By Randy Tucker
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Federated Department Stores is in talks to acquire Marshall Field's department stores from Target Corp.

The Cincinnati-based company - parent of Bloomingdale's, Macy's and Lazarus-Macy's - provided no additional details in its announcement Wednesday.

Target officials could not be reached late Wednesday.

There has been speculation among industry insiders that Federated would bid for the 62-store Marshall Field's chain after Target announced last month that it was soliciting offers for the chain, as well as its Mervyn's division.

Target - which operates eight namesake discount stores in Greater Cincinnati, but no department stores - has said it wants to get out of the department store business so it can focus on its successful discount operations.

Analysts estimate Marshall Field's could fetch more than $3 billion.

Despite the price, some say acquiring the chain would be a good move for Federated because it would allow the company to move into new, upper Midwest markets without having to change its business model. Both chains carry similar lines and cater to a similar clientele.

Adding Marshall Field's could bolster Federated's buying power, brokering better prices with apparel vendors and suppliers.

In addition, Marshall Field's occupies some of the best retail real estate in the country - including the coveted flagship store on State Street in Chicago.

Although Federated has reported a marked improvement in sales recently, the department store industry as a whole continues to see sales slide as discounters and specialty retailers eat into its market share.

Federated is one of the nation's leading department store retailers, with annual sales of more than $15.2 billion. It operates more than 450 stores in 34 states, Guam and Puerto Rico, as well as macys.com and Bloomingdale's By Mail.

Federated's announcement came after its stock closed Wednesday. It was down 9 cents to $52.46.

E-mail rtucker@enquirer.com