Harper new Macy’s Home pres/coo, Osborn to retire

By Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 7/16/2007 2:02:00 PM

Cincinnati -- Macy's has named John Harper president and chief operating officer of its New York-based Macy's Home Store division, effective Aug. 6. Harper replaces Michael Osborn, who retires effective Aug. 3 after more than 33 years with the company.

Harper currently serves as vice chairman and director of stores of the Macy's Midwest division in St. Louis. He joins Tim Adams, chairman and ceo, and Jeffrey Kantor, president for furniture, as principals of the Macy's Home Store division, which is responsible for the centralized buying, merchandising and marketing of home furnishings for Macy's stores nationwide. Harper will report to Adams. 

Harper has been vice chairman and director of stores at Macy's Midwest since February 2006. Previously, he served since 2004 as chairman of Hecht's/Strawbridge's, then an Arlington, VA-based division. He also served Hecht's/Strawbridge's as senior vice president/finance, senior vice president/operations and vice president/profit management. Harper joined The May Department Stores Company at its Kaufmann's division in 1983. He held numerous accounting, strategic planning, and financial positions at the Kaufmann's, L.S. Ayres, and Famous-Barr divisions prior to joining Hecht's as vice president and controller in 1993. 

Osborn joined Macy's Home Store in August 2005 after serving as president and chief operating officer of San Francisco-based Macy's West since 2002. He began his retailing career in the data processing area at Bullock's, then a division of Federated, in 1974. He became vice president of operations for Bullock's in 1984 and in 1989 moved to Burdines as senior vice president of operations. In 1993, Osborn was named executive vice president of administration at Stern's, then a separate division of Federated. He was named president and chief operating officer of Burdines in 1994 and president of Macy's West in June 2002.