[Diana in Wisconsin]

What a relief! My Macy’s is staying open...for now. I’d better get shopping, LOL!

(I only go there once a year at Christmas. They have some super-duper sales on housewares that make great gifts.)

However, two of my friends are going to be devastated. I’ll be able to hear the pulling of hair and the gnashing of teeth from here, once they open the e-mail link I just sent them. ;)

[Ebenezer]

Pelican State ping

I hope the Macy’s stores in Louisiana are doing well. In the New Orleans metropolitan area, the chain reopened its Kenner store in October of last year after a 3-year closure following hurricane Katrina, and it opened a new one at Lakeside Mall in Metairie during the same time.

[livius]

Macy’s would be doing better if they hired some employees and provided service in their stores. Even in New York, they’d have 10 registers on the floor - and one surly clerk at the one open register with a line of 15 people. I just used to abandon the items I was going to buy and leave after about 10 minutes not moving in the line. There were piles of clothing near the line, so I obviously wasn’t the only one who did this.

[Ebenezer]

Isla del Encanto ping

I hope the Macy's store in Plaza Las Américas is doing well.

[wtc911]

The three Macy’s near us were giving things away in December...never saw anything like it in a store not going belly-up......yet.

[CodeToad]

I’ve been to several Macy’s in my area. All look like upscale flea markets. They also have no customer service. I simply stopped even trying to shop there.

[xsmommy]

- Natrona Heights Plaza, Natrona Heights, PA (73,000 square feet; 124 employees; opened in 1956)

[mollynme]

Glad to see that our local store is staying open. Since she retired (at 83), my Mom’s only hobby has been shopping and Macy’s is her favorite. The clerks all know her by name and save things for her if they know a sale is coming up.

[proudpapa]

Almost store that is closing is in a state that voted for Obama.

They wanted change, right?

[Clinging Bitterly]

I think a lot of the closures are in areas where they had multiple stores since the purchase of the May chain.

Eugene had two in the same mall, so the “extra” store closure happened a long time ago.

I always thought the service was good and the people friendly in the original store (which began as a different brand in the Federated chain, Bon Marche), but I haven’t been there since they moved into the digs of the May store (Meier & Frank). I never liked Meier & Frank.

[albie]

Macy’s would do well to learn something about PR from “Nordstroms”. Nasty, surly, complaining staff takes the fun out of shopping at Macy’s.

[RouxStir]

Back in the heyday of Sears & Roebuck and Montgomery Wards, huge segments of the US population shopped by catalog. We trusted these companies to provide exactly what they described, we sent them our money and waited weeks to get the items, hoping that our choices weren't out of stock.

And I have to say that I still relish the days of browsing through the huge catalogs, especially the Sears Christmas Wishbook. Shopping online is really just an updated version of this catalog shopping. This is why I buy almost everything except commodity items online. We have become accustomed to shopping in person, putting our hands on the merchandise and trying on the clothing. The pendulum has swung back. It's unfortunate that these people will lose their jobs. But the stores are not meeting the needs of the customers while remaining finacially viable. This is just like the advent of the automobile age: buggy makers and blacksmith shops made way for something new. I would imagine that there was much whining from the owners and employees of outdated businesses....much like the whining from the United Auto Workers union, today, because they find themselves backed into a corner of their own construction. If enough people want something, someone will sell or manufacture the item. ...just like they told the inventor of the vibrator...build it and they will come.