Michael Steinberg, a landscaper and owner of a nursery business who became one of the nation’s top department store merchants for two-and-a-half decades, passed away on Saturday following a long illness. He was 97.

Steinberg reached the pinnacle of his retail career in 1993 when he came out of retirement to become chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s West, based in San Francisco, which at the time operated the Bullock’s division in California as well as Macy’s stores in California, Hawaii and the Southwest. He was credited with elevating the revenues, profits and image of Macy’s West, successfully differentiating it from regional department store competitors, and evolving Macy’s private labels into private brands, with in-store shops, professional sales associates and full-price

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