Your post took me back to the “good old days” of shopping the Foley’s near the Alamo in San Antonio. Macy’s was a poor substitute, and we soon drifted to the suburbs to shop.
Part of this could be how Macy’s bought out other department stores around the country, and turned them into Macy’s.
I know there was great anger in Chicago, when Macy’s took over the Marshall Field’s chain. There was talk of boycotts of Macy’s in the Chicago area due to that. I understand Macy’s took over other local chains around the country and turned them into Macy’s, which created bad public relations for Macy’s as they took over local department stores.
That happened nearly everywhere. Most of America’s great stores became Macy’s, and as you say, the merchandise became far less interesting.