BUSINESS MEMO: MAY DEPARTMENT EMBARKS ON $4 BILLION EXPANSIONS

ST. LOUIS -- May Department Stores Co. is embarking on a five-year, $4 billion expansion program that includes 125 new stores.

David C. Farrell, chairman and chief executive officer, called the expansion plan the most aggressive in the company's history and said the plan includes $800 million for major expansions and remodels in 70 department stores and for modernizing distribution centers and equipment and the systems that help run the facilities. The expansions are to add more than 22 million square feet of selling space.

This year, May plans to open 29 new stores for a total of 363 department stores by years' end. Of the 29 new stores, 13 are Strawbridge & Clothier sites in Philadelphia. This year's plans call for significant remodeling to 14 stores and expansions to seven, Farrell said at the company's annual meeting.

May is one of the nation's largest retailers with 347 department stores in 30 states and the District of Columbia, with annual sales of more than $10.5 billion.