snowrooster

Hey John - You come to Fodor's to discuss the biggest problems in our country? I think you stand alone.

swalter518

Snowrooster-I'm only in my early 30s so watch it! and yes, I still shop the State Street store regularly and my out of town relatives still want to visit the State Street store when they come into town. So no, it's not living in the past, it's recognizing that the past creates the present.

BTilke

Marshall Field's was a Chicago institution. The changeover will be more than name only. And in Chicago, MF has MUCH better recognition than Macy's!
However, better to make a clean break than for a once venerable store to slump in quality more and more until it limps to a shameful close. Hess' department store in Pennsylvania's Lehigh Valley and John Wanamaker's in Philadelphia both went that route.

E

There is no way to make shopping what it used to be. Everything is cheaper and easier to access today, which means that the way shopping used to be a special event for which people dressed up and saved is gone forever. Air travel and restaurant dining have gone the same route. It's too bad that a certain formality and sense of occasion have gone the way of the dinosaur, but they have, and Marshall Field's hasn't been the storied place of magic it once was for a long time. (Nordstrom is another once-local phenomenon that had an amazing reputation; now it's just another department store, albeit one with a better-than-most shoe dept.)

swalter518

E, close but Target was in existence long b/4 Daytons bought MFs. None of the MF's locations were ever Targets or vice versa. They are not even close to the same. I think, but could be wrong, that some DAYTON's were changed to Fields, but no Fields were changed to Targets, they aren't comparable stores.

ParrotMom

MERGE, MERGE, MERGE... it seems all the department stores owned by one large company. Chicago would be Chicago witout Marshall Fields and Boston won't be the same without Filenes (whose quality has droped recently).. and the same company owns Macy's, Lord and Taylors and Davids Bridal and perhaps Bloomingdales.. you just can't win. Walked through the Macys in this area once.. have never been in it again..Filenes downtown Boston is a zillion memories. The Xmas windows, the original Filenes Basement where my wedding gown was bought 50 years ago for $19.00.. Is there anybody in Boston who can forget Jordan Marsh and their muffins..As more and more individual little shops close because they cannot compete...remember your corner grocery store where you put items "in the book"..try that at a Stop and Shop. Try to support your local businesses rather than the mall or boxy stores..

SharonG

I'm sorry to see this happen too. I'll have to make sure I save all the bags that I just got on my recent trip. It reminds me of when Best and Co. closed in NYC. That's where I used to get all my Communion/Procession dresses. It was fun to see it "reopened" in The Godfather.

snowrooster

I didn't say anyone was living in the past, just that the memories cited here don't seem to be recent (from childhood, with grandparents, etc). I was just wondering if the store had lost some of it's grandeur since those memories. I'm in my early 30's as well, so I certainly would never call that old!!

swalter518

Snowrooster, I'll be honest, about 5 years ago (actually when Dayton's bought it) the quality did slip, but Mays bought them out about 3 years ago and the quality is, for now, back to where it should have been. Plus a complete renovation of the State Street store was finished about a year ago maybe and it's absolutely gorgeous.

wliwl

Groan...It's the "Wal-Marting" Amrica. We'll end up with 2 stores to shop at. Wal-Mart and Macys. BORING.

Tiff

I can speak for my area only...

You are correct swalter, all of our Dayton's were changed to Marshall Field's and again as I stated above the change, though sad to many, MF ended up being such an outstanding replacement.

None of our Target's were changed to MF.

P.S. Our Macy's here (at the Mall of America) is pathetic. My husband received some "free voucher thingys" and we had a hard time finding anything we wanted to use them on, and that is something, because I can shop when the occasion calls for it, lol.

p.s.s. C'mon John, no one has ever suggested that this is THE most important thing going on in the world.

OO

Marshall Fields in Dallas was HEAD AND SHOULDERS over Macy's, however, they eventually closed their doors in the Galleria and were replaced by Nordstrom. As long as it was Marshall Fields and Macy's going head to head in the same shopping center, and I saw the quality of merchandise and store layout of both, I never went to Macy's again. Macy's was just common ordinary, a big department store. Marshall Fields was a cut above. Nordstrom came in with a nicer store layout and better merchandise display, but...eh... I pretty much quit going to the Galleria once Marshall Fields, Barneys and Gumps left--those stores were what made it worth the trek, and without them, it was the same old same old.

And Marshall Fields is to Chicago what Filenes is to Boston. Removing those names is a sad sad day for both cities. There will be no more Filenes Basement?? Say it ain't so. Macy's Basement just won't do it.

Barbara

It may not e the most importnat thing in America, but it's a symptom of one of the most important things in America. In every consumer area, there are more and more mergers and less and less competition. This affects every one of us directly. Everything we buy costs more, there is no competition to speak of to keep prices down, and profits go up and up. Energy companies are the worst.

Anonymous

"The Macy's brand has a much higher name recognition than Marshall Field's or any of the others."

To whom? Before they put the name on all the Jordan Marsh stores around here, Macy's was nothing more to us than the setting for the movie, "Miracle on 34th Street," which I'm pretty sure didn't help much. (If you'll recall, in the movie the store management was the bad guy.) All of these dept stores are known in the areas wherever they're represented, so what.

For instance, I was thrilled when a Nordstrom's finally opened just an hour away from me about 10 years ago. None of my neighbors had ever heard of it.

SharonG

I used to go to Marshall Field's about 20-30 years ago when I lived in Michigan. It was wonderful. Just returned last weekend for the first time in 20 years and I still love it. The main store is beautiful and it will really be a loss to have the name changed.

wliwl

The real force behind these mergers is our reliance on imported goods.

I was a buyer at Jordan Marsh (RIP) just about the time imports were beginning, but we could see the writing on the wall. The only difference then and now? Then we bought BETTER quality stuff than we could buy here, much cheaper. But, I shudder to think of the conditions the items were made in.

I bought small leather goods and some handbags, among other things. (Our first import programs at the time were with Czechoslovakia.) Sadly, all the domestic leather goods makers are gone now. I can remember going to their factories - they were clean, well-lit, with women sewing and chatting.

In the overseas markets (especially China) MIGHT means RIGHT. Wal-Mart gets stuff super cheap by virtue of their monopoly. Same with the department store lines now.

Macy's will design and plan all the lines and force the foreign factories to bid against each other for who can make them cheapest. If you think they will tailor merchandise to particluar stores forget about it. The whole idea of cheap imports is that you buy TONS of it.

As long as U.S. consumers insist on inexpensive (almost disposable!) clothing over quality that's what we will get. I guess you can't much blame the retailers for going the direction the consumer pushes them.

How is this travel related? Ha! Pretty soon you won't have to travel in the US. Everyplace will look the same.

snowrooster

There's a parade on Thanksgiving that I guess you haven't seen?

My family is originally from Boston (which I believe is where you are from?) and you have to agree that a Bostonians view of America is not necessarily representative of the whole (my parents have a framed distorted map that shows New England as big as TX & CA combined).

I think it fair to say that to a people who have not grown up with either Macy's or Marshall Fields in their town, Macy's is significantly better known.

KE1TH

The same thing happened to the Atlanta market beginning about 20 years ago. The two "upscale local" department stores were Davisons and Richs. Davisons was actually owned by Macys and had kept the Davisons name for years even after the merge. Richs was owned by Federated, which also owned Bloomingdales. Around 1984 or 1985, Macys changed all the Davisons to Macys, so the two "upscale local" department stores were now Macys and Richs. There was a few single "token" upscale stores like Saks and Lord and Taylor, but basically the market belonged to Richs and Macys. Then in the 90's, Macys bought Federated. For several years, both Macys and Richs operated across the malls of Atlanta from each other although in reality they were the same store. Then about 5 or 6 years ago, the decision was made to drop the Richs name, close competing stores and just have the Macys name over the door. The Atlanta market has been able to absorb other "upscale" chains like Dillards, Parisian, Nordstrom and yes, even Bloomingdales without any problems. A big part of the Atlanta shopping scene has been erased, but seems to have been replaced with perfectly acceptable substitutes.

aliska

It is sad to think the cultural loss in terms of regional influence individuals store chains had. I hate to think it will be Wal Mart or Macy's, neither of which have any cachet. Living now in the city where Federated Dept Stores was created(Columbus, OH, i.e. Lazarus) and having lived recently in Chicago for 20 years, I remember not so long ago how thrilled my daughters were to dress up and go downtown in the 1990's to see Santa and have lunch in the Walnut Room. OK, it was a little hokey, but that did make for some mighty nice memories my teenage daughters have. Growing up in Columbus, your mother and grandmother took you to Lazarus for party dresses, patent leather shoes, Easter chocolates, lunch or tea in the Chintz room. I seem to recall taking deportment classes at Lazarus in the 70's for young girls. They actually had sales people (gasp!) who waited on you. The good news is that both Chicago and Columbus now have Nordstrom's, maybe not as extensive as Lazarus or Marshall Field's but a nice store with thoughtful sales people who remember your name, call you when the outfit you wanted is on sale and you can have a nice ladie's lunch. Nothing in life stays the same, you need to be flexible and adaptable. If you don't like current dept. store shopping as too bland, seek out small independent boutiques in your area, they exist.

rjw_lgb_ca

Well, there's also the May Company-affiliated stores (Robinsons-May, Kaufmann's, etc.) that will disappear now that Federated has acquired May. Since many southern CA malls have R-Ms and Macy's stores as anchors, we'll see some notable vacancies in places like South Coast Plaza, Fashion Island, Santa Monica Place, etc.

It's business as usual-- I'm not sure I like it....