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Kroger generally doesn't change the name of its acquisitions, but will rebanner/consolidate stores on a market to market basis (see: Smith's/Fred Meyer/Fry's - Fry's/Fry's Marketplace in AZ, or the rebannering of Copp's stores to Pick N Save in Wisconsin)
Harris Teeter and Mariano's are a bit different since they don't use any of the Kroger decor packages.
Here in North Carolina, Macy's never really had a huge footprint due in part to the proliferation of Belk stores. I'd describe both as being in the same tier, but Belk's clothing is a little more "southern" and "preppy".Hecht's built a few new stores in NC back in the early-mid '00s, but Macy's has not built a single new store in NC ever since they took over Hecht's (understandable to an extent, since no new malls were built from 2006-2014). Belk OTOH, started putting up stores in larger open air centers during this time period.
I'd put Dillard's in the same boat as Macy's in NC, even though Dillard's came in via the acquisition of Ivey's. (Macy's came in via Hecht's, which was based around DC)
As you mention, in NC all the Macy's stores were former Hecht's stores acquired from the May Co. Hecht's was popular in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, and had expanded into NC after acquiring Thalhimer's from Richmond. Some of those former Hecht's stores in Raleigh, Charlotte, and Greensboro have closed in the last year. The nicer stores in the higher end malls such as SouthPoint, Crabtree, and SouthPark have remained open. But Belk remains the dominant department store retailer in its home base of the Carolinas, and has nice large flagship stores as well as small town stores catering to the individual markets. Although no longer owned by the founding Belk family, as it was sold to a private investment firm a year or so ago. In recent years Belk also acquired Parisian and Proffit's stores from Saks Inc.
In SC, the Macy's stores in Greenville and Columbia were formerly Rich's stores headquartered in Atlanta, which was also part of the Lazarus division of Federated before being merged into Macy's. The Columbia store is in a declining mall, whereas Belk and Dillard's are in the better shopping center. It is unclear if Macy's may move to a better location, as they own their current property, although it is a very poor location.
Metro Atlanta has actually only "lost" two Macy's (originally Atlanta based Rich's stores) of the nearly twenty Rich's they had before consolidation (North Dekalb and Cobb Center). What they have really lost, however, is market share. Before kicking out the premium Rich's name, those stores had much higher sales volume and a store that a MAJORITY of Atlantans utilized. Part of Macy's problem, I believe was image. Atlanta was one of the few markets that had Macy's AND Rich's stores. Being the "hometown" chain, Rich's was decidedly more upscale even in the suburbs, much less uptown at their former flagship store at Lenox Square. Rich's, Lenox Square had offerings more akin to Bloomingdale's than Macy's. Macy's came into Atlanta in the mid 1980's when they rebadged their Davison's stores they had owned for decades. They remained a fairly upscale southern division of Macy's until Federated bought Macy's in the mid 1990's.
As I said, Rich's was left as the more "upscale" division, even at their suburban stores, and Macy's was more downscale (think "Penny's with Polo" or like the way smalltown Belk stores are merchandised across the South.) By the time of the hyphenated Rich's-Macy's consolidated stores, none of the Macy's (former Davison's) stores had been remodeled in a decade and most Rich's stores had been constantly updated. That is why the Rich's stores across Metro Atlanta almost always held the the consolidated store, while the Macy's usually was sold or simply went dark. The only legacy Davison's store still open is at Northlake Mall where there NEVER was a Rich's in the first place. (Rich's was at nearby smaller North Dekalb Mall)
Macy's could survive, I think, by buying back LOTS of goodwill and simply bringing back the legacy nameplates, or at least the customer service that used to be the hallmark of a department store. Smaller divisions that could concentrate on local tastes also could help. Spin off former divisions into smaller companies that could be nimble and react to local trends?
Kmart still has a pretty decent footprint in the northeast. Call up Eddie Lampert and make a deal with him to take over the Kmart stores. The reason I say this is because they already have the built in infrastructure of distribution, buyers, etc. so you don't have to recreate a whole chain from scratch.
Pick one market Kmart is still strong in, PLUS open up three stores in Columbus (former home of Gold Circle), to test a resurrected Gold Circle.
If the test results meet your requirements, proceed with the purchase of Kmart. If not, then you'd better figure out something different for Macy's because it's a goner.
The Gold Circle stores operated by Federated were indeed popular back in the day, as well as their sister chain Richway in the southeast. I believe most of these stores were converted to Target, which was owned by Dayton-Hudson. The Dayton-Hudson stores later became Marshall Field's, which was eventually converted to Macy's, owned by Federated. Federated merged with May Co. and all of these regional names became Macy's. Interesting how all these nameplates are eventually connected to Macy's.
As for Kmart, they have performed poorly under Sears ownership, and I am afraid their days may be numbered.
With the national presence and popularity of Target, I am not sure it would now be feasible for Gold Circle to make a comeback. Many folks consider Target a rebranded Gold Circle anyway, and they are very similar right down to the logo.
The Gold Circle stores operated by Federated were indeed popular back in the day, as well as their sister chain Richway in the southeast. I believe most of these stores were converted to Target, which was owned by Dayton-Hudson. The Dayton-Hudson stores later became Marshall Field's, which was eventually converted to Macy's, owned by Federated. Federated merged with May Co. and all of these regional names became Macy's. Interesting how all these nameplates are eventually connected to Macy's.
As for Kmart, they have performed poorly under Sears ownership, and I am afraid their days may be numbered.
With the national presence and popularity of Target, I am not sure it would now be feasible for Gold Circle to make a comeback. Many folks consider Target a rebranded Gold Circle anyway, and they are very similar right down to the logo.
If Macy's wants to continue to stick around, it needs a growth vehicle or at least it needs to be in a stable business. Macy's is not a stable business. It is a shrinking business.
I'm really only using Kmart for their existing infrastructure and their real estate and this makes it far more likely for them to be successful. I'm just thinking out loud that in the whole scheme of things it wouldn't hurt to put up a half-dozen stores and see what happens.
I would distinguish Gold Circle from Target by selling JCPenney-tier clothing instead of the discount store quality goods that Target sells, maybe incorporating Macy's backroom to make it interesting.
There also needs to be three Macy's. One for the East Coast, one for the Midwest and one for the West Coast. Maybe one for Florida too, but you could probably wrap that into the West Coast Division if you wanted. If they can't bring that back the local store name plates, they should at least bring back Marshall Fields in the Midwest. I think it would do a far better job resonating then Macy's does and it would have a better pulse of their Midwestern markets.
Metro Atlanta has actually only "lost" two Macy's (originally Atlanta based Rich's stores) of the nearly twenty Rich's they had before consolidation (North Dekalb and Cobb Center). What they have really lost, however, is market share. Before kicking out the premium Rich's name, those stores had much higher sales volume and a store that a MAJORITY of Atlantans utilized. Part of Macy's problem, I believe was image. Atlanta was one of the few markets that had Macy's AND Rich's stores. Being the "hometown" chain, Rich's was decidedly more upscale even in the suburbs, much less uptown at their former flagship store at Lenox Square. Rich's, Lenox Square had offerings more akin to Bloomingdale's than Macy's. Macy's came into Atlanta in the mid 1980's when they rebadged their Davison's stores they had owned for decades. They remained a fairly upscale southern division of Macy's until Federated bought Macy's in the mid 1990's.
As I said, Rich's was left as the more "upscale" division, even at their suburban stores, and Macy's was more downscale (think "Penny's with Polo" or like the way smalltown Belk stores are merchandised across the South.) By the time of the hyphenated Rich's-Macy's consolidated stores, none of the Macy's (former Davison's) stores had been remodeled in a decade and most Rich's stores had been constantly updated. That is why the Rich's stores across Metro Atlanta almost always held the the consolidated store, while the Macy's usually was sold or simply went dark. The only legacy Davison's store still open is at Northlake Mall where there NEVER was a Rich's in the first place. (Rich's was at nearby smaller North Dekalb Mall)
Macy's could survive, I think, by buying back LOTS of goodwill and simply bringing back the legacy nameplates, or at least the customer service that used to be the hallmark of a department store. Smaller divisions that could concentrate on local tastes also could help. Spin off former divisions into smaller companies that could be nimble and react to local trends?
Your observations above are very similar to what I think happened here with the switch over from Lazarus to Macy's. When you see market after market when where they have shrunken down to only a few stores, you can only draw the same conclusions you expressed above. Your comment about Penny's with Polo made me laugh, but I really see them as Kohl's with Polo. As I said in another post, at least Penney sells clothes in fabrics that are 100% cotton. When I see the racks of store brands at the local Macy's, I see a lot of polyester in their house brands.
Back in the 1980s or the 1990s, Macy's, before it was part of Federated, had a Macy's Close-Out store on Colerain Avenue, ironically in an old Gold Circle. I popped in there a few times just to see what they had, thinking that I would be able to score some deals on some New York chic. I was not impressed with the stuff they were selling there. I wasn't impressed with Macy's then, and I'm not impressed with them now.
HyVee is NOT a hipster hangout. Their crowd is pretty similar to what you would find at Frisch's - people looking for a well-prepared meal at a very good price in a place that you can comfortably dine. MOST of the locations can hold 80-120 people.
HyVee is NOT a hipster hangout. Their crowd is pretty similar to what you would find at Frisch's - people looking for a well-prepared meal at a very good price in a place that you can comfortably dine. MOST of the locations can hold 80-120 people.
This looked like it was different from the Hy-Vee I ate at, which was more like a cafeteria environment. In fact, the one I ate at didn't even come up in their location list. The one featured in that article seems like it's designed to look and operate more like a real restaurant, plus it's in a college town. But to have 115 of them, they must be working out well.
As you mention, in NC all the Macy's stores were former Hecht's stores acquired from the May Co. Hecht's was popular in DC, Maryland, and Virginia, and had expanded into NC after acquiring Thalhimer's from Richmond. Some of those former Hecht's stores in Raleigh, Charlotte, and Greensboro have closed in the last year. The nicer stores in the higher end malls such as SouthPoint, Crabtree, and SouthPark have remained open. But Belk remains the dominant department store retailer in its home base of the Carolinas, and has nice large flagship stores as well as small town stores catering to the individual markets. Although no longer owned by the founding Belk family, as it was sold to a private investment firm a year or so ago. In recent years Belk also acquired Parisian and Proffit's stores from Saks Inc.
In SC, the Macy's stores in Greenville and Columbia were formerly Rich's stores headquartered in Atlanta, which was also part of the Lazarus division of Federated before being merged into Macy's. The Columbia store is in a declining mall, whereas Belk and Dillard's are in the better shopping center. It is unclear if Macy's may move to a better location, as they own their current property, although it is a very poor location.
Back in 2006, Macy's acquired these thirteen North Carolina stores from Hecht's:
Pineville - Carolina Place Mall (1991)
Charlotte - SouthPark Mall (1988)
Charlotte - Northlake Mall (2005)
Winston-Salem - Hanes Mall (1990)
Greensboro - Hornaday Road (2002)
Greensboro - Friendly Center (19??)
Durham - Northgate Mall (1994)
Durham - The Streets at Southpoint (2002)
Raleigh - Crabtree Valley Mall (1995)
Raleigh - Triangle Town Center (2002)
Cary - Cary Towne Center (1991)
Fayetteville - Cross Creek Mall (1975)
Wilmington - Mayfaire Town Center (2003)
They're now down to eight stores in NC. I find it peculiar that Rich's didn't make it down in Charleston; there's quite a bit of money down that way.
HyVee is NOT a hipster hangout. Their crowd is pretty similar to what you would find at Frisch's - people looking for a well-prepared meal at a very good price in a place that you can comfortably dine. MOST of the locations can hold 80-120 people.
I love Frisch's Big Boy and am pleased to see them revitalizing the brand. Hopefully it is not another Cincinnati chain declining since the purchase by an Atlanta investment firm. Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana are among the few states where Big Boy remains a popular family diner destination, as well as the national Big Boy chain in Michigan, and Bob's Big Boy in California. In the South, Shoney's continues to decline and has not been a Big Boy franchise for over 20 years. I wish one of the Big Boy chains would return to the Southeast, but the family diner segment as a whole is struggling, along with Denny's and IHOP. In Ohio, the Big Boy chain under Frisch's uses a special tartar sauce on their burgers, in Michigan they use 1000 Island style, and Bob's in California uses red relish and mayo on their burgers.
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