Dayton's to Marshall Field's to Macy's to management consolidation

I just read about that. The economy has been flushed down the toilet for a few years. They are running out of smoke and mirror excuses to cover it up. There just isn't enough good paying jobs anymore. Mexico, China, India, etc. are going to dominate the world economy. These greedy corporations should be held accountable for sending jobs overseas to squeeze out more profit. The only ones who come out smelling like roses are upper level management at these corporations.

I have a feeling that our local (upstate NY) Macy's will close. It's looked as if it was closing since Macy's took it over last year.

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Yikes !!!

Well as Macy's is trying to move their brand into the old Dayton's, Marshall Fields Hudsons stores, thus downgrading those stores all at the same time, the shoppers don't take to the Macy's brand very well.

Therefore they are losing money.

Therefore, get rid of the old Dayton's management is their solution, and at the same time turn those stores into a May company - Macy type of department store.

This isn't going to work by the way.

The loss of these middle-management jobs will be felt. My guess is that a majority of those jobs are held by familymen and familywomen who could leave with their 2.3 kids. That's significant.

Chuck, I don't think *these* jobs are going to India and Mexico. And so what if they were? We're now going to legislate greed? I might have attended the DFL caucus last night, but I'm no fan of Big Government.

And by whose standards are these greedy CEOs coming up smelling like roses? Not by my nose.

I have to wonder why the gather staff feels compelled to "feature" an article that is without substance. All you do is report a fact, then ask others what they think.

*yawn* a third grader could do that--- Why not post your own analysis to your questions ???

How many jobs did Target add over the last decade?

How many Target stores displaced other stores, displacing managers else where?

No one seems to be complaining about that. People who have no personal stake in a managerial job at Macy's will get mad at the prospect of the job being moved, yet these same people would never gain a moment of pleasure from news that Target added 500 managerial jobs to their Twin Cities campuses.

Why does bad news pack more punch than good news?

And by whose standards are these greedy CEOs coming up smelling like roses? Not by my nose.

I really do not blame the CEO's. They rarely work in a vacumn.

I blame the $80 Billion State Of Minnesota Investment Board (the PERA and MSRS pension funds among others) for demanding a high rate of return on its investment in Macy's, and Target, and 3M, and Haliburton.

It was going to happen, you only need so many buyers and accountants.

I shopped there less when it became Marshall Fields and haven't shopped their since its been Macy's. It's just another department store.

Businesses come and go. Target is on the upswing, they have been opening 75 stores a year for the last few years and require 5 people in support at the main office for every store built. That's why they are talking about building another tower downtown and have plans to build another huge office in Brooklyn Park for support staff.

Those greedy CEO's! You mean those greedy people that have Macy's stock in their mutual funds in their 401K's!

Donaldsons, Powers, Mervyns,.................

The economy is, of course, a factor. However, you just have to wonder how the store might be doing if it were still in the hands of the Dayton's.

I really miss Dayton's!

And by the way - my whole family (which is huge) and I stopped shopping there when the Dayton's left because it was not the same store at all. The way it was managed, the way they handled credit, the kind of merchandise, the staging of that merchandise...everything went downhill.

When the Dayton's left, the store lost its class and you can't deny that it also lost many customers.

Chuck M., as Susan said these jobs will be "consolidated" here in the U.S. I'm not sure how you'd define upper management, but according to Macy's press release about the move:

"The savings from the divisional consolidation process, net of the amount invested in localization initiatives and increased store staffing levels, are expected to reduce Macy's, Inc. SG&A [Selling, General & Administrative Expense - jas] expense by approximately $100 million, beginning in 2009. The partial-year reduction in SG&A for 2008 is estimated at approximately $60 million."

Wonder where that money fits into the economy...

Richard Frisbie - can you elaborate on what you mean by the store looks like it is closing?

Peter, indeed.

Richard (rickbb), I'd wager a lot of Minnesotans hope you're not right about that. What do you think will be the next indicator?

Susan you're probably right about the demographic. I don't know anyone personally who will be affected, but after seeing some of my neighbors weather economic hardship... well...

Just hosting an online conversation, jJack. You're welcome to share your own analysis or link to your related article if you've written one!

You always give us something to think about, Greg.

Hey Winston! bsimon made a great point on News Cut that reflects on your point and Greg's, "As Dayton's slowly dwindled, Target slowly grew." A good perspective to keep in mind.

Diana do you think that change had to do with the switch or do you think it is a general decline of quality? A friend of mine was talking about how "cheap" clothes feel these days, and I wonder how that product perception reflects on the shelves.

It's old news that Macy's is poorly managed and overextended. This has been clear since the Marshall Feilds integration fell flat. Retailing is a tough business, and the market has no mercy on badly managed companies.

Dayton's?

Marshal Field's?

Macy's?

I shop at Fleet Farm.

The notion that Macy's "doesn't do business like Dayton's did" is true but the times have changed. The Daytons policy of accepting a return on used underwear doesn't fly anymore in today's retailing.

Margins are lower, especially on "higher end" stuff

Shoplifting in getting more rampant and shoplifters are getting more sneaky. The end customer pays for a the cost of shopplifting. Easy return policies mean more shoplifters.

The internet has allowed us to shop and compare prices more readily. That is why every retailer has their own private label clothes even though you may not think you are buying the store brand stuff. You may not buy store brand deororant but you will buy store brand clothing.

Manufacturers don't have loose "return allowances" like they used too. The old days of a supplier actually crediting the retailer for something returned whether defective or not doesn't happen much anymore

Because so much is imported directly by the retailer under their own private label, the retailer aborbs that cost of people returning stuff that isn't defective but with poor or missing packaging.

The great service Daytons gave was put in the price of the product they sold.

Fleet Farm, "the Man's Mall". I make a spring and fall pilgrimage with my 12 year old son to Fleet Farm as a male bonding event.

I shopped at Macy's during the holidays. I couldn't believe how empty the store was. In the old Marshall Field's days, things were always hopping. Marshall Field's couldn't last in this throwaway society. They used to have products that lasted for years and years. They guaranteed their wares. Those ideas are notions of the past. Just like, "the customer is always right."

I was just talking to someone who has worked at Daytons/Marshall Field/Macy's the day before the announcement. She said there are different 5 tiers of stores within Macy's. The Mall of them All's store is in a lower tier than the downtown store...so it has a different feel.

I too mourn the loss of the days of Dayton's. It seems that there is actually less "choice" these days as more stores of all types consolidate.

Well Julia, as I was there during the transition as a Dayton's contractor, then at Target I do know that Dayton's did own and operate two pieces Target and the Department stores, which were Dayton's, Marshall Fields, and Hudson's. Those department stores were all the same and sold the same merchandise, however, with different name tags as Dayton's was based in Minneapolis, Marshall Field's in Chicago, and Hudson's in Detroit.

The decision to sell off the Department stores was because the big ticket items which could be held up to 18 months while a customer did a re-model or built a new home didn't fit the Target model. The Target model was to sell stuff, not to hold it for 18 months till the customer was ready for it. Therefore the name change first from Dayton's to Target, then the name change a year or so later from Dayton's to Marshall Field's only because there more Marshall Field's stores, than Dayton's or Hudson's. Changing the department stores to have all the same name didn't affect what was sold as they all sold the same thing, even tho the chains used different brand names for the region they were in for the same merchandise.

After the two name changes the company was now Target and the Department store division stores were all Marshall Fields, which made the department stores a bundle that could be sold together, which Target did, and sold it to MACY's.

Now then MACY's acquired those stores, and the old management of the Marshall Fields stores over the next few years, didn't fit in.

Now we're there. Today MACY's has around 60 newly acquired department stores with Big ticket and merchandise history which isn't doing as expected. So what to do? Well make them the same as all the other MACY stores, therefore the management of the old Dayton's department stores is redundant, so get rid of it.

There is one more issue in the decision by MACY's and that is the name selection, as MACY's also owns and operates the Bloomingdales stores, which is a up-scale store. As several of the Dayton stores were also what could be called up-scale stores, which MACY's knew but didn't want to do two mergers one for the larger MACY's brand and another for the fewer, but up-scale Bloomingdales stores, decided to brand all the stores as MACY's stores, which did indeed piss off many of the up-scale customers of the old Dayton's department stores

Pat, you called it about retail being a tough business. You seem pretty interested in economics, have you been tracking retail trends or are you speaking from direct experience?

That cracked me up, Greg. Between you and Winston at "The Man's Mall"...

Speaking of Winston... Excellent point about the evolution of returns.

Joe, was the store well-staffed while you were there?

That seems so weird to me, Ann, because I would think consumers carry an idea of what the store should look and "feel" like, and multiple tiers would have a ripple effect.

Richard, I didn't recall (or know) you were a contractor for them during that transition. You raise some interesting points...and I don't want to lose your point about regional recognition of brand names:

"Changing the department stores to have all the same name didn't affect what was sold as they all sold the same thing, even tho the chains used different brand names for the region they were in for the same merchandise."

Until the market changed and the consolidation factors led to aggressive defense of the SG&A, if I read your bundling point correctly.

I also like Fleet Farm and go there often, however, I go to Kmart much more often

These are jobs in the CENTRAL part of Macy's - the HR and Buying Executives mainly, not the store line of retail operatives of sales associates. It was a necessary move prompted by the purchase last year of the May Department Store line of Filene's and Kauffman's stores - about 200 stores and including Marshall Field's Chicago stores.

All retail stores are cutting jobs, based on the economy and future economic prospects short term. Also, retail expanded and diversified widely in the last 15 years, from ordinary stores such as K-Mart to diversified stores Talbott, to Talbott Kids and Gap to Gap Kids, Gap Outlet and so on. Retail stores did not have just one store but several. Not all are profitable anymore.

Interesting to note that the sister Macy store, Bloomingdales, a part of Macy's Inc., formerly Federated Department Stores, is doing well. The wealthy still have money.

Several months ago SFA - Sax Fifth Avenue was alone in the chain of retail stores to post a profit Q1 07.

Richard: Was it Kauffman's/Filene's?

Macy's has a lot of management making decisions, such as this: First cut markdowns in RED. This month: Second cut markdowns in PURPLE. (each month a different color). This takes time and money for the executives to decide and pay for these labels, then to pay the markdown staff to markdown and merchandise correctly. The prices start out high but do move to clearance. But customers want more coupons and more variety. Also the cut of many lines is smaller than before.