Macy's announces new round of closings

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by wnetmacman »

pseudo3d wrote:All of the Texas stores were former Foley's stores, and unsurprisingly, all of them have struggled in recent years. (Greenspoint I'm not surprised to have FINALLY be biting the dust, Parkdale I thought was okay, Collin Creek I thought was rather nice).
All of the stores around Dallas that were pre-1987 Foley's were former Sanger Harris stores. And Macy's has been destroying or closing those one-by-one anyway. Only one of the old Mural stores still exists. Macy's killed the mural on the other.
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by architect »

mbz321 wrote:
storewanderer wrote:Macy's really confuses me. Every year they "restructure" and seem to have some sort of major downsizing thing after the holidays. It appears every year it gets worse and more drastic. I don't know what to think, I think they have a strong brand and a good product mix. They seem to have a ton of people with in-house credit cards too. Most places I go, Macy's mix of products is much better than that of the other mall anchors (Sears or JC Penney) and with all of the sales/coupons Macys runs, you can do well there if you play your cards right and show up on the right day of the week at the right time. I also have had good experiences ordering from Macys.com last year a couple times; easy to place the order, accurate shipping, quickly, even included some free samples of skin care products.
The Macy's brand is still strong in major cities, however outside of those, Macy's is really nothing special. Besides a couple of 'fancier' brands, it is the same crap you can pick up anywhere. They've really never really targeted a younger generation of shoppers. I know when I think of Macy's, it's a place where my mom or grandma would shop. As someone in their mid 20's, I can't think of the last time I've been in or bought anything at Macy's...besides the annoyance of driving to a mall, they just don't have anything that I couldn't easily get at Kohl's or Ross.
The biggest challenge Macy's has faced is simply a lack of effective merchandising in their smaller/less urban stores. Although their flagship-level stores have an extensive product selection which easily exceeds most mid-level department stores, their mid-tier and smaller locations have suffered due to the fact that the selection in these stores is not well curated for each market. For example, the closing store in Tyler, TX (which is a smaller store at 100,000 sq ft.) has shifted their clothing selection over the past couple of years to target a more urban clientele. However, the majority of the shoppers at the Tyler store traditionally have had high disposable incomes, and are looking for products which skew either high-end, professional, preppy or are reliable fashion standbys. Simply put, the store lost touch with its community. Compared to Tyler's Dillards store, this Macy's skewed noticeably lower-end under Macy's leadership, which was certainly not the case as a Foley's (or in it's original banner under Sanger Harris).

Before Macy's began it's regional shopping spree in the 2000's, the majority of their acquired chains were known for high-quality products which both fit the needs of the regions and each individual store. After Macy's took over, their centralized buying structure drastically set them back as a company, in my opinion. By eliminating most buying positions at the local/regional level, buyers were too disconnected from the stores and were only able to interpret shopper behavior on a raw numbers basis.

As a shopper in my 20's, I can completely relate to mbz321. Although I have occasionally made great purchases at Macy's, their mid-tier stores leave so much to be desired selection-wise that I don't even bother shopping there anymore unless if I have access to a top tier location.
wnetmacman wrote:
pseudo3d wrote:All of the Texas stores were former Foley's stores, and unsurprisingly, all of them have struggled in recent years. (Greenspoint I'm not surprised to have FINALLY be biting the dust, Parkdale I thought was okay, Collin Creek I thought was rather nice).
All of the stores around Dallas that were pre-1987 Foley's were former Sanger Harris stores. And Macy's has been destroying or closing those one-by-one anyway. Only one of the old Mural stores still exists. Macy's killed the mural on the other.
Actually, many of these stores closed or were headed towards closure even prior to Macy's takeover. Locations at North Hills Mall and Six Flags Mall both closed in the early 2000's. Valley View was already headed downhill when Macy's took over, and the redundancy with their Dallas Galleria store only hastened the store's closure. Southwest Center has been on life support for years, and it is amazing that Macy's stuck it out as long as they did considering the numerous failed redevelopment proposals the mall has been through. The Collin Creek store was healthy when Macy's took over, but has been hurt by newer malls in Allen, Plano and Garland, plus the fact that it is located within a reasonable drive of Northpark further down 75. Tyler is a bit of an oddity as incomes are high in the city, but my guess is that the store's isolated location and small size make the store difficult to operate profitably. In addition, many residents of Tyler have become accustomed to coming to Dallas for shopping anyways.

It is truly sad that the Sanger Harris era is quickly being erased however. The only remaining "mural" store is the Macy's at Hulen Mall in Fort Worth, which is a smaller mall that has slipped in recent years due to competition from both the Parks in Arlington and North East Mall, and also an urban undercurrent which has begun to creep in at Hulen. The ironic thing is, the surrounding neighborhoods and shopping areas are still extremely successful, and clearly have enough buying power to support a good B-tier mall. It will be an interesting store to watch.
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by Super S »

One problem with Macy's is that they scaled back and watered down their product mix a bit as they took over regional chains. Electronics departments, auto centers, toy departments, not to mention various restaurants, were eliminated. When a store is in the 100,000-200,000 square foot range and up, it is hard to justify having that much space for mainly softlines items which are not exclusive to the chain. And in a store that big, there should be sufficient variety. But many ignore things like big & tall and plus sizes and have a very narrow range across the board.

A store that tries to convey a more upscale image misses the mark though when some items are the same things you can find at stores like Walmart. Price is all that matters to many people.
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by storewanderer »

Macy's has a much better reputation in California/Nevada. I am in my early 30's and all of my coworkers (similar aged to me and middle aged) shop at Macy's as do most other people I know. It is a very popular store and has the reputation as the best place in town to go buy clothes. The place with the most brands, the better brands, the best selection. Never hear much good about the service, though. I have observed similar healthy looking mixtures of demographics when visiting Macy's other locations in this region.

I think Macy's has an identity problem in a lot of other markets where they acquired other chains, did not properly update stores, did not properly merchandise stores, and as a result did not give customers a real reason to go into the stores. Just because the sign says Macy's is not going to make people shop there, it is going to be about what the store has to offer.

But Macy's in the former Macy's West markets is well positioned and has a great reputation.
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by veteran+ »

IMO, Macy's, specifically and relative to its history, made a huge mistake in trying to be a Federated Stores Inc. type company compromised of a collection of regional "mid to high end" department stores.

The Macy's (or Gimbels) of New York is what they should have maintained and cultivated, SELECTIVELY, in certain large cosmopolitan cities. Instead they became a national chain of department stores trying to accommodate and serve communities that they did not have the skill to serve much less even have a presence in the first place.

Perhaps if they downsize sufficiently to prune those stores in communities that they should not be in and reduce the number of duplications in communities where they DO belong in.............they might have a chance to survive and retain viability and vitality!
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by Super S »

veteran+ wrote:
The Macy's (or Gimbels) of New York is what they should have maintained and cultivated, SELECTIVELY, in certain large cosmopolitan cities. Instead they became a national chain of department stores trying to accommodate and serve communities that they did not have the skill to serve much less even have a presence in the first place.
Makes you wonder if this was partly why Macy's hung on to so many downtown types of stores for so long after taking over Meier & Frank and The Bon.
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by rwsandiego »

storewanderer wrote:Macy's has a much better reputation in California/Nevada. I am in my early 30's and all of my coworkers (similar aged to me and middle aged) shop at Macy's as do most other people I know. It is a very popular store and has the reputation as the best place in town to go buy clothes. The place with the most brands, the better brands, the best selection. Never hear much good about the service, though. I have observed similar healthy looking mixtures of demographics when visiting Macy's other locations in this region.

I think Macy's has an identity problem in a lot of other markets where they acquired other chains, did not properly update stores, did not properly merchandise stores, and as a result did not give customers a real reason to go into the stores. Just because the sign says Macy's is not going to make people shop there, it is going to be about what the store has to offer.

But Macy's in the former Macy's West markets is well positioned and has a great reputation.
It is funny you should say that because when I moved to California and first shopped at Macy's the word "impressed" did not describe my reaction. In San Diego they had (and still have) dumpy stores, even in upscale malls like UTC and Fashion Valley. Compared to Marshall Field's and Carson Pirie Scott, where I shopped in Chicago, they were sorely lacking. That's what drove me to pay extra and shop at Nordstrom. I never shopped there in Chicago (didn't have to), but sure did in SoCal.
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by Super S »

I paid a visit to the Kelso Macy's today to see what they had. I haven't been inside this store since the Bon days. I can see why it is closing though. At 51,000 square feet this is one of the smaller ones, and it shows in how small the departments are. It was always difficult to find men's clothing here. Today was no exception. And the other departments also have a more limited selection. As for prices, they are still on the high side across the board. I did not buy anything and do not plan to return as absolutely nothing interested me.

But one other thing that stuck out was that this store has not seen much in the way of remodeling since it opened as The Bon in 1987. The recessed light fixtures were basic 2'x4' units with a translucent lens that do their job but seem out of place in an "upscale" store. There were also a number of bulbs burned out. I also noticed the marble-looking floor tile which I think was also original and showing its age with cracks here and there, and an obvious lack of maintenance as the shine was worn. And on the outside, the paint was definitely aging, but the same can be said about the rest of the mall.

A store that tries to be upscale and has prices to match needs to keep its appearance up to date though.
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by jamcool »

According to reports today, Hudson's Bay Company-owner of Saks 5th Ave-is interested in buying Macy's
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by storewanderer »

Retail in Canada is a totally different game than in the US. Based on what I saw of The Bay (and Saks), Macys foot traffic is in to drop like a rock if promotions get cut off and "The Bay" and Saks seem less than promotional. It might not be a bad thing... US retailers probably do need to stop smoking so much of the 50% off plus 20% extra off WOW Pass promotion crack... maybe foreign ownership will be what it takes.
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