Fingerhut to be sold or closed

Thursday, Jan. 17, 2002 | 9:43 a.m.

CINCINNATI -- Federated Department Stores Inc. will sell or shut down its Fingerhut catalog retailing unit after enduring millions of dollars in losses since buying Fingerhut for $1.7 billion in 1999.

Federated, a $15 billion-a-year retailer whose stores include Macy's and Bloomingdale's, said Wednesday it will list the Minneapolis-based Fingerhut unit as a discontinued operation, effective with the fourth quarter of 2001.

Closing Fingerhut would put about 6,000 people out of work, including 4,700 in Minnesota, where the company was started.

Fingerhut's credit outreach to a lower-income market had sharply contrasted with Federated's core department store operations.

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