Macy's announces new round of closings

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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by rwsandiego »

Jeff wrote:Mission Valley is not a shocker. It has the more upscale cleaner modern store at Fashion Valley across the freeway. Sad to see another classic May Co building close though (even though they scaled the store to 2 levels)...
The Mission Valley store, although a dump, had the better men's department, IMO. Better selection plus a helpful and long-term staff. When Macy's took over the store they introduced upscale brands that weren't sold at other Macy's, such as Eagle and Ralph Lauren dress shirts. I always thought they should have consolidated the department store into Fashion Valley (maybe expand FV - it is soooo crowded) and remodel the MV location into an expanded Home Store and Furniture Gallery to replace the existing location that is in the former Bullock's.
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. ...
When you first posted this I made the comment that in Southern California they do not have such a great reputation not to mention not so great stores. Having moved to Phoenix I have to tell you it is an entirely different story. The Biltmore and Scottsdale stores are really quite nice. At first I thought it was a function of the area, but the UTC store in San Diego is in LaJolla and hasn't been touched since it opened as The Broadway back in the 1980's. I think their Phoneix management plus the presence of Dillards helps.
storewanderer wrote:...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. ...
Very true. Like I said, SD and LA are markets with extremely dumpy stores. Interestingly, the former Robinsons-May locations are actually nicer than the existing Macy's stores.
storewanderer wrote:...But Macy's in the former Macy's West markets is well positioned and has a great reputation.
I think this is true of the stores Macy's West ran prior to acquiring Bullock's and Broadway.
jamcool wrote:According to reports today, Hudson's Bay Company-owner of Saks 5th Ave-is interested in buying Macy's
According to this article in Retail Dive, the merger is at a standstill due to price.

In my little fantasy world, Macy's sells the State Street, Old Orchard, Woodfield, and Oakbrook Center stores to Hudson's Bay who restores both the Marshall Field's name and merchandise mix. That, of course, is as likely as me opening my balcony door and finding that all my empty moving boxes and packing material have transformed into a billion dollars in cash.

A fella can dream, can't he?
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by CalItalian »

I've been to the Phoenix area Macy's locations. I don't think much of them. NONE of them have Locker Room by Lids. Many of the specialty departments that Macy's now features are not in one or more stores in the Phoenix area. Macy's has very nice stores in Torrance Del Amo, Westside Pavilion, Sherman Oaks Fashion Square, Valencia Town Center, Beverly Center (ALL are better than anything in Phoenix)...just to name a few. Plus Century City is getting a brand new built from the ground up Macy's in a couple of months. Manhattan Beach soon will be enlarging the main Macy's about 40% and consolidating the two Macy's locations there with a complete remodel.

I don't know what you mean by the former Robinsons-May stores are actually nicer than the existing Macy's stores. My main Macy's has always been the Westside Pavilion and Macy's has made MANY improvements to the store over what it was as a Robinsons-May. The store was just sold for $50 million in February so I don't know if they plan on continuing to operate it or not once the new Century City location opens (although Macy's has operated locations in both malls for years). Nordstrom is moving from the Westside Pavilion to a brand new store in the Westfield Century City, though.

Nicest Macy's I've been in (for men's dept.):

1. New York Flagship
2. San Francisco Downtown
3. Santa Clara Valley Fair
4. Chicago State St.
5. Las Vegas Fashion Show
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by mbz321 »

I came across this interesting article that says Macy's is trying to shift to a more self-service format with a greater selection of clearance merchandise, but is it 'too little, too late' for that kind of change?
http://www.businessinsider.com/macys-is ... axx-2017-3
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Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

Post by rwsandiego »

CalItalian wrote:I've been to the Phoenix area Macy's locations. I don't think much of them. NONE of them have Locker Room by Lids. Many of the specialty departments that Macy's now features are not in one or more stores in the Phoenix area. Macy's has very nice stores in Torrance Del Amo, Westside Pavilion, Sherman Oaks Fashion Square, Valencia Town Center, Beverly Center (ALL are better than anything in Phoenix)...just to name a few. Plus Century City is getting a brand new built from the ground up Macy's in a couple of months. Manhattan Beach soon will be enlarging the main Macy's about 40% and consolidating the two Macy's locations there with a complete remodel.

I don't know what you mean by the former Robinsons-May stores are actually nicer than the existing Macy's stores. My main Macy's has always been the Westside Pavilion and Macy's has made MANY improvements to the store over what it was as a Robinsons-May. The store was just sold for $50 million in February so I don't know if they plan on continuing to operate it or not once the new Century City location opens (although Macy's has operated locations in both malls for years). Nordstrom is moving from the Westside Pavilion to a brand new store in the Westfield Century City, though.

Nicest Macy's I've been in (for men's dept.):

1. New York Flagship
2. San Francisco Downtown
3. Santa Clara Valley Fair
4. Chicago State St.
5. Las Vegas Fashion Show
I'm not a big Lids shopper, so the absence of a Locker Room by Lids is not a huge loss for me. The Scottsdale store is much more orderly and picked-up than the Macy's I've visited in Southern California. Biltmore was, too. haven't visited Chandler Fashion Square yet. Arrowhead was a little trashed, but in fairness they were having a huge clearance sale. Regarding former RM's that are nicer that nearby Macy's, I offer the following:
    Plaza Bontia is a nicer, more recently remodeled store than downtown Chula Vista
      Parkway Plaza is in much better condition that Grossmont Center
        Main Place Santa Ana's Men's and Home was a nicer, more updated store than the main Macy's

        I'm eager to see the New York Flagship store now that it has been renovated. When I was there in 2012 the place was pretty dumpy. Compared to State Street or Union Square it looked like a Walmart. As much as it pains me to say it, I think Macy's has done a better job maintaining State Street than Dayton-Hudson did. D-H did some great things, like the complete renovation and the creation of the central court in what was previously an alley, but they did not really take care of the store. Macy's also kept much of the high-end china and rugs.
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        Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

        Post by Super S »

        mbz321 wrote:I came across this interesting article that says Macy's is trying to shift to a more self-service format with a greater selection of clearance merchandise, but is it 'too little, too late' for that kind of change?
        http://www.businessinsider.com/macys-is ... axx-2017-3
        Macy's needs to figure out what it wants to be. You can't have everything. Upscale image and self-service are not the best combo. But quality isn't necessarily any better at Macy's than at Walmart these days.

        What I almost see happening is a handful of the better stores retaining the Macy's name and sticking to the department store format, with others taking on a clearance/discount format, possibly with a different name.

        However, I have also noticed that Macy's seems to be closing many of the separate clearance centers (some which closed just before the regular stores in the same malls such as Kelso) so who knows.
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        Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

        Post by CalItalian »

        rwsandiego wrote:
        CalItalian wrote:I've been to the Phoenix area Macy's locations. I don't think much of them. NONE of them have Locker Room by Lids. Many of the specialty departments that Macy's now features are not in one or more stores in the Phoenix area. Macy's has very nice stores in Torrance Del Amo, Westside Pavilion, Sherman Oaks Fashion Square, Valencia Town Center, Beverly Center (ALL are better than anything in Phoenix)...just to name a few. Plus Century City is getting a brand new built from the ground up Macy's in a couple of months. Manhattan Beach soon will be enlarging the main Macy's about 40% and consolidating the two Macy's locations there with a complete remodel.

        I don't know what you mean by the former Robinsons-May stores are actually nicer than the existing Macy's stores. My main Macy's has always been the Westside Pavilion and Macy's has made MANY improvements to the store over what it was as a Robinsons-May. The store was just sold for $50 million in February so I don't know if they plan on continuing to operate it or not once the new Century City location opens (although Macy's has operated locations in both malls for years). Nordstrom is moving from the Westside Pavilion to a brand new store in the Westfield Century City, though.

        Nicest Macy's I've been in (for men's dept.):

        1. New York Flagship
        2. San Francisco Downtown
        3. Santa Clara Valley Fair
        4. Chicago State St.
        5. Las Vegas Fashion Show
        I'm not a big Lids shopper, so the absence of a Locker Room by Lids is not a huge loss for me. The Scottsdale store is much more orderly and picked-up than the Macy's I've visited in Southern California. Biltmore was, too. haven't visited Chandler Fashion Square yet. Arrowhead was a little trashed, but in fairness they were having a huge clearance sale. Regarding former RM's that are nicer that nearby Macy's, I offer the following:
          Plaza Bontia is a nicer, more recently remodeled store than downtown Chula Vista
            Parkway Plaza is in much better condition that Grossmont Center
              Main Place Santa Ana's Men's and Home was a nicer, more updated store than the main Macy's

              I'm eager to see the New York Flagship store now that it has been renovated. When I was there in 2012 the place was pretty dumpy. Compared to State Street or Union Square it looked like a Walmart. As much as it pains me to say it, I think Macy's has done a better job maintaining State Street than Dayton-Hudson did. D-H did some great things, like the complete renovation and the creation of the central court in what was previously an alley, but they did not really take care of the store. Macy's also kept much of the high-end china and rugs.
              Macy's South Bay Galleria (Redondo Beach) was a Robinsons-May. It's a very large 4 story store but only 3 being used now (the basement isn't used at all with a walled off area where customers can see where an escalator obviously was). Physical structure is poorly maintained (although it does have a staffed Locker Room by Lids). It was never upgraded as a Robinsons-May, unlike the Westside Pavilion location, and still contains (cracked) tile flooring from 30+ years ago.

              Macy's Montebello Town Center. Main store, which includes Men's, was a Robinsons-May. In the Men's department on the second floor, they still have (taped up in places) green carpeting & cracked fake bamboo flooring from the Robinsons-May era. Another poorly maintained store.

              Macy's Puente Hills mall. Another former Robinsons-May and somewhat smaller location. Poorly stocked and maintained. It has had some remodeling since the Robinsons-May days but there are still features, such as the floor tile, that you can tell are left over from that era.

              So many Robinsons-May stores were closed in SoCal vs. former (mostly) Bullock's, Broadway stores that remain Macy's today. Just some of the former Robinsons-Mays off the top of my head close in to or within Los Angeles: Santa Monica (now Nordstrom - built as a Robinsons), Fox Hills Mall Culver City (demolished - built as a May Company), Beverly Hills (demolished - flagship Robinsons with marble floors), Downtown Los Angeles (now Target - built as a May Company), Torrance Del Amo (one of two Robinsons-Mays is now a Jo-Ann (first floor) and Dick's Sporting Goods (soon to open on 2nd/3rd floors), North Hollywood (recently closed), The Promenade Woodland Hills (closed/demolished), Northridge (partial closing - 1st floor is sealed off, 2nd/3rd floor is Macy's Men's & Home).
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              State Street "Macy's" Selling Upper Floors

              Post by SamSpade »

              Macy's puts State Street flagship up for sale — at least, top half of it
              Chicago "Loop" store.

              Of course, they promise to leave the Walnut Room unchanged. I still wonder if more people would have continued to see the downtown Portland store if it had the Georgian Room restaurant. But, after the remodel, that was one of the spaces that moved to the hotel floors.
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              Re: State Street "Macy's" Selling Upper Floors

              Post by rwsandiego »

              SamSpade wrote:Macy's puts State Street flagship up for sale — at least, top half of it
              Chicago "Loop" store.

              Of course, they promise to leave the Walnut Room unchanged. I still wonder if more people would have continued to see the downtown Portland store if it had the Georgian Room restaurant. But, after the remodel, that was one of the spaces that moved to the hotel floors.
              Macy's has done a decent job maintaining the store, but it is time for a refresh. At least they are keeping the selling floors, although my guess is at least one will be converted to offices.

              Thanks for posting this.
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              Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

              Post by J-Man »

              So many Robinsons-May stores were closed in SoCal vs. former (mostly) Bullock's, Broadway stores that remain Macy's today. Just some of the former Robinsons-Mays off the top of my head close in to or within Los Angeles: Santa Monica (now Nordstrom - built as a Robinsons), Fox Hills Mall Culver City (demolished - built as a May Company), Beverly Hills (demolished - flagship Robinsons with marble floors), Downtown Los Angeles (now Target - built as a May Company), Torrance Del Amo (one of two Robinsons-Mays is now a Jo-Ann (first floor) and Dick's Sporting Goods (soon to open on 2nd/3rd floors), North Hollywood (recently closed), The Promenade Woodland Hills (closed/demolished), Northridge (partial closing - 1st floor is sealed off, 2nd/3rd floor is Macy's Men's & Home).
              Also the Pasadena store (built as Robinson's), which is now a Target, and the Arcadia/Santa Anita Mall store (built as Robinson's) which was heavily remodeled into Forever 21 and some smaller stores. The Puente Hills Robinsons-May (opened as Robinson's) became a Macy's.
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              Re: Macy's announces new round of closings

              Post by SamSpade »

              With release of Q1 earnings, a lot of the M.S.M. is taking notice of troubles at Macy's and others.
              The unfortunate thing about Macy’s’: Just about everything
              Macy's, Kohl's and JCPenney stocks all taking a hit.
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