David C. Farrell, a giant in the retail industry who led the former May Department Stores Co. through years of profitability and growth has died.
He also did well by stockholders, who saw their shares rise significantly during his tenure. An investment in May Co. over the period of Farrell’s 19-year CEO stewardship would have given shareholders a total compound return of 18 percent annually. Profits were often driven as much by cost controls as extraordinary sales productivity.
Hicks said among the most important lessons he learned from Farrell was to “identify the big idea, buy it like it was a big idea, and present it like it is a big idea.” A May Co. career man, Farrell was reputed to work 80-hour weeks, conduct after-midnight store inspections, and then return to the malls on weekends to check out the competition and more of his own stores. As the story goes, even at Sunday football games Farrell attended with his family, he packed some paperwork. He was a big fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
After graduating from college, Farrell joined the St. Louis-based May Co. in 1956 at the Kaufmann’s division in Pittsburgh. He held numerous merchandising positions at Kaufmann’s through 1966, rising to vice president and general merchandising manager. In 1969, he became a corporate vice president and president of Kaufmann’s. In 1975, he became president and chief operating officer of May Co.and became its CEO in 1979. In 1985, he added the title of chairman.
He also made one of May Co.’s most difficult strategic decisions: focusing entirely on department stores. That meant shedding such major operations as Venture, Loehmann’s, Caldor and Payless ShoeSource. By disposing of May’s off-price, specialty and real estate interests, Farrell brought a much stronger focus on department stores.
As the story goes, Hecht’s staffers pulled together all of the big bears they could find from different branches, enabling the staff to make one major presentation at the first store along Farrell’s itinerary. He loved it.
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