Editing Hecht's (section)

=== May Company ===
The Hecht chain was acquired by the [[The May Department Stores Company|May Company]] in 1959. At this time, the historic 1924 Bernheim-Leader store on the corner of Howard and Lexington Streets in Baltimore was renamed Hecht's, becoming its flagship store in the Baltimore area. It closed in 1988, one of the last department stores to remain in the downtown district. In 1998, it was declared a city landmark, and has since been renovated into apartments owned by Southern Management.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Anderson |first1=Jessica |last2=Gantz |first2=Sarah |date=January 1, 2018 |title=David Hillman, CEO of Southern Management Corp. and Baltimore-area Developer |url=http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/obituaries/bs-md-ob-david-hillman-20180101-story.html |department=Obituaries |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Gunts |first=Edward |date=August 19, 1999 |title=Bits of Hecht's History for Sale |url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/1999/08/19/bits-of-hechts-history-for-sale-auction-seven-floors-of-materials-from-the-companys-former-flagship-department-store-downtown-will-go-to-the-highest-bidders-today/ |work=[[The Baltimore Sun]] |access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Atrium: 118 N. Howard Street, Baltimore, MD 21201 |url=https://www.southernmanagement.com/communities/the-atrium/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180730015556/https://www.southernmanagement.com/communities/the-atrium/ |archive-date=July 30, 2018 |url-status=live |publisher=Southern Management |access-date=August 11, 2018}}</ref>

Many other stores acquired later were also rebranded as Hecht's. In 1990, Hecht's acquired four [[Miller & Rhoads]] stores in Virginia.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web|url=https://www.dailypress.com/news/dp-xpm-19901010-1990-10-10-9010110424-story.html|title=MAY TO BUY THALHIMERS FOR $325 MILLION|last=Writer|first=NEIL CORNISH Staff|website=dailypress.com|language=en-US|access-date=2019-04-17}}</ref> That same year, the May company acquired the [[Thalhimers]] chain from [[Carter Hawley Hale]] Stores.<ref name=":0" /> The following year it was announced that the Thalhimers stores would be folded under the Hecht's name.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1991/11/13/15-thalhimers-to-be-turned-into-hecht-stores/c4488657-5cce-4b6b-b1a8-11f700edbd16/|title=15 THALHIMERS TO BE TURNED INTO HECHT STORES|last=Potts|first=Mark|date=13 November 1991|website=The Washington Post|archive-url=https://archive.today/20190417175702/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1991/11/13/15-thalhimers-to-be-turned-into-hecht-stores/c4488657-5cce-4b6b-b1a8-11f700edbd16/?noredirect=on|archive-date=17 April 2019|url-status=live|access-date=16 April 2019}}</ref> When May took over ten [[Hess's]] stores, based in [[Allentown, Pennsylvania]], three of them re-opened as Hecht's and the others were operated by corporate siblings [[Kaufmann's]] and [[Filene's]]. Hecht's acquired [[Wanamaker's]], based in [[Philadelphia]], and [[Woodward & Lothrop]], based in [[Washington, D.C.]], taking over 17 stores acquired in 1995 in joint acquisition with [[JCPenney]]. Fourteen stores were consolidated the same year. Thirteen of Strawbridge and Clothier's stores, based in the Philadelphia area, were acquired in 1996. Following the acquisition, S&C was renamed [[Strawbridge's]]. Their management consolidated with Hecht's the same year, but the Strawbridge name was retained and expanded to all the Philadelphia locations.

In the [[Nashville, Tennessee|Nashville]] area, Hecht's took over selected former [[Castner Knott]] stores, which had been purchased from [[East Tennessee]]–based [[Proffitt's]] in 2001.  Proffitt's previously acquired them as a result of the [[Mercantile Stores]]/[[Dillard's]] merger in 1998, and briefly rebranded them as Proffitt's locations.