Which major department store chain filed for bankruptcy in 1992? Macy’s filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 27, 1992.
The filing followed a difficult expansion period. R. H. Macy & Company had completed a leveraged buyout in the 1980s and then bought several luxury and regional retail businesses after losing a takeover battle for Federated Department Stores. The acquisitions included Bullock’s, Bullocks Wilshire, and I. Magnin, increasing Macy’s debt and leaving it exposed to a weakening retail market.
Chapter 11 allowed Macy’s to keep operating while it reorganized its finances. New management closed underperforming stores and reduced the company’s luxury operations. The bankruptcy was not the end of the Macy’s name: Federated Department Stores acquired the reorganized company in 1994.
A common mix-up is confusing Macy’s bankruptcy with Federated’s earlier bankruptcy. Federated filed for bankruptcy protection in 1990 after the Campeau takeover crisis, while Macy’s filed two years later. Federated eventually emerged and later adopted Macy’s as its principal consumer-facing name.