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Macy's is not the giant of the industry that they were in the 30's,the retail competition is very strong.Look at the businesses that are doing well ;its the new big box discount stores that sales at lower prices. Wal;-mart;Costco;Sam's and the internet stores like amazon.Different world now days.
Maybe but there sure aren't the same quality as they were during the Depression. Not that I was alive back then but there quality and service has gone horribly downhill over the last decade or so. The Macy's of today is nothing like the Macy's I grew up with although again, not during the Depression.
So very true. One would have to hit, say, Neiman Marcus to get the equivalent of Macy's of eras past for quality and good service.
They would have been much better off right now had they not given up quality for the sake of quantity. As usual. "Convenience" trumped all, and everybody pays. "Cheaper and Easier" has finally caught up to us all. (There are two Macy's within 6 miles of my house alone; more in surrounding counties).
Maybe but there sure aren't the same quality as they were during the Depression. Not that I was alive back then but there quality and service has gone horribly downhill over the last decade or so. The Macy's of today is nothing like the Macy's I grew up with although again, not during the Depression.
That's because they've grown too big with all their aquisitions and management lost focus along the way of what drives retail business, that being quality, overall store presentation and customer service. They also have too many stores they'll need to close, also a result of buying other stores. Some malls have 2 Macy's stores, one on each end, left over from when they bought Marshall Fields, or some other department store in the past. Instead of closing one they continued to run both, not sure why, but that will have to change pretty soon, so we can expect to hear about more store closing in the future. No surprise. On the bright side, I read the Macy's press release yesterday (posted on their site) and it appears they may be on the path to correcting the quality and customer service issues. Something called My Macy's where, in a nut shell, they're centralizing the functions of all the big wig executives (cherry picking the good ones and bringing them back to NY and laying off the rest, along with their support staff). Mostly affects SF, Miami and Atlanta. At the same time they're adding 1200 new positions to be placed directly in new regions:
"The 69 Macy's districts will be grouped into eight regions that will be based in the Chicago, Houston, Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. areas. Each region will include an organization of 35 to 40 executives to oversee merchandising, planning and various support operations. Special events and marketing public relations staffs also will be located regionally around the country.
In all, a total of approximately 1,200 new district and regional positions will be created in 2009 as the My Macy's model is rolled out to the 49 new districts nationwide. The nationwide district structure will position Macy's to develop and implement more effective strategies for identifying and serving specific consumer needs location by location."
Giant step in the right direction imo. Decisions that affect the Macy’s I shop at, like making sure they order enough size 6's and 8's and fewer size 0’s and 1’s (we’re average size folks here, not anorexic), and if they start carrying merchandise that people in my area wear, not necessarily what they wear in New York or SF, and if I can go shopping for and find a a nice sweater in February instead of swim suits and summer clothes when there’s 2 inches of snow on the ground, then bring it on
My wife worked for Macys for a number of years and they treat their employees no different than any other retailer, like trash. They don't hire full time workers and their salary scale is terrible. In addition they don't offer any medical benefits to part time workers and make it expressive for their full time workers to take. If Macys went under tomorrow I would not care one bit.
"The 69 Macy's districts will be grouped into eight regions that will be based in the Chicago, Houston, Miami, Los Angeles, New York, Pittsburgh, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. areas. Each region will include an organization of 35 to 40 executives to oversee merchandising, planning and various support operations. Special events and marketing public relations staffs also will be located regionally around the country.
In all, a total of approximately 1,200 new district and regional positions will be created in 2009 as the My Macy's model is rolled out to the 49 new districts nationwide. The nationwide district structure will position Macy's to develop and implement more effective strategies for identifying and serving specific consumer needs location by location."
Giant step in the right direction imo. Decisions that affect the Macy’s I shop at, like making sure they order enough size 6's and 8's and fewer size 0’s and 1’s (we’re average size folks here, not anorexic), and if they start carrying merchandise that people in my area wear, not necessarily what they wear in New York or SF, and if I can go shopping for and find a a nice sweater in February instead of swim suits and summer clothes when there’s 2 inches of snow on the ground, then bring it on
I'm all for stores carrying the things we'll actually buy.
There have been so many times I see a top that had SO much potential until they ruined it by putting some horrible beading or plastic that is supposed to look like jewels.
I went into Target on Sunday and saw bathing suits. I thought to myself,"Isn't it a bit early for this? I doubt people are going on vacations like they used to..."
In February in AR, no one needs a swimsuit unless you have an indoor pool and I doubt if you have an indoor pool you're going to be a Target shopping for a swimsuit.
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but there quality and service has gone horribly downhill over the last decade or so. The Macy's of today is nothing like the Macy's I grew up with although again, not during the Depression. 
