Has Macy's adopted a new image?

[BrianL]

In many areas of the country, consumers never warmed up to Macy’s taking over their beloved regional department stores: Marshall Field, Hecht’s, Dayton, Strawbridge & Clothier, etc. These consumers only grudgingly shopped at Macy’s until they found places that were more to their liking.

A few Macy’s in my extended area closed in the past five years as their attached malls were in their death throes. I haven’t been in a Macy’s since before the pandemic, and even then some looked kind of crappy, with huge sections of clearance merchandise that looked like a tornado passed thru.

It was Goldsmith's here, and yeah, it has never been the same.

 

[MinnieFan4ever]

I used to like Macy’s. USED to. Our Macy’s is horrible. I hate the model of a central check out. No longer are there registers in each department, now there is 1 or 2 per floor with really long lines. It feels like JC Penny. It now my last resort for shopping. Not to mention the dressing rooms are a disaster.

 

[MillauFr]

Yup, the old mall is being replaced by this:

View attachment 888404

Same here but they wouldn't waste so much space on surface parking lots. They would build apartments. They are rebuilding the mall by our house and turning it into a "lifestyle center" with 10,000 apartments where the parking lots used to sit.

 

[NotUrsula]

Yeah, Macy's, like most retail, is showing signs of decline. The "Bakcstage" areas are pretty cheap looking. And, you know, I understand offering a discount section, but why does it have to look like that? The two local stores here are in poor repair, with cracked floors, etc. They are both attached to shopping malls, so, you know, dying malls (one a bit more gone than the other). It's just not that sustainable of a model at this point.

Still, I like going into get work clothes from ther clearance section. Explain to me why a men's button-down shirt goes on clearance? They don't really change at all. Like, I could get a blue shirt with white buttons for 18 bucks, but over in the main section, they have a blue shirt with cream buttons that is almost exactly the same for 60 dollars. Like, it didn't go out of style or anything. It's so weird, but I'm not complaining!

And that's why it's on clearance. The store buyer underestimated how much the different button color would influence shoppers to choose the one with the cream buttons over the white, and the ones with the white don't sell at 60 dollars, but the ones with the cream do.

I *love* the button color gotcha for mens' dress shirts. I collect buttons from a sewing thrift store and from places that sell jars of miscellaneous mfr. overrun buttons; I have a whole sorter bin full of them that I inherited from my mother's sewing room and have added to myself over 30 years. I buy the shirts with the bad-color buttons on clearance and change the buttons out for nicer ones. MUCH nicer looking shirt for a fraction of the cost.

 

[BrianL]

And that's why it's on clearance. The store buyer underestimated how much the different button color would influence shoppers to choose the one with the cream buttons over the white, and the ones with the white don't sell at 60 dollars, but the ones with the cream do.

I *love* the button color gotcha for mens' dress shirts. I collect buttons from a sewing thrift store and from places that sell jars of miscellaneous mfr. overrun buttons; I have a whole sorter bin full of them that I inherited from my mother's sewing room and have added to myself over 30 years. I buy the shirts with the bad-color buttons on clearance and change the buttons out for nicer ones. MUCH nicer looking shirt for a fraction of the cost.

Yeah, but a few months later the ones with teh cream buttons will be in the clearance bin too. Like, there is no way that a large number of men care about the button color that much to change out their shirts that often. I mean, I'm not complaining - I will happily buy the shirt with last season's buttons for less than 20 bucks! It still just seems weird to me.

 

[Jillpie]

Yes and I am so upset about Macy's!!! For at least twenty years, I bought all my casual clothes in the Karen Scott section. I was a huge fan of the quality of that brand. Now they got rid of it. I recently read an article, that Macy's has decided to sell toward the upscale client, more of the luxury brands. Ugh. Why does every good thing have to end. Darn you Macy's.

 

[DodgerGirl]

I think what Macy's should do is give their stores an entire renovation and try to gain more audiences to their stores and they should design their own Christmas shop separate from the stores just like we see every October with the Spirit Halloween Superstore chain and if Macy's had their holiday shop open from November till December 26th it would be nice for people to buy Christmas items. But what I think Macy's should've done was team up with Disney Store to save Disney Stores from going bankrupt. Because as I mentioned earlier in this thread why they chose TRU was mainly to try to bring the stores back to shopping centers but I think as I said earlier Macy's had always wanted to sell toys year-round not just during the holidays and they had a dream of doing this. Another thing I noticed about Macy's is that when they have commercials for their sales like Labor Day sales and their famous 1-Day sales they claim anything is on sale but when you go to the store or online they lie and the only things that are on sale are makeup and Estee Lauder cosmetics sets and jewelry and home decor is rarely on sale. If other department stores can do it and improve themselves why can't Macy's?

 

[Forevermarypoppins]

I'm a regular mall walker. I walk the perimeter of the Macys store often.
A few things I think of immediately:

This summer the store finally put the Fall throw pillows on "clearance" that had been on display since the summer of 2022. YES, they were on display continuously for 2 years. I noticed this week they still are going to sell the Men's printed puffer jacket they had last year.( again, that specific jacket never went to clearance).

The entire Off the rack or Last act areas make the store look cheap. There's a reason those were in the basement back in the day. A while ago I overheard two ladies older than myself say " Macys is just like Sears now" OUCH!!!!

 

[slo]

I'm going to join all the folks that are disappointed with how Macy's is now. The one by us is a disaster - organization is horrible, neatness of the clothing sections are messy, the checkout area feels like a Marshall's or TJ Maxx and the overall atmosphere of the store is not high end like it used to be. The rare times that I go in there, hoping to find something (which I rarely do), I feel like I'm in a TJ Max that sells over priced clothing.

At one time, it was a real treat to go to The Marshall Field's on State Street in Chicago. Now that the store is a Macy's it doesn't give you that feeling like you've entered a beautiful high end store. I will say that the State Street store is better than the one at my local mall. It's a shame how Macy's has gone down hill, like so many other department stores. I'd rather shop at Kohls, than Macy's, not only for the prices, but also because I like the stores a lot more.

 

[Genie+]

Macy’s still has many stores around here.

It’s funny how they’re listed on Google maps: Long-standing department store

 

[DodgerGirl]

I also think that Macy's is trying to appeal to the rich market and I think they have copied Harrods in London because Macy's had always dreamed about is making larger stores or possibly launching their own line of superstores like we have seen with Target with Super Target and what Kmart had done with Super Kmart and these Macy's superstores would've sold the Macy's clearance items. I also can't figure out how Macy's has come up with the Star Rewards program and when you get the general picture when you try to buy a Macy's item with the Star Rewards program it sometimes doesn't work and I can't figure out how this Star Rewards program is surviving for Macy's? I would have to say Macy's needs to improve their image to stay alive because they seem to compete with other stores like Bloomingdale's and Dillard's

 

[NYCgrrl]

Macy's needs to improve their image to stay alive because they seem to compete with other stores like Bloomingdale's and Dillard's

Macy’s and Bloomie’s are owned by the same company and have always had different clientele. There is some overlap but not much. Can’t say much about Dillard’s as I only shop there online. Think they are more like Macy’s though.

 

[Atlas722]

They clearly are looking for ways to boost sales. Here, they are openly discussing closing stores. We all bring our own experiences here, and unlike OP whose mom discovered Macy's in the 90's and 2000's, for us Macys was clearly on the decline by then. It was a big deal in the 1960s and 1970's when they opened stores here. And when we got married in 1982 it was THEE place to register for your wedding.

The Toledo Macy's is on the closing list. This is the Toledo store at the Franklin Park Mall.