What's in a name? At The Bon stores, it's 'Macy's'.

Byline: RETAIL NOTEBOOK By Edward Russo The Register-Guard

First shopping carts, now a new name for a venerable Northwest retailer. What will the folks at Federated Department Stores Inc. think of next?

The New York-based conglomerate last week announced that it's renaming The Bon Marche to Bon-Macy's.

Federated owns Macy's, an upscale merchant and well-known sponsor of the New York City Thanksgiving Day parade, plus five regional department stores including Seattle-based The Bon. (Federated owns Bloomingdale's, too, but it's not about to monkey with that name.)

By August, the names of the regional department stores are supposed to be hyphenated with Macy's in a bid to boost image and sales.

The name change is part of Federated's fight to compete in a glutted retail environment.

Borrowing a page from discount store rivals, The Bon in Eugene's Valley River Center last fall was among the first Federated stores to roll out shopping carts for customers. It also installed centralized check-out stands and price-tag-reading scanners so customers can get the latest regular and sale prices. Federated plans to spend $100 million this year on these and other elements of its survival strategy.

University of Oregon marketing professor Lynn Kahle said Federated may lose points with Northwesterners who know The Bon Marche, but it will gain panache with people familiar with Macy's.

Also, with a common name, the stores will be able to produce advertisements that - with minor modifications - can be used all over the country, thereby saving Federated ad production costs.

"It does sound like it will generate efficiencies in their marketing efforts," Kahle said. "It also would provide brand consistency" among the various stores.

"The Macy's name is a nationally known name," he said. "So when there is a Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, that does very little good for the Bon Marche in Eugene. (But) in the future, seeing that parade may make local people want to shop at the local Bon-Macy's in Eugene."

Might Federated drop Bon from the name and just go with Macy's one day?

Federated Chief Executive Terry Lundgren, in an interview with Bloomberg News last week, wouldn't rule that possibility out.

Doctor's offices are supposed to be clean, but they don't have to look sterile, as Dr. John Hunts is demonstrating.

Hunts recently moved his practice, Aesthetic Surgical Arts, into a building that he developed near Oasis Plaza in north Eugene.

The 10,000-square-foot-structure, built at a cost of $3 million, has many windows, tall cedar beam ceilings and other pleasant features.

Hunts is an art lover, and his offices have become the Jacobs Gallery's first off-site venue. The works of Eugene artist Jerry Ross are on display. Hunts' practice will sponsor next winter's art exhibit in the Jacobs Gallery.

Hunts specializes in plastic and reconstructive surgery of the eyelid. He estimates that three-fourths of his patients require medical treatment, with the rest seeking cosmetic touch-ups, such as facial liposuction, facelifts, brow lifts, carbon dioxide, laser peels, Botox injections and chin implants.

Retail Notebook runs Thursdays. Edward Russo can be reached at 338-2359 or [e-mail].