Macy's
Description_______________________________________________________________________________________

What's in a name? Macy's North (formerly Marshall Field's) will soon find out. The venerable 150-year-old department store chain's new owner Federated Department Stores has renamed the company, which was founded by Marshall Field. The retailer operates about 60 stores in the upper Midwest featuring apparel, gifts, and home furnishings, as well as upscale services (personal shoppers, decorating). Its flagship store is located on Chicago's State Street, which will be rechristened "Macy's on State Street." Federated, the operator of the Macy's and Bloomingdale's chains, acquired Marshall Field's when it purchased May Department Stores in mid-2005. Previously, Marshall Field's was owned by discounter Target.

Federated Department Stores completed its $11 billion takeover bid for rival May Department Stores in August 2005.

Soon after its purchase of May, Federated announced plans to change the names of all of May's regional department store chains to Macy's in 2006. To that end, all Marshall Field's locations in Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin will convert to the Macy's nameplate in September 2006.

The company's store count more than doubled when former parent company Target converted its Dayton's and Hudson's stores to the Marshall Field's banner. In July 2004 May bought Marshall Field's for about $3.2 billion.

Dell
Description______________________________________________________________________________________

Whether you spend most of your time in a cubicle or on a couch, chances are good that there's a Dell in front of you. The world's #1 direct-sale computer vendor provides a broad range of computer and entertainment products for the consumer and enterprise markets. In addition to a full line of desktop and notebook PCs, Dell offers network servers, workstations, storage systems, printers, LCD and plasma televisions, projectors, and Ethernet switches. The company also markets third-party software and peripherals. Dell's growing services unit provides systems integration, support, and training.

Entrepreneurial wunderkind Michael Dell pioneered the direct-sales model for computers and took the company from his dorm room to the top of the PC heap by keeping it focused on a simple formula: Eliminate the middleman and sell for less. Dell's built-to-order boxes allow for lower inventories, lower costs, and higher profit margins -- elements that leave it well armed for the PC price wars and IT spending recessions.

Early in 2007 Dell was renamed CEO, a position he had ceded to his hand-picked successor, Kevin Rollins, in 2004. Rollins' resignation came as the company struggled with a number of difficult issues, most notably disappointing earnings and an SEC investigation into its finances. Immediately following the shakeup, Dell announced streamlining measures including a reduction in managers and the elimination of 2006 bonuses.

Dell has built its fortune with the industry-standard Wintel platform (Microsoft Windows operating system and Intel microprocessor) as its foundation. Intel has traditionally enjoyed an exclusive relationship with the company, but in 2006 Dell announced plans to use chips from AMD in some of its high-end servers. The company also announced plans to open retail locations in Dallas and New York. Dell -- which already operates numerous informational kiosks in malls and airports -- remains committed to its direct sale model, and its retail operations only carry display models.

Dell faces intense competition from Hewlett-Packard, whose market share increased dramatically following its acquisition of perennial PC leader Compaq. Dell generates about 80% of its sales from desktop and notebook PCs. The company diversified its PC offerings in 2005 with the launch of XPS, a line of high-end desktop and notebook PCs for gamers and others willing to pay premium prices for top performance. The following year Dell acquired high-performance PC specialist Alienware, which operates as a standalone subsidiary with independent branding and operations. Dell's PC profile took a hit in August 2006, when the company announced that it would recall more than 4 million notebook computer batteries with cells manufactured by Sony.

Far from limited to PCs, the company is also a leading provider of server computers and storage devices for enterprises. Dell augmented its storage line when it reached an agreement with market leader EMC to resell that company's enterprise systems. Furthering its push beyond PCs, Dell has introduced a line of Ethernet switches, and consumer electronics such as LCD televisions. It originally partnered with Lexmark to develop a line of Dell-branded printers, and it has formed additional partnerships to quickly grow its printing line.

On the services front, Dell has mirrored its straightforward approach to hardware sales, embracing a fixed-price model for offerings such as data migration and storage systems implementation. The company is also looking to international revenue to supplant sales in the PC-saturated US market. Dell's operations in the Asia/Pacific region are based in Singapore, and include manufacturing units in China and Malaysia. Early in 2006 the company announced an aggressive growth plan for its Indian operations that will affect its existing call center and development units and possibly include the creation of a new manufacturing center.

Founder, chairman, and CEO Dell owns about 9% of the company.