Tuesday, May 23, 2000
What's the Buzz?
Executives called on the carpet
By Lisa Biank Fasig
The Cincinnati Enquirer
It's hard to please all shoppers and shareholders when you're the largest department store company in the country, but the executives of Federated weren't expecting one of their best-known investors to drag her bathroom into the picture.
That's what shareholder and Wall Street watchdog Evelyn Y. Davis did at Federated Department Stores' annual meeting last week. Ms. Davis, a holder of many major corporations who travels a circuit of annual meetings, is known for lengthy soapboxing.
After alternately quizzing and scolding Federated executives on a host of subjects from the amount of 1999 legal fees ($15 million) to whether chief executive James Zimmerman could identify the makers of her suit and shoes (Chanel and Prada), she outdid even herself.
She demanded a broader selection of bathroom rugs. “Why all the same stuff?” Ms. Davis asked, suggesting a wider selection of colors and shapes.
Federated President Terry Lundgren pledged to look into it.
Have a tip about a Tristate company that should be included in our daily Buzz? Give business editor Richard Green a call at 768-8477 or e-mail him at rgreen@enquirer.com.
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