Edwin G. Roberts; Ex-Store Executive

Edwin G. Roberts, a former department and discount store executive has died at 73. Roberts died Tuesday in his Westwood home, his son Brian Roberts said.

Trained in the Midwest, Roberts became prominent in Southern California retailing. He served from 1978 until 1980 as president and chief executive officer of May Co. department stores, and later launched the ill-fated Plums, an off-price apparel shop owned by Dayton Hudson Corp.

Roberts graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1940 and earned an MBA from the Harvard School of Business in 1942. A year later he began his retailing career with Bullock’s Westwood.

As an employee of Dayton Hudson, Roberts was credited with a turnaround of the 15 Detroit-based Hudson’s department stores in Michigan and Ohio in the 1970s.

Returning to the firm after his short stint at May Co., Roberts spent six months traveling across the country, researching off-price marketing stores and looking for what he said was “something unique to take nationwide.” Plums, which opened in Los Angeles in 1983, attempted unsuccessfully to sell designer and other high-quality clothing at discount prices.

Roberts later worked for HRT Industries as president and chief executive officer of the Los Angeles-based company’s Zodys discount department store division.

In addition to his son, Roberts is survived by a daughter, Linda, and another son, Jean-Marc.

The family has asked that any memorial contributions be made to the American Lung Assn. or the American Cancer Society.