Tale of 2 Dayton, Ohio, department stores.

Byline: Jaclyn Giovis

Jul. 9--DAYTON, Ohio -- Cash registers at Dayton's two major department store retailers, Federated Department Stores Inc. and The Bon-Ton/Elder-Beerman Stores Inc., are singing different tunes.

Federated, the Cincinnati- and New York-based parent company of Lazarus-Macy's and six other store brands, saw June same-store sales climb 3.4 percent from the previous month, while Bon-Ton/Elder-Beerman combined same-store sales declined 3.2 percent, according to announcements by both companies Thursday.

Year-to-date, Federated's same-store sales were up 5.3 percent, while Bon-Ton/Elder-Beerman was down 2 percent.

For the five …