Was Marshall Field's The Equivalent of Macy's??

Macy's is shit and has always been shit. But, Marshall Field's, despite having much superior merchandise, didn't have a parade with Snoopy, so it didn't have the money that Macy's did. it had to sell and then became shit, just like all of the stores that Macy's took over.

Then again, Macy's didn't have a Tiffany ceiling.

No way. Marshall Fields was much better quality and felt less tacky. I don't think it was on the level of Bloomingdale's but it was at least two tiers above Macy's.

Macy’s owned a number of different chains and varied a bit by location. The NY store was a lower middle brow store, but less frumpy than Gimbels. They got rid of the basement store merchandise. And became more fashionable in the 70s. Bam reveres I. NJ a was always a little more upscale. Ditto Lasalles in Ohio and Davison’s in in Atlanta, along with their chain in SF a which served as template for upgrading in NYC. They were the ultimate mid market chain. Fields was an upper middle brow to upper browstore with many exclusive items and brands. Carsons was a middle brow store that straddled the lower and slightly upper middle niches. The true lower middle brow store was Wieboldts. The true lower brow store was Goldblatt’s.

Should be Bamberger’s in NJ.

It was no E. J. Korvette!

Where does JC Penny, Sears and Wards come into play?

R7 Macy's was traditionally for brand-conscious bougie fools who didn't know or care that they were overpaying for merchandise, as long as they could say they got it at Macy's. Their merchandise wasn't anything special, and it was rarely on a good sale, but people loved to buy at "the store from the parade."

Penneys, Sears, and Monkey Ward were for people who sought quality over brand cachet. They knew they were middle class and didn't care. They just wanted stuff that would last, and to not get ripped off in the process.

And now that Macy's has gobbled up so many bankrupt regional stores (Wanamaker's, Famous-Barr, The Jones Store Co., etc.), they've been able to bring their bougie nonsense to a national base of fools. Their old-school model of commissioned salesclerks, high markups, and rare sales has only hastened the demise of American department stores. JC Penney is a viable alternative to Target in the softlines sector - both in quality and in price - but Macy's cannot compete with Target or H&M. Their shit's just too pricey, and it's not noticeably any better.

Field'ss had class. Macy's didn't.

RH Macy's tried so hard to be THE store in NYC in the eighties- and they were so square. Kinda like New York Magazine.

Marshall Field’s wouldn’t breathe Macy’s air!

Was Marsha Warfield the equivalent of Macy Gray?

R10 Wasn't that decade the beginning of the boutique boom in NYC? The yuppies wouldn't even go to Macy's to do coke off the mirrored tables.

I notice no one has yet mentioned Bloomingdale's. How did they measure up in this era?

Only people in Chicago thought Marshall Fields was something special. Mainly cuz of their Frango mints. It never had the cache of Bloomingdales.

Macy's flagship Herald Square store was something special both in terms of the building, the cultural impact and they had much more premium fashion esp the men's dept. Then in the 90s it all changed. Macy's and Federate merged and all the Macy's including the Herald Square became the same homogenized crap, and in the 2000's Macy's focused on its own store brands and "partnerships".

As the poster said above, Macy’s and Pennys have the same crap, It’s just much less expensive at Penny’s.

The real question is where to go for quality these days. Nordstrom used to be pretty good, but has been slipping.

Bloomingdales always seemed like a snotty place for snotty people. Never liked the place.

But Marshall Field's -- and we're talking the State Street store here -- was class. Exactly what a great department store should be. Just walking into the place made you feel good.

"It never had the cache of Bloomingdales."

Oh, dear!

^^^ was a typo. PS R16 is clearly not a New Yorker.

Macy’s was better than Bloomingdales in NY in the 80s.

[quote] And now that Macy's has gobbled up so many bankrupt regional stores (Wanamaker's, Famous-Barr, The Jones Store Co., etc.), they've been able to bring their bougie nonsense to a national base of fools. Their old-school model of commissioned salesclerks, high markups, and rare sales has only hastened the demise of American department stores.

So true, R8.

[quote] Their shit's just too pricey, and it's not noticeably any better.

^This. Find that Nordies has better quality (although has been slipping recently as a poster mentioned above) for comparable or even less. And JC Penney’s is MUCH better value for similar - or identical - Macy’s products.

R20 JC Penney has done a great job of transitioning to an online-based retailer. They have a great site-to-store operation, easy returns, and their stuff is usually still true-to-fit. You get what you order, and you get it quickly.

It's a shame they won't live out the decade. I worked there in college, and had a blast.

At Wanamaker's and Saks and Klein's A lesson I've been taught You can't get alterations on a dress you haven't bought

A step above Grants…or Caldors.

R21 I'll second this about Penney's. Went to the store. Nothing there. But found lots of stuff online at good prices, when on sale, and delivered free to the store for pickup.

Jesus Christ OP, in no way were Macy's and MF in the same echelon! I actually worked for MF in the mid 2000s (I miss my shop-bottom days) and MF was always tiers above Macy's, and even the specialty luxury stores like Neiman's and Saks. They stocked runway-featured products that Neiman's and Saks couldn't get their hands on. They had obscure designer handbags that weren't regularly stocked elsewhere; Neiman's always had those awful nylon Prada bags or basic Longchamp totes (nothing wrong with them outright, but they just were mass-marketed products with no real intricacy or craft to their design), but MF always had their trend bags that retailed for thousands. I believe it was "stolen" from Dayton's when they took them over, but MF championed the Oval Room shopping experience, separated from the rest of the store with impeccable merchandising, lighting, with boutique-style mini-departments, and well-trained, highly experienced sales staff. And one of the things I most appreciated about MF was that it didn't attract the gross wannabe fashionistas maxing out a low-limit credit card on one single item (no judgment, I used to be one of those twats). It really was for men and women of a higher taste in fashion (although that waned in later years). I really do feel fashion died with the exit of MF from the fashion scene. No store has been able to replicate that kind of glamour and golden-era feel of fashion.

OP, not all of us are from Chicago and so we do not know what Marshall Field's or Caron Pirie Scott are like now or what they were like once.

I loved Marshall Fields. Walking into the State Street store is so depressing because Macy’s has basically turned it as basic as possible. They did the same thing to Kaufmann’s, Filene’s, and Wanamaker’s.

Nothing like the week before Christmas bundling up and heading down to the Loop for a visit to Marshall Field's and Carson's. So Chicago.

I’d say the closest equivalent to Marshall Fields would have been Lord and Taylor.

Your friend was correct - Marshall Field's was a much higher quality store, but maybe not at the level of Bloomingdale's.

Macys takeover of all the regional beloved department stores was one of the worst decisions in retail history. They got rid of the names that everyone loved and cheapened the product lines.

Nobody has a love or nostalgia for Macys.

Macy doesn't deserve the hype around it. Many stores including Marshall Field's were much better stores. All brick and mortar stores are in trouble now though. I think they'll all eventually go the way of the dinosaur. Even little old grannies are online shopping.

Brick and mortar stores will never fully go away. I think you will start to see a swing to more main street type of stores in the future. Eventually the big box store fad will fade.

Same with online shopping, as people gravitate towards websites catering towards a specific niche. Amazon's quality is slowly declining. Even their website is looking very third rate over the last couple of years. More and more people are doing less shopping there.

[quote]It was no E. J. Korvette!

What is?

33 replies and no one mentioned Phipps? I'm so disappointed in the quality of the replies.

R32 The return on investment for B & M stores doesn't justify them. If you talk to retailers they will tell you that people come in their to look at products and ask questions only to go buy online.

Amazon has a shitty website because they're the only game in town (certainly the biggest). The market will control that as some of these smaller retailers combine and create a megasite. There is still a lot less regulation of online sites compared to B & M so it is very attractive.

Although I agree with you that B & M will never completely vanish, the landscape will be nothing like it is today.

The history here is all screwed-up, R8. Macy's didn't buy anything. They were bought by Federated, which owned Bloomies, A&S, Lazarus and many others, who later merged with May who owned a variety of regional chains, including Wanamaker's. and Field'. Federated was the surviving company and they changed all the names to Macy's and converted some stores to Bloomingdale's.

Macy's, pre-Federated was heavily oriented to house brands like Charter Club and positioned above the May chains but not exactly aligned with some of the Federated chains, which often were more upper middlebrow. May screwed-up Fields's although they reverse strategy when they realized what they'd done and how it had hurt sales. Still, they never completely went back to Field's range of exclusive merchandise. May had done major damage to Lord & Taylor around this time--before the May-Associated Dry Goods merger, Lord & Taylor had been the most profitable ADS operation.

Department store chains have been consolidating since about the 80s and the emergence of lower middlebrow May as a major owner of more upscale chains like those owned by ADS meant that the market place became more homogenized.

Department store buffs might enjoy this 1955 What's My Line episode, beginning at 3:00.

Only Chicagoans and think MF was anything special.

Growing up, parents took we 5 children to stay over night at the Drake Hotel a few weeks before Christmas so we could venture out to see the Marshall Field holiday windows. Lots of animatrons, fantasy scenes, and wonder. To us, this was 1970's magic.

Sure, they'd leave us alone in the room while they supped at the Cape Cod room. Nobody died.

Thanks for reminding me of our annual trip to the city to see holiday decor. We would start at Carson’s (my fav Sullivan building, particularly the magnificent entry grill work). The north down State Street to the ultimate destination Marshall Field’s. As a nine year old I discovered their Christmas ornament department with hand-blown & painted $50 glass balls. One used a golden wire basket to collect one’s treasures. I dreamt of buying them all.

The climax of our Chicago adventure was to take the elevator ( with its white gloved uniformed operators) to the floor above the restaurant level. Anyone recall which floor? And the was the huge tree that was the ultimate, right? One could look down upon the swells having their tea. Plus, Santa, of course!

Sad the things disappeared. MF was a victim of attempting to stores in suburban malls. River Forest and replicas on the west and north sides amongst them. Then the Michigan Avenue store killed State St. also. They used to be classy stores.

Chicagoans, what is on the CPS building?

Bloomingdales men’s room in the 1970s was a lovely place to spend an afternoon.

It depends on which Macy's you are talking about. In the past 30-50 (?) years they have been bought, sold, bought and sold other chains, so many times.

Back in the day (pre 1960s, Macys was high end.

The NYC store (Herald Square) still has a whiff of that, at least outside, and on the ground floor (there are store with a stores for Gucci, Vuitton, etc....the upper floors start to feel/look more like a NJ Macys).

A lot of higher end stores started to decline in the 90s.

Filene's used to be super high end in the New England area, but it was relegated to a basement-only, discount store by its end.

Today, Nordstrom is a shell of what it once was, and a lot of the higher end stores are gone, going under (hi and bye, Barneys) or about to go under (au revoir, Neiman Marcus).

Now no one even makes great fashion. It's all overly priced streetwear. People are too fat or lazy to get into high end tailoring. The only people that "wear it" are celebs on red carpets, and they are so cheap they just want to "borrow it:" and not pay for it.

As a kid my mom would take me downtown to Marshall Field's every Christmas for lunch and shopping. Field's was the premier shopping experience in Chicago for over a 100 years. Doesn't matter if your from Chicago or not. A premium shopping experience is the same no matter where you live

R42: Macy's was never a high end store in the old days. It was the less dowdy counterpart to Gimbel's. Both sold literally everything you could imagine, but Macy's had more flair. Still, both were lower-middle brow chains like the ones owned by May. Bamberger's was more upscale than Macy's despite having the same ownership and being based in Newark. Altman's was probably the closest thing to a traditional upper middle brow store until Bloomingdale's remade itself---people aspired to shop at those places, Gimbels and Macy's, esp. their bargain basements were where people actually shopped. Lord & Taylor, Saks and boutique-y stores like Best & Co or Bonwit-Teller were the high end, while S Klein, JW Mays, and Alexanders were at the low end.

All pale imitations of Burdines.

By the time I moved to Chicago in 2000 Field’s had already lost some cachet due to its ownership by Target, but the State Street store was still magical.

By the 2004, they were owned by May. Dayton-Hudson hadn't done much to degrade the brand, because they had run similar stores but May really did a number on them, although they reversed course after awhile.

Marshall's, Marshall's, Marshall's!

[R40] that was called the Walnut Room. The one with the enormous Christmas Tree and Santa? Iconic.

The Courthouse is across the street and when I got my divorce, afterwards my Mother and I made a beeline there. We had lovely heart of palm salads and grilled salmon.

A place of childhood comfort is a reliable refuge.

You celebrated your divorce with your Mother?

Who are you, Shane Patton?

My Mother is/was a high riding bitch. Even in her 80's, hair's, nails done, with regular massages. If you are divorcing, I recommend a dinner and drinks with this unapologetic queen.

Her latest boyfriend is in his 60's, so we keep an eye on that.

^*hair is done, nails are done*

Saving the grammar trolls a trip.

“Downtown Department Stores” were region or city specific before mergers and openings of “outposts” in other cities. In New York, Bloomingdales was top notch. The Macy’s flagship was special, but not in Bloomingdales’ league. In Chicago, Marshall Field was the city’s equivalent of Bloomingdales. Not the same in head to head comparison, but it was the best in Chicago. But back then, people could not compare them. What you compare today mostly has little in common with then (before the 80’s).

I miss the era when you planned a day of shopping in your store of choice. My family would pile into the car and drive a couple hours to spend the day at Lazarus in downtown Columbus a couple times a year. To a kid, taking the elevators or escalators up and down, exploring the different floors, getting lost and finding a parent, we’re heady times. Lazarus had eight floors that were a city block in size. The top floor furniture department provided gigantic space to explore.

There’s really no store in the US that still instills that magic any more. The closest thing that I have found is Harrods at Knightsbridge or Selfridges on Oxford St. in London. You can still wander around, get lost, and find interesting stuff to try on or buy.

To answer the OP, Fields was superior to Macy’s in every way. It was the top store in Chicago. Macy’s was never the top store in New York.

Field's was never quite at the A level of stores, but in the Midwest, it was definitely several cuts above Macy's, until Macy's took it over.

Some of the stores Macy's took over were more midrange than Field's, like Kaufmann's in Pittsburgh. But what most stores had was great service, and Macy's turned them into dirty warehouses of clothes and other shit, covered by one salesperson a floor (outside of the first floor notions).

Watching old movies and TV shows, you will see ladies sitting at lunch in department stores and models walking through the lunch area with dresses on. Or, you would see a lady come in sit in an area and the salesperson would bring out dresses for her to see and a model would put them on. Is that the way it was done back then? Or was that just in high end department stores? I'm assuming racks of clothes was a thing.

Bloomingdale's was never in the Field's category, especially after that late 70s renovation when they cramped everything together. Somehow added an extra floor by lowering ceilings I think I recall. Grand space, like Field's, is essential to the department store experience.

Reading about the MF saga and the regional grande dames of retail being bought out by bigger, lower class stores reminded me that at one time Avon owned Tiffany's.

That freaky Tiffany ad with the Tiffany canary diamond was once owned by Avon.

Tiffany thinks she shit don't stink.

The State Street flagship Fields definitely was A-level at one time. Their couture shop (the 28 Shop) featured the top designers (real designer collections; not bridge). Some suburban satellite stores had smaller versions of the 28 Shop.

Prior to Macy's takeover, Fields carried high-end brands such as Prada, Dolce and Gabbana, and Jimmy Choo. Their furniture selection was vast and ranged from moderate to very expensive. Their home goods and giftware departments were outstanding.

My China, crystal, and silver place settings are from Field's on State Street.

They had amazing furniture selections. Linens, lamps. You name it. All high quality.

I light up my china cabinet/breakfront several times a week to admire my treasures.

The MF State Street store had 73 acres of floor space and was the world's largest store for a number of years. They pioneered the concepts of personal shoppers and in-store dining. It was one of the grande dame department stores of the last century. Macy's really ruined it.

I'll correct myself: Federated, which owns Macy's, ruined Fields.

"Her latest boyfriend is in his 60's, so we keep an eye on that. "

Watch out for those young gigolos

Now this is a shopping experience...

Someone mentioned "The Walnut Room"

As a young woman my mother worked at Field's before she married my dad. She worked in cutlery and still talks about waiting on Elizabeth Taylor who was buying bridesmaid gifts for her FIRST marriage

I'm sure my mother looked pretty much like this...

Well, smell Hyacinth Bucket posting incognito at R59.

Christmas at Marshall Field's

This ain't Walmart...

The second floor men's room at Marshall Field's on State Street was more comparable to the West Side Piers in the 1970s than to Bloomingdale's.

[quote] I light up my china cabinet/breakfront several times a week to admire my treasures.

MARY!

[quote] The second floor men's room at Marshall Field's on State Street was more comparable to the West Side Piers in the 1970s than to Bloomingdale's.

That's a story (stories) I'd love to hear.

I had a few hot sessions with suit and tie types on 6 but those were few and far between.

Marshall Field's was the equivalent of Stix, Baer & Fuller, but with a Chicago complex.

I loved it. And, truth be told, my grandmother after visiting her cousin Anna in Chicago agreed.

They both would never step foot into Macy's. And they wouldn't go to Bloomingdale's when they traveled together because the notion's department was crap there.

R70 The second floor men's room can still be quite fun, though it's a little lower rent since Federated took over

Higbee's Downtown men's rooms on the basement level near the elevators – a small universe of depravity. The snobbier Halle's, across the street, had no such place.

Sorry but Macy's was never high end. It was like Woodward & Lothrop in DC - maybe not even that good but rather like slightly but definitely inferior Hechts. It got trendier starting in the 1970s but "high end"? Never. The 70s is when Bloomingdale's improved into a trendy much better quality store. I was thrilled when it opened a DC area store at White Flint Mall.

Historically Bloomingdale's was even lower than Macy's. When I was in college in the 1970s and bought something at the NYC Bloomingdale's I told my mom when I made my weekly call to her from my dorm. From the phone on the wall in my dorm room. LOL! My mother, who grew up in NYC, gasped and said with disdain, "Bloomingdales??!!" I told her it was very nice and she said well it must have changed.

Marshall Field always had a better reputation for good quality and service - sorta like a much bigger version of Garfinckel's - a great great store I miss. I Marshall Field think it had a healthy range which made it popular.

Nothing will ever reach the beauty that was Kaufmann's eleventh floor men's room escapades. Against that beautiful marble art deco backdrop.

But I digress....

[quote]Historically Bloomingdale's was even lower than Macy's. When I was in college in the 1970s and bought something at the NYC Bloomingdale's I told my mom when I made my weekly call to her from my dorm. From the phone on the wall in my dorm room. LOL! My mother, who grew up in NYC, gasped and said with disdain, "Bloomingdales??!!" I told her it was very nice and she said well it must have changed.

I moved to New York after college in 1975, and I couldn't wait to shop at Bloomingdale's. IIRC, I had read about their sheet department in some decorating magazines. I knew I needed sheets, so off I went. It was a wonderful store. My favorite department store, really. Over the years, I heard and read about its being the downmarket place your mother remembered, but I never experienced her Bloomingdale's.

Nothing beat Robert Hall for quality

Rich's Downtown Atlanta, 4th floor men's room was legendary

Dayton's, MPLS, early 90s.

I fell in love with that store.

"Fools give you reasons. Wise men never try."

Dayton’s was fantastic. Their discount store really took off - perhaps you have heard of Target?

They were bought out by Marshall Field, who only slightly damaged the brand. Then Macy’s destroyed them both.

At Field’s I’d walk in, browse, eat at the Walnut Room, use the restroom. At Macy’s I’d just walk in and take a dump on the floor.

[quote] The 70s is when Bloomingdale's improved into a trendy much better quality store. I was thrilled when it opened a DC area store at White Flint Mall.

Bloomingdale's in Tyson's Corner opened before the one in White Flint. It was in a former Lansburgh's/Lit Bros. location.

r81

Bea Arthur posting from the grave

[quote] I couldn't wait to shop at Bloomingdale's. IIRC, I had read about their sheet department in some decorating magazines. I knew I needed sheets

Yes yes great sheets at Bloomies. Garfinckel's was similar. Fabulous selection and they'd be on sale now and then. When I was depressed in the 70s I'd go to Garfinckel's for a quick and cheap pick me up and get some fabulous sheets on sale for $25 a set. And these were good quality sheets that last forever.

This is Aunt Ida. I am so sick of all of your filthy mouths talking about defiling finer department store's restrooms with your shenanigans. So now it's my turn. I was fingerbanged in The Walnut Room when I was 17 by my football player beau.

I LADY-NUTTED in the Walnut Room.

Now shut your whore mouths and let's get back to shopping!

Bloomingdales still has great bedding. I just bought some John Robshaw sheets on sale- they are great. Their store in Chestnut Hill (Boston) Mass is a great store.

It’s a shame the US killed their department stores. There are still great ones internationally: El Corte Ingles, De Bijenkorf, KaDeWe, NK, Palacio del Hierro, Takashimaya, Galeries Lafayette, Lane Crawford.

I meander through Macy's

but

I SHOPLIFT! At Alexander's!

[quote] Bloomingdale's in Tyson's Corner opened before the one in White Flint.

Yea I forgot about that. By that time about 1976 or so my family had moved from McLean, Va. to Kensington, Md. so White Flint Mall which opened maybe a year later was my store. White Flint was a great mall. The 3 initial anchor stores included Bloomies and I. Magnin's which was really too small a branch to be too successful.

R80, Marshall Fields did not buy Dayton’s. Dayton Hudson bought MF in 1990.

Dayton’s bought Hudson’s (out of Detroit) and became Dayton Hudson Corp. The parent corporation started Target, and also bought Marshall Fields, Mervyns etc.

For many years they operated Dayton’s, Hudson’s, and Marshall Fields under their own names, but a lot of shared brands, logistics, etc.

Target was the bulk of the business and they changed the corporate name to Target Corp in 2000ish.

Around that time they chose to consolidate all those Department stores under “Marshall Fields” for greater national recognition (and eventual sale to May).

R90 The May Company of course is another department store, one also ultimately acquired by Macy's.

[quote] The May Company of course is another department store, one also ultimately decimated and ruined by Macy's

fixed that for you

[quote] The snobbier Halle's, across the street, had no such place.

Funny. I saw my first man on man grafitti in an upper floor men's room at Halle's (10th floor, I think, where the book department was). A rather finely drawn (etched?) if small image of a standing man positioned for a blow job from another man on his knees or haunches. Tumescent penis was visible.

This was in 1981.

The great thing about B&M was that shopping was a PUBLIC activity (not to mention that one could try on things), unlike the isolation of online shopping.

R92 I regret the passing of the great department stores as much as anyone. But let's not pretend evil corporate drones at Macy's née Federated were responsible. Those stores were a great relic from the 1950s. It was a different America then. Just as it'll be a different America tomorrow.

Marshall Field's was family store with a mammoth toy section. It had a tea room, the Walnut Room, which was a big deal for kids to go to with their Moms. Very much a white glove place. They did several cookbooks. They had an entire floor filled with sofas for people visiting the Loop to compose themselves. You all know about the Frango mint dynasty and the Xmas windows. The Loop MF was the inspiration for Selfridges, which had the same tall columns. I wouldn't compare it to Bloomingdales. Whole different thing. Lots of midwest solidity.

Macy's NYC, for most of its life. was more comparable to Hecht's than Woodward & Lothrop which was DC's upper middle brow store. When Macy's came to DC they were basically slotted between the two. Woodie's though, already was in decline.

Halle's was 12 blocks away from Higbee's and a big step up in class. May Co. was across the street from Higbee's.

Macy's did not acquire Field's--May did. Macy's did not acquire May, Federated did. All federated did was change the names of what was left to Macy's. May already had been eliminating nameplates and merging stores. They mostly ruined the old ADS chains they bought like Sibley's in Rochester and Ayres in Indianapolis. The consolidation and homogenization of chains really began in the 80s--with Dillard's buying up and ruining any number of once upper middle brow chains and May consolidating their chain and watering down the ADS chains.

Macy's didn't buy anything. They hadn't bought other chains since the 1920s. Their initial expansion into places like DC was done on their own.

Cruising Gays -

Macys on State Street formerly Marshall Fields

111 N. State Street

You can't miss. Even the blind can cruise and get cruised. Someone for everyone. There are two toilets to go to. The best place, most used and most visited, inconspicuous one is the one in the basement, by the fast food.

Crowd: White and blue collar, from execs to the jobless, straight acting to out and out fruits, twinks to grandpas. Honestly, sometimes I see trolls who just seem to live off of and live in the stalls.

Who's Coming

White and blue collar, from execs to the jobless, straight acting to out and out fruits, twinks to grandpas. Honestly, sometimes I see trolls who just seem to live off of and live in the stalls. Lots of Navy dudes.

@r96, Marshall Field's also had a grocery store in the basement where they sold many house brands. Marshall Field's Thousand Island Dressing was to die for :)

[quote]Macy's didn't buy anything. They hadn't bought other chains since the 1920s.

Oh, really?

[quote]More distant acquisitions included Lasalle & Koch (Toledo, 1924), Davison-Paxon-Stokes (Atlanta, 1929), L. Bamberger & Co. (Newark, 1929), O'Connor Moffat & Company (San Francisco, 1945) and John Taylor Dry Goods Co. (Kansas City, 1947). O'Connor Moffat was renamed Macy's San Francisco in 1947, later becoming Macy's California, and John Taylor was renamed Macy's Missouri-Kansas in 1949. Stores in Toledo retained the Lasalle's name until 1981, joining the Missouri-Kansas stores to become Macy's Midwest.

Department stores with food specialties, wide clothing selection, fancy Xmas decoration and reliable case goods were distinctive to each city and beloved by residents.

My mother was a New Yorker who moved to the Midwest and I never remember her saying "I miss Macy's." The places she missed were the places that cut labels out of designer close-outs and sold them at deep discounts,