Reader Mike L sent me this little news snippet:
Macy’s bosses are forging ahead with store closures as they look to reinvent the 166-year-old retailer. The troubled department store chain announced in February that it would shut 150 over the next three years – including 55 by the end of 2024. It will be left with just 350 stores – a far cry from the peak of around 1,100 in 2008. Since then it has been in steady decline. Macy’s has yet to announce exactly which stores will be affected, but employees are speculating whether their location could be on the chopping block.
…and I don’t care.
I’ve hated those New York bastards with a passion ever since they bought the exquisite Marshall Field’s* in Chicago and turned it into… well, Macy’s.
I hope they all perish.
* probably the best department store in the world during the 1980s and -90s. Their Rare Books Department alone was worth any four departments in Macy’s. Unsurprisingly, it was the first department that Macy’s eliminated.
As far as I can recall I have never even SEEN a Macy’s let alone been in one. So much of this world is downright silly and I won’t shed a tear when it is gone.
As a former Marshal Fields regular (wife a former Chicago native), I could not agree more.
Though in my parents era (1940’s), when Macy’s and Gimbels held display and price wars in NYCthings were different, I know that much of the house contents were from these two stores and quality was superb. Long before the retail chain concept blighted the nation. Trying to buy local has become a lost art..
There are things I have had to buy from National Mega-chains because I can’t make them myself or afford to pay to have them made from real solid wood. I was fortunate that I have several items that either were bought seventy years ago when solid wood was the rule, or that my father made when he was in high school.
I read once that when poor people need furniture they go to Ikea; when rich people need furniture they go to their attics. I had no idea I was rich.
Growing up in this corner of the country the local department stores were Filene’s and the Jordan Marsh Company. They sat on opposite corners from each other in downtown Boston. Filene’s had the famous basement where you could get very nice clothing for very good prices albeit they were a “season late.” The fashionable clothes were sold upstairs then moved to the basement. Each week another 20% was lopped off the price to get the stuff out of the store. Filene’s was famous for its designer wedding dress sale in the Spring each year.
Sure enough, Macy’s bought one then the other. Now I think Macy’s is gone out of that location.
Quite a few of the malls are gone since their anchor stores have closed up. Sears, JC Penny, Filene’s etc have shuttered their stores. Sears automotive wasn’t badly priced for an oil change, a battery or tires. Their Die Hard batteries were a great buy for quality and price for a long time. Their Craftsman hand tools were great too. Then again, malls have been infested with loitering teens for quite a while. The malls around here now have gang fights from time to time and are best avoided.
The last time I went to a Macy’s was several years ago to buy a watch for my wife. I’d rather find a good local jeweler for such purchases.
Was it okay when Dayton-Hudson bought out Marshall Fields?
I been so long since I’ve been to That part of downtown Boston I also don’t know if anything is still there either. Ever since they cleaned out “The Combat Zone” there is no more reason to visit that part of town. All the good stores and restaurants are now seem to be either at the Pru Center / Boylston St or in the Seaport for our twice yearly visits to Boston proper.
Macy’s is/was one of last large Anchor Stores for the Large Suburban Malls, so another nail in the coffin. Meanwhile my Amazon stock continues to grow, and their (deisel) trucks and vans make their daily rounds on my street. ( Still haven’t seen an electric version — I guess the ” pass-by” distances are too great for those to work well out here.