Macys To Close Nine "Under Performing" Stores - Canton, OH On The List

[beadsobleach]

Jordan Marsh

Growing up in Mass., Jordan Marsh was the store. They sold pretty much everything, use to go in the 60's to look at color TV. You could spend the day in the store going to all the departments and have lunch there too. Had a great bakery too!

 

[oxydolfan1]

"As to Macy's, well, their stores in my area are some of the most depressing - badly maintained, dirty with poor merchandise selections unattractively displayed. I feel like we are being held hostage since we really have no other department store choices."

I was a part-time Macy's employee for several years in the early eighties and I can tell you the place is a shell of its former self.

The store I grew up with, on Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn, closed several years ago, largely because of high inventory losses and an extremely deteriorated physical plant.

I was in the former A & S store in downtown Brooklyn and they wisely did not "modernize" extensively, so the store still retains elements of its former grandeur (like the beautiful glass and accordion elevator doors I remember from childhood) but the merchandise was poorly stocked and displayed, and there were virtually no sales personnel present.

When Whirlcool describes the Sharpstown store in Texas, I was reminded of certain aspects of the Macys Parkchester store in the Bronx, which I cannot imagine will last much longer.

In my neighborhood, we had THREE Macy's stores in one four-mile radius, until, happily, Century 21 took over the former Stern's location.

I was actually thinking about picking up a four-cup Farberware percolator on sale for the weekday coffee, but I keep asking myself, is the aggravation of stopping in at that mall worth saving five dollars?

"I love Nordstrom! We do almost all of our shopping there."

Yes, I agree! I love it as well, although I definitely cannot afford to do the majority of my shopping there.

They carry brands (and lines of brands) of a higher quality then the other stores do, and if I'm going to spend the money, I want the best possible selection. Their sales help seem nicer and more knowledgeable and helpful than at Lord and Taylor or Bloomie's, and, having worked retail for so many years, I'm hardly a demanding customer!

In the other stores, I sometimes feel merchandise for men is just an afterthought...in Nordstrom's, I feel as though my tastes and sensibilities are respected, even if I can't afford it half the time....

I guess I'm a bipolar shopper....my favorite stores are Wal-Mart/Target, and Nordstrom's, and the middle ground be damned.

The one conversion to Macy's that left the worst taste in my mouth was not the A&S or Stern's stores, believe it or not, but the former Wanamaker's store in downtown Philadelphia.

I still love Philly but a little bit of the old magic is gone...

 

[angus]

For us Brooklynites, the transition of Abraham and Straus to Macy's was probably as traumatic as the Marshall Field conversion for Chicagoans. I recall in my childhood, the downtown flagship at Fulton and Hoyt Streets was THE place to shop - beautiful merchandise, white gloved elevator operators and all that Art Deco glamour. And on the escalators going from the first to second floors, the letters "A" and "S" were intertwined with the scrollwork on the glass sides. Funny how we remember certain things. I remember my mother needing a dress for a very important wedding and searching relentlessly for a dress and hat (it was the late 50's) and finally finding a pink formal Elsa Schiaparelli dress at A&S. According to all reports that dress was a showstopper.

Alas, with the decline of Brooklyn in the 60's and 70's Federated began to neglect the A&S division and it too was a shell of its former self when it was finally merged into Macy's. Federated did try to upscale and expand the division in the mid to late 80's, but the Campeau acquisition of Federated and Allied happened soon after and the rest is history...
At least they didn't close the flagship - neglect aside, it is still a beautiful architectural building and the only remaining department store on Fulton Street - everything else, JW Mays, Martin's, Nam's, Loeser's, Oppenheim and Collins are long since gone some even before I came along.

 

[launderess]

And Who Could Not Go To A&S Without Stopping By...

Juniors!

*LOL*

L (Can't resist the cheesecake)

 

[whirlcool]

As a footnote...

There is a monument by the Sharpstown Golf Club building commemorating Sharpstown. It reads:

"Sharpstown, the world's largest planned subdivision" 1956.

Bill Sharp planned it and built it but around 1961 there was a scandal. I seemed Mr. Sharp built the place on a financial pyramid scheme.
In 1961 that pyramid collapsed on him.

 

[whirlcool]

I guess I'm a bipolar shopper....my favorite stores are Wal-Mart/Target, and Nordstrom's, and the middle ground be damned.

Well then the majority of the country must be too. I saw a news report today about Christmas shopping and the big winners were the bottom line stores and the very top, like Nordstroms.

I love the customer service at Nordstroms, especially the Mall of America location. I bought a couple of suits there last summer. Just two of them, and the salesman couldn't have been better if he tried. Just outstanding.

 

[launderess]

Well much of that may be the only persons doing really well at the moment for the most part, are the very well off. The rest of us, which includes the working poor, poor, and what is left of the middle-class are either in dire straits, or spending wisely in uncertian times.

Didn't go crazy with spending this year, and never do on Christmas. The holiday is supposed to be about the spirit of giving, goodwill and remembering the birth of our Lord. Not spending a whole lot of money one does not have just to make a fancy splash.

L.

 

[angus]

Same is true here - I carefully re evaluated my shopping this year for Christmas and tried to limit spending but still give imaginative and useful gifts. Amazing what a little planning and thinking will do.
I did more with my church, donating time and buying for needy families and I must say that I felt more Christmas spirit than I have in a long time.

And you're right, "L", no trip downtown was complete without a stop at Junior's - I still do that occasionally. One of my faves was their "Broadway" ice cream soda which was a chocolate soda with coffee ice cream. Now that was a grand treat!!!

 

[oxydolfan1]

"And you're right, "L", no trip downtown was complete without a stop at Junior's - I still do that occasionally. One of my faves was their "Broadway" ice cream soda which was a chocolate soda with coffee ice cream. Now that was a grand treat!!!"

Me, too. The very chi-chi "Kings" supermarket by me also sells their cheesecakes for $15 a pop.

Did you know there is only one "Jahn's" ice cream parlor left?

In Jackson Heights, and I bet its days are numbered.

 

[westtexman]

The Demise of Early Suburbia . .

It's amazing how the suburban areas of Dallas and Houston have changed since the 1980's! I have friends from the suburbs of Duncanville, De Soto, Grand Prairie and Cedar Hill. Each of these suburbs were very nice in the 1970's and 1980's, but have now all pretty much become bad. Even Irving, which was also very nice years ago is now a scary place to even drive through! It seems like the southern suburbs were the places to go in the 1980's, but now everyone is moving north.

It's also sad to see the Houston Suburbs like Sharpstown, Greenspoint (a.k.a. "Gunspoint") and others falling into such decline. It seems like people continue to move further out from the city center, or they are moving back into the gentrified areas of downtown - while these early suburbs continue to deteriorate. At this rate, I wonder what The Woodlands will look like in 50 years (and Huntsville becomes the "New Woodlands"). LOL.

Bryan

 

[nmaineman36]

I have never been to a Juniors...I have seen the cheesecakes on QVC and I bought the Juniors cookbook. I have not made the cheesecake recipies in it but I have made the Vienna rolls and I have to say they are outstanding!

 

[launderess]

Have Made The Junior's Cheesecake

Several times, and it comes out pretty great, but one may have to rely on one's own baking skills to tweak where necessary to get the proper results.

Personally like getting the real McCoy from the Brooklyn Store (there is now an outpost in Grand Central Terminal, but considering the news story last year about a major rat infestation in another food store at that location, give it a pass), and it never fails to satisfy. Prefer the strawberry chessecake, over the pie version.

Down-Town Brooklyn,

Really went down hill, but now seems on the mend, with the Williamsburgh Savings Bank building turned into luxury condo's and lots of new stores/development going on, including several high priced hotels. If you really want to see what old down-town Brooklyn was like, watch a PBS special called "A Walk Through Brooklyn". Great stuff! The Long Island University campus there still has the original organ from when there was a huge movie palace there. Organ is now used to provide music during basketball games and such.

L.

 

[angus]

The LIU campus was once the Brooklyn Paramount or Fox Theatre and it was the site of so many live rock n' roll shows in the 50's and early 60's. It was quite a place and one can only imagine what a hub Downtown Brooklyn was in the day! All of the great rock stars performed there - I remember my cousins taking me there to see all the latest acts. You really felt you were part of something big!!

I have seen that PBS show, "A Walk Through Brooklyn" many times and I am always mesmerized.

 

[oxydolfan1]

It's really unbelievable, how everything has changed there.

The Satmar Hasidim have expanded their community all the way to Park Avenue by Flushing Avenue, and Myrtle and Marcy.

There's also a developer named Scarano who keeps throwing up these strange brick multi-family dwellings in EVERY corner and crevice, but they are not all selling well, and some are pretty ugly (although they beat empty lots and tire-repair shops).

There is now a popular "organic"-style restaurant on Knickerbocker. The artists and hipsters have been priced out of Williamsburg, and now you see a lot of moms with strollers about.

Red Hook has really turned around, development-wise, but suffered a setback when it was announced the one and only elevated subway station in the area would be closed for several years for extensive renovations.

The cleanup on the Gowanus Canal surpasses anything I ever expected (although I still wouldn't catch a fish in it)...

The weirdest place is Fourth Avenue. All of a sudden, small and not-so-small hotels are popping up everywhere. It's far from Brooklyn's most picturesque section, but I guess tourists could care less...the public transit is decent and the rates are bound to be a bargain.

Launderess, do you believe that, if Sears continues to fare poorly, that they will close the KMart by Astor Place?

(That's the rumor, so I'm not exactly starting one...)

 

[launderess]

Don't know.

Think that K-Sears benefits being the only large "all in one" type of store for the area, which includes students and staff from NYU (which rapidly is becoming the dominant if not the dominant player for everything below 14th street from 7th Avenue to Third Avenue. Like Columbia, NYU is rapidly gobbling up real estate and building like crazy. Third Avenue around Saint Mark's place (the original "East Village punk/raver/druggie scene), now looks like a college campus.

Saw a great film a few weeks back, "200 Cigarettes", which though released in 1999, was supposed to be set in the East Village scene of the 1980's, and couldn't believe the difference! If one had only bought some of that clapped out, burned out, and abandoned buildings then, would be sitting VERY pretty now!

Any who , back to K-Sears.

It is the only "Sears" in Manhattan, and again the only large "Walmart" type store below 34th Street. They sell groceries, automobile stuff, clothing, etc, so there is something for everyone. Not to mention public transportation to the area by either bus or subway is excellent. So, no; don't think K-Sears is going anyplace, unless they go belly up. Just for the record, K-Sears just purchased or purchased a major share in Restoration Hardware, so things could be getting interesting.

L.

 

[jamiel]

I've not set foot in Macys since they took over Marshall Fields' here...having had grandparents in Chicago that was a destinaaaation store for me.

I think Macys made a strategic error and should have kept Marshall Fields as the upscale (i.e. Bloomingdales') name for the midwest...they could have had about 15 stores (5 in Chicago, 3 in Detroit, 3 in Minneapolis, 2 in St. Louis, 1 in Kansas City, 1 in Indianapolis, 1 in Cincinnati) and kept everyone happy.

 

[oxydolfan1]

Oh, I forgot to mention that JCPenney is apparently opening stores on Fulton Street in Brooklyn, across from Macy's, and in Herald Square (Manhattan Mall)!

 

[rp2813]

For me, Macy's has been a store to avoid for many years. It's impossible to find good help, and when you do find somebody who works there, they are just there to tidy up and fold clothes and are gabbing away in Spanish with their co-workers. And what sort of management allows three full page newspaper ads that contain repeated listings of the same sale items? One hand does not apparently know what the other is doing. Seems Macy's is always having a sale. It's BS, they are just bringing the prices down to normal and calling it a sale.

What Macy's has nearly accomplished is to make the whole department store experience a generic one from coast to coast. How stupid. They could still own Marshall Fields and keep things as they were, but no, they have to obliterate an institution that people in Chicago and elsewhere were faithful to. Total idiocy. I hope the message sent to Macy's by boycotting the Fields flagship store will be heard loud and clear. The last thing that should happen is to have a department store monopoly that couldn't care less about the consumer, and that is exactly where Macy's is headed.

 

[hoover1060]

Nmaineman...

I live just about in the middle, between Stratford Square mall(about 5 miles SW of me) and Woodfield Mall(4 miles NE) I grew up in the area, and remember when the Sears store opened at Woodfield in 1971.

I might be the only one here who likes Macys, but I have had better luck finding stuff with Macy's than I did when they were Marshall Fields. The Woodfield Mall store was Marshall Field's largest store after the State street store downtown.
I rarely got to the malls anymore, I detest the crowds and parking.
If I can buy it online, I do it that way.