"...a heated shortcut from State Street to Wabash." Precisely.

Thank you for that nostalgic memoir, Magnaverde.

The thing I find most irritating about Macy's is that I get a nice coupon in the mail for $10 off $50 or $20 off $100 and there are so many exclusions that I can't use the coupons for merchandise I want. If they would let you use the coupon on anything they would have more business.

GWTamara's soliciation has made me wonder... do you think Tamara and the GW research team regularly reads all our threads to collect research information? And here we are pouring our hearts out about our homes, the dearest spot on earth.

I get so darn mad at the coupon thing. It never seems to fail; I'll be shopping, go into Macy's, and find out there are coupons I should have obtained from somewhere. So everyone around me is getting discounted prices but I don't because I didn't look in the newspaper first. I think if there is a sale, it should be for everyone. When it was Hecht's, you could get any applicable coupons right on the spot from their customer service office but they did away with that.

Ditto on the overstuffed racks being a problem.

And their prices are way too high. I have never bought anything at Macy's that wasn't on sale and I wouldn't because you can get the same exact thing elsewhere for less money.

I do like to get bed stuff (comforters, sheets, etc.) there but I find they have a very limited selection. I usually find a nice comforter but not in a king size or I find it but they're out of the matching throw pillows. I don't shop there very much anymore. Mostly I go to JCP.

I used to shop at Dayton's, then at its successor Marshall Field's. When Federated bought it, the quality of the all of the clothes - women's, men's, you-name-it, and the furniture plummeted. I bought some sheets there that were ok, but otherwise they never have anything I want. I shop at Nordstrom, small shops, and online for generic stuff.

I responded to Tamara's Macy's post over on the kitchen forum before I saw this one. How many posts do you need, Tamara?

So far, that makes 88 Nays & 2 Yeas.

OK, 87 1/2 Nays & 2 1/2 yeas; somebody sort-of-liked to get bed stuff there.

Either way, I think we can all pretty much assume Macy's won't be spending any of its precious advertising dollars around here, but just to make sure they didn't somehow overlook this thread, I sent them an email with a link to it, so they can curl up with a cup of hot cocoa & read their fan mail.

I agree 100% that the Chicago Macy's pale in comparison to Marshall Fields. It's a disgrace, really; that was my favorite store and the two do not remotely compare.

But I disagree that all Macys are the same. In the DC area, they vary depending on the location; I discovered this last year when trying to find a robe & pajamas as a Christmas gift; I went to about 8 different Macy's in a 3-day period, and the merchandise & displays were notably different (at least in the sleepwear department). Likewise, the Macys in the smaller towns where my inlaws and my parents live (one in the midwest one in the southeast)also have different merchandise than I find here; I should say, some of what's sold there can be found in DC, but most of what's sold in DC can't be found at those stores.

Do I like Macy's? I'm mixed & it depends on the store/mall. When they first changed the name from Hecht's (local federated chain) two years ago, it was a big improvement in the women's department. Hechts'women's department was frumpy; Macy's introduced more stylish merchandise and improved the displays. Then it declined, and the decline seems to be ongoing. I went Sunday and was totally unimpressed (parts of the store were indistinguishable from penney's). It's still better than Hechts in terms of style, but the stores are less organized, and there seem to be fewer stylish pieces. I'm afraid that within a year or two it will be as un-stylish as Hechts was.

I prefer to shop at premium outlet malls or TJ maxx, ann taylor stores, and online. I used to shop primarily at filene's basement, but their quality & selection have declined drastically in the same time frame.

Macy's men's department, however, is far superior to the women's IMHO. I can always find nice suits, shirts, ties, & casual clothing for DH at the DC-area Macy's. It's also less crammed/junky and there are more salespeople. If the women's department could be brought up to the caliber of the men's department, Macy's would be worthwhile again. Now, I just carry a ton of coupons (have a credit card so I get lots of coupons in the mail) in my purse, but rarely buy anything there (or even go in) except at Christmas time.

Two words for Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren: New Coke.

Having an opinion is one thing but calling out GW management isn't a good or smart thing to do.
What GW asks or does on this forum is exclusively their call.

Regardless of what you *think or feel* this website/forum is a money making enterprise and not a charity.
When it stops making money, it will go away.

Btw, I think Macy's is just fine, it's a department store.
Why Marshall Fields is being brought into this, I have no idea.
When Fields was acquired by BATUS, it ceased to exist as the Marshall Fields native Chicagoans knew and loved.
All Macy's did was (finally) change the name, inevitable and something that should have been done in the 80's.

Our local Meyer and Frank was replaced by Macy's as was our Bon Marche' replaced by Macy's. I shopped at Meyer and Frank often, now I shop at Macy's seldom. I shopped at Bon Marche' if I couldn't find it at Meyer and Frank, now I never go into that Macy's at all.

Although Macy's "redid" the store, the items just aren't that good. I'm sick of Martha Stewart's bedding line as I am with all her green colored items. I don't see her items as stuff I would purchase, although I like MS herself.

I seem to go to JCP more than ever!

All the Macy's around here are awful, simply awful. Way too overcrowded, shoddy merchandise that smells like rancid, stale perfume, non-existent sales people, and ugly clothes. There are a lot of tall men at my house and they can't find anything there that fits. The sales stink, and I defy anyone to find the one item in the store that's not excluded from their stupid coupons. It can't be done!

In our area of So. Ca. you can find 3 different styles of Macy's. We have a Middle Macy's, a lower Macy's and the more upscale Macy's, with Ellen Tracy, Anne Klein, Eileen Fisher,etc. This one I like as you can bottom fish nicely during sales, unlike Nordstrom's which offers meager reductions...saving merchandise for their Rack stores, I suppose? Gimmie those 50% off racks of the good stuff:>) I do like Nordstrom's service, and shop there more than Macy's precisely for that reason. BTW, Nordstrom's isn't really a department store, having little other than clothing. Loved the trip back in time, MagV :>)

Way to go, M'verde! Having worked at a gallery next to Macy's in an 'upscale' mall in San Diego, I got more than my fair share of listening to disgruntled employees. Seems the Macy's higher-ups were not too considerate of employees when they did their 'take over'. New rules and guidelines were put into motion, and employees made reference to Macy's as if they were 'working for Hitler'. Many quit as they wouldn't tolerate the new 'system'. I remember one employee telling me his vacations days would be affected if he didn't make a certain amount of sales. They were also expected to open several new accounts per week, and if not, were penalized by being written up by their supervisor, which could lead to being fired.

If Macy's continues to neglect employees, which in turns makes for bad customer service, it could lead to their demise. It ain't over 'til the fat lady sings, and if memory serves me right, I didn't hear any musical notes when Marshall Field's closed. ;o)

I have found Macy's like many other stores, depends on the manager and the area. I loved the one in Birmingham at the Galleria, when I visited there. I have been in some that were so impersonal they made me feel as though I should not have come in but aren't all stores that way nowadays. I remember when Montgomery Fair merchandise could be returned without a receipt, without anything but the merchandise because not only where the employees trustworthy but so were the shoppers, but we live in a whole new world nowadays.

I saw over 100 posts on this thread, so naturally, I HAD to see what it was about! I am originally from the land of Macy's... NYC. I grew up in Manhattan and have spent many hours/years in the 'The World's Biggest Department Store.' It was THE store that my parent's took us to during Christmas to see Santa. My sister followed the same tradition with her own children. A visit to Santa and then a nice lunch in the cafe! I remember the days when Macy's was having some fiancial troubles and threatened to exist no more. Now, thanks to Federated, Macy's, in my opinion, is on the same playing field as Walmart as far as making their presence known in every hometown. The name has been cheapened at the greedy hands of Federated. Personally, the smarter move would have been for Federated to keep the department stores they were taking over original by holding onto the name. Case in point, Marshall Field's. I had never been to a MF store, but I am aware of their reputation of being a very elegant, upscale, much loved store. Even today, it is mourned like the death of a dear friend. Wouldn't they have been better off by leaving the name and all that went with it in place? In the same vein, Federated is also destroying Macy's own reputation. Sad, because New Yorker's held the same fondness for Macy's as Chicagoan's had for Marshall Field's. Now it is viewed as a monopoly monster. Defianatley too much of a good thing can turn your stomach!

I don't have much reason to shop at Macy's.

DH is 6'4" with much of his height above the waist. He needs to wear talls. Marshall Field's always had a great selection, Macy's has none.

I remember buying him a beautiful black leather Marc NY jacket for Christmas one year, sized XLT. As long as I was in Field's, I purchased a cashmere scarf and other items on my holiday shopping list.

When I first went into Macy's, after the buyout, and asked if they had talls, the employee at the men's department begged me to call or email corporate and ask that they begin stocking them. They had many requests for the same sizes. They said that Macy's wouldn't listen to them.

Back to Rochester I went and haven't looked back.

lenam, what does New Coke have to do with Macy's? Contrary to public opinion, New Coke was a smashing success; it did EXACTLY what it was designed to do.

By the mid 80's the sugar based formula that Coca Cola was made with was too expensive and seriously eating into profits. Sales of coca Cola had dropped to less than 30% of the market, and Pepsi was trouncing them everywhere. (remember the stupid pepsi/coke challenge ad campaign and how "most people" preferred the pepsi? No secret there; Pepsi tastes sweeter.) Yet Coca Cola couldn't just switch to cheaper, high fructose corn syrup like Pepsi had been using for years at the risk of demolishing it's loyal customer base.

Instead, without any warning, Coca Cola rolled out "New Coke"; purposely overly sweetened, nasty replacement. lack of prior announcement kept most people from hoarding "old Coke" and before long, new Coke was all there was to be found.

Surprise! No one liked new coke, at least no one who liked Coke before - (it was hit with Pepsi drinkers), and Coca Cola came back after a few short months to say that while they were keeping "New Coke", they'd be bringing back the "old Coke", which would now be called "Coke Classic". Oh, and it was now made with high fructose corn syrup instead of sugar, but it was "close enough" to the old taste that 90% of the people couldn't tell, and didn't care. They bought based on nostalgia and brand loyalty.

So, Coca Cola ended up with MORE shelf space at the grocery store, MORE people drinking their beverage, and they could now save money using cheap ingredients. That's called win, win, win for Coca Cola. Eventually, they phased out new Coke when people started drinking "classic"just to see what the fuss was about. The only person who got hurt was Bill Cosby as a spokesperson, because dumb @ss shoppers felt he'd "lied" to them about "New Coke" being good. Please. He's a paid spokesman whose job is to push the product, that's what they do. Dorks.

Doubt me? Consider the fact that after the um, "New Coke Fiasco" as some people foolishly called it, no executives lost their jobs, or even their bonuses, and within six months, Coca Cola became the number one selling soft drink world wide, the position it has held ever since.

I agree, littledog, as in the link I posted. Lundgren COULD turn Macy's downward spiral around by bringing back the local chains renamed as Marshall Field's CLASSIC, Hudson's CLASSIC, Dayton's CLASSIC, etc. (plus, sneak in the retail equivalent of High Fructose Corn Syrup :-( ).

Maybe use Bill Cosby as spokesmodel *grin*.

-Lena

"Marshall Field's CLASSIC, Hudson's CLASSIC, Dayton's CLASSIC

LOL Give that poster a handsome bonus! I Love it lenam! You are a marketing Genius.

Thought this article on larger department stores rug sales and prices was kinda funny.

littledog,

You must have read my son's web site about the great coke conspiracy.

He wrote it as a joke. A lot of people took it seriously, and what he wrote was reprinted in several places.

I live in a town with a population of about 35,000. Our shopping choices are very limited here. Macy's is located in our downtown historic district on a tree lined street of old brick buildings. I am downtown a lot, but don't shop there much.
I hate all the coupons and sales that are only valid if you use the Macy's credit card. The Jr clothing dept is full of skin tight clothes that don't fit my 12 year old (who is not overweight, just normal size) and she gets discouraged every time we try to shop there. So we just don't go there when we need to shop for her. We will drive the 60 miles to the next larger city to shop.
I do shop for myself there,but I have a hard time finding clothes that fit at 5'4" 120lb. I seem to be too tall for petite and too short for most others. And yet I can go to other stores and find things that fit.

I grew up in Chicago and have many wonderful memories of Marshall Fields. I refuse to shop in Macys since they ended what was one of the finest stores to ever exist in this country. Shame on them!!

Sorry suero, although I'm sure it's terribly clever, I guess I must have missed your son's website. Did your boy also write those full page ads taken out by the Sugar growers protesting Coca Cola's switch from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup, and the sales figures that have put Coca Cola in the number one spot ever since?

There's no "conspiracy" involved in analyzing corporate strategy designed to increase it's profits, especially looking at the facts twenty years later.
Most people like to think the public forced Coca Cola to "change back" by weeping and wailing and otherwise gnashing their teeth; the reality is they were played like a jukebox. It was an amazing gamble, and it paid off handsomely.

I doubt we'll be seeing "The New Marshall Fields" or "Foley's, the Next Generation", which is too bad. As lenam noted, Macy's could learn alot from New Coke. But I have a feeling Federated will ride that Macy's name right down the gutter into bankruptcy...

The Macys in Pasadena has been closed to remodel (had been a really great Bullocks store) and I'm waiting for the re-opening. However, the other Los Angeles stores are nothing special--mass merchandise, piled high, not as nice as Bloomingdales, not as cheap as Target. It's a C+ store, only because I like the Martha Stewart kitchen stuff.

On the other hand, I like the ad with the movie clips--Macy's was a big deal, just like Wanamakers, Marshall Fields, Bullocks, I. Magins and a host of other regional dept. stores.

And Costco sells Mexican Coca-Cola, made with real sugar, which must be an object lesson somewhere.

ideefixe, I love that ad, too...our entire family does. They should return to that tradition.

To me, Macy's is a Kohl's Plus. Nothing special to offer in the departments I would shop in.

I will preface my response with the fact that I hate mall shopping.

I am a loyal Nordstrom customer. Unfortunately, for now, the nearest Nordstrom is at least a 1 hr. commute to and from - and that is if I am the only car on the road. That said, I do shop at the local Macy's when I am in need of some type of clothing for an event I haven't planned properly for and don't have time for the 2 hr. commute or the shipping lag time.

I also like Marshalls and TJ Maxx, but cannot stand sifting through the poorly displayed merchandise. The only thing I will shop those stores for would be an immediate need for a specific serving dish or something from that department.

I take Macy's for what it is. I know in advance that most likely my coupons will not be accepted for what I am purchasing. Our Macy's is an anchor store at the mall. It where I park at when I have to go to the mall. I go in Macy's and don't venture any further. The merchandise is abundant, neatly arranged and the staff helpful and friendly. I especially appreciate a particular woman that works in the INC Department who has taken pity on me over the years. When I need something in the clothing line for myself, I call ahead to find out if she is working before I head out to shop. This woman will stick with me for as long as it takes me to find something suitable. She is patient and courteous despite my tunnel vision and indecisive nature. She knows I hate to shop, and is endlessly optimistic when I arrive that we will find something that suits me. We always do find something.

I don't shop at Macy's for furniture, housewares, bedding or anything like that since I know that those items are overpriced and substandard quality regardless of which celebrity name is attached to a particular item. I don't expect anything from Macy's ergo, I am not disappointed.

We try to shop at local mom and pop type stores in support our community. Small business is dying and sadly it is a result of the big box Walmart-type stores. I will pay more to shop in my community as a matter of principle. As an example, we don't buy our pet products at Pet Smart, we shop at the local feed store which carries all types of pet products as well as better pet foods (non-grocery brands).

I absolutely hate mall shopping, but I really can't complain about my experience at the local Macy's.

I've never purchased anything from Macy's and don't plan on it in the future.

My mother recently gave me a gift card to Macy's and I couldn't find a single thing in the store to buy with it. I encountered long lines in the juniors department and a rude clerk who refused to unlock another dressing room for all of the women waiting in line to try on clothes.

As for myself, I am 32, tall, and slender. The clothes in the juniors department fit me but the styles and quality cater to those under 18. I wouldn't buy most of what I find there because it's not how I want to dress. That said, I can't shop in the regular womens dept. either because I can't find NORMAL clothes that don't make me look 20 years old. For me, it's hard to find clothes that straddle the line between "hoochie mama" and "matronly" at Macy's.

For home goods I would rather shop the sales at JCP and pay less. Macy's isn't anything special to me.

Colleencc -
The Juniors Department in all department stores is and always has been designed to cater to young women.
That is not something specific to Macy's.

Boy, do I have an opinion on Macy's - and its not a good one. It seems they've really gone downhill in terms of quality of product to me. Several weeks ago I forced myself to shop and get me several things. I was in several departments mixing and matching, etc. Not once did I even see an employee! Several of the registers were unmanned - that drives me nuts! While trying on I did hear an employee come into the dressing room (which by the way certainly hadn't been emptied and was a total mess) talking on her cell phone. She told her caller she'd call while on break but she wasn't going to clean up this mess - someone else could! I decided on several things and attempted to find a register. I lugged my stuff around the store until I found one open. When I got there my mood wasn't to greatest, Ill admit. The girl rang me up and wanted me to "go on line and report the outstanding service I'd received!" I was amazed and said "are you kidding me? I received no service except for you checking me out." I brought my stuff home and thought about it and did go on line and report my unsatisfactory shopping experience. I received an email saying they would talk to their employees. Ya right. I told dh about it - showed him the stuff and he said "I'd take it back, that speaks louder than anything." And i took it back. Did you know you've got to go to the correct department to return? Anyway, I returned over $400. so thats my Macy's story, almost.

This weekend dh needed a long wool coat - he went into Macy's. They had several racks of regular coats but he needed the long black coat. He looked high and low in the men's department to ask someone who said - maybe in suits. He went into suits and they did have 2, yes 2 long coats. They looked like they'd been slept in and of course were not his size. He looked at me and said "we're done with Macy's."

I realize stores don't have lots of extra help, but goodness, have some help or you loose customers.

DH and I made the 80 mile round trip to our "local" Macy store. We bought a few things and then hit the bath department. I had a paint color swatch and a fabric color swatch...I matched it to towels and bath mats...perfect match. Took them home and washed everything in warm water with Tide detergent. (I wash new linens that come into the house before we use them) When they came out of the washer I thought that they looked peculiar. I put them into the dryer at medium temp, and when they came out, they were a totally different color. It was awful, because we had a lot of miles AND a lot of money (for us)involved. We will never shop at Macy's again.

Hey Jaybird, did you come my way and not visit?

::pout::

Now that GardenWebers have given Macys 120 honest, detailed responses to their question, what does Macys have to say to us? I, for one, would like to hear what their response is.
Lynn

We have some great Macy department stores in CA to shop from, but now that we live in Louisiana we've been disappointed. The local Macy's was very downscale in comparison, and recently closed their doors for good this summer. The local Dillard department store carries more variety, and better quality.

Posted by lynninnewmexico: Now that GardenWebers have given Macys 120 honest, detailed responses to their question, what does Macys have to say to us? I, for one, would like to hear what their response is.

This thread was started by Garden Web for market research. They are not going to get into a discussion.

I am wondering if they are going to be shocked that no one, just no one, has satisfactory shopping experiences there. Why didn't the corporate big wigs just take a walk through the store and see the mess, that ratty carpeting, the packed racks, the jumbled displays, the maze-like floorplan, the unmanned registers, shody quality, laughable pricing, and shoes and clothing nobody would wear if it were free?

I've noticed a couple of recent threads where someone posted that they bought something, and "got it at Macy's". Hmmmm? Viral marketing?

Ahhhhh Jen....I couldn't do that, we went to Temple.... If I get up your way, you are gonna' hear about it! :^)

I LOoOoOoOoVE MACYS!! It's my favorite Dept store.

Putting Macy's on par with JC Penny makes about as much sense as saying Bloomingdales is on par with Sears.

Having grown up shopping at Macy's and Gimbels in NYC, I was initially happy when Macy's became more ubiquitous and I could shop there in the malls. How things are diving down... I made my first visit to Chicago about 3 years ago and had a great time at Marshall Fields--had lunch in the cool restaurant with my Chicago native friend. So, a few months ago I was thrilled to visit Chicago again for a business trip, only to find the big red star on almost every street there, and now, it seems, in every city I visit. Macy's in Sacramento,Macy's in Chicago, Macy's in Philadelphia, Macy's in San Diego, is Macy's in DC? It is sad.
Quality wise, my experience has been that the buyers have everything to do with the selection and quality of the merchandise which usually is pretty dismal. There are probably 5 Macy's stores within a 12 mile radius of my house and each one has a completely different vibe and a hugely different selection. The closest store has junk, which is displayed in a junky way. I will say that the Center City Philadelphia store, which used to be Lord and Taylor and before that a local Philadelphia landmark, is very nice and has a large and pretty good selection of women's clothing, but the other 4 stores are awful. I get a headache when I go -- they are too tumultuous, unrelaxing. Nordstroms & Lord & Taylor are much less crazy and I will spend much more time in them. I rarely buy anything in Macy's but I do buy in L&T because I can spend time in the store without suffering.
My suggestion to Macy's is to train your buyers so that they upgrade the merchandise and quiet the store down. BTW, I am tired of Macy's employees asking me to go online and submit a review of their 'fantastic' service which consists of taking my credit card and shoving merchandise in a bag.

flyingflower - I agree.

RIF people!
Drop the Marshall Fields talk.
Fields has not been *Fields* since the early 80's when BATUS (they owned Saks at the time) bought it.
Before Federated bought it, TARGET owned it!
Get that?
TARGET!!!!!
Although the 'company' was then known as Dayton Hudson.
All Federated did was change their company/trading name to Macy's.
The same way that Dayton Hudson changed their company/trading name to Target.
And, btw, if Fields had been doing so well, Target/Dayton Hudson would not have divested themselves of it so they could focus on their discount stores.
So, give the Fields blab a rest, it's a moot point and means nothing.
Federated has been around since the 20's and is not clueless.
You might want to educate yourselves a little before you make blanket statements and silly assumptions.
Btw, I'm a born and raised Chicagoan - as in the CITY of Chicago, not the burbs.
Belmont Harbor to be exact and I spent most of my retail career in the city.

I would venture to guess that there are a lot of people on this forum who LOVE Macy's as much as some of you love that mecca of poorly made junk aka Ikea.
They just won't jump in here and say it, someone might be taking names and hold it against them - lol.

We had a great local department store; its since been taken over by Macy's. Now it's crap, crowded and inferior. We get whatever Macy's can't sell anywhere else. Macy's used to have a good name for itself, at least back east. Now the name doesn't mean anything.

I occasionally find something I like at Macy's, but not often. I liked Robinson's here in CA before it closed up.

Now I avoid the mall, too hard to park, too much walking. I shop smaller local-type shops or online.

I occasionally do go to Penney's though for basics, children's clothing, underwear, etc.

One good thing about one of the Macy's in my area - it is the only place around that sells MAC brand make-up, and many of the women that work there are great make-up artists IMO.

I went to Macy's several months ago to purchase a watch and I stood at the sales counter for twenty minutes waiting to be helped, the sales associate at the neighboring counter observed my frustration and apologized that she would not be able to help me as it was not her dept. so I took my buisness elsewhere.

I know the question is about Macy's, but honestly, I don't understand why Sears is getting such a bad rap here. I rediscovered Sears a few years ago when shopping for my kids. They have cute clothes at great prices -- certainly on par with Kohl's, Target, and Penney's. But what they also have is Kidvantage, which is a program that both gives me coupons for every (I believe) $100 I spend AND guarantees my kids clothes if they should fail. I cannot tell you how many knees my son blows out of his jeans, and Sears will just give me a new pair. They also go WAY out of their way to be good community members by helping our military and more. I like spending my money there because of all of that. Since Macy's has none of that, I generally don't shop there.

Hmm, yes, generic seems to be a good word. I used to rely on Macy's (once Shillito's in Cincinnati, Broadway in San Diego, Lazarus in Columbus). Now the styles seem the same as anywhere and often not to my taste. Even though I am not a designer shopper so much-- I like classic clothes with a bit of flair. Often there is no flair, just awkwardness. No more Liz Claiborne? Couldn't find her line last week.
I think they should get rid of the really low end sportswear (ie Karen Scott) which only looks cheap & doesn't make me feel that it is a store I want to shop in.

But they do have the Charter Club and Tools of the Trade brands which I tend to like & think are decent values, especially on sale. Style&Co seems to be uneven, sometimes good often not. Macy's in general is in my price range. Unfortunately, it always seems that when I discover an appealing item, my size (6-8) is always sold out or the item is discontinued already & matching items are gone. Also clothing often seems to be ill-fitting or mis-made somehow so trying things on gets to be a real chore (I am not a difficult fit in other quality stores, I am a pretty standard size all round)
It is too hard to find classic basics in the store. Clerks are not available to help put outfits together--most don't know the merchandise. They need to focus on clothes that make women look and feel good--I don't care about the tacky celebrities.
As a comparison, the best shopping experience I've had in the past 10 years was at a Chico's--they pulled together a great outfit after I told them what I wanted it for & I bought the whole thing (even though I don't generally like their clothes either!)
I don't think I've been in the store in the past 5 years and not found the fitting rooms a mess and large racks of items waiting to be put back. Even the Easton center store that was supposed to be a model for future stores will have a filthy restroom. The new stores are bright & modern, but they don't evoke the same feel that I used to enjoy in a department store (perhaps I am showing my age here, but I am under 55!)
I have bought several items of furniture in the past 15 years and have had no problems with the quality for the price. They need to extend the period for allowing returns of furniture just a little bit--it wasn't quite long enough for me to decide that the upholstery looked right in my room & I felt stuck.
Mostly though, I'm not shopping at Macy's much because I am not needing or wanting new things much in the past year, at least not enough to put in the time & effort.

Hope that was enough information, Macy's!

Late to the party, I am, but I just went to Macy's for the very first time. The reason I went was to buy the "Martha Blue" KitchenAid mixer...not because it's branded by Ms. Stewart (in fact, that was the only downside) but because it's such a great turquoise, almost an exact match to the Fiestaware turquoise.

My first impression was that was incredibly crowded with people carrying knives. At first I was a little bit terrified, than I saw an ad that advertised free knife sharpening from 1 - 4pm. *Phew*

Second impression...nobody could help me. I had to dig around and move stacks of KitchenAid mixer boxes, finally found the only remaining turquoise in the middle of towers, clearly only there because nobody else was motivated enough to move heaven and earth for that particular shade.

Finally went to pay...lines weren't clear so people were cutting in front of others, and then there would be bad feelings. The exasperated clerks seemed tired, overworked, and clearly on autopilot about asking everyone several times if they wanted a Macy's card.

I didn't look at any of their other merchandise, it was "get the hostage and get out" for me. Will I go back? No...nothing looked special...it didn't seem any different than Kohls, except that it had more floors.

I did very much like the chinoiserie styled mirrors that were part of the store display, near the Zoo That Was Cosmetics. They were definately channeling Dorothy Draper. Now if the would only decorate their entire store like that...oh that would be a sight to see!

Joanna

Macy's announced today that it's closing 11 underperforming stores in 9 states. Now if they'd only incorporate some of the ideas expressed here for the remaining stores....