Community Chat

[Maltichonmom17]

It’s just MHO but having spent 25+ years in retail, I think  the slow death of brick and mortar retail is really a self inflicted wound of bad decisions, lack of foresight and well, just greed. B&M retail really started changing for the worse all the way back in the very early 90s, when the World Wide Web was in its infancy and Amazon.com was just a twinkle in Jeff Bezo’s eye.  

[Spurt]

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@SahmIam wrote:

@Spurt Thank you for that article. 

However...this going from Lux to Discount happened before Amazon/the shift to shopping online took place (at least the one I know).

When the May company was purchased by Federated, something changed. That's when Hechts in my area became a Macy's. But instead of just moving all the wonderfulness of the Macy's we shopped at, it "lost" all the great stuff and became what I see now; it lost its "Lux" between closing at the old Mall and reopening at mine.What happened to the Deli? What happened to all the wonderful home items? What happened to the designer clothing? Why did bargain basement take over the 2nd floor instead keeping the good lines? What happened to the gorgeous purses? It's like the lost a bunch 75% of the store when they reopened Hechts as Macy's.

Something ELSE happened but I don't know what it was. The moment the new sign saying Macy's went up and the doors opened, I walked into a store I didn't recognize. I haven't seen the old Macy's anywhere since that day. It's only gotten worse but the shock of seeing it that day is something I won't forget.

As for shopping online, I do it due to lousy CS, dirty stores and not having anything I want in said store. I'm heading over to the mall tomorrow with one of sons; it's been 3 years since I've been there. It's TEN minutes away. But it has nothing I want; those stores either closed or shipped out all the quality items a long time ago.

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@SahmIam 

Our May company store was called Foleys and that was changed to Macys as Federated rebranded their May stores.....

Foleys never had a deli, but it was a spotlessly clean store with beautiful displays and well organized merchandise with everything in place. On the first floor was lingere, cosmetics and perfumes, second floor apparel, accessories, jewelry, upper floor kitchen/china/wedding registry/home goods/linens.  The Sales Associates treated you like you were a special and a valued customer and person, always helpful.  They had EXCELLENT SALES and wonderful merchandise.....

When Macy's took over there was a definite difference, the beautiful displays were gone, and it became a drab, lackluster Department Store, merchandise and layouts changed, some of their clothing lines were different....hard to find an employee to assist you......nothing really special about the store that stood out...I would describe it as cold and uninviting....There were a few clothing lines that they kept that I still purchased but I no longer looked around and lingered in in that store like I used to.....In other words, BORING! Then they declined even further to a filthy dirty store, overall unappealing merchandise (with one or two exceptions), and bad customer service.....

 If I go to a mall its Dillards and the Barnes & Noble thats it....I ordered 2 Karen Scott t-shirts online from Macy's ..thats been my big purchase in 2 years from them....I shop mostly at shopping centers these days--- TJ Maxx, Marshalls, Stein Mart and Home Goods, Hobby Lobby, Michaels, Kirklands, B&BW, Bed Bath & Beyond, Pier 1, Target, even JCP, as a last resort Wally World......and also order from companies online.  I dont really miss Macy's and its a rare occasion that I go there....

[shoekitty]

I remember Macys at Stanford, ca and san francisco.  Oh Good Lord, in the old days the store was a feast for the eyes.  The mannequins, the cosmetics dept, service oriented sales clerks who were dressed to the nines and so professional.  They were highly trained as well.  I remember the days they helped you, walked you to try on, handed you items they thought might interest you, took away things you didnt like.  Now it is a dump.  The store is not organized, professional or service oriented.  The girls at cash register have only an interest in signing you up for credit card.  That is because if your credit card application is approved they get cash payout at end of day.  

[Spurt]

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@Msfitness wrote:

@Spurt You could not have said it better!  It's the same way where I live too.  The one that looked like a high end store, closed a few years ago.  That particular mall was losing customers because of the location and the mall closed for good last week.  One of the employees that was transferred to Macy's at our current mall told me that it was a culture shock for her once she saw the condition of the inside of the store.   All of the clearance racks....it looked like a thrift store in a large portion of the store.  Each rack was soooooo long!!!  The store she came from looked like a high end store.  Speaking of Dillards, I went therelast week-end also after leaving Macy's.  I agree with you.  

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@Msfitness 

Its funny to hear how this is happening to Macy's all over the country, and they wonder why they are in serious trouble when its a bit obvious to us shoppers....why cant they see it...they can blame it on tariffs, or online shopping but they need to look in the mirror!! 

[SahmIam]

@Spurt @shoekitty @Msfitness  and everyone else:

Macy's can blame Amazon, tariffs, rising of minimum wages, unions (in my state, many department stores are part of local 400) and anything else they want BUT their decline started BEFORE these all became part of the countrys' landscape. WAY before.

[Msfitness]

@Spurt I totally agree with you.

[Msfitness]

@SahmIam That is so true......I would hate to see them completely sink along with JC Penney and Sears.  Their merchandise could be way better.  Especially the clothes and shoes.

[patbz]

@SahmIam :  Thanks for the trip down memory lane.  I grew up in Silver Spring and my first job was at Hechts.  Also loved Lord &Taylor, Woodies, Garfinckels and Jelleffs.  The early 60s was devoted to recreational shopping and Saturdays fathering at Wheaton Plaza or (later) White Flint and Tysons.  Now, when I go to Phoenix or Albuquerque (every couple of weeks) I routinely visit Costco, TJM, Home Goods, Old Navy and Chicos.  This fun but it's not the same experience as going to the grand flagship stores in downtown D.C. in early 1960s.

[Hawkfan83]

I was in the Downtown Macy's twice over the summer. They were remodeling and departments were shuffled around so it made it very difficult to find what I was looking for, which caused me to give up and leave. The store is always a mess so I'm not surprised people aren't flocking there. Add to that the location is in the middle of where the homeless and druggies hang out, and it's not very attractive to customers. It is sad that downtown is dying. 

[TY]

My sister was the one who let me know about the Seattle downtown Macy's on the chopping block. She also rarely shops at the Tacoma mall Macy's store or the mall there in general. She recently went into the Tacoma mall Macy's and let me know about the messy racks of sales clothes which I told her was their Backstage area and she also noticed the lack of sales people in the store. 

Even though we live in different countries and cities, we love looking for a bargain like shopping at TJX owned stores. We also don't want to visit downtown stores when we can get free parking in the suburbs so downtown department stores are rarely going to get a thought let alone a visit.

She is an Amazon customer though while I am not but she will regularly look at Amazon for household stuff as well as Craigslist and she also looks at Ebay for clothes. I will buy the private label Macy's brand clothes from Hudson's Bay in Canada too. I have also noticed that Walmart Canada has stepped up the quality of their clothes including their PJs and bathrobes and I bought some nice tops and tankini swimsuit tops this year from Walmart Canada.