[Magdalen] Time for the Next Generation.

[Jim Guthrie]

From: Cantor03--- via Magdalen

>It's no wonder, with its choice to be a low-end retailer that Macy's
>now finds themselves in trouble, and are closing 150+ stores
>in the USA.  There's just too much competition for the low end  stuff.

The president of Macy's once said that Macy's and Bloomingdales carried much the 
same items. I can tell you that when selling women's dresses, they bought the 
same styles from us, but with a higher MSRP at Bloomingdales <g> We always had 
to designate the Macy's styles and Bloomindales styles separately so the 
factories in Asia could figures out how to pack the same dresses with different 
prices. And then there were the cartons ready for "Markdown Sales" where the 
MSRP was crossed out in pen with a new price scribbled in ink by the workers in 
the Chinese factories -- that made for three sets for each style.

Markdown and super-sales involved people on the Macy's floor working overnight 
to remove everything at the  "regular" price and substituting the same dresses 
on the same racks with the handwritten "markdown" price -- and then reverse the 
process at the end of the "Sale."

In any  case of the story closings, Macy's was more generous with itself when it 
purchased May Company -- not closing near enough stores that were too close to 
each other. They had hardly worked out enough closings from the earlier folding 
in of the different Federated brands into Macy's (I'm thinking particularly if 
Rich's/Lazarus/Goldsmith's for example). And May Company didn’t close enough 
neighboring stores when they purchased Dayton's/Hudson's/Marshall Field
from Target.

Macy's is hardly the down-market of Target, Kohl's, or Kmart/Sears.   it's still 
mid-range. And it competes in that market with regionals like Belk's Dillard's, 
Boscov's  Bon Ton (which includes much of the old Proffitt's, Younkers/McRae's 
The Boston Store, the Mercantile, Bergner's, Carson's (itself a combination of 
Carson's-Pirie and Scott's) and the (former) Elder-Beerman.

J.C. Penney lost it's niche when the Hedge Fund guy took over and helped kill 
the business. Since then (and despite his departure) J.C. Penney has tried 
up-market, down-market, mid-market and only succeeded in confusing and driving 
away much of its long-term customer base and continues to hemorrhage cash --  
unlike Macy's which remains quite profitable with rising net profits.

And I commend to your attention to

http://www.wsj.com/articles/macys-sales-profit-miss-expectations-1431519981

If you think Macy;s is going down-market.

Cheers,
Jim Guthrie

PS and don’t remind Chicagoans putting on airs that becoming Macy's made it just 
NOT another Target store <g>. And for those of us who are enamored by organ 
music, Macy's has invested heavily in restoring and refurbishing the Wanamaker 
Organ -- something previous owners (Lord  Taylor, Broadway Stores, and even 
Wanamakers itself failed to do for years. It's overseen by the same department 
that runs the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade  and the now-iconic Macy's July 4 
Fireworks display over New York's Harbor.

How many large companies have spent a dime restoring iconic civic organ 
treasures like Macy's?