The May Department Stores Company Reports 25 of 32 Planned Lord & Taylor Store Closings Are Complete

The May Department Stores Company Reports 25 of 32 Planned Lord &
Taylor Store Closings Are Complete 


ST. LOUIS, Jan. 4  /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The May Department Stores Company
[NYSE: May] reported today that arrangements to close 25 of the 32 Lord &
Taylor stores have been completed.  May announced in July 2003 that it intended
to divest 32 underperforming stores as part of its strategic repositioning of
Lord & Taylor as an upscale fashion retailer.

The company also announced that it has completed arrangements for the sale of
two previously closed Lord & Taylor stores to the respective mall developers. 
The Aventura Mall store in Miami will be sold to Turnberry Associates and the
Willowbrook Mall store in Houston will be sold to General Growth Properties. 
Both stores originally closed in January 2004.

There are currently seven Lord & Taylor stores remaining to be divested, and
active negotiations are expected to conclude in the next 30 days on several
additional locations.  The lease at one location permits store closure on Jan.
31, 2006.

May announced last week its most recent divestiture arrangements with the
closing of six stores by the end of January 2005 -- at Houston Galleria; North
Point Mall in the Atlanta market; Lynnhaven Mall in Virginia Beach; FlatIron
Crossing in the Denver market; Crossgates Mall in Albany, N.Y.; and Holyoke
Mall in Springfield, Mass.  The stores at North Point Mall and Lynnhaven Mall
are being purchased by the developer, General Growth Properties.  The store at
Crossgates Mall is being purchased by Pyramid, and the FlatIron Crossing store
is being purchased by Macerich.  At the Houston Galleria and Holyoke Mall
stores, leases are being terminated.

The May Department Stores Company currently operates 501 department stores
under the names of Famous-Barr, Filene's, Foley's, Hecht's, Kaufmann's, Lord &
Taylor, L.S. Ayres, Marshall Field's, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May,
Strawbridge's, and The Jones Store, as well as 240 David's Bridal stores, 456
After Hours Formalwear stores, and 11 Priscilla of Boston stores in its Bridal
Group.  May operates in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.

This release contains forward-looking statements as defined by the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  While this release reflects all
available information and management's judgment and estimates of current and
anticipated conditions and circumstances and is prepared with the assistance of
specialists within and outside the company, there are many factors outside of
our control that have an impact on our operations.  Such factors include but
are not limited to competitive changes, general and regional economic
conditions, consumer preferences and spending patterns, availability of
adequate locations for building or acquiring new stores, and our ability to
hire and retain qualified associates.  Because of these factors, actual
performance could differ materially from that described in forward-looking
statements.

For further information, contact Sharon Bateman at [phone]. 

DATASOURCE: The May Department Stores Company



CONTACT:  Sharon Bateman of The May Department Stores Company,

[phone]

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