Which Macy's stores will close in Metro Atlanta area?

[Born 2 Roll]

Originally Posted by evannole

Fully agree. Macy's hasn't offered a compelling product for 20 years or more. Doing away with iconic regional brands - Rich's here, Maas Brothers in Florida, and so on - and replacing them with the incredibly generic Macy's was a tremendous mistake.

This.

[WASwift]

Originally Posted by evannole

Fully agree. Macy's hasn't offered a compelling product for 20 years or more. Doing away with iconic regional brands - Rich's here, Maas Brothers in Florida, and so on - and replacing them with the incredibly generic Macy's was a tremendous mistake.

Counterpoint- there's no guarantee any of the regional banners would still exist today without the name change. It gave Federated the opportunity to save significant money by consolidating to the singular and very well-known Macy's brand.

Not to mention the nationwide publicity gained from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade the day before the busiest shopping day of the year.

Department stores have been struggling to reinvent themselves since the 1990s, and most of that reinvention has been in the form of cost cutting. I'd argue the name change has kept them afloat. Dillard's did the exact same thing with their purchase of Mercantile (although they've never had a significant ATL presence).

Personally, I think the future of department stores is going to be smaller footprints so they can increase their sales per square foot metric. Macy's seems to be the only store attempting this with their Market by Macy's concept.

[Iconographer]

Originally Posted by WASwift

Counterpoint- there's no guarantee any of the regional banners would still exist today without the name change. It gave Federated the opportunity to save significant money by consolidating to the singular and very well-known Macy's brand.

Not to mention the nationwide publicity gained from the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade the day before the busiest shopping day of the year.

Department stores have been struggling to reinvent themselves since the 1990s, and most of that reinvention has been in the form of cost cutting. I'd argue the name change has kept them afloat. Dillard's did the exact same thing with their purchase of Mercantile (although they've never had a significant ATL presence).

Personally, I think the future of department stores is going to be smaller footprints so they can increase their sales per square foot metric. Macy's seems to be the only store attempting this with their Market by Macy's concept.

There is 'no guarantee' that we'll even be here tomorrow. We'll never have the opportunity to know the would-be fate of the regional banners, in particular Atlanta's own Rich's which prior to the Federated takeover had created as exciting a retail experience as could be found anywhere in the US. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (televised) didn't generate half the enthusiasm as did the Lighting of the Great Tree, the Pink Pig Flyer, or Santa's Secret Shop to Atlantans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EBRvk5Yx64


I had a friend that worked in Rich's Store For Homes for over 30 years. She may well have been the best salesman I have ever known, bending over backwards for her loyal clientele. Her biggest career lament was Macy's centralization of the buying function, which created the situation of New York buyers determining how Atlantans desired to furnish their homes. She added that any input from the people that actually tried to push the junk they were sending down (and were hearing from their customers exactly why it wasn't selling) fell on deaf ears. What do Southerners know about anything, anyway?

Macy's made two (near fatal) mistakes IMO: Underestimating the goodwill generated over time by established regional chains, and overestimating their own.

As to the bolded, I tend to agree.

[evannole]

Originally Posted by Iconographer

There is 'no guarantee' that we'll even be here tomorrow. We'll never have the opportunity to know the would-be fate of the regional banners, in particular Atlanta's own Rich's which prior to the Federated takeover had created as exciting a retail experience as could be found anywhere in the US. The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (televised) didn't generate half the enthusiasm as did the Lighting of the Great Tree, the Pink Pig Flyer, or Santa's Secret Shop to Atlantans.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5EBRvk5Yx64


I had a friend that worked in Rich's Store For Homes for over 30 years. She may well have been the best salesman I have ever known, bending over backwards for her loyal clientele. Her biggest career lament was Macy's centralization of the buying function, which created the situation of New York buyers determining how Atlantans desired to furnish their homes. She added that any input from the people that actually tried to push the junk they were sending down (and were hearing from their customers exactly why it wasn't selling) fell on deaf ears. What do Southerners know about anything, anyway?

Macy's made two (near fatal) mistakes IMO: Underestimating the goodwill generated over time by established regional chains, and overestimating their own.

As to the bolded, I tend to agree.

Agree. As for me, I grew up with Maas Brothers in Florida. Shopped their Blockbuster sales (long before Blockbuster Video was a thing), ate in the Sunshine Room restaurant... The generic national brand simply isn't the same.

I do still like Dillard's, but don't spend nearly as much there as I used to.

[bethereds82]

Originally Posted by ShenardL

I would've loved to see a large Korean department store franchise like Shinsegae, Lotte, Hyundai Department Store take over the Gwinnett Mall. They make some beautiful shopping locations in Korea.

This would be epic. Hyundai department stores in Korea are fantastic with high end options and an unbelievable food court/bakery/cafe etc. They would for sure do well here.

[bethereds82]

On a different note, I actually still like going to stores and trying on clothes/shopping. I'm in my early 40s with kids and we frequent North Point and Perimeter on a regular basis.

I personally like stores like Macy's, Von Maur, Nordstrom a lot. They have some great sales at times and it's much more convenient to run into a Macy's than walk around a huge indoor mall and seeking out specific stores like J. Crew etc.

I never understood the appeal of shopping for clothes online. Seems like such a big hassle if you have to return, etc. b/c you never really know how something will fit until you try it on.