The Decline of Macy's...What Happened?
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- Опубліковано 26 лис 2024
- Macy's is one of the country's oldest, most iconic retailers. This video examines their history while highlighting some of their most dramatic rises and falls.
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Just a few days ago, I was trying to buy shirts at a Macy's. The sole cashier had a breakdown in front of a full line and stormed off, and nobody else was in the area to take over the register. It felt like I was watching a going-out-of-business speed run.
@@davidjones5547 This needs more upvotes
The history of Out of Business Any% Speed run
🤣🤣🤣🤣
The last time I went to Macy physical store was to return filled items for free shipping. That was a mistake, their cash registers were like in the 70s slow and glitchy….the return was unsuccessful I ended up keeping the item….probably that was their sale strategy
surprised there was even a cashier there. Any time that I can remember going to a department store, be it Sears, Macy's, Kohl's or another, there is never cashiers at the register. And I'm not just talking about in recent years.
I worked at Macy's during the Holiday season. This day I was the only cashier available and the line was long. All of a sudden the eldery woman next line in begins yelling at me saying it's my fault the line is long and I need to hurry. I apologized and explained we are short staffed and I will be with them shortly. That made her more angry and she let me have it. I just stood there feeling all sorts of emotions and I started crying. The elderly lady would not stop, even her husband told her to stop it. When the other customers saw me crying they stood up for me and told the lady she was wrong. One customer even gave me a hug said I was doing good and don't let her get to me. I was so happy those customers stood up for me. Not the first time eldery went off on me while at Macy's. That experience definitely changed my view of things. I know all are not that way but I was so shocked how I got treated. Now I know holiday shopping brings out the worst in some people.
They're still waiting in line for you.
Retail, service industry in general is terrible to work in
@@msovaz77 yea, true all those things but also really does teach one to not give a f and just get paycheck and call it a day
PEOPLE ARE RUDE & ALWAYS AMAZES ME THAT PEOPLE BEHAVE THAT WAY 1) IN PUBLIC & 2) TO SOMEONE WHO ISNT AT FAULT. THATS RETAIL FOR YA. I WORKED CHRISTMAS HOUSEWARES IN MACYS IN LAGUNA HILLS, CA LATE 90'S. AGAIN LONG LINE I HELPED A WOMAN WHO DIDNT NEED HELP -SHE WANTED THE FLOOR MODEL OF A COFFEE MAKER I THINK. SHE CAME BACK ABOUT AN HOUR LATER, WITH IT IN THE PLASTIC BAG, SWINGING IT OVER HAND, TRYING TO HIT ME WITH IT, BC A PART WAS MISSING OR SOMETHING. SHE WAS FROM ANOTHER CULTURE WHERE THEY DONT TREAT WOMEN WELL, IRONICALLY AND APPARENTLY WAS OF THE OPINION I WAS HER SERVANT, WITH A LONG LINE AT THE CHECK OUT. YOU DO NOT GET PERSONALIZED SERVICE DURING THE HOLIDAYS WHEN IT IS BUSY. 5 PM MAYBE.
I know how you feel. These retirees can be some POSs for REAL. They have nothing to do though so I don't get it.
Working there was pretty miserable at times. I hated shilling the credit card. It feels immoral pressuring people into debt. All the fixtures in the fitting rooms are breaking down, too. It’s sad. I remember it being special when I was a kid and now it’s mostly just overpriced things that don’t appeal.
It was overpriced when you were a kid. The prices back then were just what was normal to you. If you’re parents had shopped there when they were kids they’d probably have a similar sentiment.
God, I hated shilling that useless piece of plastic. It was even worse if you got someone from out of the country and they'd be interested in the card and then it's, "oh, it's US only" and watch them go into a rage that they don't get a discount because they're foreigners. Some were obviously just trying to scam, but some legitimately were pissed that US companies would give this nice bright discount to citizens but not to them. Had to call managers several times to get them to give out SOME discount, and the managers hated me every time I did that because it meant I didn't sell a card and lost the store money.
Customer Service work there was ass. I'm so sorry for those who have had to work there in the past 2 decades.
My aunt worked there too at the clinic counter and she said the credit card is the worst part her boss was always on her ass for not getting a certain amount of people to get it when 50% of people had it and the other 50% were never going to get it no matter how often they go or you asked.
Macys now is just good for shopping for jackets every now and then and for things such as button ups and slacks. Everything else now just isn't appealing at all.
What annoyed me a ton was when I worked there the only way to get my discount was through the cc. I was fresh out of hs so I wasn’t approve for the cc and had to get the debit card version. It left such a awful taste in my mouth. Any customer that was nice to me I would give them tips to save money.
The decline of Macy's is emblematic of challenges that other mid-market retailers have faced: too expensive to compete with the discount retailers, and not nice enough to compete with the luxury ones. When my wife and I shop for clothes, we either go to Nordstrom because we want something nice or to Costco or TJ Maxx for the low-price treasure hunt. There's never really any reason for us to go to Macy's.
That's part of it, but a big part of it is also Macy's refusal to invest in and upgrade their stores. Go into a typical Dillard's and unless it's a location in a dying mall, your experience will usually be much better than a typical Macy's. Dillard's keeps the stores clean, inviting, and has better customer service.
I shop Macy's for decades. The quality of the merchandise are declining so badly. Every single time I am disappointed, nothing good to buy except cosmetics. Nobody wants to buy junk. It's very sad. Stay awake Macy's !We love you!
I thought the same thing The quality really sucks it’s like stuff from China .
The decline of malls is what's hurting Macy's huge decline in foot traffic
I partially agree with you. I mainly go there to buy Levi's and the quality of their denim has dropped significantly...BUT! that is not Macy*s fault, as virtually all major fashion companies/brands are going cheaper and taking shortcuts on what they order from China (American Eagle, Gap, and others are doing the same thing). It is said that clothing now makes for the planet's #1 waste contributor, since garments are now so affordable and easy to produce, and as such we go through our clothes much faster than ever before and quickly fill up trash fields with mountains of used clothing. That's why environmentalists now advocate for thrift shopping instead of buying new clothes (not to mention HUGE the savings!). Oh well.
For the cost of purchasing and eventually re-purchasing the same pair of Levi's a year later, not to mention dry cleaning bills, I might as well just buy a high-end denim brand and save money that way (as ironic as that may sound).
Yep. This is the major problem practically all critics miss. The clothes are ugly and poorly made IMHO. Also, the cut way to much staffing. 🎉🎉🎉
I went there for cookware (usa made) and fiesta plates. The bedding is too pricy. The clothes worth buying are branded like levis.
I’ve been in both Asset Protection and Management at Macys. I think their biggest downfalls were their lack of adapting to the times, unwillingness to develop and fairly pay their employees, inability to capture the younger demographic, and terrible upkeep in their stores. Their policies are outdated, their POS systems are outdated, the way upper management interacts with the staff is outdated. I saw them firsthand pushing out employees who had worked there for decades and screwing them out of their pensions. I’ve never felt more under appreciated at a company than I did Macys. Glad I left because I doubt they will make it much longer.
Agreed. Never really buy anything from there. Year after clothes and shoes so outdated. Looks like they only sale clothes and shoes for old people and EXPENSIVE. Don't care for Macy.
I've seen that too. Same thing at JCPenney's and Kmart before them. Very outdated stores which would have a Charming appeal otherwise in a retro sense if only the equipment itself and the Staffing we're not in such short supply.
I was a Mary's employee as well and completely agree! I also don't understand how they seem to think think that online sales wouldn't affect brick and mortar business.
U r sooooo correct. I worked there for 3 years in the 80s and sooooo happy when I left.
yes! I was saying that on my first day there like why is everything so outdated. Young people do not care about sales we care about a good value, build, quality, and experience. Macys has changed so much and their customer base is so annoying. Always trying to return or get money back somehow. I would never buy sheets for 200 dollars. They would leave me alone for 2 or more hours in an entire department. Actually two departments.
My mom is 94 and can’t physically go to Macys anymore so I shop online for her. I try to explain that Macy’s has gone downhill but she doesn’t get it. Their cosmetics department is still ok, but most of their clothing is fast-fashion embellished with logos, and they advertise a new “sale” daily. Our Macy’s is run-down and the lingerie department looks like a picked-over garage sale. I miss the old days when shopping was an event that brought joy.
The women’s underwear section in general is always a mess
… just not in the fitting rooms. those mirrors and harsh fluorescent lights were, even then, where “joy” faded away to utilitarian necessity.
Maybe it's good to let your mother keep her memories of Macy's. How wonderful that she is 94 and still enjoys shopping. You still get her the things that she wants online so, to her, Macy's is still delivering.
What is "fast fashion" clothes are clothes and also who needs fancy underwear just buy some from Walmart
@@mustang8206 fast fashion goes threadbare in less then a year, whereas everything I bought a decade back… still good.
fast fashion is cheap garbage you end up spending more on in the long run… (because that $7 top you just bought will need to be replaced in 4 months.)
When I was a kid in the 80s, if one shopped at Macy’s you were considered rich. My mother shopped there weekly but rarely bought there because we weren’t rich. 😂 Still, it was a very nice store with top quality. Now when I cut through Macy’s from the parking lot to get to the mall, I’m struck how much I feel like I’m at Sears more than Macy’s and we all know what happened to Sears.
Was thinking the same thing...
In Detroit we have 3 Macy's stores and they don't have the same merch. In Oakland and Lakeside malls they have middle of the road merch, like you said, Sears quality stuff. But in Somerset Mall, it's like all Armani, Gucci and nose bleed tier stuff, and more in line with what I associate Macy's with. I just really don't understand the people doing the merchandising, it's like they have no brand, just stuff.
😂So funny! I posted something similar to your experience!
I work at Sears and take offense to your post. Just kidding. I do work at Sears but I get what you're saying.
n if i wanted an occasional makeu item i would go to macy's but not for MAc which is all the way in Orlando. i dont even support mac for that reason.
It's so much easier to shop online. For instance, me & my mom were in Macy's a few months back. She was looking at a dress for my niece and the dress in the store was $120 but on Macy's website it was 50% off which made it $60 and the store would not honor the price on their website. That blew my mind and I even told the salesperson that's why nobody is in this store.
Yup! I realized this some time ago. Whenever I visit a store I'll first look at what the price is online before I buy anything.
I SEE LOTS OF STORES DOING THAT. MY GUESS IS NOT MUCH OVERHEAD TO BUY ON LINE
Not their fault they don't control prices.
They shoulda honored the price, used to be a manager and a lot of it is poor training. People are so nasty post pandemic and impatient it made keeping workers (and poor management) only stay for the season or less.
At ours, I’ve never had them not match the on-line price. My problem is, ours doesn’t have hardly anything in the store any more.
The Macys on 34th street is still impressive. I went there earlier this year to get a suit for my son to wear to my boss's funeral. The older gentleman helping us was absolutely impressive.
LAST TIME I WAS IN THERE THE OLD ELEVATORS WERE STILL WORKING
The stores that have salespeople in suits do get some proper training. If they have tailor dept with it even more. I should know up until the Pandemic I worked as one. Glad you have a good experience.
That's my favorite Macy's store hands down! Went there last week to buy Xmas presents for my family and they even have gift wrapping on the eighth floor 👌
The everyday Macy's though is very similar to the disorganization and messiness of Ross or a Marshalls...
The key word 'older gentleman', mostly don't exist anymore. They are no longer 'sales people' they are 'space people'...they can't take pressure, they must be attached to their phone and working with a purpose doesn't exist for them.
I understand at least at one store in the greater L.A. area sent the 'older salespeople' packing...more or less requiring they retire, many of them..of course...full time, seasoned sales people. That doesn't exist anymore, have you noticed..when you go back to just about any store..it's always different people 'working' there.
My mother-in-law worked at Macy’s for 20 years and she saw the decline in person. Macy’s went from actually caring a bit about their employees to working them like mules!!!! My MIL was always their top sellers and had a knack of being able to get lots of people to sign up for credit cards. She was always in their Star Academy and they would treat her to an awards ceremony and stay at Disneyland. A few years go by and the awards ceremony is held in the break room. Then Macy’s introduced the points system for employees - you earned points by working and lost them by calling out sick, not meeting your goals, etc. it was extremely demoralizing.
I'm glad I left before that happened. I worked there in 2008 as I'd just moved to Seattle and needed something to get by before my Microsoft contract began. There was SO MUCH drama among managers and employees alike. It was so strange.
Wow
I worked at Macy's for a few years in one of the most competitive department, ladies shoes. I came during the point system, being open 24 hours during the holidays and made to harass people to open credit cards. I never want to work in retail again.
@@auntieambmiracleb2 thank God you were able to get out of retail. Even as a customer I’ve witnessed retail sales people being treated HORRIBLY at the Macy’s shoes dept, and by other women!
@Painted Ladies it really was hell. Working with crazy competitive witches waiting on pre Karen's and fearing the dreaded "loss of hours" after the holidays...Because of all of that, I treat all cashiers, servers, and fast food workers with the utmost respect.
My wife worked at Macy's when she was a teenager. She was there when the brand started to fade and saw the slow decay of Macy's. When she started, there was an emphasis toward attentive customer and creating a personal shopping experience. As time went on, we saw staff being cut so customers had a hard time finding assistance. Starting pay was lowered and the people that joined were less motivated to go the extra mile to make people happy. A huge emphasis was put on signing people up for a Macy's credit card which further dampened customer satisfaction. Folks that did want a shop in person went to stores like Saks and Nordstroms. Other gravitated toward online shopping for the convenience and cost savings.
Macy’s called it a Loyalty Card, not a credit card. They wanted customers to be loyal to them by only giving discounts on items if you used it.
Macy's isn't the only store shilling credit cards. BestBuy is also bad about shilling their credit cards. I use mine and always pay off the credit charge within days, so I don't have to pay any interest. Just got to be smart about it and not let credit get out of control.
@@bondgabebond4907 yup! Self-control
Macy’s decline in customer service is similar to nordstrom, bloomingdale and others too. Macy used to be a great store with freindly employees. Now like others they charge for paper bags which give them a cheap store to shop. Although paper bags aren’t expensive but it just sound like shopping at Ross. I only buy from macy when the item is on big sale anything that is at least 40 or more. I skipped 20-30% sales
@@kemangraya2382 Nordstrom is still doing well, high quality, and has a diner.
Physical retail has three advantages: 1) someone who knows the inventory and can be an advisor 2) getting your item right away 3) the ability to touch and feel the item before buying. Retail, particularly Macy's, has forgotten this. They rarely have anything in stock and good luck finding anyone to help you.
Being willing to pay only minimum wage means they can’t ask for experienced sales associates that know a type of product inside and out. If anyone wants evidence of the destructiveness of Reaganomics, one needs only look at the retail field.
Macys, Nordstrom, Target, Best Buy, Lowes, Home Depot, Brookstone, Barnes & Noble, and even Walmart have all fallen into this in a desperate attempt to try and be the next Amazon while forgetting what made their stores great
I remember the days when department stores were full of salespeople who really knew all about what they were selling. Now, almost everywhere, on an entire floor you may find thtree or four people and they are essentially only cashiers.
@@John_Fugazzi part of that is because a lot of companies aren't fully training their employees.
@@scottgrohs5940 exactly this , and even the people that have been at these companies for a while they're starting to look at it like what's the point of going out their way to give full effort for a company that is
I can’t speak for others, but I remember when going to a department store - especially Macy’s - was a special experience; but that was back when department stores were run by merchandisers. Now, they’re run by financial types (aka “bean-counters”) who know nothing about how to attract and please customers. Now, you go into a Macy’s and all you see are relatively inexpensive clothes that all look alike, and are sold for less at Walmart or Costco. It used to be a department store had real departments - clothing, sure, but also toys, electronics, jewelry, even tools, specialty foods, some type of restaurant or food service and more. Shopping was an experience, and served by an adequate number of trained and properly-compensated staff; not untrained, underpaid and abused people.
Macy’s 34th Street flagship store comes closest to what a department store used to be, and succeeds because it still provides a somewhat unique experience with the breadth of merchandise, attractively displayed, ancillary services and adequate staffing that it offers. Until department store executives accept that they can’t compete with on-line retailers, budget and big box stores on price and convenience they’ll continue to die a slow death.
Alternatively, they’ll figure out that shopping-as-experience, with a limited number of larger stores, offering a variety of merchandise, attractively displayed, and served by an adequate number of trained and properly-compensated sales staff is the only way for department stores to survive in this hyper-efficiency economy - in short, department stores can survive only if they realize what they’re really in (or should be) is a quasi-entertainment business, with retail merchandise as its focus.
Knowledgeable merchandisers lost control right at the time that they were needed most- when Macy's started buying up regional, culturally-specific department stores. The best example that comes to mind for me now is Burdines. Everything in Burdines, from clothing to furniture to the dining options, all had a sunny tropical theme. The merchandisers knew what we wanted and provided it. There was no real fur sales but several locations had fur storage for snowbirds and for whatever reason did not want to keep their furs up north. When Macy's bought them out, I remember that the first thing to go was the fur storage in South Beach and Miami Downtown. The merchandise was not only identical to what was sold in every Midwest store but also was brought to sales floors at the same time. This meant that tons of winter coats and sweaters were in stock in November. And almost zero swimsuits, beach towels etc. Nov/Dec/Jan is the best time to hit the beach here! Then, when all of those coats predictably didn't sell, they got marked down very low. Macy's here became known as the place to score a deal on winter clothes rather than up north. Meanwhile, Walgreens and CVS started selling swimuits, coverups and sandals. TJMaxx has done a slightly better job of regional targeting but they still get swamped with swimsuit shipments in the summer rather than winter which is our tourist season.
That’s too long to read but nice
@@Pariah_501your lack of attention caused you to miss out on valuable information
Masterful take. The quasi-entertainment take is spot on. That's what made department store shopping unique...it was fun!
Yes, having mid-tier brands under one roof is nice, but at the cost of enduring long lines, crappy customer service, and a BOOOOORING shopping experience. They make the perfect case for online shopping.
On top of that, most of these stores are cluttered, generally messy, and disorganized. It's like shopping for foodb difference being that we NEED food and not brand name clothing.
Macys in Temecula CA is what a Macys should be. They even have a Starbucks inside!
Head to Southern Cal and visit our Macys, a breath of fresh air!
A huge reason I stopped shopping at Macys (after many years of being a regular customer) is the coupon policy change. They send you lots of coupons, but they are never usable for so many different reasons, that it was infuriating. I know from experience that when a store drastically reduces it’s air conditioning, it’s in big trouble. Too difficult to try on clothes when you’re overheated.
When I was working there, I wrote a song.
You coupon doesn't work
on this North Face jacket!
But you saved $5.33
On this shirt from Alfani!
Oh! What a glorious racket!
At our local Macy's they closed all the fitting rooms and built locked gates to keep you out. The gates looked like hell. The shoplifting was horrendous, and they drastically cut their product offerings and inventory. People responded by quitting their shopping in the store. The sales declined, and the company decided to sell the building. A buyer was found, and they closed the store.
What people are talking about here is spot on in the video, and when you read the replies here. I worked for Macy's for eight years, and they started to go the cheap route. The high end product offerings were dropped, and the company started to focus on a price point like what you see at Ross and Burlington Coat Factory. The most expensive women's handbag at Macy's became a $400.00 item. The higher end bags priced more than $400.00 were in the higher end stores. 100 percent cotton Jean's at Macy's disappeared, and everything became a cheap stretch Jean with polyester or elastine. The store managers became biased, rude, and pushy. They looked at the colleagues as the problem, and not the solution. Many of them needed to be retrained on the company compliance, and diversity policies. One store I worked in had a Hispanic store manager, and her entire leadership team was Hispanic. The store was also located in a diverse community. The pay was also not good. Other retailers were offering much more compensation, and Macy's was not competitive. In another store I was in the store manager was so abusive that her entire leadership team walked out. They had nobody to run the store. The company did fire that manager. Many of the former experienced employees ended up working at a competitor where I am now. When people say there are no employees in Macy's to help you is because they do not want to give anyone enough hours to make enough to pay the bill's.
i worked at macy's for 5 miserable years 2015-2020 all throughout college. i started off as a on call and gradually "Moved up" to the women's shoe dept support position. i sacrificed holidays, time with family, and overnights and my health for the company, and for nothing. shortcuts were taken every step of the way, packing cologne loose in boxes with no packing material, storing stuff in fire halls, using severely outdated and dangerous equipment, throwing paint into dumpsters, are just a few that i remember. one day in early 2020 before COVID, my manager pulled me into a back office saying she needed to talk to me. I thought i was getting a bonus or a pay raise like i had the previous several years. She dropped a bombshell that i was getting laid off due to "company restructuring". She had the audacity to say that i could keep my old job if i lose all my benefits such as my 401k, PTO and sick leave and go back to being on call. took a insulting severance and left. on my last day my weasel of a store manager saw me walking out after i clocked out and ducked behind a rack of clothes to avoid confrontation. haven't been back since.
They did you a favor.
It is amazing how many retailers forget that employees - and exemployees - are potential customers.
Worst place EVER to work. I do not know how I lasted a year.
Yikes! I’m sorry that happened to you. I worked there seasonally in 2013 in MA. I remember it was really hot inside - even for the winter, a lot of micro-managing and I recall feeling stressed out. I think I’ve only been to a Macys a few times after I stopped working there. I now live in FL and I don’t even have a Macy’s near my town. I think the closest one is 2 hours from me. 😂 There’s better places to shop. Glad you got out and hopefully have moved on from what you had to deal with.
Working at Macy’s was one of the most traumatic experiences of my life. I started there when I was 16 and for a few years it was actually pretty nice until my manager got promoted and the lady who replaced her hated my guts. I’m a man and I worked in the cosmetics department and she couldn’t stand that but she couldn’t fire me bc I was a top performer in my district so she would do anything in my power to make my life hell. The month leading up to when I quit I had lost my house and both my dogs in a fire and when I called to tell them what had happened all they had to say in response was to ask if I was still planning on coming in for my shift that day and if I didn’t I would be pointed in the system. I would report her to HR monthly and they would always return my emails saying that it was a he said she said situation even though I had several other coworker saying they witnessed the abuse. The day I put in my two weeks a wedding party came in to get makeovers and I had the privilege of doing the brides makeup and when I finished my manager came up behind me looked the bride in the face and yelled “that looks awful” it was so embarrassing I couldn’t help but start to cry thankfully the bride was so sweet she reassured me that she loved the makeup and that I had done an amazing job and even tried to make a complaint against her but once again Macy’s said that I didn’t have enough evidence. I eventually started working at Sunglass hut and somehow got roped into being a manager at a leased Sunglass hut in the same Macy’s I’d previously worked in but that was just as bad. They would treat me and my employees like we were cockroaches and I would lose employees left and right because of how incredibly rude they were to us. I used to love shopping at Macy’s even after I originally left but after my experience as a third party vendor in their store I realise they’re just a horrible company and it’s not hard to see why they’re failing.
I'm so sorry that happened to you, I hope you are doing well. I remember working in a retail store and the manager didn't seem to like me either, thankfully I worked there temporarily to pay off my school supplies. I swear it's always the manager that somehow makes working at the retail store even worse. Especially if customers loved our services but somehow the manager still gets mad. I don't understand their mentality.
I'm so sorry about your dogs, and the house, hope all is well now.
I cried in front of a customer once because a manager had berated me while I struggled to move a heavy object mostly by myself and thankfully the lady I was checking out was kind and caring. I feel bad that I burst into tears like that in front of her but I'm thankful she was understanding. Glad the bride was understanding as well, even on her wedding day, of all days.
Everything I've read tells me that the management is not well educated especially concerning courteous and mannerly behavior. Or there is more than meets the eye going on like maybe an alcoholism problem etc or something?
I So sorry all that happened to you! Just horrible! I used to work for a local department store and they were wonderful to work for , I worked in the candy department and they would let you eat candy as long as you didn’t bag it up and take it home! Then the May Co bought the name but everything changed they merged their employees with ours and maniny demoted our employees and moved them around to different departments, I had to sign a paper that said if I got caught eating the candy I could be fired on the spot! The first thing they did was literally raise the price on everything! The people that worked in the cosmetics dept used to be able to take home perfume samples through the old co and new co fired an employee for taking home a sample, they changed the schedule and basically gave full time the crappy schedules , the old co would give you more weekend days off! Just a Mess! I finally quit and the new co only lasted a few years! It was the Best move I’ve ever did!
Wow, I am very sorry you went through that!
I worked there too. The bullying there was on a whole other level. I worked in clothing and for us, our bullies were the merchandise & marketing team. They would give us an attitude for not keeping certain brands (CK, Free People) aesthetics up to par. It was ridiculous.
Especially since I was the only person on the sales floor. Like how am I going to ring...check the fitting rooms.....do go-backs...clean...answer the phones....do online orders...meet my credit and $$$$....and manage 5+ departments....!?
I still have nightmares of that place. And with the recession hitting, I would hate to go back there.
I worked at Macy's when I was going to college. Management placed a huge emphasis on credit card signups and approaching every single customer that walked through our department. Even though I had great metrics, high customer satisfaction scores, and low return rates, I got sent to that back office multiple times just because of the credit card signups. I think for the consumer it stopped being a pleasurable experience when they turned the stores into a den of sales sharks. The writing has been on the wall for quite some time and management was always slow to adapt to the times so I'm not surprised that Macy's is declining. Right now, people shop there mainly due to the brand name which I think is why they rebranded those other stores to Macy's.
Yep, I know ! Harassing customers with calls and text.
The card thing was awful. It's all that mattered to them, despite how good you were at sales.
@@WobblesandBean most of the sales people I know hate the card thing too. I think lazy management has been a problem for the past 3 decades because nothing has changed about the stores. A ton more stores are going to close before the end of this decade.
@@WobblesandBean YEP✅
Jesus
After Rich's closed in Atlanta, my family and I bought more at Macy's. They had a been fine until the late 1990's. Then they became incredibly dishonest. I went in on Christmas Eve and spent hours picking out gifts for my parents. Then when I came to the cash register, much of what I had picked out rang up with much higher prices than marked. I pointed out the discrepancy in price. The salesman said the prices as marked only took effect the day AFTER Christmas. That is pure fraud. I refused to pay the higher prices. We had to do without presents that year since there was no time left for me to find another store and pick out more presents. I should have just contested the fraudulent prices after Christmas, but I got so mad that I didn't think of that tact in the moment.
Then a couple of years later, my mother and I went in with coupons that Macy's had sent us. We spent some time picking out kitchen utensils, pots, and pans. Then when we presented the coupon, the salesman scrutinized it and announced that the coupon did not apply to what we had picked out. The coupon clearly said so much off for housewares. He said that the fine print excluded all housewares. It was just that blatantly contradictory. I countered asking why he was taking the fine print over the bold print when they conflicted. He said he was told to take the fine print over any other aspect of the coupon. Needless to say, we refused to purchase the housewares. We later saw him in a grocery where he also worked. He apologized to us saying that the management was very strict with what they instructed the salespeople to do with coupons. He said that the coupons were very misleading. That was putting it mildly. They were fraudulent.
Macy's deserves to go under and stay under. They are crooks.
Macy's and JC Penny both do that with their coupons. Basically nothing works with the coupon except some really expensive items.
@karinalumen9722 The original Rich's owned and operated by Richard Rich did no such things and they cleaned up on repeat business by treating their customers like kings and queens. Rich's never mistreated or tricked a customer and such honesty gave Rich's a near monopoly on retail business in Atlanta for decades until Richard Rich died in the mid 70's and the family sold the business off.
IN the long-run, it pays to treat customers well because they will return and buy more.
Macys coupons never work
I really appreciate this this topic. Because I work as a cashier at Macy's. You have to take credit card payments, look up a item, order a item, sometimes a customer's Macy's card is declined and you have to call customer service for them. There are times when you are on the register by yourself. Because the other coworker either went to lunch, called out or their shift has ended early. And we are short staff . As the managers tell us. We do call the managers but they don't stay long because they are being called somewere else. And the lines are long. Dealing with customers is not for everyone, you have to have a thick skin.😖😤 and yes this company has changed over the years.
U could easily get a security job for $20 an hour.
Macy's was always my first place to go when shopping for clothes. I haven't been there in years, it just started seeming more and more sad and outdated. Now I just order clothes online. I can't stand going to any clothing store, it's just such a hassle and I'm older now and don't really care about fashion trends. RIP Macy's and all the others. We've lost something as a culture and it's unlikely to ever come back.
I still don’t like ordering clothes online. But the smaller stores are MUCH easier to shop in. Some can be more expensive but the quality is usually much better.
I still go but other places are cheaper and trendier. Macy's clothes always seem to be the same year after year. Lots of people now go to Ross and Marshalls for clothes.
Try Shopping at Bloomingdale's, its the higher end version of Macy's, to be honest is comparable to Nordstrom. Bloomingdale's is not as expensive like people say it is.
I'm seeing responses from guys shopping at Macy's for clothes. That's odd to me. I always assumed unfashionable guys like me just buy simple functional clothes at Walmart, while fashionable guys buy clothes, I don't know, somewhere cool and hip? Like Nordstrom's or Urban Outfitters or something?
Certainly not Macys, it always had "old lady store" vibe to me.
@@SlackActionBumble You are pretty spot on with that assessment. I have always been a guy that likes shopping for name brand clothing. Macy's was the store my parents liked. It was good if I needed a suit and tie, but the regular clothes were definitely dad clothes.
The buyouts screwed Macy's and many countless malls. My mom was peeved when her beloved Marshall Fields turned into a crappy Macy's. Mind you the same store was a Hudson's which my mom also enjoyed shopping at, but she liked the service more when it changed to the Marshall Fields. But when it became Macy's she got upset because the quality of items they stocked went downhill and so did the service.
I can imagine it was the same for other shoppers used to their regional department stores as well. No one likes change especially if it comes with lower quality.
Here in the Twin Cities, we had it twice over with Dayton's. In 2001, all the Dayton's stores were rebranded as Marshall Field's. Sure it was a change and the loss of a 100-year-old name, but we still knew Marshall Field's as the "nice" Chicago department store, and it didn't really change all that much.
And then in 2006, Marshall Field's became Macy's.
I haven't really shopped there much since. On my budget, there isn't much that's special enough to lure me away from Target or Kohl's or JC Penney.
...Not that I particularly like shopping for clothes anyway. I tend to do it only when I have to.
For a lot more on Dayton's -- and their competitor Donaldson's (gobbled up by Carson's in 1987, then folded in the '90s when Carson's just couldn't build their brand here) -- see my reply to @Mac the Knife.
In NY and PA (I live right near the state line and have done plenty of shopping in both states) it was Kaufmann's that was replaced by Macy's. Kauffman's was definitely better. Most of the Macy's are now either empty or have local "antique" (junk) stores in them. I only know of one remaining in Western New York.
Marshall fields was goat. Macys replacement really made me dislike them. Hopefully someone does the same to macys
I read another comment about Marshall fields and how their parents never stepped foot ever since the brand changed. Really tells me how bad the change was.
Happened here in FL with Burdines. The quality quickly went down hill. The last time I went, everything looked dated including the items at the juniors section. So much of the clothes looked like things you find at Ross and other discount retailers.
Opening up Toys R Us is genius. They’re declining at the same rate as other retail stores. They need to close under performing ones to focus on their new that are relevant. Also, they need to get rid of those “backstage” areas. It’s like walking through Ross inside of Macy’s.
I worked at macys and backstage was hated by everyone who worked there, most customers didnt like it either but i guess it made money
Macys is opening free standing backstage stores , and see as a future profit maker
Ross is good while going through Macy's feels like a chore if I'm being real
"It's like walking through Ross inside of Macy's" -That's the point of Backstage lol.
what is a backstage area?
I used to work at Macy's for a few months part time when I was 16 for fun. I worked at the women's department and it wasn't a high foot traffic store. I'd remember spending a lot of my time returning and re-ringing the purchases of these old ladies who were regulars whos purchases were too long for a price adjustment but not too long for a return lmao. I was praised for patience and good customer service but the thing is I didn't care as long as I wasn't cleaning up. I'd be so lenient giving discounts too, wasn't my money I didn't gaf. I'd give them a manual discount on top of the discount that would apply on their credit card statement when they opened a new card and stuff like that. Funny thing is not only did I not get in trouble, I got random gift cards for meeting my sales goals, which I didn't even know I had sales goals lmao.
🤣🤣🤣
Sorry to say that it's attitudes like that that helped kill mid-market department stores. I too worked at a large store and really tried to help the customers find what they were looking for. I learned to up-sell and had very few returns. I just didn't like standing on my feet for so many hours. It can become grueling and the slow times were so boring.
WWWW
Lavetttt cyst 🥰😍🤣
You’re a good soul ❤️
I remember when Macys was the place to shop for the best items and awesome customer service..Recently I was in a Metro Atlanta store and it was an experience I will never repeat. After finding the items in the mass of disarray looking like a thrift store it took over 45 minutes to find an open register with a cashier..The line was long and the cashier was frustrated because she was missing her lunch time , there wasn't anyone available to replace her spot.
..🤔🙄 😮
There is no " GO TO PLACE" to shop anymore, just walk around naked end of story.
As a middle class zillenial, I always felt Macy's was rich people's Walmart. I rarely bought stuff there, mostly stuff that I really needed. Part of the decline was because they couldn't keep up with young's people budgets and fashion. Yeah , Hot Topic is expensive but it has kept up with young people's fashion
Macy's is definitely not a store for young people. I'm in my forties and I still consider it an old person's store at least for casual clothing. If you need a suit and tie, it's great for that, but the casual wear is like stuff my dad wore.
@@100percentSNAFU is any department store for young people?
As a mid 20 yr old, Hot Topic in terms of clothing is way crappier and expensive to the material they use for all clothing than Macy's. I rather and do my shopping in places like Macy's, even Dillard's than brands like Holister or Abercombie since they always seem to have the same thing about every 2-3 years. What I do like about Macy's is the clearance section of just different stuff you can find and putting a whole set for yourself, kinda like a more luxurious thrift store except everything is new and with markdowns sometimes up to 90% (Bought a Nautica jacket priced $200 for about $20 assuming it wasn't trending anymore). I don't know maybe its just me.
Fast fashion. Macys in a way is but in much lesser and slower trend. Their clothing at least is quality stitching and thicker fabric.
I guess it depends where you live and your income bracket. But to me, Macy's isn't a Walmart to anyone I know. That's the equivalent of saying only people with money go to Footlocker, simply because Walmart sells athletic apparel. Macy's true rival was competing for higher end buyers with Sears (but no appliances and tools). And JC Penny's.
If you want higher end brands, Walmart isn't the place for anything like that. You can literally say every store competes with Walmart.
Never expected to hear about Macy’s ever again. My aunt used to work at one location before either being let go or quitting (not sure which). She said her time working there was pretty miserable but I doubt that speaks for everyone.
Not surprised I haven’t heard about it in years especially due to the decline.
I worked for macy’s for a little while… I asked for a day off to go to my grandpa’s funeral. they told me no (and poked fun at a dead man) so yea, I believe your grandma’s experience was miserable.
I quit asap.
@@claireconover God that’s awful. I’m sure it’s been awhile but I’m sorry for your loss.
It’s one thing to not let someone have a break due to a family member’s passing, but it’s another to then make fun of someone’s death right afterwards. I hope your grandfather is resting well despite that.
It's retail. Of course it wasn't fun.
My experience working there was miserable, as well. The management "team" never had any huddles or meetings, so one wouldn't know what the other was doing, a specific space would be blocked off for two or three different product displays and there'd be fights over which manager won the use of the space for their department, and the floor associates were backstabbing each other for hours and commissions. Unless you were above a supervisor, NOBODY got more than 20 hours a week unless someone quit or got fired and they needed someone to pick up those shifts, so Stockboy A would try to drive Dockworker B out of the store so he could swoop in and nap up those hours for the extra paycheck. Management didn't discourage this and thus turnover was absurdly high. But most of my four months there was spent in absolute anonymity because the hiring manager who brought me on went on vacation the day before I started, didn't assign ANYONE to train me. I clocked in and waited for over an hour, then went to find someone. The assistant manager had no idea there was a new hire and couldn't pull anyone away to train me, so she said "Go organize the back stockroom and just keep doing that until the HR manager gets back". After two solid months, I figured she wasn't coming back (turned out she used her vacation to try out another job she'd applied for and decided to stay at that one), but I had that stockroom looking almost as presentable as the show floor. Store manager saw me back there and threatened to call the cops because he had never seen me before - naturally, since he was hardly ever in the store and literally just phoned it in for meetings. At that point I knew I wasn't staying with the company long-term, but he did at least assign me to a steady task: going department by department, shelf by shelf, product by product, and on my own judgment creating interesting and inventive displays for clothing, small appliances, etc, that would be both functional and eye-catching. Won a few manager awards for that (which pretty much just translated into a bunch of small Visa gift cards, which I saved up and bought myself a Wii U with). Overall, I came away with an extremely negative view of the company.
@@KamenRiderGumo Wow, you can't make this stuff up! I worked at Macy's for 7 1/2 years in the 1990's. At first, it was okay. Then Federated took over and everything went to hell in a handbasket. :)
Their restructuring over the last year has really hurt it’s stores. “Centralized checkouts” only created longer lines and nowhere to check out in some entire departments. Rolling out the “innovative selling program” this summer essentially eliminating the Supportteam that would merchandise prior to store open, has left stores with literal truckloads of merchandise not on the sales floor. Racks of markdowns sit in the stockrooms. Stores are messy and unkept. It’s just sad how much Macy’s has fallen in the past few years
I’ve had to go there a few times recently and it’s shocking that merchandisers are moving stock around when the store is open. Ralphs grocery store is stocking stores during the day too, blocking the aisles with pallets of food and noisy, discourteous stockers.
Before I left, everyone thought that innovative selling program was a joke. There was a reason why some of us WANTED to work as support, while others WANTED to work as sales. Forcing everyone to do each other’s job made it 10x worse. That was part of the reason why I quit, because of the stress. I can’t imagine what it’s like right now at my old store, but I wouldn’t be surprised if half of my old coworkers left because of the company’s stupid decision.
I have been in retail management for 40yrs and I have seen the decline in service as far back as the late 70's. Payroll is the largest controllable expense so it's the first place they cut. I was in Macy's the other day and noticed they have a self service footwear department. My first thought was this is the beginning of the end for this location. Inventory is a joke. In 2016 I needed a new suit. Men's Suits are now sold as separates most likely because they did away with alterations. After shopping a few locations on Long Island I gave up and purchased 2 suites in 2 different sizes from Macy's on line. The order arrived in 8 different boxes from 8 different locations around the country. Nothing came from a New York store. A trip to the store is a waste of time. Buy on line and return it to the store if it doesn't fit.
Thanks for posting. I had been curious about this (for real). Did something specific happen in the mid-late 70s, do you think, that caused this change? It used to be that men wore suits for retail and took it very seriously a long time ago.
How did the sales clerk position go from being competitive to be hired to people that cannot speak properly? I recall in the 70s, it was difficult to get hired at macys, and sales staff were dressed sharply.
Sad but true. I worked in the Smithaven Mall location, back in the 80’s. It’s turned into a sad joke.
@@astralartist4these sort of changes take a long time to be noticed by shoppers as a whole. Today most of us understand the staff are utterly useless in just about every retailer. But that took many years to flush out all the older people who actually knew the products, now you can’t even rely on the dipsht zoomers to have bothered to review the weekly ad. Point being, the execs who made those decisions got some nice fat bonuses for cutting payroll for several years before anyone realized (if they ever did) what a foolish mistake that is. Or maybe not, since it seems like we’ve just come to expect garbage service.
The reason the suits are not tailored anymore is probably because hardly anyone wears them anymore. Maybe in big cities. Most places it's just a tie and buttoned down shirt. And even then only in upper management or an office worker. Perhaps some of that could be silicone valley culture which created a much more laid back work environment.
I remember when I first went into Macy’s in NYC 34th street and fell in love with it back in the mid 90’s, back then, shopping at Macy’s was considered a luxury.
People helping you out were nicely dressed, some even in suits, getting approved for their credit card was like being allowed into a special club for me because you knew you had access to somewhere that not every could afford to buy there, several years later anyone with a pulse and $2 in their bank account was getting approved.
As someone who is from the Chicago area, the acquisition of Marshall Field's (Basically was Chicago's big department store) and getting rid of the name was a big deal. I was a little kid but I remember older people like my parents being generally angry that Macy's took over a Chicago icon.
My parents would shop at Marshall Field's for Christmas, but when it became Macy's they avoided it out of spite. I don't think I actually went into a Macy's until like 3 year ago. I think killing off local brands like that might have ruined their growth.
The Walnut Room around Christmas time was an experience. Macy's ruined it.
My father worked for MF for 36 years. I stopped going after Macy’s took over.
They bought out and changed the name of Hudson's here in Detroit. The thing was that if you went into the Macy's version, it was literally the same stuff and mostly the same staff. They kept everything the way it was. Hell, I still call it Hudson's.
I spit on the commie red star of Macy's for what they did to Fields. MF was history, and Macy's shat all over it.
I remember Marshall Fields as a kid. It had a more glamorous look compared to macys. Macys doesn't take care of the building, no updates. It looks like a stripped down discount store compared to more glamorous department stores
There was a big shakeup in the retail sector as a whole in the mid 1980's and throughout the 1990's, the end result of which was that Macy's became the equivalent of the company that has a tremendous share of a diminishing market. In its wake however, Macy's (and May Company, Federated, and others) consolidated a lot of regionally centered retail brands. In that process, those companies killed brands that had far more local loyalty in favor of Macy's, May, etc., which didn't. They thought "everyone knows Macy's." Which was true. But that didn't translate into everyone *buying from* Macy's once their local Kaufmann's, Strouss', Associated, Lord & Taylor or Wanamaker's disappeared.
"Everyone knows Macy's" - That's why we wish we still had Hecht's.
@Mac: Indeed! (Long post below ↓)
Here in the Twin Cities, Dayton's was the "Macy's of Minneapolis" for almost 100 years. Opened in 1902, not only did they grow into a decent-sized regional chain, but their parent company:
- opened several shopping malls around Minnesota and neighboring states
- had a merger with Hudson's (of Detroit) to become Dayton-Hudson Corporation
- owned a number of other chains around the US -- including Marshall Field's (of Chicago) and Mervyn's (of California)
- _and_ started started mall bookstore chain B. Dalton Bookseller.
...Oh, and they also started a little discount store chain called Target. 🙂
But as Target grew, it became Dayton-Hudson's main business, and many of their others were sold off or spun off. In 2000, Dayton-Hudson Corporation became Target Corporation. In 2001, Target rebranded all Dayton's and Hudson's stores as Marshall Field's 🙁, since it was a bigger chain with more national recognition (and thus better suited for building an online store, they figured). ...And then in 2004, they sold Marshall Field's off to May Department Stores ... who then got bought out by Federated/Macy's in 2005. In 2006, all Marshall Field's -- including the former Dayton's and Hudson's stores -- were rebranded as Macy's.
The original 1902 Dayton's store (in downtown Minneapolis) was closed by Macy's in 2017. The building has since had a rather nice remodel into offices and retail shops.
~~~
Meanwhile, Dayton's longtime rival Donaldson's (the _Gimbel's_ of Minneapolis 🙂) had disappeared more than a decade before Dayton's. Much like Dayton's, they'd grown into a regional chain, and had invested in shopping malls. They'd even bought out rival stores Powers (in Minneapolis) and Golden Rule (in St Paul). But in 1987, their then-parent company Allied Stores was in financial trouble, and sold Donaldson's off to Carson Pirie Scott.
Carson's then dropped the hundred-year-old Donaldson's name, and rebranded all the stores to Carson Pirie Scott. But Carson's had almost zero reputation in Minnesota, and Carson's own troubles didn't help much in improving that. They got bought by Bergner's* in 1989, who then went bankrupt in 1991, and ended up closing all the Twin Cities Carson's stores over the next few years. Dayton-Hudson bought up the locations, and filled most of them with Mervyn's -- though a couple became Dayton's Men's and Home departments instead.
But Mervyn's struggled to attract Twin Cities customers, much as Carson's had. As part of the Marshall Field's deal, Target sold all the Twin Cities Mervyn's stores to May in 2004 ... who then closed them all and sold off the spaces. (The Mervyn's chain itself was sold to an investment group the same year, and folded after the 2008 recession.)
Donaldson's original 1880s Glass Block store (in downtown Minneapolis) had closed in 1982, when Donaldson's had moved to the much blander City Center nearby. The Glass Block itself was destroyed later that year in the Thanksgiving Day Fire (which also destroyed the Northwestern National Bank next door). Gaviidae Common was built on the site. (The bank was rebuilt as Norwest Center next door -- which became **ptooey** 😝 Wells Fargo Center in 1998.)
* Part of a store group that merged with the Bon-Ton in 2006, Bergner's supplied the red-hexagons logo and cursive font used by Carson's and Herberger's, among others.
@@u686st7 Or Dayton's! (See my long response to Mac)
While I've made purchases at Macy's since those changes, I was more likely to go to Kaufmann's. With the downtown Pittsburgh store gone, there's nothing special about going to a Macy's in a mall.
May company and Robinsons were the best.
I used to really like Macy's. It was my mom's favorite store. It had nice things with nicer quality. They had a lot of pretty clothes. So you could get dressed up for work or school and be a little more polished. My mom actually got me a gift card for Macy's last Christmas but I haven't used it. Why? The store is depressing. It's really hard to find someone to help you check out. Finding someone to help you find stuff is out of the question. I've wondered before, "if i just left, would anyone know?" There are no employees. Stock is so low, you can't find anything- especially in the size you need. It's a depressing, empty place. If they want people to shop there, they need to have stuff available to buy.
The ONE TYPE of employee these department stores have in spades is LOSS PREVENTION. If you "just walked out" with some merchandise, oh yes, someone would notice, and fast!
People miss their local retail chains that catered to their locale. I don't think Macy's thought about the resentment of folks losing the familiar. The big reason online sales have taken over is stores don't have much inventory. It doesn't pay to go to a store to shop if the assortment is poor.
In defense of Macy's, they used to be really good at tailoring their assortment to fit the demographics of their area. Some were just a bit nicer than a Kohl's kind of thing, and there were some that were more like a Nordstrom. Not every store is good at that. You go into a Walmart, Target, Kohl's, etc. really anywhere and they all sell the same trash. Most high end stores don't really change too much based on where they are either. Very few stores are good at catering to local markets. Macy's used to do it really well. Nordstrom kills at it. It's really an artform.
I would also argue that most small local department store chains would have gone out on their own. Being taken over by Macy's likely saved them, at least for the time being. Most lower end and mid-tier clothing prices have barely changed since the 90s. Some of that was accomplished through volume buying. Small chains don't have that kind of buying power.
They blew the Chicago market when they killed Fields
Simply..Federated gets Macys the dream store..other than Bloomingdales..makes all their stores Macys ..except for some Bloomingdales...centralizes purchasing at most locations...so product is similar...except for a few locations Herald Square and Mall of America as well as a few Southeast stores as well as some west locations...overloads the system...only the strong locations survive..that's ANY retail....
Those local retail outlets were jordan marsh Marshall Fields,Daytons..among others..all Were run by Federated...Federated kept the diamond name..literally slapped it on most walls...that's pretty much it...
Not too dissimilar to Hudson Bay and Lord and Taylor....
@@IDF1987 If I'm not mistaken Fields chose to throw in the towel.
I worked at Macy's for 2 years as a Men's Suit Specialist. It was mismanaged, and a few years ago, around 2016, it closed. I was a free standing store that used to be part of a mall. Theft and poor management is what I blame on it closing.
The only time I learned about the Macy's is that one scene from Spongebob Squarepants where Spongebob and Patrick run throughout the perfume department while avoiding perfumes.
I stopped shopping at Macy's because of their confusing coupons that exclude so many brands and so items in the store with everyday low price that was also excluded. It's like why bother giving us the coupon if it doesn't work on anything?
SO TRUE! JUST MAKES YOU MAD!!
I spent my childhood in Houston and we got Macy's there in the mid-80s. Inside, it felt like one of the ritzier higher-end department stores where it was less about what you bought there and more about being able to say you got it at Macy's. You would only find it at the nicer malls in the area. In the 90s, we moved to a substantially smaller metropolitan area in Virginia with no Macy's stores, the nearest of which was in the Washington DC area in a swanky suburb and that reinforced the notion that Macy's was a high-end store for high-end clientele. Then in the mid-00s, through converting their sister brands to Macy's, the store was everywhere, including in my area, and not just in the high-end malls but in just about every mall, including some of the malls that would have never otherwise made Macy's list, and suddenly, Macy's went from a fancy place to just another anchor store and they lost just about all of their panache.
This lamb concurs.
Washington area Hecht’s Was taken over by Ratty dept stores including Texas Foley’s.
Interesting video. One thing to keep in mind: you mentioned that the founder only made $11-something on his first day. If you use an inflation calculator, in 1913 (the earliest date I could calculate), that is $331 and change. When you consider a day's wages for a laborer were roughly 25 cents a day in the 1880s, that $11 was probably the equivalent of $3,000 today, conservatively. Not too shabby.
Pretty good for a first day.
I think it was sold $11, not made $11 on his first day.
You literally can not enter the dressing room, because it’s overcrowded with clothes, no one seems to take care of and put them back where they belong to. I was so shocked and wondering if no one works here? I’ve never seen a store looking like that. I sometimes shop for deals online but in store I really hate to go there. They need to hire more people!!
They don’t want to hire more people.
Present day I work at Macys and they told us they don’t want to hire more people until Christmas time
It’s really not our fault and they place one person for each department
It’s really stressful
The management isn’t doing well either
@reddingmalik you are right! 👍🏻
The problem with promotions like the Macy's Day Parade is that you become known for the promotion instead of for, say, being a place to buy pants. This is a common trend for a lot of companies that were big on these promotions.
I've had a negative opinion of them my whole life due to the buyouts mentioned. Before I was born, my mother worked at a pretty famous department store chain in my state that got claimed as part of that 2005 buyout (she stopped working their in the late 80s, but still). We would sometimes travel to the main capital to see that department store's flagship area which had a dedicated are to celebrating the company's history. Once Macy's took over, all of that was removed. It seemed kind of disingenuous, especially now knowing why they were doing that thanks to this video. We already had several Macy's established in the state, so it seemed just odd that they needed to "buy out" the competition, especially when they had one of the biggest department stores in the state due to the mall it was in.
I worked retail for them over a decade ago, and it was not a pleasant experience. That mall I mentioned is the location I worked at, and their floorplan made no sense. All the expensive products were placed near the entrances and exits which made looting a very common thing. We would get reprimanded for not being safer about keeping product but it wasn't our fault they designed the store so poorly! The sales goals they set for sales associates were insane. They expected people to sell over $1000 of merch in a day, regardless of department. So many sales associates would "wander" to another department in hopes of making an expensive sale to meet their goals. I only worked there for a year but I recall manager turnover being laughable as I think I had 10 different managers in my one year. I laughed at the bit mentioning how in the late 70s they invested in better customer service, because it sure was not there when I worked in the early 2010s. There were countless coupons customers would bring in, did not understand, and then we'd have to tell them, "oh no, you can't use that" because we'd get in trouble if we just wanted to make the customer happy. It was honestly a nightmare.
As for what they offer... I've never found their product line that enticing. Maybe it's because I'm part of the "millennial" generation or what not, but I feel like I can get just as quality items for cheaper at other stores/online. Very curious if any of my gripes have improved or worsened over the last decade.
Let me guess Marshall Fields…
I've been working at Macy's for 9 years now and through promotions and transfers, I've bounced around to 3 different stores. And I can safely say that each store will give you a different experience. First two were great and I miss them dearly, but the current store I'm at is so understaffed and unsafe, it's amazing that it hasn't been closed down by OSHA. Would not recommend.
I worked there part-time for like 2ish years. I hated it. When I first started, the other workers gave me the “new girl” treatment and was mean to me for a little while. My manager kept pressuring me to push credit cards and even though I was a good employee with sales, she kept getting on my ass about those damn credit cards. All that bs to be paid $9/hr 🙄😒
Marshall Fields was the big department store where I grew up. Macys acquired them and I saw a lot of people shun Macys out of store loyalty.
I never go to Messy's. They ruined a good thing.
Macy's should ship through Amazon to other countries especially the Caribbean. Sales would skyrocket.
Marshall Field's was a Chicago institution. Part of our culture and history. Macy's came in and took it over and just didn't "get it". Macy's was a NYC store. In Chicago we saw it as a big NYC store taking over our beloved local store and then ruin it. So yes, there are many people in Chicago who never ever shop at a Macy's because of this.
@@tedgray1115 That's how I felt about it until recently. I just reluctantly went to Macy's for a bottle of perfume because it was about 20 bucks cheaper there than anywhere else I looked.
Macys didn’t understand that over the Marshall Fields in Chicago and Famous Barr in St Louis local means something. Marshall Field was an actual person who saved Chicago from burning. Plus ppl in Midwest can hold a grudge for generations!
I worked at Macy's for 3-4 years back in 1989-92. This was during the ramp up to bankruptcy. It was depressing honestly; they went bankrupt for a reason- no customers. We would stand around all day in our suits (or dresses if female) with nothing to do and the days were endlessly long. You could only fold the display clothes so perfectly for so long. We were not allowed to sit, so you'd be leaning on a clothing rack for hours scanning the sales floor like a starving predator. The one big thing they did at this time was the "Pre-Season Sale" which was a resounding success. For the few weeks it ran in the early Fall (IIRC) people were lined up at the registers. All you had to do was ring them up like it was a fast-food restaurant and collect commissions. After that, it became an annual event for a while (dont know if its still done). However, it was "hot then cold". As soon as the sale ended, it went back to a bunch of nothing.
Macy’s unfortunately opted in the early 2000s to abandon their previous image and slowly cultivate what I think they saw as a hip and new look, but what ultimately became a clientele who wanted to look like what Macy’s original demographic had been. As a result, they have ostracised their original customer base, and replaced them with a customer base that just doesn’t have the purchasing power or purchasing habits Macy’s expected.
For example, back around 2012-ish, I stood in line at Macy’s to purchase a couple of things, and had to wait for over twenty minutes before another sales clerk called to the people who were standing in line to come check out with them because a customer was returning - literally - an entire wardrobe’s worth of clothes. From what the clerk said, this customer routinely did this, as do other customers: purchase items, use them, and then return them before the credit card bill comes in. The clerk even cattily remarked that that customer was on Macy’s clothing rental program. The problem with cultivating this kind of customer is that it ultimately drags down the value of the product(s) and store brand, and results in further customer loss when regular customers now feel they have to check to make sure that they aren’t paying full retail price for second-hand clothing and home goods. Macy’s image has suffered greatly from decisions like this, and they aren’t regaining ground by offering increased special perqs to store cardholders, because their store cardholders are the very people who are dragging down the brand name and taking advantage of the card perqs to essentially rent kitchen appliances, home goods, and clothing.
In addition, there’s the inevitable shrinkage that comes with promoting a particular style and image. Look at Abercrombie and Fitch or Burberry, both of whom have had similar experiences. Another example is Dooney & Bourke, who also tried to cultivate a hip, new style and image, and is now relegated to selling overpriced plastic garbage to people who need to learn to budget because *nobody* needs to be dropping $200 on a ridiculous plastic purse. Dooney & Bourke’s original customer base is gone, as is Abercrombie and Fitch’s, and as is Burberry’s, and as will be Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.
The takeaway lesson is that there’s a difference between keeping up with the times and scuttling your brand. Unfortunately, few companies see where that distinction lies beforehand.
Abercrombie is has been doing pretty well the past few years.
Long story short Macy's started marketing to the brown folks and the white folks became enraged.
Next meme stock?
@@jesussalas2407 Abercrombie is only doing well because of Chinese sales. Emerging markets wanting what they saw on American TV as kids. Unfortunately, those markets are on the decline and Abercrombie will follow shortly when the money dries up.
@@fordrac1ng81 they've made a significant resurgence in like the past 3 years, if you go to an Abercrombie store in 2022 it has significantly more traffic than a few years back. It's back in style with the younger crowd because they manged to adapt.
My mom is mad that Macy’s bought some of our local California brands. she says there was such a noticeable decline in quality, it wasn’t worth going to them anymore
My family was not rich but my parents always stressed "quality over quantity", so I often got my school clothes at (Bon Marche/Macys), now Macys. The fashion was timeless classics and often of high quality. My 70 year-old father still has the image of this old-school Macys in his mind, so he was in for quite a shock when we went there a couple months ago. Almost everything felt cheaply made and looked like the high-fashion off the runway (aka outlandish and not very practical). For instance, there was an entire rack of tops with goofy prints like floral, bananas, smiley faces, punny sayings, etc, in bright/obnoxious colors. Lots of athletic/leisure wear as well. No 100% cotton shirts to be found. To each their own, but it seems as though Macys is going for the GenZ/Frat boy aesthetic these days. 2 of 3 Macys in my city have closed down in the last 5 years.
🇨🇭
Same here, just trying to find a basic, high quality 100% cotton T-shirt or mock turtleneck. Sales people didn’t even know what a mock turtleneck was
Everything polyester blend, even in the designer brands. What a bunch of dreck
I worked at Macys for a couple of years. The thing that bothered me was when one is hired , and at the training session we were told to greet and be friendly with customers. I noticed that not one of my co-workers were nice people . And if you hade a difficult situation with a customer and called for a manager, the manager would always take the side of the customer(who was not on the right side of the situation) and then apologize for my behavior.
You never heard the saying “the crown always wins?”
I worked at Macy's for about 6 years and it was awful. I'm pretty sure there was some sort of unspoken rule that you needed at least one associate per department but they kept combing departments so by the time I quit I would be the only associate in literally half of my store with three registers I was suppose to take care of. For the longest time, too, our store manager wouldn't allow us to put up "this register is closed" signs, so I would be the only person in my "department" helping another customer while a second customer would go to the register I wasn't at and get angry that no one was there to help them (even had people bang on the counter to get my attention, which was the absolute worse.) Then at the time I quit, my store manager was the store manager for three, THREE, different locations, so he was never in the store, and I heard that he didn't even know I quit until the day before my last day, and I gave a respectful two weeks notice. This is on top of the abysmal training about how to pick up shifts, and not having me shadow anybody when I started (there was literally a holiday season where none of the holiday hires even went through the online training), the way they pushed us to sell their credit cards and would have to talk to us if we didn't get at least two attempted applications per every so many hours worked. Not to mention we had an awful traumatic event happen at my location and the CEO flew out for the funeral but didn't even visit our store (which in the grand scheme of things isn't the most important thing, but it left a bad taste in my mouth). It's been a few years, and my store has long been closed now (which was not surprising in the least and if anyone at that store had said it was surprising I would have laughed at them), but I still can't believe that I worked there as long as I did, and it took me a long time to even want to go into any other Macy's.
What was the traumatic event?
I feel you wholeheartedly. I used to work for a furniture and home decor store, and while it wasn't huge it was still about the size of the average Walmart. I worked the night shift and it would be about 3-4 people closing every night. We had to serve as backup cashiers, pick up online orders, help customers acquire and load products, keep the store clean, and more. I would be lucky to be in charge of only one department. Some nights I would literally have to take care of 3-4, and at one point I was taking care of literally half the store, on top of everything else. We also had to push credit cards onto people, during the pandemic of all times. Me and my coworkers have voiced our complaints but upper management always brushed us off or, as our store director once said, "that's just the way it is." I was in constant pain, although I didn't realize it at the time. I was only there for five and a half months. Tried to stick it out for six, but I just couldn't take it anymore. My legs were in pain for two weeks after I quit. Oh yeah, and one of my managers directly made me cry, in front of customers, just a few weeks before I quit. I have never even shopped there ever since.
Probably an employee death. Accident, crime, or suicide in store if the CEO came for a funeral.
@@CompaGuitarra sorry, curiosity killed the cat.
Well, I am a regular customer for Macys (even own their credit card for those discounts). I think it's going to decline but may survive at a lower capacity. Even though outlets and discount stores give me options for affordable shirts and pants, they sometimes offer decent fashionable options. Thus, they will be around for sometime
It was so much nicer when every city had their own signature department store.
The uniqueness is what made them profitable; most big department stores need to shed down to about 50-100 stores that are able to provide unique experiences in their respective locales
I worked at a Macy’s in upstate New York in the mid 1980s when I was in college and I hated it. It was in a mall called Colonie Center and morale was very low even back then. I quit after 11 months there when a competing mall was built in 1985, and it had the first Filene’s (the upscale chain from Boston) in NY State, and I got a job there that lasted me through the rest of my college years. The Filene’s was beautiful, the management worked with the sales people shoulder to shoulder and it felt like we were a team. I really enjoyed my years with Filene’s. I left when I graduated from college right as May Company bought Filene’s and then the store wasn’t anywhere near as nice, they cheapened it, then Macy’s bought May Company and Filene’s disappeared to be renamed as Macy’s.
I also worked at Filene’s the first Christmas after it opened. My sister worked at Jordan Marsh, also at the Crossgates Mall. We were both undergraduates at St. Rose, at the time! Thanks for the trip down memory lane! 😊
From furniture to clothing, I've never made a purchase from Macy's I didn't end up regretting. I absolutely HATE Macy's.
I worked there from 2013-2016, during college. It was hell. Managers thinking they can talk crazy to you, the customers and their unrealistic demands and the way they talk to you, messy stories etc. I was so glad when I left, I always dreaded coming in. The coworkers were the only thing worth making it through those three years.
I grew up on Macy's, mainly cause some of my relatives used to work there. It was my first real job. I liked working there; I liked my coworkers, the hours were flexible, and some of my managers were nice. I stayed for about 8+ years until I decided to quit this year because I was just so tired and stressed out. I was honestly debating on going on a long rant about working at Macy's, but it's better to just leave it in the past and move on. Would I work there again? Maybe, but not for a while. No matter what happens to the company, it'll always hold a special place in my heart.
I worked at a Macys for two days in college. One of the first days they started holiday hours. Being on your feet for so many hours, especially when you have foot problems, is already excruciatingly painful. On top of that you get minimum wage, have to dress "professional," so no comfortable shoes allowed. My 2nd day, I was assigned to work in the basement luggage department until 2 am. By 7-8 pm, the basement area was EMPTY, zero customers, but I sorted everything in my department so perfectly and just leaned against the counter for a while. A manager came down to tell me that I cannot stand by the counter, I have to walk around the whole basement and find customers to ask if they need help. Keep in mind I know absolutely nothing about the products and I'm already in so much pain. I think one of the major reasons Macy's is failing is they don't value employees at all. If you have a "professional" dresscode, you need to provide the outfit or increase the pay. If we're supposed to sort everything in our departments by ourselves AND stalk customers, we should get more than minimum wage. It's really hard work when you think about it and there are other minimum wage jobs that are much simpler and easier. They also expect you to basically be a bank teller. My first day was at the costume jewelry, right in the middle of the store and every person wanted to pay their macys bill, so I had to process checks, cash, check card balances, etc! If they paid macys employees fairly, they would be happier and it would make the whole shopping experience FEEL more high end. I can't remember ever seeing a macys employee that didn't look exhausted.
I stopped shopping at Macy's because I got tired of being followed as soon as I entered the store and at times sales clerk refused to assist me with a purchase. I refuse to spend my money at a store that wants to treat me like a 2nd rate citizen.
Please elaborate. Like I’m so confused. Who was following you? The workers? Why wouldn’t they help you with buying something? Was it just a employee thing or something? Like explain
@@Ren-er7fg I may be wrong, but some stores target African-Americans and follow us around assuming that we all steal. And some clerks avoid black women because they got talked to rudely once and assume the rest of us will due the same.
I could be wrong.
@@toyajackson556 you are 100% correct. Thanks for explaining to some. I thought all black folks understood this happens, and why.
@@toyajackson556 you are 100% correct. Thanks for explaining to some. I thought all black folks understood this happens, and why.
@@Ren-er7fg this person is describing their experiences with racism at a Macy’s store… often times employees are sent or decide to follow “suspicious looking characters” around very closely to make sure they aren’t stealing anything
I worked at Macy’s and they overwork you and if it’s your day off, they’ll call you in because someone is always calling out and not wanting to do their job. Also, most of the people that shop there are people who are usually over the age of fifty or families. Theft was really bad there too and everyday something would get stolen. Also, the employees(especially those who have worked there for over twenty years) will act like they own the store and treat new employees like they aren’t even people and talk to them like they’re stupid or straight up ignore them. Also it was in a building that is really old and the heating and air conditioning never worked and there was mold growing inside of the tiles on the floor. Not to mention how everyone who works there doesn’t know how to mind there own business and gossips and are very judgmental towards the customers.
Facts. I will never recommend anyone to work there. Worst experience ever ! I wish that I saw your review before
I was waiting for you to mention May company buyout my dad worked for Meier & Frank for over 30 years first as a buyer then store manager and was in the downtown Portland Oregon store when the merger took place. I have so many fond memories running around that 100 year old store. Macys destroyed a lot of history when they realized the building was worth more and sold it and turned it into a hotel. My dad finally left the company when he couldn’t get behind corporate changes.
Worked for Foley's (another May Company store, mainly in Texas) went through the merger with Macy's/Federated. Worked in distribution, 14 years with Foley's and 4 with Macy's. The last 4 years always had a resignation letter on my laptop at home, ready at a moments notice.
I had a horrible time working there as a seasonal employee. I had two relatives pass away around Thanksgiving and when I told manager I needed to leave to be with my family his reaction was "So what".
That company is woke, overpriced and had some of the most rude people working there.
My mom worked at Hecht's in Maryland. When it became Macy's, she said it was like the store lost it's soul. This was 17 years ago. The store is still there but it doesn't have that feel as it did when I was a kid
I worked for Macy’s before and after Federated and they were completely different. Part of the challenge Macys has is that their product is overpriced and lacks quality. They cater to a customer that wants Nordstrom service at Kohl’s pricing. Can’t have both. Further, their emphasis on piecemeal remodeling is an issue. Nobody wants to shop in a store that’s outdated and messy.
For me in-store service is the biggest problem. No sales people to help, just cashiers. If you have a question, who do you ask. Back when Macy's was a "thing" most of the salespeople were professionals - knew their stock and how to treat customers. Those days are long gone and so is the magic of shopping in stores like Macy's.
I could articulate many problems with Macy’s, but the fundamental one is their perfume section. All department stores have a terrible perfume section, but Macy’s puts theirs at the center of their mall entrance. I feel like I need a gas mask if I want to so much as look around. And with the current post pandemic culture you are not allowed to get into an unmasked coughing fit in public.
Fresh out of college and needing a job, I started on Veterans Day 1990 as a Xmas hire sales associate in the Men's Sportswear department at Macy's and worked my way up to sales manager the following year. I lived through the bankruptcy, the acquisition by Federated, and the subsequent mergers with other department stores. It was scary and exciting at the same time, especially for a twenty-something in his first executive position. I left retail for accounting by 2001, when I saw the writing on the wall for brick-n-mortars. However, the customer service and basic management skills I learned there have been invaluable in my later management roles in media and manufacturing companies. People will have different experiences and views about Macy's, but mine are for the most part positive. I understand why they are in the predicament they are in today, but I hope Macy's will persevere.
As a native Chicagoan, when Macy's bought Marshall Fields and Company, I wasn't too happy about it. In fact, a lot of Chicagoans were not happy. The store is okay. It's not bad, and its not good. It's middling to me.
I'm from Wisconsin and I usually drive to the one in Oakbrook Center. I think that's the best one ever. The macys we have here are terrible, no good brands whatsoever. I haven't been to the state street store but I frequented the Michigan Avenue location when it was open. Shame it closed down
True Chicagoans still refuse to shop there after what they did to Field's. You can purchase it, but you at least keep the name for the State Street store. Macy's came in and arrogantly changed it. I haven't shopped there since.
It’s like Kohl’s with a better cosmetics area. I still like Kohl’s better…
Macy's used to be the store to shop at for business clothes and accessories. It always felt so elegant shopping there! The last time I went, a few years ago, it looked like the place had been ravaged by gorillas - clothes on the floor, filthy dressing rooms, sloppy displays...and no sales people anywhere. Never went back. Can find what I need online.
You know, American retail is getting killed by the Internet while European retail isn't. Europe has the same Internet we do, so there has to be something different about the brick-and-mortar shopping experience over there compared with here. This comment sums up what that difference is.
@@bchristian85 It's all a culture thing. In Asia so many still shop at huge malls. Just like people in USA drive cars, not so much in Asia.
I walked through Macy’s the other day and the air inside the building literally sucked the life out of me. It felt like an abandoned Stranger Things era groady old depressing eyesore. It was also almost entirely void of people.
😂
Sounds like how Sears used to be….
lol, i was thinking i havent been there for at least 4 years... maybe i go and check it out when i have time. my issue always was there is more people than good stuff, i hated going there. Maybe less pple is going to be fun.
@@graceweldy Yes macy's definitely has that late 00's Sears vibe. The ominous beginning of the end. Feels like you're entering the backrooms, trapped and never to be let out.
@@ssh348 I hope you can find something good there if you do go!
I'm a Seattleite and was incredibly sad when Federated rebranded the Bon Marche into Bon-Macy's and then just Macy's. They basically erased a PNW institution, and I haven't shopped at a Macy's ever out of spite. Petty I know, but I can also use the excuse that Macy's is too flipping expensive
My step mom used to work at Bon Marche. I loved going in there to visit while she was working.
I loved the Bon Marche. Broke my heart when Macy’s took it over.
So true. I was shopping the Bon clear back in late 70s at the Sea Tac mall with my mom. I miss it and I have no interest in Macy's.
Yeah - Same I loved The Bon ... but Macy's ... No thank you
Oh wow. We drove from Ohio to Washington State in the summer of 1975, just before I started college, and the highlight of the trip was visiting Seattle and my brother telling me I could buy "any" school shoes I wanted and he'd pay for them. I bought my Very Expensive all-leather $40 shoes at the Bon Marche' and I think it was in the basement I found some fabulous all-cotton percale sheets (for $2.99 each) with a high thread count that I used in my dorm room. That was an amazing store.
To hear that Macy's bought it out and ruined it makes me so sad.
I wore those shoes out. Lasted probably 10 years. I wore them literally every day.
Macys isn’t what it used to be, but it’s not in big trouble like Kohl’s and JCPenney which are no longer in my mall! I just went to Macys last week because they got Toys R Us department, it’s at least a step in the right direction. But they need to have better merchandise, it’s the only department store left in my mall, otherwise our mall is going to be shut down!
He made a "why they're successful" for Kohl's so no.
@@LEGO_NASCAR that Kohls video is outdated! He made it before they announced multiple store closures!
@@Markimark151 They still have over 1100 locations, almost as much as Macy's and Penney's *combined*. As far as traditional department stores go, Kohl's will be fine for a while.
@@TheMetaMoss I find Kohls the most boring department store, they make TJ Maxx and Ross look like a fun toy store!
@@Markimark151 No disagreements here. But it seems that more often than not, boring also means stable and resilient.
Come to think of it, I can't really recall anybody my age actually shopping there. There's a huge Macy's in my town, in a prime location, with people walking everywhere and yet the store itself doesn't get that much traction. And the people (mostly women in their 50s) who do go in there usually only stick to the makeup and perfume counters and maybe try on shoes. I think it has the same problem as Pier 1 imports - times have changed and the products that they sell can probably be found somewhere else for cheaper.
I led a visual merchandising transition team when Macy’s acquired all of the Hecht’s stores here in my state. The biggest complaint was that people didn’t get the experience they expected. They wanted to walk into the store they saw in NYC. They wanted the quality and selection. Instead, they got a slightly elevated department store experience. From that point the stores shrank their visual staff as well as general store staff. There is little visual excitement or community involvement. It’s virtually a self service store that has no clear identity anymore. It’s sad really. I was excited when I began my time at Macy’s and fully disillusioned and jaded when I left. Department stores of my youth were tightly enmeshed with their communities with teen councils, fashion shows, bridal events, cosmetic events, and lots of charity work. Sales people were knowledgeable and well trained. It was a valid career. It’s just not that anymore and probably never will be.
I remember the days that you talked about, I worked as a cosmetics rep for some of the largest fragrance companies, and we were constantly sponsoring bridal shows, harpist, special events and promotions… they were both fun to do and profitable.
I worked for Hechts in MD back in 87, and it was a nice store. The visual displays were simply gorgeous, esp during the holidays. Unfortunately it was bought up by Macy's (I was gone by then) and heard it was shuttered by the corporate office. The area the store served and the mall were really nice.
I will always love Macy's! They were the first company to employ me straight out of high school in NJ. I also found out that they gave out free clothes and supplies to the Titanic survivors. I also love their Thanksgiving Day Parade and watch it every year. No department store will ever compare in my book!
Same I still love it! Have to drive a bit out of my way to go to a store now but always find great deals
Your standards are pretty low. Kudos to Macys regarding the Titanic, but that was over 100 years ago.
I briefly worked at a Macy's for a holiday season and it really changed my image of the company. As a child, it was a fun place for the whole family to shop. They had a nice toy and electronic section that my dad and I would spend time in while my mom would shop for clothes. However, the new Macy's is just a high end women's apparel store. Most of the customers were all about handbags and makeup. I think that killed the store because anyone could buy this stuff at Outlets, specialty shops, and the internet. Also, with the economy taking a nose dive, their core audience were not spending the money Macy's was looking for. They really need to rebrand themselves as a "Department" store. A return to a one stop shop is the only thing that could save this business.
Surprised you could call it high end. Seems like a messy, low budget place to shop. And that’s the Macy’s in one of the most expensive suburbs of the San Francisco Bay Area. It’s nothing like it once was.
@@catrinacrystallina work at macys, you nailed it. MESSY and low end, ppl saying it is high end must be used to getting their clothes from Walmart or something like that?
The red star comes from a tattoo Macy had, and is part of one of them old timey philosophies. It's a fun rabbit hole.
When I worked in malls long ago, I enjoyed walking through the women's shoe department during One Day Sales just to witness the carnage.
I too remember Macy's as something glamorous with good service/quality products - fun to visit. None of this feels true anymore.
Here in Pittsburgh, PA I worked at a department store called Kaufmann's from 1998 - 2005. Kaufmann's was part of Federated but it was an iconic store for this region and was re-branded as Macy's around 2005. There always seemed to be a special feel when it was Kaufmann's but lost that when the Macy's brand took over.
Macy Bargain Bin DESTROYED all the regional stores it bought out. Overpriced Kmart. Cut everything that made the department stores an attraction to make their stupid board and clueless shareholders think the stores were profitable,
Same here in Miami, we lost Burdines to Macys and it was a disaster!
Allow me to report from a remote part of Eastern Washington. Our local Federated was the Bon Marché. I think some decline was with the Simonization of the Columbia Center Mall in the early '90s, but it was pretty decided by the time of the name rebranding- from Bon-Macy's to just Macy's. I haven't been by recently, but the store infrastructure hasn't been updated a bit, that I can recall.
I agree. Kaufmann's just seemed classy and they had a wonderful petite department. Macy's ruined it.
Like so many large companies,there comes a point when the leaders who are in the position of making important decisions on improving revenues and curtail the losses lose touch with the front line people. Profit becomes the priority over people both in terms of workers as well as customers. Throughout the years I’ve seen a decline in customer service and the attitude of indifference which has become more rampant as the years go by.
My wife was a regular Macy's shopper, until about 1990, when her mother was knocked down and had her purse stolen in the Macy's in the Stanford Shopping Center. My wife didn't blame the store for that, but the employees were unsympathetic to the point of rudeness (and some were completely obnoxious) to my mother-in-law, and until a few years ago, she refused to set foot in the stores. I can't recall the last time I was in a Macy's, but it's been at least 35 years.
Omg!!
Frankly I'm surprised that bon marche was not mentioned. As the bon Marche slowly converted into Macy's in the most obvious way. Bon Marche had the most advertising with their parody song about having a sale, it played CONSTANTLY on the radio throughout my childhood, and when I hear the actual song, I still sing the bon Marche sale song. Lol. But then they started being called the "bon macys" and even tried to keep the song, but I thought the name bon Macy's didn't flow as well in the song. And they kept at that for a year or two, and then it was just the Macy's that we know now. Maybe the bon Marche is it's own video for another day, but it hugely ties into Macy's, so was surprised that name wasn't mentioned
I always had this feeling when i walk into a macys that it was a store with a lot of product but not things that people necessarily want or if they need it its for a particular reason usually a formal setting. They werent really caring clothing that was in trend or brands that were popular.
I worked for Macy's during the late 60's until 1979. Macy's as you know then was well respected and a fun place to work until New York employees and president changed that atmosphere. I still communicate with prior employees from that time who were fellow managers or that I trained in the management training program. I wrote two letters with suggestions as to how to bring customers back into the store the last two decades without even giving me the courtesy to acknowledge they received them. So now the stores near me do not carry stock. Most housewares are only display items to just fill space so you have to go online. Floors are shut down in the stores to consolidate to one floor. They also will not honor a coupon given in the store on line. They now consider online separate from retail stores. And we wonder why there are billions of dollars of returns because of sizing issues in all retail stores when color, feel ,look is what physically seeing the item brought them into the store and decreases the volume of returns. I am glad you did this video but maybe you need to hear from those that worked for them for years as well as what the customers are asking for. We know what is happening to retail but what drew them in the first place. It was an enjoyable experience with fashion shows of new lines, cosmetic demos, more stylish fashions, customer service. This customer does not shop at Walmart. Need I go on. They just need to see all the comments but don't care.
Wha suggestions do you have for Macy to become better then, would love to hear them
We would love to hear your suggestions!
In my market, Macy’s absorbed much loved Burdine’s, and pretty much buried it in cheaply made Macy’s private labels. Increase in clothing racks and decrease in the already overworked salespeople. It’s always a tepid shopping experience.
I loved Burdine’s and was so mad when they took over the store all the name of saving Macy’s. I never went back. It was never the same great store it once was when it was Burdine’s.
I miss Burdine’s !!!
I still love Macy's and hope that the company makes it. I do admit it certainly has declined over the years. I worked there several years in the early 2000's when I was in college, in the shoe department. It was an awesome college job because we got commission on top of the hourly rate. Back then, we were hoppin' because that store was busy as heck. But that local mall store ...it's a shadow of it's former self. No foot traffic, they never update or remodel and the inventory is often junky. So sad. But I do still shop there from time to time and I can find some pretty good deals. I enjoy going to the upscale Macy's in bigger cities and I will always be a loyal customer.
My problem with Macy's has been the cluttered mess within their main stores. Retail Archeology shares the same sentiment in a different region, which tells me that it's a company wide issue. Macy's Backstage isn't as cluttered.
I went to Macy's recently and it felt like it was intentionally trying to get me lost in the store, not seeing any exits or where the escalators are. And yeah, the clothing racks can be so disorganized that you'd think it was a second hand store - with some areas being quite cramped. Great prices, though.
I use to shop Macy's a lot. I agree its a cluttered and they have way too many people working in the makeup department. Also they need more cashiers and the cashiers trying to upsell every customer into a credit card really slows down the lines.
It saddens me to hear what's happened to both Macy's and JCPenney (and malls in general) :( I have some good memories of those stores. I really hope they survive and they can one day bounce back up.
With the way things are going, it would not at all surprise me that Amazon would buy all of the malls in America and convert them into fulfillment centers.
This lamb loves Boscov’s.
@@ImpetuouslyInsane Let's hope and pray that never happens. That would be too depressing.
I'm a GUY that actually loves the mall. Yeah ,I can buy stuff online, but that's only valid for things I already had and am just replacing: Usually stuff like rechargeable batteries and other small electronics that I used to go to Radio Shack for. But malls (like the old Sears catalog) introduced me to new styles and items that REAL people bought (Not like now where some "influencer" TELLS you what to buy). Shopping should be an experience, not a chore. And I want to sit and have an Orange Julius, then hit the arcade. I still have a J.C. Penney AND a Macy's nearby (Ross Park Mall near Pittsburgh, PA) I hope they last at least until my old (60 year) ass is gone. Well, "Black Friday" is coming, See yinz at the mall!
@@LJK193 Sure enough...especially since Macy's sponsors the Thanksgiving Day Parade and the 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular! I sure hope Macy's still exists forever in order for these events to keep going on.
Macy’s use to sell good quality merchandise. Any time I needed a suit I knew I could always find it there. Jones New York, Kasper, Ralph Lauren was the designers that I purchase. Also, the shoe department was off the chain that I had my own go to shoe guy. He would tell me new items coming in and the next sale. Now you don’t have that true customer service. The dressing rooms are trashed, you can’t get any help in the shoe department, It’s like self serve. I have hopes that they will turn it around. Bring back the mailers for Christmas with the perfume samples, bring back top designer items and please more customer services and registers.
Couldn't agree more about the need for high end designers to return. Why would I pay Macy's prices for things that Kohl's sells? We go to Nordstrom's now and skip Macy's entirely.
I like to eat apple
Yo long time no see Alexander
Thought yo old ass was dead guess those apples keep you going
How's the coffin?
ok
Must have been good, you've been in it for 17something years.
I grew up always shopping at Macy's, what was nice is that you can get anything there in one place. About 10 years ago I felt like they couldn't keep up with online shopping and their sales were a joke compared to other stores.
Happened to me! I worked there from September 2016 until August 2017,and the managers were constantly pushing those credit cards! They would get pissed if you didn't open one account a day.
In recent years I had worked as a seasonal employee at Macy's and mostly enjoyed the experience. But it wasn't because of corporate, it was because the management of our location was good. One thing I thought had been smart in recent years was their combined ad strategy with fragrance companies. After all, fragrances will always be something you want to sample and compare in person, not blindly buy online. But now that fragrance prices have skyrocketed, that could end up being a bad move.
Seems like along with greed, lack of morality and work ethics, stores end up going out of business. Such a shame.
Hope marvel is next 😏
At the Macy's near me, the associates are either very bad or very helpful. The bad ones are jaded and will only ring up purchases without any conversation. The good ones engage with you, look up prices for you, apply discounts you might not know about and talk to you about your day. It's really luck of the draw, no other store is like this.
retail workers are not therapists. get your stuff and go.
@@user-xw4dx6vm4x ok
Ca people are rude.
@@alarahillton1343 troll
Where I’m from cali plates get vandalized if they stick around. May the San Andreas fault drive the state into the sea.
I like how Company Man makes a video about Macy’s when the Macys thanksgiving day parade is starting soon
Yeah! If Macy's is on a decline for now, though, I hope it won't completely go away anytime in the future. Otherwise there would be no annual traditions for Thanksgiving and the 4th of July.
I actually went to a Market by Macy’s yesterday in a city near Dallas! It’s pretty much like a Ross or Marshall’s but a better selection. I think online shopping and the recessions is what led to its constant declines, but it’s been a lot better with its website including giving the option to pick up at a store if something’s there or to have it shipped to the store with free shipping.
I used to love shopping at Macy’s - their better dresses section had beautiful apparel and I felt like I was shopping in a high-end boutique; The Cellar had the best kitchenware - similar to a Williams Sonoma, but bigger and more diverse. I adored the beautiful woodwork in the men’s department and the excitement of the cosmetics and jewelry sections! When I was expecting, it was Macy’s I went to for all the newborn baby items. I had their credit card and even made several pilgrimages to their flagship store.
Well, I stopped at Macy’s only twice in the past 4 years - and both times was hugely disappointed in the nondescript white decor, poor selection and lackluster offerings. Everything seemed to be in disarray. I was unable to find a dress for a wedding or a nice gift for someone. Well, if a store presents as a KMart or Sears, one expects to pay those prices - I have no desire to subject myself to a miserable shopping experience while paying top dollar. Only the cosmetics area seems to have held up - and that’s not enough of a reason to shop at Macy’s. I’m sure other loyal customers have experienced the same thing ...I don’t hold out much hope for a return of the glory days of the past.😢
Macy*Mart -- an overpriced Kmart
I was looking at their app and its just as bad as the stores. While the clothes do look half decent the prices are 2-3x what they are worth. Unless that name brand tackily scrawled on it is supposed to help
In college, I worked seasonally for my regional chain that Macy’s later bought; I didn’t stay long after the acquisition. The requirements for the employees and new rules were ridiculous (employees required to wear all black “uniform” bought with their own money, push the store credit card, etc.), and I jumped ship to another department store (Lord & Taylor) before Macy’s officially changed the old store. Now L&T is gone, and every Macy’s I’ve gone into over the last few years just look sad. They’ve seriously cut back on staff, every department (except maybe cosmetics) is a mess, and even the lighting has been dimmed. Sad to see such a rapid decline, but it sounds like they brought this on themselves.
This was my mom's go-to department store up until she started working at Nordstrom. Being from Minnesota, Macy's (a.k.a. Dayton's and Marshall Field's) was a big deal during the Holidays in downtown Minneapolis. They had a yearly ever-changing Holiday display that customers could walk through up until the store's closure in 2017. My mom stopped shopping at Macy's because of her job at Nordstrom, and Macy's would always attract riff-raff customers.
Wow, riff raff customers. Smh
If you didn't like my comment, then you shouldn't have replied.
@@Minny_Paul it's a public platform I can respond if I chose to. You sound snobby referring to ppl as riff raff. When Nodstrom becomes like Macy's and start attracting according to you" riff raff customers", I wonder where will your mom shop??. 🤣🤣🤣. Probably LV and gucci??. 🤔🙄🙄🙄
I'm so sorry for being so condescending while telling the truth and having an opinion. Can I hurt your feelings some more?
@@Minny_Paul hurt my feelings???. No didn't do that so don't be so happy ans satisfied about being a disgusting twat. But just stating what will happen when Nordstrom becomes just like Macy's. Would you join the lowly rif raff or go high end. 🤔. You still didn't answer that question.