Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
People with money prefer boutique stores because they usually offer better customer service, higher quality products and a “uniqueness” that huge chains like Macy’s can’t deliver.
People without money shop at discount stores like Target and Walmart.
Middle market department stores don’t have much of a niche left—especially in large cities.
Retail is fickle. There was a time when the department store was the king, now not so much. They're still doing okay in some cases. Macy's isn't doing bad, but certainly not booming. There's just a lot more competition. Boutiques on the high end, stuff like Old Navy and what not on the low end. I think the last time I bought anything at a department store was some undershirts or socks. JCP in particular doesn't have anything much even worth wearing. I bought a few St John's Bay polos years ago that fell apart, fit like sacks, and a couple plastic Stafford dress shirts when I was on a trip and packed improperly. They actually look okay but wearing plastic shirts under a suit has some obvious draw backs. Might as well just wear a garbage bag as well as they breath.
Also Santana Row has a department store? Unless we're considering Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters to be department stores, no it does not.
Retail is fickle. There was a time when the department store was the king, now not so much. They're still doing okay in some cases. Macy's isn't doing bad, but certainly not booming. There's just a lot more competition. Boutiques on the high end, stuff like Old Navy and what not on the low end. I think the last time I bought anything at a department store was some undershirts or socks. JCP in particular doesn't have anything much even worth wearing. I bought a few St John's Bay polos years ago that fell apart, fit like sacks, and a couple plastic Stafford dress shirts when I was on a trip and packed improperly. They actually look okay but wearing plastic shirts under a suit has some obvious draw backs. Might as well just wear a garbage bag as well as they breath.
Also Santana Row has a department store? Unless we're considering Anthropologie or Urban Outfitters to be department stores, no it does not.
I don't know what the $? #@ is going on with JCP these days. Polyester shirts hotter than hell itself; cheap polyester, not even the good stuff. Only the designer stuff is worth buying. But the designer stuff is overpriced; bridge labels that cost more at JCP than the real stuff costs on sale at the department store. Small sizes if you're a 2x forget about it.
Our local Macy's is a dump. The dressing rooms are usually trashed, and there's no such thing as "customer service". If you can find someone that works there, they usually don't know the answer to your questions, e.g. "does this come in a size 2?" (Not for me, for my daughter.) The quality of the clothing is roughly that of Kohl's. However, we do have a nice Dillard's, and I like Christopher and Banks. We also have a Nordstrom's, though I rarely go in there as it's pricey. I don't care for boutiques. For scrubs, Walmart!
I read an article that one reason the downtown department stores are dying is that people with money left downtowns and moved to the burbs and so new enclosed malls and town center malls and outlet malls are born.
I read that the boutique stores are doing good because of tourists and it can run on smaller populations. All though, I read that downtowns like San Francisco and Chicago and Seattle still have some downtown department stores. Also, a small city near me, Santa Barbara has downtown department stores. We can also see in Sacramento where their downtown department store died off, but Santana Row with it's department store in downtown San Jose is doing much better.
I read another big problem was downtown department stores were just too big. I read that Macy's recently built a smaller department store in Chicago at 100,000 sq. ft. in Hyde Park. However, it's still in a downtown that has more demographics that will support it.
Also, I heard about new and upcoming anchors. More stores like H&M and Forever 21 are opening up flagship like stores.
In a college town near me, one developer sold two mixed-use centers he developed downtown in order to get the cash to complete a project of building another huge mixed-use center downtown. Whose to say he won't do it again and sell this project to only develop another?
The newest mixed-use center is huge which is a 200,000sq. ft. project with a 5 story high-end boutique hotel, 50,000 sq. ft. retail and restaurants, and residential and office units. I have heard the developer doesn't have enough cash to get the hotel started, so the retail part is supposed to generate the cash to get the revenue needed to develop the hotel portion. I suspect he will only include national retailers as this is a premium retail location because they generate the most tax revenue.
The first center he built includes a 7-screen movie theater, Barnes N Nobles, California Pizza Kitchen, Gap, Express, Papyrus, Apple, Sunglass Hut, and some other restaurants at 90,000 sq. ft.
The second center he built includes White House Black Market, Abercrombie, Banana Republic, Chico's, Pottery Barn, and others at 56,000 sq. ft.
Followed by this we have two other mixed-use centers under construction adding about another 20,000 sq. ft. of high-end retail.
It just seems that these type of developments are so pricey and demand alot of population or a high concentration of high-income consumers and high amounts of tourism.
It's sad for me because the college town used to be a much more affordable place to live, but the city keeps building more higher-end developments. These boutique stores draw in the tourists, but also pushes out local businesses who can't compete.
I would love to see the return of downtown department stores, but let's face it, for most people in the U.S., and especially most desirable customers, malls or stand-alone stores with ample parking are far more convenient than city-center locations (even if they have good parking).
I would love to see the return of downtown department stores, but let's face it, for most people in the U.S., and especially most desirable customers, malls or stand-alone stores with ample parking are far more convenient than city-center locations (even if they have good parking).
Also thinking about this topic many major cities like Seattle, San Francisco, and Chicago that have department stores also have a strong tourist pull into their downtowns. Downtown Santa Barbara is the same way. As well as offering shopping options for the urban dweller.
The department stores of today are different from those of even 20 years ago. Years past, there were many more local or regional department store chains. They knew and could cater to the tastes of those they served. Like so many other businesses, buy-outs and consolidations heave led to fewer and fewer different stores. The offerings a Macy's in Kansas City don't differ that much from one in Atlanta. And anyone who has purchased clothes in such stores knows the quality they are getting is often pretty shoddy. Boutique sores are the answer to that.
Another challenge department stores face is that they have fewer and fewer departments. When was the last time you purchased a book in a department store? A greeting card? A microwave? A set of flatware? A camera? Deodorant? A mattress? The older of us remember when department stores were the place to buy theses items. Today, most of us go to stores that specialize in these items and can offer a much larger selection such as Best Buy, Pottery Barn, Mattress Giant and CVS.
It will be interesting to see the evolution of retail over the next decade. I can see Target thriving and high end department stores like Nordstroms doing well. I see Macy's getting squeezed on all sides but sheer volume will keep them in the game with some overdue re-invention. But stores like JCP, Dillards, Lord & Taylor - not sure they have what it takes to be around 10 years hence.
Last edited by Pine to Vine; 08-19-2013 at 11:44 AM..
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
