Macy's closing 4 Downtown stores across US

[mhays]

I bought a Barbour winter coat and love it. It's 42 and sunny, with no wind...I'm heading for the supermarket soon and will do the two shirts but no long underwear.

I got it at Nordstrom. Seattle still has that, Target, and REI as our big downtown stores (REI is really in SLU), with Macy's gone since before Covid. Nordstrom is about to go private under control of the original family again...hopefully they stick around. The store is also their HQ.

I feel for San Francisco. As much as Downtown Seattle's retail core has fallen, they fell from higher up.

[SIGSEGV]

above 55: no jacket
above freezing: light jacket (REI)
above 0F : medium jacket (I think it's a Cabela's jacket? I dont' know my mom got it for me).
below 0F: my heavy parka (Jack Wolfskin, got it for work in 2015 the first time I had to go to Greenland...) mostly used in Greenland and the handful of days it's below 0 F here. Also used it visiting Alaska in winter and Calgary / Lake Louise in winter.
In Antarctica: Canada Goose parka (provided by USAP).

Fun fact: the building I live in apparently had a portion of Von Langerke and Antoine in it in the 40's, prior to their merger with A&F, though it was owned by A&F at the time apparently.

[JManc]

If you live in the Bay Area, it is literally the law that you must own several articles of clothing from either Patagonia or North Face.

[Busy Bee]

North Face is still big, just not the must have hot fashion thing it might have been a 5+ years back. Does that sound about right? Should we start a North Face/Patagonia/Expensive Outerwear thread?

[Busy Bee]

Maybe there should actually be a Clothing thread. It might be a fun distraction from the dystopian reality we're currently dealing with.

[streetscaper]

These days I'm seeing Canada Goose more and more often in NY

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

Maybe there should actually be a Clothing thread. It might be a fun distraction from the dystopian reality we're currently dealing with.

i’m down

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

you have to adapt. cleveland had a premiere downtown shopping scene too for many decades: At their peak, Cleveland's department stores (May, Higbee's, Bailey's, Taylor's, Halle, and SLD or the big six) were one of the largest shopping districts in the United States. By the end of the 1990s, none of the "big six" Cleveland department stores was still in operation.

Macy's was bought out by Cincinnati's Federated Department Stores around 1994. The Macy's HQ moved from NYC to Cincinnati around 2005. Federated then renamed itself Macy's in 2007 and that's when all of the regional dept chains rebranded themselves as Macy's. The HQ moved back to NYC around 2021 (or rather, Federated moved to NYC) and the old Federated office tower that was built around 1975 is being renovated into apartments (oddly, during the mortgage refinance boom of 2020, I signed the paperwork to refinance my house in a recently-abandoned Macy's conference room on the 20th or 25th floor):
https://www.wvxu.org/local-news/2022-01-...atement-residential-development-macys-hq


What's upsetting about recent news is that event the cities with robust public transportation are losing their downtown departments stores. For example, the Downtown Crossing subway station in Boston had a direct entrance into their Macy's and also Filene's (if I remember correctly). Around 2000 or 2010 you could easily assume that the cities that were keeping their old department stores were doing so because it was easier for the city's residents to reach them by subway than it was to drive to suburban malls.

Well now almost all of the suburban malls AND almost all of the downtown stores are gone, even in the biggest cities. Again, as recently as 2010 you could have safely stated that the post-1990 decline of department stores in DT Cincinnati could have been avoided if the 1920's-era subway project had been completed. But now it's obvious that even that wouldn't have helped.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

I think the only North Face item I've ever owned are a pair of gloves, which are still great. Columbia has always been my preferred brand of the two, though. I have a Columbia ski coat that is close to 20 years old but looks like I've only had it a couple of years. I've had the coat nearly half my life lol.

Yeah I have no idea what he means that Columbia jackets are a mistake. They are usually well made, durable, last for years. Ma Boyle would still be proud of her company.

Then again YMMV your mileage may vary and everyone has preferences.

Most Columbia jackets may not be as warm as The North Face but unless you're in Minneapolis or Winnipeg or Edmonton or Anchorage, it really doesn't get that cold in southern Ontario. Particularly compared to how we used to have long cold, grey winters

[38 Geary]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

What's upsetting about recent news is that event the cities with robust public transportation are losing their downtown departments stores. For example, the Downtown Crossing subway station in Boston had a direct entrance into their Macy's and also Filene's (if I remember correctly). Around 2000 or 2010 you could easily assume that the cities that were keeping their old department stores were doing so because it was easier for the city's residents to reach them by subway than it was to drive to suburban malls.

Well now almost all of the suburban malls AND almost all of the downtown stores are gone, even in the biggest cities. Again, as recently as 2010 you could have safely stated that the post-1990 decline of department stores in DT Cincinnati could have been avoided if the 1920's-era subway project had been completed. But now it's obvious that even that wouldn't have helped.

Powell Street station also has a direct entrance into the San Francisco Shopping Centre (fka Westfield SF) basement level.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

What's upsetting about recent news is that event the cities with robust public transportation are losing their downtown departments stores. For example, the Downtown Crossing subway station in Boston had a direct entrance into their Macy's and also Filene's (if I remember correctly). Around 2000 or 2010 you could easily assume that the cities that were keeping their old department stores were doing so because it was easier for the city's residents to reach them by subway than it was to drive to suburban malls.

You're generally right, but I'm not sure the situation is extinction-level dire.

Downtown department stores, excepting a few cities, aren't doing great. But downtown retail, as a whole, doesn't appear to be doing that poorly.

NYC is basically entirely recovered from pandemic. Retail is as strong as before-times, and the department stores, high streets and malls are generally extremely busy. Fifth Ave. and Soho during holidays seem more crowded than beforetimes.

In Boston, Downtown Crossing area has clearly suffered, but it was declining pre-pandemic. Newbury Street and the Back Bay area seem completely recovered. In DC, downtown retail is possibly better than beforetimes, as there's a successful large newish luxury retail complex, and DC wasn't great to being with.

In Chicago, Michigan Ave. seemed mostly recovered, but two of the three malls are clearly struggling, but the third seems very healthy. The crowds are back. And neighborhood luxury retail seems fine.

Haven't been to SF in recent years, but per 2024 Streetview there's still tons of luxury retail near Union Square. Maybe SF loses its department stores, but luxury downtown retail will probably remain. Look around Post Street, Maiden Lane, etc. SF is uniquely challenged, but still has lots of multilevel flagship luxury stores.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by Crawford

In Chicago, Michigan Ave. seemed mostly recovered, but two of the three malls are clearly struggling, but the third seems very healthy. The crowds are back. And neighborhood luxury retail seems fine.

Yeah, most of the vertical urban malls along the magnificent mile haven't been doing well (that kinda goes for malls in general).

Water Tower Place lost its Macy's during the pandemic. Lenders recently took over the property after previous owner walked away and now there are plans to convert the upper floors to office. It's was once top of the heap in the city, but without a major anchor like Macy's drawing in foot traffic, there's just no way to fill all of its 7 levels.

Chicago Place converted its former mall space to office years ago, leaving Saks as a stand alone on the mag mile.

Northbridge still has Nordstrom, but not a ton else. Lenders recently took over the property after previous owner walked away.

Only 900 North, anchored by Bloomingdales, seems to be hanging on to the urban mall glory days.

But as you noted, overall, Michigan Avenue is getting back to normal. And it still is home to 4 major department stores (for now anyway) and countless other retailers, along with the adjacent high end luxury retailers along Oak Street. The vertical mall thing appears to be a dying fad in Chicago, but the mag mile still stands as one of the most premiere urban shopping districts in the nation, perhaps second only to NYC for downtown retail after the Union Square implosion in SF.

[jmecklenborg]

Originally Posted by Crawford

You're generally right, but I'm not sure the situation is extinction-level dire.

I don't think that the cultural loss of the big downtown departments stores can be overemphasized. They were typically owned by prominent local families and their huge advertising budgets in the newspapers (also typically owned by prominent local families) was a big reason why the papers evolved from gossip-spreading rags in the 1800s to non-partisan civic stewards by the 1920s. In short, the department stores didn't want to be associated with a particular political slant, so they impressed on newspaper management to do two-sides fact-based reporting. Also, the huge daily and weekly advertising budgets sustained dozens or even hundreds of local photographers, graphic designers, models, etc. While all of this duplicative regional work was inefficient by today's standards (everyone gets the same online or TV ads), it meant the local media always had a distinct local character.

[SIGSEGV]

Water Tower Place ought to to just move everything to Northbridge and figure something else out to do with the space.

[Steely Dan]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

Water Tower Place ought to to just move everything to Northbridge and figure something else out to do with the space.

It'd be nice if the world worked that way.

WTP has fallen so hard. It was the absolute king of retail back in the 80s/90s.i thought it would always be that way, but I had no idea how shortlived the urban vertical mall fad would be.

It's not like Michigan Avenue doesn't have hordes of shoppers these days, they just don't wanna do their thing inside a mall anymore.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by jmecklenborg

What's upsetting about recent news is that event the cities with robust public transportation are losing their downtown departments stores. For example, the Downtown Crossing subway station in Boston had a direct entrance into their Macy's and also Filene's (if I remember correctly). Around 2000 or 2010 you could easily assume that the cities that were keeping their old department stores were doing so because it was easier for the city's residents to reach them by subway than it was to drive to suburban malls.

Well now almost all of the suburban malls AND almost all of the downtown stores are gone, even in the biggest cities. Again, as recently as 2010 you could have safely stated that the post-1990 decline of department stores in DT Cincinnati could have been avoided if the 1920's-era subway project had been completed. But now it's obvious that even that wouldn't have helped.

Department stores may be experiencing an extinction level but urban shopping in NYC seems to be doing very well. The loss of the Macy's in downtown Brooklyn probably won't even register because Fulton Street Mall is booming so much as a destination right now.

[Xing]

Originally Posted by Cirrus

Walmart is beginning to do real urban stores. This is under construction in downtown DC right now:

This didn’t work out, did it? At least in Chicago. Sorry, totally random observation of an old post.

[ColDayMan]

Maybe?

https://maps.app.goo.gl/8MA1DMHy4upLnHDP7