Decline of Macy's, Kroger's (Mason, Perry: attorney, Home Depot, costs)

[Vanderbiltgrad]

Originally Posted by tylerSC

Losing the local identity has turned away loyal customers in some markets, especially Chicago where Marshall Field's is very much missed and lamented. And local inventory, quality, and selection has declined in some cases, as well as poor customer service. In Ohio, Macy's stores were previously Lazarus and Kauffman's. On the east coast, they were Rich's in Georgia, as well as Hecht's in NC, Virginia, and Maryland. And Burdine's in Florida. The value of a Macy's as a national New York name or trendsetter has never quite materialized, despite an attempt at economies of scale and a merger of operations. And now there is tougher competition from online vendors. But they are working to upgrade their top tier stores while closing those that are underperforming. I wish them luck, and I have already seen an improved customer experience at some of their nicer stores such as Mall of Georgia near Atlanta, and SouthPark in Charlotte. I remember some of the nicer Ohio stores were Easton and Polaris in Columbus, and Kenwood in Cincinatti. Just this summer I have purchased men's Taso Elba polo shirts and Alfani casual shirts and T shirts. All of these store brands are nice and an affordable value when on sale and combined with their weekly coupon. And their INC brand remains popular. But if you prefer designer names, there is Ralph Lauren Polo, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, and Nautica, among others. So I don't think their nicer stores are declining, they just need to adjust their business model and improve customer service. Close the poor stores, add the Backstage discount model to boost sales, and upgrade the top tier stores as a destination shop.

Yes sir, Macy's is the Wal Mart of retail nobody likes it.

[Carolina Knight]

I cannot speak for the decline of Macy's. I will speak on Kroger.

Successful grocery retailers including Walmart, Kroger, and Publix have struggled in sales earlier this year. Customers are coming back to buy more groceries again.

The Kroger Company has reduced the number of new store openings by delaying or cancelling plans for additional Kroger Marketplace hypermarkets and investing in existing stores. New store reductions are effective in The Kroger Company's Kroger Atlanta and Kroger Mid-Atlantic divisions.

[Wilson513]

Originally Posted by Vanderbiltgrad

Yes sir, Macy's is the Wal Mart of retail nobody likes it.

No its not. Macy's = Walmart. Nonsense.

[PerryMason614]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

I cannot speak for the decline of Macy's. I will speak on Kroger.

Successful grocery retailers including Walmart, Kroger, and Publix have struggled in sales earlier this year. Customers are coming back to buy more groceries again.

Meh, so what? Sales mean nothing in the context of declining prices. When a $10 jug of peanut butter is now $5 due to the decline in commodity prices, sales declines mean nothing. Customer count and unit count mean more in this context, but that's not reported. I am sure that Kroger is holding its own. They are simply so much better than most of their competition.

Originally Posted by Vanderbiltgrad

Yes sir, Macy's is the Wal Mart of retail nobody likes it.

Wannabes who act like snobs are primarily the ones who don't like Walmart. (As opposed to people who really do have money.) I love Walmart. Not crazy about the grocery store, but the department store side rocks.

[PerryMason614]

Originally Posted by tylerSC

Losing the local identity has turned away loyal customers in some markets, especially Chicago where Marshall Field's is very much missed and lamented. And local inventory, quality, and selection has declined in some cases, as well as poor customer service. In Ohio, Macy's stores were previously Lazarus and Kauffman's. On the east coast, they were Rich's in Georgia, as well as Hecht's in NC, Virginia, and Maryland. And Burdine's in Florida. The value of a Macy's as a national New York name or trendsetter has never quite materialized, despite an attempt at economies of scale and a merger of operations. And now there is tougher competition from online vendors. But they are working to upgrade their top tier stores while closing those that are underperforming. I wish them luck, and I have already seen an improved customer experience at some of their nicer stores such as Mall of Georgia near Atlanta, and SouthPark in Charlotte. I remember some of the nicer Ohio stores were Easton and Polaris in Columbus, and Kenwood in Cincinatti. Just this summer I have purchased men's Taso Elba polo shirts and Alfani casual shirts and T shirts. All of these store brands are nice and an affordable value when on sale and combined with their weekly coupon. And their INC brand remains popular. But if you prefer designer names, there is Ralph Lauren Polo, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, Tommy Hilfiger, and Nautica, among others. So I don't think their nicer stores are declining, they just need to adjust their business model and improve customer service. Close the poor stores, add the Backstage discount model to boost sales, and upgrade the top tier stores as a destination shop.

Macy's is dead in the water. You are correct that their better stores might be a good core to build from, but I don't see where they're going to get any growth. What they really need to do? Buy what's left of Kmart (and maybe ShopKo and maybe even Meijer) and slowly resurrect Gold Circle. Kmart is still strong in the northeastern part of the country. This is a good base to build from. People still love Gold Circle 30 years after it was killed.

See: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?f...7878515&type=3

and have you ever noticed how similar the Gold Circle logo is to the Target logo?

https://www.facebook.com/groups/2262...5869199787493/

and this ...

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by PerryMason614

Meh, so what? Sales mean nothing in the context of declining prices. When a $10 jug of peanut butter is now $5 due to the decline in commodity prices, sales declines mean nothing. Customer count and unit count mean more in this context, but that's not reported. I am sure that Kroger is holding its own. They are simply so much better than most of their competition.

Kroger has fuel sales. Fuel prices have been low for at least one year. Kroger's comparable fuel sales have decreased.

I am not overly worried about Kroger. It continues to perform well. Kroger may be at a point where it needs to plot its long-term direction for five years.

[Chemistry_Guy]

Originally Posted by PerryMason614

Wannabes who act like snobs are primarily the ones who don't like Walmart. (As opposed to people who really do have money.) I love Walmart. Not crazy about the grocery store, but the department store side rocks.

Walmart is fine for name brand stuff like P&G soaps, Sony TV's, and Remington shotguns. The off brand stuff, particularly furniture, textiles, and clothing, can range from decent to outright crap. Some shoppers (including my wife, I guess) don't like wading through aisles of crap just to save $5 a week or so compared to Target.

I was talking to my cousin this past week who is an ex Kroger exec. He said that Kroger is working on streamlining their stores and trying to cut loose the low quality brands that do not build customer loyalty. He also said Kroger is having somewhat of a talent crisis as a lot of the very good leaders left the company over the last few years. They have had a lot of success improving the quality of their own label brands, though.

I don't have much insight into Macy's, although it seems like every time I go out to watch soccer with my friends in Covington or Clifton we get chatted up by an intoxicated woman in her late 20's to early 30's who works at Macy's. It has seriously happened 3 of the last four times I went out, different girl every time.

[Carolina Knight]

Originally Posted by Chemistry_Guy

I was talking to my cousin this past week who is an ex Kroger exec. He said that Kroger is working on streamlining their stores and trying to cut loose the low quality brands that do not build customer loyalty. He also said Kroger is having somewhat of a talent crisis as a lot of the very good leaders left the company over the last few years. They have had a lot of success improving the quality of their own label brands, though.

Kroger has seen several division presidents and executive leaders retire in recent years. I would not be surprised if more personnel changes occur.

Kroger has 22 supermarket divisions. Some divisions have as many as 234 stores. Some divisions have as few as 64 stores.

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by PerryMason614

Wannabes who act like snobs are primarily the ones who don't like Walmart. (As opposed to people who really do have money.) I love Walmart. Not crazy about the grocery store, but the department store side rocks.

I don't buy much at Wal-Mart these days because their goods often prove shoddy in actual use, and this applies to even well branded goods such as Rubbermaid. I suspect that Wal-Mart has pressured suppliers on prices to such an extent that many of their goods are sub-standard in quality. Name-brand electronic goods IMO sold at Wal-Mart often are models stripped of useful and even important features.

Sears many decades ago used to test goods for quality. I doubt very much, based on my experiences, that Wal-Mart does the same.

Costco, with its extremely generous return policies, likely has a much better handle on quality. I buy most electronic goods there, and don't even look at Wal-Mart for such purchases.

11 of the weirdest returns Costco employees have ever seen! | Clark Howard

[WRnative]

Originally Posted by Carolina Knight

Kroger has seen several division presidents and executive leaders retire in recent years. I would not be surprised if more personnel changes occur.

Kroger has 22 supermarket divisions. Some divisions have as many as 234 stores. Some divisions have as few as 64 stores.

This represents a massive cost-cutting and restructuring potential, if done intelligently to retain local identity and merchandising.