’t think that its position in the marketplace under the Macy organization will change dramatically,” he said.

“But their style of business may change,” he added. “The Macy’s style is more theatrical. . . . I would expect that the Bullock’s customer will like what Macy’s is going to do because they’re going to re-energize the Bullock’s chain. Macy is clearly not a stuffy merchandiser.”

Tashjian recalled that the J. W. Robinson chain not long ago competed with Bullock’s for the carriage trade but then surrendered the upscale market after May Department Stores bought Robinson’s and made it more middle-of-the-road starting in late 1986.

Bullock’s opened its doors on a rainy March 4, 1907, at 7th and Broadway in downtown Los Angeles. The first recorded sale, of a 98-cent blouse, was made to one Edward Nittinger.

Ironically, the store had $250,000 in backing from Arthur Letts, who had founded the Broadway department store in 1896 and who chose John G. Bullock, an early employee of the Broadway, to head the fledgling enterprise. As his right-hand man, Bullock chose P. G. Winnett, a one-time errand boy at the Broadway.

With the opening of its high-class specialty store, Bullocks Wilshire, in September, 1929, Bullock’s acknowledged the beginning of decentralization away from downtown. The store quickly became a haunt of the carriage trade.

Meanwhile, the downtown Bullock’s thrived, offering bridge lessons, lectures and puppet shows and mechanical windows at Christmas and Easter. It also planned birthday parties for children of celebrities, among them Bing Crosby’s. In 1947, Bullock’s opened its first suburban branch store, in Pasadena.

Suburban sprawl and declining sales took their toll. The mammoth downtown store closed in 1983, replaced by a much smaller location in Citicorp Plaza at 7th and Figueroa in 1986.

In all, the company now has 22 department stores, 7 Bullocks Wilshire locations and three Bullock’s Woman stores, a specialty chain carrying large-size apparel that was started last year. According to Gray, the company also has a couple of other specialty store ideas in “the embryo stage.”

The chains together had an estimated $890 million in sales last year.

With nearly 11,000 employees, most of them in Southern California, Bullock’s has long been a supporter of community causes and events. Employees donated more than $1 million to United Way last fall. Each year the company gives $5,000 to $7,000 for Transition House, a 5-year-old shelter for homeless men and women in downtown Los Angeles.

“Bullock’s has been very supportive of private nonprofits,” said Martha Brown Hicks, president of the Skid Row Development Corp., a private development arm of the city charged with improving Skid Row. “I have always known I could put them down as a corporate sponsor even before picking up the phone.”

Hicks said she will be interested to see what will happen to the chain’s charitable contributions after the shift in ownership because “I don’t know what Macy’s reputation is.” But on a more personal level, she is concerned about changes at two of her favorite stores.

“I will be doing comparative shopping” after the change, she said. “If I am as comfortable as I have been with the Bullock’s-Bullocks Wilshire people, I will continue to shop there. If I am not as happy, I will transfer my business to Saks Fifth Avenue.”

Holiday Letters

Bullock’s clearly has its supporters. Last Christmas, when Bullock’s asked its charge customers to mail in recollections of childhood shopping experiences or exceptional customer service at the chain’s department stores, about 800 people responded. Many letters were featured in the chain’s holiday advertising.

Few memories were as poignant as that of a Southern California native who recalled wheeling a buggy with his crippled 10-year-old sister into the downtown store in 1918 to find a Christmas gift for their mother--on a budget of 79 cents. After the two picked a vase from an array presented by a parade of sales clerks, they turned around and panicked to see that the buggy was gone.

Just then, the buggy was rolled in, shining with new tires, wheels and seat. Turning to the floorman, the girl said: “My brother and I want you to know that we know this vase cost a lot more than 79 cents. And as long as we live, we’ll never forget what Bullock’s did for us today.”