What's in a name? A lot, according to Federated Department stores, which is switching the names of 184 of its stores to Macy's by January 2005. The change has been made in two phases. Starting in 2001, Federated linked existing regional department stores to the Macy's name by hyphenating the names of such regional shopping icons as Burdines in the South and Bon Marché in the Northwest to create Burdines-Macy's, Bon-Macy's, and Rich's-Macy's, for example. Consolidating these stores under the Macy's name is a way to emphasize Federated's corporate position and reach, as well as, to leverage the Macy's brand name and reputation on a national level. Some of Federated's 450-plus stores were relabeled under the fancier Bloomingdale's name. According to the company, the change is in name only; management, operations, and goods in the various stores will continue to be the same.