I remember when downtown Atlanta still had a Macy's. Heck, I remember when downtown Columbia, SC had a Macy's.

The 6 names you mentioned would be correct if you were listing chains usually thought of in the luxury department store group.

However, Neiman-Marcus and Bergdorf Goodman are really one in the same as Bergdorf is simply the New York location for Neiman Marcus.

If you are talking about high end/upscale stores, your list might be incomplete if you didn't at least recognize some specialty stores that certainly cater to the luxury market. Most notable among these would be Tiffany's, Ferragamo, Prada, St. John's, etc. At the end of the day, most department stores are simply a collection of large specialty stores/shops. They most certainly compete with a Ferragamo owned store, even if they stock their products.

I've spent about a dozen years working with large retailers. Should you have any questions about how these stores function, relative to the rest of retail, please feel free to ask. Good luck.

As a Chicagoan I'm biased but I think Fields State Street is the best department stor around. I've been to pretty much every other listed and with the recent improvements to Fields, it tops them all. I was highly disappointed in Macys (reminds me of Carson Pirie Scott here) and Bloomingdales.

For NYC high-end, yes, include Henri Bendel, Barneys, Jeffrey's sort of, Saks, Bergdorf, Takashimaya, Bloomingdales sort of and exclude Macy's and Lord & Taylor.

I find this thread when I choose New York. If the OP is just looking for NYC stores, many that have been mentioned are NOT in NYC including the OP's Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus which are not in New York City but are in suburbs of New York (New Jersey & Westchester). The top dept stores in NYC are

Barney's
Bergdorf Goodman
Saks Fifth Ave.
Bloomingdales

2nd tier
Lord & Taylor
Macy's

Specialty dept stores

Henri Bendel (no men's things)
Takashimaya

I agree that the OP was asking about NYC dept. stores, and so doesn't care about this, but I feel compelled to offer a quick clarification:

Marshall Field's, which used to be called Dayton's or Dayton-Hudson, started Target. When Target began outperforming its parent, the corporation changed its name to Target Corp., but continued to own Marshall Field's until last spring, when it sold the mid-range dept. store to the May Co.

Good luck, Fleurentine, and enjoy NYC when you get there!

Target is one of my favorite department stores.

Did we ever clarify whether Jeffries is or isn't considered a department store?

When I was in Milwaukee in September I shopped at a department store called the Boston Store. Anyone know who owns them? I've also seen lots of Hudson's stores in my travels. Are they part of the May group of stores? I heard that Target had bought Mervyn's. Department stores seem to change hands so many times now it's hard to keep track of them.

Actually Target was suppose to have sold Mervyns stores. At least that is what I was told by the Assistant Mgr of Mervyns a couple of months ago.

Hudson's, Dayton's & Marshall Field's were all the same chain of stores just operating under different names in various parts of the country. A year or so ago the parent company decided to make them all carry the Marshall Field's name, so Dayton's and Hudson's no longer exist by those names.

Indeed, the company which owned Marshall Field's did also own Target and Mervyn's. I have no knowledge one way or the other on whether Mervyn's has been sold, but do know that Marshall Field's was, as stated previously.

Didn't Dayton-Hudson actually own Target and Fields? And do they still own Target?

Your list is fine but include Henri Bendel.

Sorry, You did include it. I have too much shopping on my mind after being in Barney's.

Dayton's which was a Mpls. based Dept. Store (from the early 1900's) started Target Corp. in the 60's and then bought out Hudson's which was a Detroit base Dept. store (they were very similar to each other) in the 60's or 70's and changed their corporate name to Dayton- Hudson Corp. They acquired Marshall Fields (also a similar type of store to them but based in Chicago) sometime after that and they all were under the Corp. Company of Dayton-Hudson Corp until a couple years ago when they changed the corporate name to Target Corp. (which was much more identifiable throughout the country). They also owned Mervyns's and ran that as another division different from the Dept. stores and different from Target. They did sell the Dept Store division (which has been called Marshall Fields at all stores for the past few years) this past spring. They also sold the Mervyn's chain and some of the Mervyn's have sold, however the ones out here in S. CA are still open. I used to live in the Midwest and loved Dayton's, Hudson's and Marshall Field's and wish we had one out here. Of course we used to have Bullock's, Bullock's Wilshire, I Magnin, Robinson's (now part of Robinson's _may but not as classy in my honest opinion). I miss the old stores.

Interesting to some-my office is in the old Wannamakers Department Store in NYC. The 100 year old columns and original staircase are still here, as are the small elevators. The building takes up the entire block at 770 Broadway.

How cool, bugswife! What happened to the Gimbel's building? Is it still there are they using it for offices too?

And oh how I miss the I Magnin store at Union Square in San Francisco!!!

Fleurentine,
Nordstrom is a Specialty store which owns the Faconnable Boutiques in many North American, European and South American countries. The emphasis they have is in quality merchandise with quality service. They carry designer Pret a Porter such as Armani, jewelry by Kwait, Mens suits by Zegna, shoes from Feragamo etc.
Remember that Department stores carry durable goods so when you write your Essay you must remember that. For example; Macy*s sells tires, Sears sells Washers and Dryers in addition to soft ware. Drop in on the Fashion Institute of Technology (227 W. 27th St.) and explain to them what your project is and I'm sure they will give you some direction. If you write to Nordstrom (no 's) they will also be helpful. You can do that online possibly at Nordstrom.com or by snail mail 500 Pine Street, Seattle, Washington 98101-1742. I can also help you. Good luck.