Macy’s Closing 11 Stores; Goody’s Says Goodbye Forever

Macy's in Madison, WI which is NOT closing

Macy’s, like many other stores in the country, didn’t make it through the holiday season with a surplus of cash; in fact, Macy’s has emerged from the holiday season – a time when many stores report up to 50 percent of annual sales – badly beaten and in need to purge some of its stores.  The following 11 locations will begin closing sales immediately:

  1. Bellevue Center, Nashville, TN.  Former Hecht’s.
  2. Ernst & Young Plaza (7+Fig), Downtown Los Angeles, CA.  Former Robinson May.
  3. The Citadel, Colorado Springs, CO.  Former Foley’s.
  4. Westminster Mall, Westminster, CO (Denver area).  Former Foley’s.
  5. Palm Beach Mall, Palm Beach, FL.  Former Burdine’s.
  6. Mauna Lani Bay Hotel, Big Island of Hawaii*
  7. Lafayette Square, Indianapolis, IN.  Former L.S. Ayres.
  8. Brookdale Center, Brooklyn Center, MN (Minneapolis area) Former Dayton’s and Marshall Field’s.
  9. Crestwood Court (Formerly Crestwood Plaza), St. Louis, MO.  Former Famous Barr.
  10. Natrona Heights Plaza, Natrona Heights, PA (Pittsburgh area).  Former Lazarus.
  11. Century III Mall Furniture and Clearance Center, West Mifflin, PA (Pittsburgh area).  Former Kaufmann’s.

* What on earth?!  Macy’s was in a hotel?  It must have been small, as it only had 3 employees.  Was this a Liberty House that Macy’s “inherited” in the 2001 acquisition of that store, I wonder?

This news most certainly isn’t welcome for many of the centers listed above, as they are teetering on becoming dead malls or are already there.  Losing Macy’s will almost certainly put some of them on life support or will cause them to close outright. 

Also, note that every store, with the exception of the hotel store, was a May company regional nameplate which got eaten by Macy’s in 2005-2006.  Count on Macy’s and many other chains to continue to “trim the fat” and eliminate underperforming locations of stores this year in order to stay afloat.  Hopefully, Macy’s didn’t bite off more than it could chew with the enormous May acquisition coming so soon before a major economic recession.      

Goody's Goody's

In other retail news, Goody’s Family Clothing, a Knoxville, Tenn. based chain of over 380 anchor and mini-anchor sized stores in the Southern and lower Midwest states is closing all of its stores for good.  This news sadly comes as the first liquidation of 2009, but don’t look for it to be the last.  Liquidation sales should begin by January 9, 2009, and wind down by April 1st.  These closures are definitely more powerful and far-reaching than the Macy’s closures, as many malls and power centers throughout the south are either anchored by or contain a Goody’s store.  Not good-y. 

goodys.gif

59 thoughts on “Macy’s Closing 11 Stores; Goody’s Says Goodbye Forever”

  1. the palm beach mall macy’s closing down isn’t too much of a shock, seeing that the mall is all but dead. expect a closing announcement of the mall this month, i think.

  2. The Hawaii store used to be a Liberty House. At one time, LH operated a fair number of small (2,000-5,000 sf) stores in fancy hotels all around the islands. They sold mostly swimwear and Aloha wear. That was back when something from Liberty House carried a certain degree of cache, since it meant you had actually gone to Hawaii. A Macy’s label just doesn’t have the same prestige.

    On a tangent, does anyone know if Neiman-Marcus still operates a lobby shop in the Dallas Fairmont hotel?

  3. The Century III Furniture Store only had 3 employees in an 83,000 square foot store. It was selling scratch and dent furniture so basically Macy’s is saving on lease and utility costs. The one in Natrona Heights looks like an old Kmart store in that type of shopping center and was looking to be on the chopping block since Pittsburgh Mills Mall opened up three or four years ago.
    I have seen Goody’s gone downhill since they sold to a holding company. It used to family owned. They closed the Morgantown and Parksersburg, West Virginia stores in an earlier round of closing in the middle of 2008. The Goody’s nearest me is in Clarksburg and is in the middle of a shopping center which includes Staples on it North end and a Wal-Mart Supercenter on the South end.
    Let’s hope our economy can survive before more of these once thriving chains go under.

  4. Macy’s didn’t much help themselves by buying back a ton of stock (at much higher than the current price) over the last year or two. They could use that cash now. In fact, they may have taken on debt to do it, but don’t hold me to that…I’m going off memory here. I don’t much care for Macy’s (still bitter about A&S) but I hope they make it.

  5. A lot of the stores Macy’s is closing were weak May stores as well, but they were kept because before the downturn they did a respectable business. Of course before the downturn (and conversion), they were slightly less upscale and more in tune with their markets than the “one Macy’s” garbage that’s sent that company’s customers packing for Kohl’s and their stock price to the toilet (See February’s Conde Nast Portfolio magazine for a more professional telling of the story)

    I still say that Macy’s should have let May wind down their operations and cherry picked their best stores rather than buy them “whole hog” and lose their shirt.

    All the merger did was confirm the death of the department store to the investment community and anger and confuse the few loyal department stores shoppers left.

    Capital improvement money was sucked into new signs and overdone marketing that meant nothing to the consumer. Prices were raised. When customers balked, coupons rained upon America. When that didn’t work, prices dropped to the point that anyone who bought at full price looked like an idiot. All the while the company lost money and customers lost faith, which led to the investment community pulling out from under Terry Lundgren and the realization that a name with cachet cannot sustain a nationwide chain of stores if the “flyover state” stores do not deliver.

    But I digress…

    Natrona Heights Plaza was actually a former Joseph Horne Co. store that survived as a Lazarus until Macy’s took over that division. I think Century II may have been a Horne’s at some point as well before becoming part of Kaufmann’s. Either that or Gimbel’s.

  6. Actually, the Palm Beach Mall location was previously a Burdine’s location. Other than that and the hotel location, all of the Macy’s that are slated to close are former May Co. Department Store locations.

    I definitely feel that the merger was a terrible move on Macy’s part. Instead of buying out the competition and turning away loyal customers, especially in Marshall Field’s case, they should have slowly expanded their brand into new markets and improved their current store locations with renovations and other internal improvements. Before the merger, there were customers very loyal to their local department store brands, but after the Macy’s tookover, they simply stopped shopping there.. I know in my area, people were devastated that Filene’s closed, as they were when Jordan Marsh was changed over to Macy’s in the 90s. Now, no Boston-based department store operator remains. I won’t be surprised if more store closings are announced by the end of the first quarter.

    It’s so ironic that just a few years ago, everyone was excited about the rebirth of the department store. JCPenney and Macy’s seemed to have a turnaround, adding exclusive lines that were actually fashionable. My, how times have changed.

  7. Closing 11 marginal Macy stores isn’t the end of anything. Goody’s has been in trouble for quite awhile. They and the longgone Upton’s were sortof a regional version of Kohl’s.

  8. Goodys should close, poor customer service, and hiring. I hate to see anyone without a job these days but clothes that cant last through one wash and dry is not worth a dollar. Much less the price they ask for them. Its been along time coming. Price markups at every sale. Try checking your sales tickets, I have caught them many of times charging me regular price for sale items

  9. On the Island of Hawaii now – yep, there are a number of old LIberty House boutique stores scattered about the islands. For the resort goers, there’s still a tiny store at the King’s Shops a few miles down the road that will stay open (for now), and the “real” stores for locals in Kailua-Kona and at Prince Kuhio Plaza (two pads) over in Hilo.

  10. In reguards to Macy’s closing their Westminster mall location in Colorado, the chain recently had opened up a new location at Westminster’s Orchard Town Center ( another Denver area outdoor mall ) so that closing is hardly a surprise. Since the two malls aren’t that far apart from each other, that closing would have happened anyway reguardless of the current economy. Anyway despite these closings, Macys is still opening up new locations though of course, not as many as they did in the past.

    Yesterday I heard on Martinsburg, West Virginia’s WRNR-AM radio that Macy’s is “about to agree” to build a location at the local Martinsburg Mall which ( according to WRNR ) should be open isometime 2010. Now THAT one I find very hard to believe since Martinsburg Mall is ( and has been ) one of the most deadest malls in all of West Virginia. Hell..I wrote the entry about that mall on Deadmalls.com

  11. That’s interesting about the old Liberty House boutique stores on the Big Island. I’ve only been to Maui and Oahu and the only resort-based Macy’s I can think of is in the Waikiki Beachcomber. There’s also apparently one in the Hyatt Regency in Ka’anapali (Maui). Maybe I’ll look for them this year if I get to the Big Island.

  12. The Heights Plaza store was not a Kaufmann’s. It began its life in 1956 as an early branch store of the Joseph Horne Company, Pittsburgh’s local carriage trade store. Horne’s on the Heights as it was known became a Lazarus when Federated purchased Hornes. It has worn the Macy’s label since the Federated rebranding. There is another Macy’s store about 5 miles south of this store.

  13. The Natrona Heights store was also not a May store, it was a Lazarus that switched over

  14. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Macy’s at Hickory Hollow Mall in Nashville, TN close soon. Last time I was in that mall, it seemed to be the saddest looking Macy’s I’d ever been in. That mall has been going downhill rapidly. While driving into the parking lot on the Macy’s end, there was a sign warning car thieves that bait cars were in the area. I’d never seen that at a mall before, and it definitely doesn’t help the mall’s rapidly declining image.

    Bellevue Mall in Nashville, where the Macy’s is set to close, started going downhill rapidly after the September 11, 2001 events happened. Back in the early 90s, that mall had a very upscale feel and I remember the “Coming Soon: Macy’s” at one of the dead ends where an anchor would have been. This was back when Castner Knott and Dillards were the anchors. All of the Castner Knott changing around finally gave the mall a Macy’s, but I’m sure that’s not what they originally had in mind. The upper level of that mall on the Dillard’s end cleared out rapidly in 2002 and before long, about half the mall was dead, with most of the life left on the end where Castner Knott was (whatever it was at that time). I guess Sears will be the last thing left. I haven’t been in that mall in a while, so I have no idea if the mall interior is even still open.

  15. The Natrona Heights store started as a Joseph Horne’s and then was converted into a Lazarus when that parent company bought Horne’s out in 1995. Ever since the Mills mall opened a few miles away a couple years ago, it was only a matter of time before they closed the older store.

    As for the Century III store, I’m surprised it lasted as long as it did because there were practically never anyone in that store. The mall itself is going downhill pretty fast and I wouldn’t be surprised to see the main Macy’s store there shutter in the next few years.

  16. Bad economy or not, these stores may have been destined for closures anyway. On the other hand, they still plan to open 4 stores this year and opened 4 last year. Many of the store closures had some unusualness about them, such as being a really small store (downtown LA, Hawaii). It seems like Macy’s is going for the whole homogenous things… national branding. Everywhere you go, it’ll be the same. Who said winter sweaters won’t sell well in San Diego?
    Retail experts say this year will be worse for store closures in general. No telling when we’ll hit rock bottom.
    Scott

  17. What’s going on with the Citadel? I thought it was supposed to be the dominant mall in Colorado Springs, especially since it didn’t seem like Chapel Hills Mall was going anywhere. But if Macy’s is closing their Citadel location, this mall is about to begin a death spiral.

  18. Some of those are pretty distressing. I’ve heard of some of them. Some of these seems to seal the fate of some (Palm Beach Mall, Brookdale Mall, Lafayette Square Mall, Crestwood Court, Century III Mall)

    Here’s one that evaded your list. The NORTHWEST MALL in Houston, Texas had a Macy’s (former Foley’s) that closed due to Hurricane Ike and is not reopening.

    Death watch on Northwest Plaza, Mall of the Mainland, Summit Place Mall, and a few others.

  19. Another eye is on Tanglewood Mall, after Goody’s and Steve & Barry’s pull out for good.

  20. I grew up in the northeast and my family was a John Wananmaker shoppers. Macy’s moved into the Philadelphia area and put Wanamaker’s in trouble. They merchandised better and had better sales. I lived in Florida for a while and loved Macy’s in Tampa. So when Macy’s came to Nashville were I live now I was excited. But, they are merchandised very bad. I am not a fan of Martha Steward, and I think of K-Mart when I see her products that are now plastered all over Macy’s. Dillard’s and Belks have better selections than Macy’s, and unfortunately so does Kohl’s

  21. Here are some malls that have a Goody’s as an anchor near me (note that I’m only including real enclosed malls and not shopping centers):

    Northgate Mall, Tullahoma, TN (also has Dillards and JCPenney).
    Columbia, TN
    Stones River Mall, Murfreesboro, TN
    Three Star Mall, McMinnville, TN (used to have a K-Mart as an anchor)
    Walnut Square Mall, Dalton, GA
    Quintard Mall, Oxford, AL
    McFarland Mall, Tuscaloosa, AL
    Oak Ridge Mall, Oak Ridge, TN
    Foothills Mall, Maryville, TN

    Some of these are small malls and not in great health, while others may be able to find an anchor and rebound. It will be interesting to see how the loss of all those Goody’s stores will affect these malls.

  22. The Downtown Los Angeles store is not a shock. This store is decent in size (3 levels and 140,000 sq ft) but is in a dying mall (The Bullocks anchor closed in 1996 and never was fully replaced).

    There is another Macys store in Downtown literally a block to the east at the Broadway / Macy Plaza.

    I am really shocked that they didnt close a single Macys store at Del Amo. This is the only mall that I know to have 2 full line Macys stores (one a former Bullocks, one a former Robinsons-May, and a 2-level Home and Furniture store (former Broadway).

  23. To add to Jonah’s posting; Macy’s was the last large anchor at Northwest mall. JCPenney closed in early 2000 and only Palais Royal will remain as a junior anchor. The outside of the mall has been in really bad shape for years and the news of this closing is not a surprise. The mall is nearly identical in size and shape to Almeda mall on the southeast side of Houston. The two malls even opened and maintained the same large anchors JCPenney and Foley’s until 2000. Macy’s in Houston has four stores in the dying malls of Almeda, San Jacinto, Greenspoint, and Mall of the mainland. Those will be the next to go; Greenspoint closed their second floor entirely this year, so that one will be the first.

  24. wait a sec in the op image did macys actually build a store in an old safeway sure as hell looks like it,but they actually built a macys in a hotel wow thats just insane it must of been just a boutique store only, but about goodys we’ve got plenty of them here in virginia, but mostly in central and southwestern virginia, i mean this is gonna hit a lot of places hard like small towns like witheville they’ve got one in a walmart shopping centre just of of I-81, and also just off of routre 220 in roanoke at taglewood mall (my favorite mall in roanoke or at least it was until steve and barrys shut down) and i might be wrong about this there is or was one in charlottesville in baraks road right or wrong? aw crap (sigh) well there went that the only good place to eat in roanoke k & w aw frak so the only one left is big arsed valley view gods i absolutly do NOT wanna go there it’s just to damned big with everything just outside the mall.

  25. there was an article today in the washington post that said about circuit city & i’m sorta inderectly quoting “either find a buyer by next friday or ELSE” but really the bankrupsy court said that that have to find a buyer or close all stores even through i really don’t think that anyone will buy the chain.

  26. Despite the upscale surroundings, Bellevue is one of those malls that never should have been built (Randall Park, Euclid Square, North Towne, Rolling Acres, among others)–too close to the established Green Hills and Cool Springs, which is larger and was being planned when Bellevue was built. I’m surprised the mall and the store lasted this long.

  27. Lazarus and Burdine’s were both Federated divisions before being converted to Macy’s. Lazarus entered the Pennsylvania market by acquiring Horne’s. On the subject of Horne’s, the downtown Horne’s store is visible in an establishing shot of the Pittsburgh skyline in a movie–I think the movie was “Only You” from 1994. This thing is, as I recall, by the time the movie was released, Horne’s was gone. (If I’ve got the movie wrong, please, somebody, let me know what the right one is!)

  28. I am interested to see what happened to malls with Goody’s. In a lot of the smaller malls that had a goody’s, they were either one of the only anchors or they were the same size as the rest of the anchors. At Stones River Mall in Murfreesboro, TN, it is a 40,000 sq ft store and has been there since the mall has been open. I hope they can fill it. The rest of the mall just got a make over. But SRM is facing competition from the new Avenue lifestyle center a few miles down the road. There is already a gap to fill at the avenue after Linens and things closed. I also don’t know what they will do about the Northgate Mall in Tullahoma. The anchors are Dillards (former Castner Knott), Goodys, JCPenney, and Big Lots. However, only Dillards and Goodys open into the mall. The mall itself looks like it was carved out of a old strip center. There is only room for about 15 inline stores. My guess would be JCPenney would absorb the space. But there is not a Sears or Belk in a good distance. Goodys being closed will hurt a lot of Southern areas.

  29. I guess the Bellvue redevelopment plans have either been place on hold or have completely fallen through.

  30. Very surprised no stores in Illinois closed. Most old Marshall Fields locations are in good, stable areas, but could have trimmed Charlestown, River Oaks, Stratford Square, or even State St. Most Macy’s outside Chicago are former Famous-Barr’s located in central and southern Illinois. South Park Mall in Moline/Rock Island had lost a Dillards, so would not shocked if Macy’s closed here. I believe Carbondale has one too and the economy south of I-64 is total crap. They kept Northwest Plaza???? We will see if any of these stores make it through the third round of closings.

  31. I would say the Northwest Plaza Macy’s is definitely on death watch till whenever Macy’s announces another round of store closures. And especially since I’m aware how much that mall has declined, to the point where I believe it was sealed in the last year. The Northwest Plaza Steve and Barry’s is about to close, based on the S+B website.

    Interesting to see the one at Lafayette Square(NW Indianapolis) close, since that mall changed hands from Simon in the last 1-2 years, and the new owners were trying to get that mall to thrive again. That will be a major blow to that mall, especially since extremely few retailers and department stores are expanding in the current economy, and it already lost another anchor a few years ago(think JCPenney, if I’m not mistaken).

    Finally, I agree with Chip on his surprise of Macy’s not closing any Illinois locations. Part of me seriously doubts Macy’s will close the State St. store(due to the fact Macy’s regards it as a regional flagship store), but I would put a death watch on the Water Tower Place, Charlestowne, River Oaks, and Spring Hill locations. Not certain if I’d put Stratford Square on death watch for now, but it’s always possible. Finally, I’ll add that since the May-Federated merger was announced in 2005, the only Illinois store I’m aware of that has closed was the very small location in downtown Lake Forest, a northern Chicago suburb.

  32. Chip, Allen, there is not, and never was a Charlestowne Marshall Field’s, much less a Macy’s. That mall opened with Sears, JCPenney, and Carson Pirie Scott, and now has Sears, Carson Pirie Scott, Von Maur, and Kohl’s.

    The South Park Mall Dillard’s (formerly a Montgomery Ward) is still there, according to both Simon’s and Dillard’s websites.

    As for stores Macy’s would close around Chicago, I can see several in the coming year. Even Woodfield may not be exempt as sales for them have plunged, and continue to shrink. It is estimated they lost 30-50% of their business with the switchover from Field’s to Macy’s.

    People here have not taken to Macy’s and there is still a lot of outright hostility over two years later.

  33. On a tangent, does anyone know if Neiman-Marcus still operates a lobby shop in the Dallas Fairmont hotel?

    I live in the Dallas area but haven’t been to the Fairmont in quite a few years. Still, I’m doubting the existence of a lobby N-M there, because neither the hotel’s website nor the store website acknowledges the existence of one.

  34. According to the site map for South Park Mall (http://www.simon.com/mall/print_floorplan.aspx?ID=191), the Dillards anchor looks empty. Since I have never been to that mall, I assumed it was. Sorry. As for Charlestowne, it was built with 2 extra anchor footprints. One became Kohl’s. Marshall Fields seemed like a natural to take the other spot since St Charles is a mid-to-upper middle class area. I guess that never happened. I would see Macy’s closing State St. before Water Tower Place since WTP is located on the Magnificant Mile ( N. Michigan Ave) and surrounded by all the heavy hitters (Nordstroms, Bloomingdale’s). State St is a historic location, but history takes a back seat to profits-see the closed Carson’s across the street. Also surprised the Macy’s in downtown St. Louis is still open. The former Famous flagship as connected to the defunct St Louis Centre. This store closes at 6:00PM every day and still has many 1930’s design elements on the upper floors.

  35. I disagree with you Chip. Between the two locations, the State Street Macy’s location is far more historic and iconic that the Water Tower Place store, which is awkwardly set up and hard to navigate. I would be shocked if they kept this location open over State St.

  36. personly i dont see macys closing any store in downtown chicago . i due feel that spring hill , and stratford could be in targeted for closing but in a few years the new store in bolingbrook or the joliet store may have to go as well noine of them seam vary produtive thay with the excepption to bolingbrook are old and small all opened in the 80s and have had little to know work on them. but then agin there costs may be low and may still make them worth keeping for a while. remember macys will also not want to give more buisness to carsons even though bon ton is in truble the carson stores seem to be vary strong there problems seam to be the stores in the east.

  37. John, use spell check, please! Very interesting how not much mention of the S & B closings…Sad to see Goody’s go, neat little chain! Oh well, the cycle of retail history continues, stores come and go.

  38. I know that this may seem far-fetched to some, but I believe this year Macy’s will due poorly in sales and will have to close most of their stores. The way the current economy is doing and current sales at Macy’s stores I would not be surprised at all.

  39. I’m surprised that the Macy’s at Cupertino Square (formerly Vallco Mall) in Cupertino, California wasn’t on the list. The location had previously been a Bullocks and later an Emporium. When Federated purchased the Emporium in the mid 90s there was talk that the store remained open to satisfy some anti-trust agreements with the State. The Mall has been going through renovations for several years now. Despite the continual renovations & a fancy web-site, the Mall has has been unable to attract shoppers. The entire lower level is closed and the upper level has numerous empty stores. The Macy’s was nearly empty when I visited one Friday afternoon – perhaps thirty shoppers. The store is only a few miles north of the popular Valley Fair in San Jose which contains two large 3 level Macy’s – a women’s & children’s location as well as a men’s and & home store (formerly an Emporium).

  40. Chalk up Gottschalk’s as the next one to fall. Dillard’s shortly thereafter.

  41. Gottschalk’s has just filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection yesterday, so it is inevitable that they close some, if not all, of their locations. Yet another major void in mall anchor spaces. Pretty soon they won’t be enough department stores to fill these voids, if it isn’t the case already.

  42. So I was reading an article that Circuit City may declare bankruptcy as early as today, marking an end to the electronics retailer. It’s almost a given now that any retailer that goes into Chapter 11 will most likely liquidate, as we’ve seen with Steve & Barry’s.

  43. Circuit City has announced their liquidation – Closing all 567 US Retail Locations…No surprises – this has been looming for awhile.

  44. Yup. Circuit City is about to be history. Goodbye to their annoying high pitch chirping alarms that are spread all over the store going off every few seconds.

  45. I knew CC would be over sooner or later, but this is still surprising to see them liquidate this soon and fast. I wonder if Best Buy will benefit from it or if their sales will still go down due to the economy…

  46. Goody’s closing is not good news for Ashland Towne Center in Ashland, KY.

    Wal-Mart moved out a few years back, and now with Goody’s closing, they have a JCPenney…. and not much else. Ouch. I like that mall, too.

  47. Say what you want about macy’s, hate it, love it, whatever, if Macy’s goes under, hundreds of stores and thousands of people will be left with out a job! ;(

    Goody’s was a decent store but hopefully Kohl’s will pick the good locations and rebrand. 🙂

    BTW Labelscar fellows please make a page on Natrona Heights Plaza and take pictures, i want to see that Macy’s style Kmart building, i also heard they have Sears in that mall too! That store i checked opened in the 50’s so it’s ought to be intersting! 🙂

  48. I was in Tuttle Crossing Mall in Columbus Ohio last weekend, the mall has two Macy’s which, I knew, but was wondering how long this would/will last. The malls signage indicates one as the Macy’s off Tuttle Crossing and the other as Macy’s at Hayden Run. When entering the Macy’s at Hayden Run, it feels as though out of business is happening, some walls had no merchandise, and others were almost bare. Lots of clearance, almost all mens clothes were out of season, and cheap. Asked an associate he said not going out, but he felt it would be announced very soon, another said no they are staying open, reason, they put a permanent sign on the building. The store was very empty of people, and the customer service was bad. Went to the Macy’s at Tuttle Crossing, and full store, great service, lots of people! Was a very interesting thing to see….

  49. I hate to see Goody’s go,more for nostalgia reasons than for actually liking their offerings. I remember the days they were a mainstreet store in small towns of East Tennessee and Northwest Georgia and offered a real value on quality brands. One of the worst moves they could have made was to located near Hamilton Place in Chattanooga in a strip sandwiched between Target and Kohls.

    As for Macy’s, they’ll be around for awhile, though they may have to exit some markets entirely and downsize in others and likely reevaluate their strategy of bannering all stores as Macy’s without at least an homage to their predecessors. Most of the Macy’s haters fail to acknowledge that May had been moving down the same path of nationally bannering its stores, just a few years behind Federated and unable to arrange for the financing that Federated could. May’s and Federated’s mall stores were often very similar by the time of the merger, May tending to have more architecturally interesting stores than Federated. Would a Marshall Fields in Houston or Nashville have felt anything like the State Street Flagship anymore than Macy’s in Miami or Memphis resembles the Herald Square Macy’s? I doubt it. Look at the Dayton’s and Hudson’s turned Marshall Fields turned Macy’s for an answer to that.

  50. Couldn’t have said it better myself Ken!

  51. From USA Today

    Macy’s cuts jobs, plans to stock stores differently

    Jayne O’Donnell

    February 3, 2009

    Macy’s plans to slash about 7,000 jobs and cut its quarterly dividend because of dismal sales this year.

    The department store chain said it expects its 2009 same-store sales to be down 6% to 8%, hampered by a weak spring but rebounding slightly in the fall.

    To help reverse the sales declines, Macy’s is expanding a program that tailors merchandise to different markets. Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren says the company’s stores will be grouped into an additional 49 geographic districts on top of the 20 areas that are already part of the retailer’s “My Macy’s” initiative. The move will contribute to the net reduction of 7,000 jobs but create 1,200 district and regional positions.

    The remainder of the job cuts will come from the elimination of the firm’s geographic divisions around the U.S. and the consolidation of buying out of New York.

    The My Macy’s program allows stores to stock items unique to the local market; for example, more swimsuits off-season if a store is across the street from a year-round water park, as one store in Minneapolis is. Lundgren says that 13 of the best-performing markets had the localized merchandise program during the holiday season.

    Retail stock analyst Jennifer Black says Nordstrom was criticized for years for having this type of local approach to merchandising, because analysts would argue that it was too costly. Nordstrom, it was suggested, should be “more like Macy’s.”

    “But with today’s situation, with all these retailers carrying way less inventory, they better be right in what they’re carrying or they won’t have any sales,” Black says.

    Macy’s said the job cuts and other cost-cutting moves will reduce expenses by about $400 million a year starting in 2010 and $250 million in 2009.

    “We just believe this is a time that nothing should be considered a sacred cow,” Lundgren said in a conference call with investors and analysts, noting that cuts were made in most areas, including information technology and corporate sales.

    In all, about 4% of the Macy’s workforce will be cut; 40% will be executive level in central offices.

    Most retailers other than Wal-Mart and a few teen-targeted retailers have been hit hard in this economy, but Macy’s December sales were actually better than nearly all of its department store competitors. Even with a 4.0% sales decline, it outperformed J.C. Penney, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom by a wide margin. Only Kohl’s, with a 1.4% decline, did better.

    Phil Rist, executive vice president of consumer intentions firm BIGresearch, says, “There’s nothing wrong with department stores. What we have is a crisis of confidence.

    “Every week there’s a different retailer talking about (job cuts),” says Rist. “The more consumers hear about these types of layoffs, the more they tighten the grip on their money.”

    The Macy’s board also voted to reduce the quarterly dividend from 13.25 cents to 5 cents a share of common stock. Macy’s shares closed 36 cents lower at $8.59.

    When will these Wall Streeters finally admit that they don’t know what they are talking about.

  52. To Ken who mentioned Marshall Fields trying to go national. Daytons & Hundsons stores were renamed Marshall Fields when Target (then Dayton Hudson Corporation) owned the 3 stores (they also owned Mervyns, but they were primarily in California). Target was the most profitable part of the company, that they renamed themselves Target Corporation, and focus on Target, and sell off the department stores. It was under May Department Store Company that problems arose. Most Marshall Fields stores overlapped with other stores within the May lineup, and sales with Marshall Fields did worse under May than under Target. Eventually the entire May company was sold to Federated, who later renamed themselved Macys (even though Macys was already in their lineup prior to the renaming of corporate). Most people near me don’t like that they lost L.S. Ayres, which was at one time, based out of Indianapolis. May at least kept the chain (only the Indiana stores, but Illinois Ayres stores were renamed Famous Barr). The nationalizing the brand by getting rid of regional brands was a major mistake on Macy’s part. I remember prior to the Macy family selling to Federated, Macys did want to open in Chicago (organic growth), but they went into bankruptcy, and eventually sold to Federated. So that idea never materialized when the Macy family owned Macys.

  53. I’m not an expert in retailing, but I know there was (and still is) a lot of hostility in Chicago over Macy’s dissolving the Marshall Fields chain. Marshall Fields had regional identity and stature. Its State St. store was a “destination” department store for out-of-towners. Moreover, retention of at least some of the Marshall Fields stores, with Macy’s taking over others, would have at least suggested competition and choice. Currently, with everything being “Macy’s” from coast to coast, there’s no longer any reason to pleasure shop. And their latest brilliant strategy – to “regionalize” merchandise lines – won’t make a bit of difference. A Macy’s will still be a Macy’s in the customers’ eyes.

  54. That’s not true..if you had worked in Macys New York..you will know that Macys is one of the elitist stores along with Nordstrom..but they carry merchandise which are also reasonably priced. Certainly it’s not junk…New Yorkers love Macys esp. those times when recession is not yet evident. I was relocated here in IL and I can’t understand why they resist Macys…had worked for both Macys and Marshall Fields though…Recently, I was trying to apply at an IL Macys and looks like they don’t want to hire me though I’m experienced-first time I was rejected…looks like they’re looking for holes not to hire me lolz…even for holidays..said it’s my availability (but i gave 4 days till night with extended hours) what else? can’t be 7 days gurl….they said sorry..that’s depressing! – it’s the situation that sucks!!! But I still love Macys and Marshall Fields..it’s one and the same now people!

  55. @john gallo,

    I saw a store closing sign on the chicago state street store

  56. I’m not surprise Macy’s is closing some stores. They took over Meier and Frank in the Northwestern US and I thought it would be as good. Their selection is horrible and you can never find a sale.

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