[kingattax]

[Utmost Certainty]

Blah blah blah. Successful businesses cater to the whims of the consumer, not the other way around. Those who want quality and selection will find ways to get quality and selection and bright and innovative entrepeneurs will find ways to sell it to them. The end.

[narses]

"The bottom line is, there will be less choice for the consumer with the same merchandise being offered at all stores."

Uh, no. Try to find Bose at Wal-Mart. Try to find Fruit of the Loom at Nordstroms.

[ETERNAL WARMING]

Oh great. MayCo been Chinatized.

[Spyder]

Cultural elistist bunk.

How old IS this guy? I'm almost 50 and I NEVER remember dressing up to go shopping. I remember the fancy department stores all right, all of them above my parents' budget. Funny, but last time I was at Sears and Macys I don't remember anyone with any resemblence to Roseanne Barr.

Just curious, how many guys enjoy shopping for clothes with their mothers??

[LibertyGirl77]

I remember shopping at Bullocks and Broadway as a little kid! It did used to be more of an "event." Macy's, Robinson's, Lord and Taylor, and Bloomie's have been fighting for the same stale territory for a while now -- in a way, it makes sense for them to merge. I just hope Nordstrom stays independent -- I'm not quite sure I could survive without Nordie's (this author's totally snide characterization of it as "Oprah-style" notwithstanding).

[ajr276]

Stinkin' Wal-Mart. How dare they provide what the consumer wants?

[evangmlw]

[MinuteGal]

Here in Florida, Burdines has just become Macy's. Whole lot of changin' going on down here in the retail department store milleu.

I haven't been in the new Macy's yet, and don't know if I want to after seeing it described above as a Roseanne Barr store, LOL.

I do my clothes and gift shopping at Dillard's, a quality, "with-it" store. I hope it never goes down the tubes like the previous tenant of the empty mall store it moved into, Montgomery Ward.

Leni

[Restorer]

Very funny! "The McDonaldization of retailing."

I'm sure you, like me, have noticed that there are no restaurants left except McDonalds and its imitators. LOL

[dirtydanusa]

I refuse to go to Wal*mart. Something just isn't right. I feel like I had to take a shower after leaving the store. As long as there are alternatives, I will never set foot in Wal*mart.

I had to laugh, I went by the local Crap*Mart last week and about 7 employees in their blue uniform's with all the buttons and pins were standing at a bus stop. If they had decent paying job's, they may actually be able to own a car

[Loyal Buckeye]

It wasn't that long ago that Federated was in the tank. It looks as though things have brightened for that company.