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The May Department Stores Company Reviews Strategies And Initiatives at Annual Meeting ST. LOUIS, May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The May Department Stores Company reviewed with shareowners its strategic objectives and announced preliminary proxy results at its annual meeting held today in Richmond, Va. In remarks for the meeting, Gene Kahn, May's chairman and chief executive officer, expressed his thanks to associates. "We appreciate all that our associates accomplished in 2003 and are excited and optimistic about May's potential in 2004 and beyond," he said. Mr. Kahn also stated that May is focusing on offering distinctive and authoritative merchandise assortments and executing five sales-getting initiatives that are becoming more visible to the customer on the sales floor: -- Delivering newness and fashion faster. After several years of choosing basic merchandise, consumers are showing their desire for more fashion and style. This provides tremendous opportunity to grow sales by being at the forefront of identifying and delivering newness and trend-right merchandise. -- Identifying new traffic generators and reinforcing May's position as a gift headquarters. Nonapparel giftables led the way to improved results in the fourth quarter of last year, and May is on the offense to deliver even more excitement and fun to every location in 2004. -- Growing proprietary product sales. May continues to evolve and grow its proprietary brands to provide the style and fashion that attract a broader customer base and to make its selling floors stand out from the competition. -- Pursuing better segments of the business. May is making assortments more distinctive by aggressively pursuing higher price lines. The customer is definitely responding to luxury, and fashion is showing little price resistance. This is revitalizing department stores, and May's goal is to attract this customer to capture a larger share of the better business. -- Editing merchandise selections. Unnecessary duplication is being eliminated to ensure greater clarity of offering. May is making the shopping experience easier and more satisfying by editing assortments to offer the customer the best selection within each merchandise category. Mr. Kahn told shareowners that May is focused on serving a broader customer base and meeting those customer's needs for all of life's occasions, styles, and stages. In 2003, May continued to pursue the young adult consumer, particularly the younger female customer, while still serving the needs of the core baby-boomer segment. In addition, he noted that May stepped up the repositioning of Lord & Taylor to return the icon franchise to its strength as an upscale retailer. Lord & Taylor is creating a more dynamic merchandising presence by offering the newest fashion looks, trend-forward styles, and unique brands not found in mainstream stores. May also narrowed Lord & Taylor's focus to its best- performing core markets, announcing plans last year to divest 32 stores. Mr. Kahn said that May is strengthening the in-store presentation to better showcase fashion and newness and to demonstrate how ideas work together. May is reallocating selling floor space to ensure new products move to prominent positions, improving clarity of signage, and continuing to make the shopping experience more pleasant with wider aisles, brighter lighting, and easier-to-shop floor configurations. May's Bridal Group, the nation's largest retailer of bridal apparel, continued to build its national presence by expanding its geographic reach in 2003. Last year's acquisition of 225 tuxedo stores positioned our tuxedo business in major new markets in the West and Midwest and doubled the number of our tuxedo stores in the United States. The Bridal Group, said Mr. Kahn, provides a platform for sales growth - more than 20% of the wedding registrations in May's full-line department stores are by David's Bridal customers. Wedding registries often give engaged couples a unique introduction to May's department stores' strong selection of merchandise for the home. Mr. Kahn concluded his remarks by emphasizing the significance of May's continuing commitment to lower operating costs, increase cash flow, and grow operating earnings. May ended the year with $300 million less inventory, while still meeting customers' expectations for both quality and selection. Mr. Kahn also stressed May's commitment to offering distinctive, fashionable merchandise and fresh, exciting ideas in every product category, in every store. He said, "Bringing this commitment to life on our selling floors -- supported with improved inventory management and strong operating disciplines -- positions us for continued sales and earnings growth." In 2004, May's $600 million capital expenditure plan includes opening eight new department stores and remodeling or expanding 12 stores. The Bridal Group plans to open 30 David's Bridal stores, 20 After Hours stores, and two Priscilla of Boston stores. To date this year, one department store, five David's Bridal stores, and four After Hours stores have opened. Earlier this year, May increased the annual dividend rate to 97 cents per share, its 29th consecutive year of increased dividends, and its 93rd year of uninterrupted dividends. Shareowners elected five directors: Eugene S. Kahn, chairman and chief executive officer of May; Helene Kaplan, of counsel to the law firm of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP; James M. Kilts, chairman of the board and chief executive officer of The Gillette Company; Russell E. Palmer, chairman and chief executive officer of The Palmer Group; and William P. Stiritz, chairman of the boards of Energizer Holdings, Inc, and Ralcorp Holdings, Inc. Board members whose terms continue are: John L. Dunham, president of May; Marsha J. Evans, president and chief executive officer of the American Red Cross; Michael R. Quinlan, chairman emeritus of McDonald's Corporation; Joyce M. Roche, president and chief executive officer of Girls Incorporated; Edward E. Whitacre Jr., chairman of the board and chief executive officer of SBC Communications, Inc.; and R. Dean Wolfe, executive vice president of acquisitions and real estate for May. Shareowners also ratified the appointment of Deloitte & Touche LLP as independent accountants, approved amendments to an incentive compensation plan and to a stock option plan, and approved a shareowner recommendation concerning a classified board. The May Department Stores Company currently operates 439 department stores under the names of Lord & Taylor, Famous-Barr, Filene's, Foley's, Hecht's, Kaufmann's, L.S. Ayres, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May, Strawbridge's, and The Jones Store, as well as 215 David's Bridal stores, 458 After Hours Formalwear stores, and 10 Priscilla of Boston stores. May operates in 46 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico. For more information, contact Sharon Bateman at (314) 342-6494. This release also 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. DATASOURCE: The May Department Stores Company CONTACT: Sharon Bateman, +1-314-342-6494, for The May Department Stores Company

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