The Macys-izaton of America

[DeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by verobeach

Is anyone else pissed at the Macys-ization of our malls? First it was Jordan Marsh, then Filenes in the Boston area that disappeared. In Chicago they gobbled up Marshall Fields. Will Macys be all that's left? Their merchandise is cheesy, the bottom of the spectrum. We're being robbed of our choices when it comes to department store shopping. Not to mention our memories of Marshall Fields or Filenes. Must we all look the same, dressed in shiny, poor quality Macy's duds?

Macy's went down in the 90's when they were bought out by "Federated"...

[Tek_Freek]

Originally Posted by verobeach

Is anyone else pissed at the Macys-ization of our malls? First it was Jordan Marsh, then Filenes in the Boston area that disappeared. In Chicago they gobbled up Marshall Fields. Will Macys be all that's left? Their merchandise is cheesy, the bottom of the spectrum. We're being robbed of our choices when it comes to department store shopping. Not to mention our memories of Marshall Fields or Filenes. Must we all look the same, dressed in shiny, poor quality Macy's duds?

My wife is a native Chi-Town girl. We went to Chicago last fall for the tut exhibit (right after the take over) and she still calls it Marshall Fields. And always will...

[gardener34]

The whole - Marshall Field's changing the name to macy's thing is a HUGE controversy STILL here in chicagoland.

In the name of the almighty "branding" they really messed it up in most people's minds here.

The truth is though, that Marshall Field's used to be an awesome place to shop, then it got bought out by Dayton-Hudson who used all the Field's profits to open up more Target stores (which they also own) and ran the Field's chain into the ground. They "Targetized" the Field's image and messed up the branding big time. Field's did not have a chance under D.H.

I personally miss all the little chains that used to be in the malls around here. Charles A. Stevens, Madigans, Weiboldt's. And there were a lot of private local clothing and shoe stores that had great merchandise too.

Now every is dressed the same and everything is a chain. Hate it.

[jhlcomp]

Real quality clothing is a thing of the past. I've even noticed on some of the really expensive designer clothing, quality is also questionable. I don't like the direction things are going - whether in clothing, leather products, and so forth. And this goes all the way to housing - we are all sacrificing quality in what we are buying. As long as we are willing to pay for substandard merchandise, that is all we will be given.

[katzenfreund]

There are several Walmart stores up here in Central MA, they will never get 1 cent out of me. I refuse to shop there. Ugly stores, ugly clothing and the treatment of their employees, a disgrace. Not to mention the slave labor goods they sell, the tax deals they demand from towns etc. Walmart stinks.

[Travel'r]

Originally Posted by jhlcomp

Real quality clothing is a thing of the past. I've even noticed on some of the really expensive designer clothing, quality is also questionable. I don't like the direction things are going - whether in clothing, leather products, and so forth. And this goes all the way to housing - we are all sacrificing quality in what we are buying. As long as we are willing to pay for substandard merchandise, that is all we will be given.

Had to quote it all -- Bingo!
Probably why 90% of my clothes are from QVC these days (Not even a Sax in my neck of the woods

We used to have Strawbridge & Clothier in Philly. Worked and shopped there. I'd have been fiired on the spot by Stockton, Peter, Francis or Steven Strawbridge (who were always present in their stores) if I'd ever attempted to display the "customer service" I have observed in the Macy's (as well as Boscov's) near me! No wonder 0 purchases on three attempts to that utterly worthless mall for clothes I actually needed since moving ...

[dreamofmonterey]

Originally Posted by jhlcomp

Real quality clothing is a thing of the past. I've even noticed on some of the really expensive designer clothing, quality is also questionable. I don't like the direction things are going - whether in clothing, leather products, and so forth. And this goes all the way to housing - we are all sacrificing quality in what we are buying. As long as we are willing to pay for substandard merchandise, that is all we will be given.

And this is a trend of American retail.

I pay more at Steinmart- Last Jan I had a ton of clothes I was buying- at the checkout I noticed two blazers had buttons falling off- I mentioned this to the manager- she was rude- so I just said thats fine put it back then.... Then she panicked and offered to have her girl sew the buttons on. Lol- Big box stores= no customer service- people spending money will just refuse to shop there. for the past year that Steinmart has had like 5 people in it.

American companies- you reap what you sow.

sunny

[citigirl]

Macy's used to be great! Good quality, large selection. I had not shopped there in 7 years because there was none where I moved. In January I went to a Macy's and spent $1200. Prices were good but after two or three washings the clothes looked like I bought them from a thrift store. Lauren pants would stretch out two sizes bigger when worn, Charter Club socks developed holes after only wearing them a few times. My washable sweaters looked like I had worn them every day for three winters and I had only washed them 4 times. Others had buttons fall off or seams starting to come apart. I wrote Macy's and they did say "I'm sorry you are dissapointed with your shopping experiance" .....Hey thanks. Never again.