Macy's: Still A Part Of Your Life? | Dead Mall & Retail Documentary | Retail Archaeology 

Macy's is now competing with the bottom of retail. The stores have too much product in the aisles you can't even walk without hitting something. The clearance racks have become permanent taking up more space of cheap clothes no one wanted 3 months ago. The registers are filled with chocolate bars, who buys that with clothes? They need to tone it down, get rid of all the red sales signs that just make it all seam cheap. Clear the aisles pay the associates a living wage so they will want to come to work and help the customers. Okay end of rant. :)

When I was younger, Macy’s was THE fancy department store in my hometown. If you got a Macy’s gift card for your birthday, you treated that thing like gold. My friends and I bought our prom dresses there and we thought we were hot stuff. Recently I went to the Macy’s where I currently live and it was a far cry from what I remembered it to be. Sad!

Macy’s used to be a unique store back in the 80’s and early 90’s. Nowadays it’s no different than a JC Penney’s or Kohl’s

I no longer know what to think of department stores. I'm 53, and grew up with them, but things have changed so much. Sorry to say, service is terrible, merchandise is shoddy, and they always seem so empty. Not sure what happened. Employees use to be hired to a department, knew the merchandise, and could ring up your purchase. The worse part is the "central" check-out - long lines, and you wait and wait, and like the post office, it seems like there are 4 registers, and 1 or 2 being used. Customer service, for the most part, has died in this country ....

We all know Macy's carries a lot a good brands that people like, but I think one major thing effecting Macy's stores in a negative way is that a lot of other stores like Ross and Marshalls carry similar merchandise at a huge discounted price.

I worked at Macy’s for over 2 years, and during the holidays there’s a special holiday program called Thanks for Sharing. You can see signs talking about it in this video. Anyways, it costs $25 for Macy’s cardholders to enroll and then they get rewards for the rest of the year. My store pushed for us to enroll customers in this program as if our lives depended on it. They told us to take $25 off the customer’s purchase to basically make it a free enrollment, even if they were only spending like $30. With a sales pitch that easy, I was a natural at enrolling people. I enrolled about 600 people in 2 Christmas seasons. But then they decided to fire me for it out of nowhere despite me doing what they told me to do. No warning or anything. They fired some of my coworkers for this too. They woulda probably fired us for not getting enough enrollments either. I’ll never shop there again.

In the early 80s macys used to sell electronics... My parents would drop me off there for a bit so i could listen to music on the home stereos while they shopped.... Sony,JVC, sansui, Sherwood and Fisher... Sanyo too IIRC... Pioneer and akai too

In the 80s I remember going to a department store that sold records, personal computers (IBM PS2 IIRC), and fabric for sewing. Department stores can come back, but they have to do things better than Amazon. Amazon is today, but the secret is finding out what is next.

Macy's is apart of my life because I work there. The only retailer that decided to give me a break and hire me. My Macy's was a Broadway before Macy's bought them out in the 90's. It's usually busy on Saturday afternoons, especially at the women's shoe department, so it was strange seeing it empty Macy's. One thing I don't like is how much stock we get flooded before the holidays. We have shelfs where we put shoe boxes in and there's no space, so we have to make space, but my department is struggling for hours so we barely have time to add the shoes to inventory, put the shoes on to the wall neatly (which is standard) and get the displays out while the store is open.

I'm born and raised in Chicago and have never once set foot in a Macy's since they bought out and closed our beloved Marshall Field's department stores. There was once a huge boycott against them here for doing that. I totally believe Macy's shunned a lot of customers from doing buyouts of regional department stores and slapping their name on the building.

Macy's really screwed up rebranding all of those respected department stores like Marshall Fields and the Bon Marche.

Somehow it is. I go to my nearest one to buy jeans, but their service is awful. I waited 15 minutes for somebody to help me get the size shoe I need, nobody came, so I ended up leaving. I think I will be shopping at other stores from now on.

One of the things I've noticed is that the stores that were always a Macys, and are older, are still really nice. There are even some "upscale" Macys that carry a lot of high end stuff. The ones that used to be other stores that they bought, are a pretty mixed bag and often pretty crappy. The one in NYC is truly a sight to behold.

Another great Retail Archaeology video. I stop shopping at Macy's because of over pricing. If you are in any story and you see an item you want get your phone out and google it. Most likely you will find it cheaper somewhere else. If you are in a mall it just might be a store away. It has happen with me and saved me over 15.00 on an item I was looking for.

macy's tries to be a high-class department store, but it's just tacky and full of old people...

Macy's got too aggressive in their 2006 expansion, in which they gobbled up local department stores like crazy. People had built up loyalty and expected certain quality from stores like Marshall Field's, Filene's, etc. Macy's stomped on all those traditions, and they have been rewarded with their current predicament as a result.

The writing is on the wall for old-school department stores, and I'm actually a bit sad to see them go. I still like buying clothes in physical stores--easier to try on a bunch of things and put back what you don't like/doesn't fit than having to return stuff online--and it's nice to be able to get a range of decent quality stuff in one place. The alternative is needing to go to a bunch of smaller stores that focus on one type or style of clothes, or your Old Navy/Target/Walmart that generally have lower quality. Kohl's has a similar range of products as a department store, although their prices seem to be going up.

Macy's is in better financial shape then Sears. A Macy's at a dead mall in Virginia closed at the beginning of year leaving Sears the lone store. I don't shop at Macy's very often.

Macy's has never been a part of my life. Since they had come to Chicago and hijacked Marshall Fields & Company (granted that company was on a downward slide as well), renamed all the stores and pretty much threw away the memories, I refused to shop or give them a single dime of my money. But I know they've done that to multiple local companies. It's all in the name of Brand Recognition. I recognize the brand as junk and spend my money elsewhere. It's terrible the employees have to bear the brunt of the executive mismanagement.

I spy...zero employees

I work in Macys Visual and the reason we start setting up Christmas soo early is because there is a lot of decoration to go up and it takes a while to set up :/

Never knew the 90s had Macy's catering to young men. I always considered the store catering to stay-at-home middle-aged/retired moms. Looks like they had a fun life. My nearest store that closed is Westgate Mall in Brockton, Massachusetts, when the store owner couldn't pay rent early this year. Keep it up with the videos, loving it, Retail Archaeology! 😎

Spring 2008: three Macy's in one region all closed at roughly the same time: Rolling Acres Mall in Akron OH, Randall Park Mall in North Randall OH, and Canton Centre Mall in Canton OH...

The days of big format stores are coming to an end. Macy's like most counterparts has made it a practice to grossly underinvest in their human capital. Typically, the pay is $8.00 /hr with a part time schedule which varies. Walk into a Macys and typically you will see not one person on the entire floor. Had to do a wedding return spending 30 minutes searching the store for an associate. Keys to the jewelry and perfume lock up was left sitting out on the counter. Finally found an associate on middle floor who appeared very fatigued. Store itself was a real mess with ties tossed into a pile, shoes on floor, etc...

What I hated most about Macy's and other clothes stores is that everything has a "Discount" sign on it. If everything has a discount then nothing is actually discounted.

They turned a Kaufmann's building into a gigantic clearance center at a mall I used to live near. Always thought it wasn't a good sign for them to have that much clearance...

I like Macy*s........ but, just realized, I haven't been in one for about 12 years.......

My mom worked at a macy's that was pretty big for almost 30 years, and as a kid i got to go behind the scenes and even into the security room. It was really neat, and now I wish I could go back there to just video what it looks like lol.

My mom worked in the China department at Macy's when she was in high school. She even got me favorite stuffed animal (a 25th anniversary Garfield) for Christmas from Macy's when I was 8.

FYI: stores don’t totally ignore Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving stuff has been wrapped up with Halloween into a “harvest” theme for decor, with autumn color scheme and falling leaves etc. They put out the harvest decor in late August. They know that by late August, shoppers (women) are desperate for the coolness of fall, and those women eagerly buy up harvest stuff as soon as they can, to be ready for fall. By the time of Halloween, people have already bought all their harvest stuff (including Thanksgiving goods). Now those same women are desperate for Christmas! That’s why Christmas stuff is out so early.

Scottsdale Fashion Square Macy's opened around 2002 or 2003. The building was originally Dillard's in 1990. When Dillard's bought Diamond's, the 3 story anchor became a Dillard's Mens and Dillard's Womens occupied the shuttered Sakowitz (now Neiman Marcus) at Camelview Plaza. The 1990 anchor was built around the original Diamond's, which was gutted and transformed into mall space and food court and connected to Camelview Plaza. The Dillard's moved west into the former Bullocks (another one they bought) and gobbled up pretty much all of Camelview Plaza to create the largest single Dillard's in the entire chain. In 1999, dead Los Arcos Mall finally closed. Macy's decided not to keep that Broadway, so Scottsdale had to either go to The Biltmore or FIESTA MALL to shop Macy's (both having e floors). Sears moved out of Los Arcos and into the old Dillard's at Fashion Square and were open 2000-2001. They were practically chased out by the rich people of Scottsdale, clad in cashmere sweaters and armed with solid gold pitchforks (held by the help of course), probably. Too low end for the mall. Macy's there gets pretty busy. They decided to keep tgis location over the former Robinson's May that was at the east end. Don't be surprised there was a DJ. Different times of the year, each department store anchor has fashion shows. Nordstrom has champagne at theirs. I've also seen MAC use the food court as well. One thing to explain is how Dillard's and Macy's carry Michael Kors, even with a Michael Kors store taking up 2 spots in the mall outside of Macy's?

Always fascinating! Do you ever dream about malls? Thanks for another glimpse into retail history. ☮️✌️🕊️

I use to work at Macy's when they were part of Federated and transitioned into Federated-May up until they started aggressively trying to close stores. I worked at the San Francisco Union Square building just before the merged the separate men's clothing store to the main Macy's building across the street. It felt like my entire time there there hadn't been a year where higher ups weren't talking about laying off people and closing down stores. Glad I left before the transitioned into just one building. Imagine having to stuff 5 floors of men's clothing into another building that's already all women's stuff. I was told by a former co-worker that there were a lot more employees on the floor than actual customers.

great video! I gotta say, the music is a big part of why i love your series! Addictive for 3 reasons 1-the visuals, 2-the music, 3-the information! Kudos. who knew mall stores could be so fascinating........

The earlier stores start putting out Christmas stuff the more it shows how desperate they are for sales. When I worked in retail I'd get a lot of people complaining that Christmas was going up before Halloween. As much as we don't want to admit it, brick and mortar stores are dying out, life is too hectic and crazy now that we don't have time to kill in stores just to shop. We go in, get what want and leave. Or even better, just buy online and have it delivered while we work or go to school.

I don't like stores starting Christmas on November 1. We can't forget about Thanksgiving. One holiday at a time

I went to Macy’s to get a cologne with no prior real knowledge beforehand as to what I was looking for. Immediately the woman from the women’s perfume department asked me if she could show me one right away that was her favorite that I must try. So I followed, it was a Dior. 116 dollars later I’m walking out with a Dior sauvage 100ml. Best choice in my life. They know their products, but they know their customer even more I feel. I hope Macy’s continues to remain strong. I will be buying from them again in a large purchase, I feel economically confident in spending large sums of money at this store.

I work at Macy’s I’m shocked at how busy my store is and how well we perform, then again the KMart down the street is hiring and I shit you not lol. But really, we all had a meeting about how the store that performs best of ALL Macy’s stores this holiday season gets awarded $40k, that seeds into a bonus for all. Except they are hiring 4,000 seasonal employees for ONE store yes I shit you not again. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Dead Macy’s are a regional thing

I've seen the Park Place Macy's pretty busy during weekends even with just basic foot traffic. Amazing that even with El Con and Foothills withering away, Park's still bustling along as usual. Thanks for covering my hometown malls, man. :)

Yes, my day is happy, a new retail Archaeology has been posted.

Macy's came into my life when they bought out Robinsons-May and the nearest store became a Macy's because of that. I worked a holiday season there, it was what it was. They start playing Christmas music the day after Halloween and not only were we disgusted but customers would think it was too early as well. Honestly, I've never been a fan of dept stores like Macy's. I'm more a Ross and Marshalls kind of guy, I always get deals there for way less. I wouldn't miss them if they're gone but I wouldn't want them to leave because I know it'd affect a lot of people.

Macy's is nice but a bit expensive. Last time I was inside a Macy's was back in 2004 at the paddock mall in Ocala, FL when I was a teen, I buy something from there online once in a while.

Macy's is nice but their men's section - boys section lacks, I'm a shorter dude so boys fits me more then young men's clothes. I do enjoy the cosmetic section though and the makeup, the brightness and shiny aspects of the store. I feel cutting many celebrities from their advertising and lines really did them a disservice, i.e. Oprah, lady Gaga, even trump.

May Co saw the handwriting on the wall in 2005, the upcoming collapse in our economy & the boom of the internet shopping. They let Macy's buy them for 5B and never adopted the strategy that May Co was beating them in malls all across the country. Profit in volume, not on each customer. Immediately they abandoned coupons & rebranded all regional chains, including the hotly contested Marshall Fields. Within a year, duplicate stores in malls closed (there were Macy's & Robinsons/May in AZ malls as an example) and CEO, Terry Lundgren apologized to May customers & stated would gradually start up coupons. After the 1, 2 punch it was too little especially with pending recession. Macy's is now smaller than the May Co. they bought and just announced closing flagship 34th street store in NYC. The parade at Thanksgiving goes the length of two sides of that store. The sale is set for Feb 2018. Macy's stated will have a small presence in the area. To me this is the death knell. I know all this because I worked at Rob/May in Arrowhead for 10 yrs during the growth period and left Macys 2.25 yrs after the acquisition.

All the department stores Macy's, Penny's and others have been around for years and have older locations that are not profitable anymore, which is why they are closing stores, plus they just don't need the number of stores they have, especially after merg/ buy out of May Company, which gave them double the amount of stores

I like Macy's too. Luckily, Macy's stores did well during the 2017 holiday season. Hopefully, the steady sales trend will continue for the company 🤞🏻

Okay so I was listening to this video in the background, and when you said there was a finish line in the store I thought you meant like, a literal finish line on the ground or something and I was very confused.

All department stores are struggling a lot the last few years. Sears is done but with the right decisions Macy's, JC Penney, and Dillard's can be saved.

FYI: the “go professional” sign is hung over a display of professional-grade cookware. They want you to buy pricey pots and pans to look like a real chef when you entertain.

Hate, HATE that stores are disregarding Thanksgiving now a days.

Always glad when you upload a new video.

The design, the layout, the material used reminds me a lot of The Bay/LaBaie here in Canada.

There was an Amazon add before the video started. How ironic.

I love how the Macy’s the second one was so busy makes me so happy

I WAS THERE ! Too bad I didn't run in to you ! Yes, SFSM is renovating again, sections of the ceilings through out the mall are opened up. I was down around the Food Court and the Brookstone Shop areas. That MACYS use to be a SEARS. When they tore down LOS ARCOS MALL in 1998, the SEARS moved to SFSM. They were in SFSM for about three or four years. I use to work at the Sears in Los Arcos, that was my first job when I moved the AZ. from New England. Yeah, Christmas seems to come earlier every year. Next year they will probably start the day after the Fourth of July, L-O-L.

While there are other videos by Ace's, Sal and WallieB, I have to say that this channel provides the best videos out of all of them. Definitely worth subscribing.

Macy's should have remained a "destination" store like it was before it took over all the local Federated/May stores nationwide (Jordan Marsh and Filene's here). It contributed to the lack of variety in malls, which in turn accelerated their decline (I find the everpresent Macy's/JC Penney/Sears really boring, and now these stores, Sears especially, are doing terrible, closing many locations, leaving empty anchors, which are a major cause of dying/dead malls). The only malls that seem to be doing well are the ones with Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Neiman Marcus, etc (the high end "destinations" only found at a few locations near major cities).

Retailers skip over TG because it's the holiday all about food and family. and there's no TG music, well maybe one song. can you guess what it is?

We never shopped at Macy's as a kid because it was too expensive. I still don't shop there. I think of it as a store for old rich ladies. Sometimes, now that I'm an adult, I'll go there for the makeup counter, but that's once in a blue moon. The only reason why I'd care if Macy's went out of business is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I've always loved watching it on t.v.

In my hometown we had Burdines. Macys was also there but it was the store that was in the premier shopping mall like Aventura Mall, with Lord and Taylor. We need regional nameplates again and place 1-2 Macys in a metro area and make them premier stores again.

Mark's jacket is awesome BTW. I love shopping at Hot Topic too. :D

I always like those small narrow style escalators. Very unique.

My local Macy's, a former Burdines (a regional chain) was just put on the chopping block, which actually came as a surprise, as the store gets a fair amount of traffic and the mall itself is relatively healthy (even the Sears is still in business, which is saying something). I actually wanted to go and shoot some video in there today before the liquidation sales start, but there were way too many people there

I noticed a filthy carpet and must be trying to catch up with Sears on a lack of cleanliness.

The Macy's at Park Place Mall is the best Macy's in Tucson. I really want to film the Freight Elevator there one of these days. The Macy's at Fashion Square was originally Dillard's, hence why the elevator is not glass. If the store opened as Macy's originally, the elevator most likely would have been glass.

Macy's is a part of my life when I want to order Frango Mints. I grew up in department stores. I'm a 1950s kid. Worked in them, too. LOVED shopping, but at this point in my life I don't need anything from them. Well, except for Frango Mints at the holidays.

The Macy's near me in Danbury, CT is really weird. The mall it anchors only has two floors but the actual store is three floors. The Third floor has merchandise but it's so empty

I actually have that Snoopy complete with the Macy's sweater, hat and scarf...I never knew where he came from only that I have had it for about as long as I can remember. Glad this video was able to answer that great question lol

Macys has good clothes selection and I still have to go in the store to try them on before I buy. They need to capitalize on this. I say this as someone who’s in the late 30s and primarily shops online. I tried shopping for clothes online and it almost always ended in a return.

I started working at Lazarus in 1997 and then it was bought out by Macys. I was there almost 10 years, and actually enjoyed my job. (I was a counter manager for Estée Lauder) I left due to the constant badgering by our store manager to push credit cards on customers and pressure to meet unrealistic credit goals and am glad I did. The store I worked at then is now starting to lay off long time employees and it's hard to find help when you're shopping. The selection of in store merchandise is also not what it used to be. Sad, because I do like shopping there.

Poor Macy's! Here in Chicago they bought out Marshall Fields and I wish they wouldn't have! Marshall Fields was a more high end store, like Nordstrom, but now it's just "Discount this/Save 30% on that".

That red stain on the marble tile was where they killed the last guy they caught filming.

Wow! The Macy's by my house in Queens NY is packed all the time. Sometimes I get frustrated because the lines are so long. So it's pretty sad to see other Macy's look so dead :(

As the "Retail Apocalypse" marches on... As the landscape becomes littered with emptied out malls and outlets... A few will be repurposed. Most however, will be left to rot as brick and mortar declines. We will see the inevitable commercial property crash soon.

I think Thanksgiving has always just been an extension of the Christmas season.

In Chicago we don't call it Macy's it's Marshall Field's the original name

Very good quality video!!!

8:00 man it's weird to look back at my old workplace.

Well here in Maine the Bangor mall in Bangor Maine that Macy's has been gone for at least 2 years

That blocked off area on the 3rd floor use to be the kids department

I was at the one in Scottsdale in May and it was super busy. I had to wait in line to pay. This store is definitely not "struggling".

The open ceiling space is actually one of the looks they go for, the Juniors' Dept at my store is like this.

Awesome store to shop brand new clothes and shoes with moderate price rate. They maintain the shops very neat and clean manner. Providing pleasant environment in the inside the shop.

Never was too big on Macy's, though there still is one in my local mall, which was originally a Hecht's until the Hecht's brand was phased out by Macy's in 2006. For clothes, I'm more of a Kohl's guy myself. I will say that my local Macy's appears to be doing well, attracting a lot of business. That might be because of the mall itself though, the Sears anchor at that same mall is busier than any Sears I've seen on RU-vid.

I miss the Macy’s in Pontiac formerly known as Hudson’s Unique ceilings

The Macy's store at the Scottsdale Fashion Square Mall used to be a Diamond's store first (became Dillard's in 1986). In 1999, Dillard's moved to a former Bullock's store in the mall, replacing the original store with Sears. Two years later, Sears closed at the Scottsdale Fashion Square (moved to Arcadia Crossing), finally replacing it with Macy's a year later.

Nice video. Have you considered doing a collab with Dan Bell? He does some excellent mall tours on his channel, and since you two have a similar style of filming you could do something good together.

The Christmas decorating was very meager. 'Back in the day' malls and department stores went over the top to make it into Christmas Land. Now it's almost done as duty. I went to a going out of business sale at one store and they had a whole floor that was just decor storage.

Never in my 32 years of life have i bought something from Macy's or from Jc penny, Bealls, or sears. I grew up lower middle class so we were always on a tight budget. Now, if i want to shop for brands i shop at Ross which imo it's cheaper than TJ max, Burlington and Marshall's.

........"Macy's Is Having A One Day Sale"......Every Damn Day......I Got Your RED STAR Right Here.....

Man you're a machine with these uploads lately.

And in my local town of [yeah, right], there has been a scramble for water. The local grocery store execs go "Yippee!"

Great analogy with the Macy's business. Amazon ,Amazon, Amazon will dominate the retail market. 👌

The Park Place Macy's seems to be my go to store for buying my wife gifts. I'm not a fan of large crowds so when the rest of the mall is busy, I can usually count on Macy's to have a thinner crowd compared to the rest of the mall. Plus it doesn't smell weird like Sears does.

that jacket for $149 with Sequins is likely $79 or $89 on sale.

My local Macy’s stores are certainly thriving. Castleton’s Macy’s store was just extensively renovated and upgraded with new products, and the store is always busy. Glendale’s Macy’s isn’t as nice, but it is still busy.

Just wanted to say that the footage around 1:00 is actually of the Dillard's at Park Place. Great video overall!

5:39 L E V I ' S it's like going back to the 90's lol

I like Macy’s quite a bit. I can always find what I need when I’m there. It’s always the first department store I go to. Dillard’s too.