Federated Department Stores Selects TradeStone Software to Unify Buying Process; Largest US Department Store Operator to More Efficiently Source Domestically and Globally

Business Wire, June 28, 2005

GLOUCESTER, Mass. -- TradeStone Software, the leader in enabling domestic and international sourcing through a Unified Buying Process, today announced Federated Department Stores, Inc., one of the nation's leading department store retailers selected TradeStone Software's Unified Buying Engine and TradeStone Suite to unify the international and domestic sourcing of its private label brands. The software will enable Federated to improve its collaborative processes from design through ordering and delivery.

Federated, along with other leading retailers such as American Eagle Outfitters and The Children's Place, are at the forefront of a new trend in sourcing--the Unified Buying Process. This strategic initiative offers visibility deep into the supply chain by providing a single view of operations such as managing reporting and queries and alerting for exceptions. It also enables critical path management, best practice modeling, workflow and collaboration.

"Our goal is to find new and innovative technologies that allow our designers and merchants to do what they do best -- design and create exciting products," said Macy's Merchandising Group (MMG) President Leonard Marcus. "We chose TradeStone in order for our merchants to efficiently communicate and collaborate with our overseas offices and suppliers around the world."

Federated will use software from TradeStone to build on its current global sourcing investment, increase collaboration between trading partners and improve visibility throughout the global supply chain.

"A major issue in retail is getting creative people like designers and buyers to adopt technology and to give up their dependence on spreadsheets, faxes and emails when sourcing goods world wide," said TradeStone Software CEO Sue Welch. "Sourcing should be easy no matter where a retailer buys its goods, whether it's across the street or across the globe. Companies can gain vast efficiencies by not spending their time going to multiple systems and updating a myriad of spreadsheets to plan, cost, order and track product. Federated is just one example of a company that recognizes that merchants should be freed up to focus on buying and developing products. TradeStone's 'no training' philosophy, combined with our ability to layer across multiple systems to give buyers one view of their buying process, is the key reason why adoption of our technology is so high among buyers."

About Federated Department Stores, Inc.

Federated, with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, is one of the nation's leading department store retailers, with fiscal 2004 sales of more than $15.6 billion. Federated operates more than 450 stores in 34 states, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy's and Bloomingdale's. The company also operates macys.com and Bloomingdale's By Mail.

About TradeStone Software, Inc.

TradeStone Software enables retailers and manufacturers to plan, design, collaborate on and purchase goods from across the world as easily as from across the street. TradeStone's Unified Buying Engine uses Web services technology to layer across an organization's existing infrastructure while its modular software fills in buying process gaps to provide a single view, access and interaction across the entire procurement process. The first and only complete solution for global sourcing and unified order management, TradeStone's intuitive, "No Training" technology helps people throughout the supply chain to collaborate globally, enabling users to focus on speeding innovative products to market. Marquee customers include American Eagle Outfitters, The Children's Place, Deutsche Woolworth and Ocean State Job Lot. TradeStone Software is based in Gloucester, Mass. and can be found on the Web at www.TradeStoneSoftware.com.