PERSONALITIES

MOST major department stores are dominated by family dynasties--Macy's, Gimbels, Neiman-Marcus, Atlanta's Rich's. The biggest dynasty of all is perpetuated by the descendants of German immigrant Simon Lazarus, who settled in Columbus in 1850 and started a store that eventually blossomed into Federated Department Stores, the largest U.S. department-store chain. Federated's 60 outlets include New York City's Abraham & Straus and Bloomingdale's, Boston's Filene's, Miami's Burdine's and Houston's Foley's. Last week President Ralph Lazarus, 50, interrupted a Hawaiian vacation to negotiate a deal that will add to his chain the 23 stores (including fashionable I. Magnin Co.) owned by Bullock's Inc. of California, thus pushing Federated sales over $1 billion. Dartmouth Graduate Lazarus runs his chain from Cincinnati with the help of his father Fred, 79, who is chairman, encourages autonomy for each store and manages "by influence rather than direction." His goal: to double Federated's present sales within a decade.

WHEN Howard Brennan Johnson was six, he went to work for his father, the founder of the ice-cream chain; he and Sister Dorothy, 8, beamed down from billboards proclaiming that "We love our daddy's ice cream." Now 32, Johnson still works for Daddy--but he is about to become his own boss. Last week he announced that in June Howard Dearing Johnson, now 67, will retire as chief executive of the nation's largest restaurant chain--675 restaurants, 175 motor lodges and annual sales of $127 million--to let his son take over. Young Johnson went to Andover, Yale and Harvard Business School, got his education in the business by moving from counterman to candymaker and finally, five years ago, to president. "I feel rather like Yogi Berra," says Sports Fan Johnson. "He says sure he can be a manager, because he does know a bit about baseball." Young Johnson will concentrate on spreading the chain westward (it now has 70% of its stores east of the Mississippi) and increasing sales of its canned and frozen foods.

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