May Co. department store chain based in Boston. Continue reading
Filene’s was the May Co. division that had its headquarters in Boston. TSI finally sold them an AdDept system and installed it for them, but I was never satisfied with the progress that they made in using it.
Even before TSI hired Doug Pease as its Marketing Director in 1993, I had made a substantial effort to convince Filene’s to use AdDept. After all, it was the closest large chain of department stores, an easy drive up the Mass Pike from Enfield. Unlike the other divisions, they would not need to pay my air fare. Nevertheless, we had a very difficult time getting through the door.
In 1998 the May Co. agreed that all of its divisions should be using AdDept to administer their advertising departments. That story is told here. Chris Giles1, who managed the PC’s, Macs, and the network in Filene’s Advertising Department, came to TSI’s office for training, but the installation of the system was delayed for several years. There were numerous problems. Filene’s Newspaper Manager had instituted routines using spreadsheets to provide much of what was needed in his area. He admitted that it could not produce insertion orders, but the fact that AdDept could not only produce but also fax insertion orders—with little or no data entry—was not enough to sway him. I did not blame him, but I was disappointed that someone else did not tell him the score.
In 1998 a new liaison, David Doane, was assigned. His main job was as Production Manager. I don’t know why they assigned him responsibility for AdDept. His background was in printing.
I drove into Boston to spend a day with him and to give him a little insight into how the system could work, but we never heard from him again. I wrote prophetically in 2000: “I am not sure that the installation can ever succeed until the liaison comes from scheduling, accounting, or planning.” Spoiler alert: it never did.
The other major issue was that the Advertising Director, Shelley Rubin,2 did not seem to like the idea of an integrated system. Maybe she did not appreciate the May Co.’s interference in her operation.
Things finally began to move a little in 2000. I received a surprising telephone call on April 6.
Chris Giles called at 5:45 PM! Joe Hrabar sent him our proposal. Shelley Rubin, the advertising director at Filene’s, had taken a tour of Foley’s. She wanted to make sure that the system we proposed was at least as fast as Foley’s. Evidently she was very impressed with what she saw there.
On January 13, 2001, Filene’s asked TSI to send them three sets of “training booklets”. I printed copies of the generic book that described how the AS/400 and AdDept programs basically worked. He also printed copies of the booklets that described the tables for media and accounting. The package was sent within a week.
The plan was to install Filene’s version of AdDept on a model 270 in the Midwest Data Center in St. Louis. I flew there and began the installation on March 13. It seemed to go fairly smoothly. I installed the AdDept programs as well as IBM’s BASIC licensed program3. I then set up the communications so that Denise Bessette could sign on from TSI’s office. I populated the department hierarchy tables and the broadcast stations from files on a PC diskette supplied by Filene’s. The settings from Kaufmann’s AdDept system were used for several other tables.
This was the first time that one of the divisions would be running AdDept on a computer located in the data center. I reported:
On Tuesday I met with ten (!) people from the May Company’s Midwest Data Center to discuss how the installation will be handled. There is not that much to it. We will have to call someone to vary on the line before we call in. They will then program the AS/400 to vary off the TSI line when we are finished. Someone will be available to do this 24 hours a day.
Adding new users will be a little kludgy. The liaison will have to submit a form to the Mid-West Data Center. Someone in St. Louis will create a user ID and a directory entry for them. The liaison will have to create the record in DAUSERS.
While I was in St. Louis I demonstrated the AxN programs to people from the May Co. and from Famous Barr, which had been using AdDept for a few years (as described here). This installation was definitely being driven by the people at corporate headquarters.
On Tuesday afternoon we had a conference call with Filene’s. All together about 15 people were in on the call. It was uneventful. They just wanted to go over the support regimen.
My notes concluded with a warning to the people at the Data Center about the difficulties of using Mac printers as system printers and a request from Jerry Catalano that I determine how much disk space Hecht’s4 was using per year.
I made several trips by car to Filene’s office in the downtown Boston store after that. For the most part I worked with a lady in the Business Office to make sure that they could record all of their invoices into CAPS. I am not sure that they ever used the system for much more than that.
I don’t remember too many details of those trips. I remember that I would stop and get a Big Gulp-sized Diet Coke at 7-Eleven on the way from the parking garage to the building. I also remember that the only men’s room on the floor that housed the Advertising Department was near the cafeteria, which was a very long walk. On the other hand the elevators were very close, and there was one handicapped restroom that could be used in emergencies.
Epilogue: In 2002 Filene’s took over administration of Kaufmann’s5 stores, but the Kaufmann’s logo was retained.
In 2005 Federated Department Stores acquired most of the May Co. properties, and in 2006 the administration of the Filene’s and Kaufmann’s stores was moved to Macy’s in New York City. The stores were eventually either closed or relabeled as Macy’s.
1. Chris Giles worked at Filene’s until 2006, when the administration of the stores was assumed by Macy’s East. His LinkedIn page is here.
The Downtown Crossing store was closed in 2006 in favor of the nearby Macy’s that already existed. Although it was protected as a historic landmark, the interior was gutted, and the building remained unoccupied for years. In 2023 some of the floors are occupied by retail, some by offices, and others are empty.
2. Shelley Rubin also stayed at Filene’s until Macy’s took over in 2006. Her LinkedIn page can be viewed here.
3. IBM no longer supported the BASIC language programs on the AS/400/iSeries, but they allowed TSI to make copies of it and sell them to users.
4. The story of the AdDept installation at Hecht’s is posted here.
5. The details concerning the AdDept installation at Kaufman’s can be viewed here.