Fred Lazarus, Jr.

Fred Lazarus, Jr. (1884-1973) was the founder of Federated Department Stores. Born in Columbus, Ohio, he grew up working in his family's small department store there, F. & R. Lazarus. He briefly attended the Ohio State University, but dropped out at the age of 18 to work full time in the store. He began expanding the business soon afterward; in 1929, F. & R. Lazarus merged with Abraham & Straus of Brooklyn, Filene's of Boston and Bloomingdale's of New York to become Federated Department Stores, of which "Mr. Fred" was the chairman. Under his leadership, Federated eventually became the largest department store company in the United States. Lazarus himself exerted enormous financial, social, and political clout; he is credited with convincing President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 to move Thanksgiving a week earlier in order to make the Christmas shopping period longer.

External links

* [http://www.fds.com/pressroom/about/his_2.asp Federated Department Stores Chronology]
*cite news|url=http://www.cincypost.com/living/1999/laza122099.html|title=Lazaruses left lasting mark on city|author=Barry M. Horstman|first=Barry M|last=Horstman|work=The Cincinnati Post|publisher=E. W. Scripps Company|date=1999-12-20|archiveurl=http://web.archive.org/web/20051203133327/http://www.cincypost.com/living/1999/laza122099.html|archivedate=2005-12-03 Mentions Thanksgiving story.