May Company Ohio

In 1899, David May, the founder of May Department Stores, acquired E. R. Hull & Dutton Co. of Cleveland on Ontario Street, renaming it May Company, Cleveland. In 1914 May added an additional landmark building on Euclid Avenue, fronting on the southeast corner of Public Square. The high-rise building stands 149 feet and contains 8 floors of space, though floors 7 and 8 were not added until 1931. In 1939 May Co. acquired majority control of another Cleveland store, William Taylor Son & Co., which maintained a separate identity until 1961.

Suburban expansion

Expansion to the suburbs began in the 1950s, with Sheffield Shopping Center, Lorain in 1953 (originally opened as an O'Neil's store which was a May Company subsidiary and then changed over to a May Company location in April, 1967) and Cedar-Center Plaza at Cedar and Warrensville Roads in University Heights in late 1956 (known locally as "May's on the Heights"). In 1960 a branch was opened at Parmatown Mall in Parma, and another in 1961 at Southgate Shopping Center in Maple Heights (the Southgate store having been originally opened in 1958 by William Taylor & Son Co.). Several mall stores followed in the 1960s and 1970s, including Great Lakes Mall (1964) Great Northern Mall (Ohio) in North Olmsted (1965), Randall Park Mall in North Randall (1976), Euclid Square Mall in Euclid (1977) and Sandusky Mall in Sandusky (1979).

The company also constructed a nine-story warehouse (six stories tall, with three sub-basements) attached to the south side of the Cedar Center Store, designed to handle furniture distribution for Cleveland's eastside. The red brick facility, designed to look like an integrated part of the colossal three- story (plus basement) store was used for a short time, but remained empty from 1960 until the University Heights store was demolished and re-built in 2002 by this time it was re-branded as Kaufmann's.

The May Company specialized in mid to higher-end fashion merchandise and home furnishings, but target price points placed May Company merchandise at, or below its two major competitors in the Cleveland market Higbee's and Halle's. May Company was the first local department store to issue its own gray and white personal charge card, announcing it on July 16, 1966 in a Cleveland Plain Dealer article, breaking away from being part of the Department Stores Charge Plate (a metal card that was notched for each store and used at all participating members which included William Taylor Son & Co., Bailey's, Sterling-Lindner-Davis, The Higbee Company and The Halle Bros. Co.) Higbee's and Halle's continued to remain part of this system until they each issued their plastic charge cards respectively in 1969, the other stores having gone out of business.

In addition to its merchandise, the company was known for its sponsorship of the Eagle Stamp program. Consumers could earn Eagle Stamps on purchases at The May Company as well as on purchases at Pick-N-Pay Supermarkets, Leader Drug Stores, and participating gas stations and dry cleaners. Completed stamp booklets could be redeemed at May Company for $3 credits toward merchandise purchases at May Company stores. The trading stamp program was administered by the May Company-owned Eagle Stamp Company of St. Louis from 1903 to 1987.

Merger with O'Neil's and conversion to Kaufmann's

In 1989, May Company Cleveland, and O'Neil's, based in Akron, were merged to form May Company Ohio, as the May Department Stores began consolidating its regional department store divisions. On January 31, 1993, May Company Ohio was merged into Kaufmann's of Pittsburgh, and its Downtown Cleveland store was closed. Many of its former locations became Macy's in 2006.