post mortem: 6 years after the loss of Marshall Field's (Chicago: how much, university)

[edsg25]

Marshall Field's stores were converted to Macy's six years ago in 2006. That's a fairly long time.

How much are we still feeling the loss today?....

1. does it really matter since the real age of the traditional dept. store is pretty much over?

2. does the loss of Field's on State affect downtown Chicago, particularly tourism and the general health of State Street? (nothing could replace Field's on State as a tourist destination...certainly Macy's could not. that store had to Field's to work)

3. it's sort of the end of the shopping mall era along with the department store era, but, that said: do you think the loss of Field's has hurt WTP and the suburban malls where Field's was located? Particularly in malls that aren't the giant ones that seem to hold their own (Old Orchard, Oakbrook, Woodfield). Does the loss of Field's register more in places like Hawthorn, Fox Valley, River Oaks?

4. have Chicagoans pretty much lost the bad feelings towards Macy's we experienced when the name change took place? Is Chicago a relatively weak market for Macy's compared to others because of the ill will?

5. Should Macy's Inc. do anything to improve their situation in Chicagoland? Would they be wise to restructure the State Street store back into Marshall Field's while keeping the rest Macy's and make WTP the flagship of the Macy's stores?

6. Or might Macy's be better off just creating a smaller store on State (it obviously cannot use all the space has) by reducing the space of that store and using the space freed up as some sort of adapted purpose (I'd say retail, but practically empty Block 37 across the street would make that notion ludicrous)

7. If Field's had remained Field's, do you think that Carsons would still be on State instead of Target? In other words, was Carsons a lot better off when it and Field's were a block apart?

8. when all is said and done, is Marshall Field's to us merely history now and something we're pretty much over since these would hardly have been the glory years if the name still stood in place?

[gomexico]

Why not let us see your answers to the questions?

[whakru]

I think Macy's is crap and I still won't shop there. What they did to Fields was wrong and they ruined a part of Chicago history.

I really wish that they would just go away.

[Jandur]

Originally Posted by whakru

I think Macy's is crap and I still won't shop there. What they did to Fields was wrong and they ruined a part of Chicago history.

I really wish that they would just go away.

I said this as well, but eventually I just got over it and I shop there now. It's unfortunate though.

[SOON2BNSURPRISE]

As a west coast guy and someone that has only visited family in the area I had no idea what Marshall Fields was. I did my homework though and found an amazing company culture and history. So many great things have come out of Chicago. You all should be proud of your history. I noticed that they even have an organization set up to try and bring the retail store back to your city, FieldsFansChicago.org. They attend the Macy's annual shareholder meetings and try to get the CEO to bring back the company. Now that is just a diehard fan of the brand if you ask me. Not sure why the company couldn't at least change the name and build on the history that Marshall Fields has in your city.

That does beg a question though: Would a die hard fan of the brand shop at a Macy's that is a Marshall Fields in name only?

[aragx6]

Originally Posted by SOON2BNSURPRISE

As a west coast guy and someone that has only visited family in the area I had no idea what Marshall Fields was. I did my homework though and found an amazing company culture and history. So many great things have come out of Chicago. You all should be proud of your history. I noticed that they even have an organization set up to try and bring the retail store back to your city, FieldsFansChicago.org. They attend the Macy's annual shareholder meetings and try to get the CEO to bring back the company. Now that is just a diehard fan of the brand if you ask me. Not sure why the company couldn't at least change the name and build on the history that Marshall Fields has in your city.

That does beg a question though: Would a die hard fan of the brand shop at a Macy's that is a Marshall Fields in name only?

Now? It's hard to say, but if Macy's hadn't been such douchey dummies when they came to Chicago in the first place and actually understood that the brand was important they could have avoided all of this. They did the exact same thing in St. Louis with Famous Barr and there are plenty who are still upset by it. They just really thought we were all so terribly desperate for that amazing store from NYC to come to us -- typical, isn't it?

[Chi-town Native]

I haven't been to Macy's, but I hadn't been to Marshall Field's since Dayton bought it out.

Frankly, these places all carry stuff made elsewhere, but Marshall Field's was a pretty sweet place to visit as a kid during the Christmas season.

[ChicagoMeO]

Macys sucks. I went in there to shop for furniture and other items. one guy was rude. i asked him if he had a particular kind of furniture. He did not want to help me. there were no other customers taking his time. he looked like he did not want to wait on anyone or maybe it was just me. i showed him a piece of furniture that was like the one i asked and he did not show it to me. I believe i was not dressed in furs and versace, he did a Pretty Woman type attitude on me - you know the part where the ***** did not want to wait on the girl because of how she was dressed. so eff them and their stuckup attitudes. Little did that guy know but i had a lot of money to spend.

[urbanlife78]

Oh I hate Macys, they have destroyed local department stores across the country.

[jpchi60630]

Yeah macys defintely shoulda re-thought that one. marshall fields is most definitely a chicago household name now just another store or brand i used to know, like woolworths, or montgomery ward. I know stores come and go but why fields? I loved them and so did my family. I remember their window displays as a kid. I thought they were better than macys now... lol even my moms loved re- using their big ridiculous paper bags to tote whatever.... I agree with the above posters. macys - eh not so good. Bring back fields for sure! Its a shame they went under. To my understanding marshall field himself was quite the philanthropist contributing much to early chicago through funding the university of chicago, the field museum, the shedd aquarium , the art institue and the museum of science and industry. Im pretty sure they used to carry some higher end stuff than macys too...

what has macys contributed to chicago instiutions? have they??