Macy's, Sears closing stores and cutting jobs

Discussion in 'West Mall' started by NJlonghorn, Jan 5, 2017.

  1. NJlonghorn

    NJlonghorn 2,500+ Posts

    Macy's and Sears have both announced that they will be closing dozens of stores and eliminating thousands of jobs.

    Macy's Link
    Sears Link

    Clearly, these closings are the result of Obama's horrible economic policies. If, on the other hand, Macy's and Sears had announced that they were were opening stores and hiring people, Trump would deserve the credit.
     
  2. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    Ok, I can come up with a rationale to blame Trump. Since both retailers sell a lot of imported goods, perhaps they're closing stores in anticipation of their products being hit with tariffs and therefore harder to sell.
     
  3. Musburger1

    Musburger1 2,500+ Posts

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  4. dang-str8

    dang-str8 1,000+ Posts

    These stores are way outdated. They are overpriced and they still think they can trick the customer with their weekly "SALES" when we all know they jack up the prices and the discounted price is still higher than Amazon. Sears made a failed attempt to move into the online business... but their online and in person customer service is chaotic at best, and their website is the most user unfriendly in the business... JC Penney is next...
     
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  5. Crockett

    Crockett 5,000+ Posts

    Actually, they should be blaming me. I mostly buy stuff online. I don't like to encounter the consummate salesmen I meet in the Department Store menswear ... I just want to find a shirt and pair of pants that fit and get out of there. I haven't been to Sears in years ... I like their stuff and prices fine, but Home Depot/Lowes/Target are closer and I don't have to deal with Mall Traffic and Parking.
     
  6. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    I haven't set foot in a Sears store in probably 20 years. I'm not convinced their issues aren't largely of their own failures.
     
  7. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    Crockett beat me by a hair, but this is a big issue with Sears, and maybe even with Macy's that aren't in metro areas. They wed themselves to the malls, and once the malls started to fade in relevance to people, they were stuck with locations that no one would ever visit and likely would always associated with what they used to do before they grew up or discovered the Internet.
     
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  8. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    Business models need to evolve. This is just another example of that evolution. Government interference in that evolution is what causes inefficiencies.

    Sears is a dying company. Macy's is trying to reduce their operational expenses. Retail store footprints and employees cost serious $$$. If Macy's can move to a smaller primarily online sale model they may be able to survive. Sears won't. Nordstrom is the next major retailer I'd expect to close stores w/layoffs.
     
  9. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    In all seriousness, I agree with those who say these retailers' problems are deeper than Trump or Obama. Sears blows. It's basically Walmart-quality stuff for more money. I think it's telling that they're having to sell off Craftsman and Lands End (which actually are pretty good product lines) to stay in operation. With online shopping, it's going to be very tough for most brick and mortar stores to stay in business. I don't think online grocery shopping will ever catch on. I think people like to see their food before taking it home, but in 20 years, I think in-person shopping will be limited to certain specialty items.
     
  10. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    It's catching on very well in urban areas - although someone I was talking to this weekend who uses the service qualified it by saying "except for meat and produce - I want to see those things when I get them."

    At some point, someone smart is going to create a mechanism to select produce remotely. When that happens, the groceries in urban areas are in serious trouble. Trader Joe's after business hours in NYC is basically Thunderdome.
     
  11. Seattle Husker

    Seattle Husker 10,000+ Posts

    We've been Amazon Fresh subscribers for a year. Of course, my family is a very early adopter for technology. Heck, we tried HomeGrocer back in the early 2000's for a time.

    I think we are moving to a have/have not scenario. Urbanites will happily order online and have everything delivered. Poorer and Rural areas will hold onto their traditional purchasing methods as part of the long tail of technology adoption.

    With that said, I was traveling very rural Nebraska last week while on vacation and noticed a Schwan's truck at a farmhouse close to the county road. After my initial shock that Schwan's delivered to such a remote location my thought was that these rural people have had access to an Amazon Fresh experience for years with the only different being no produce/dairy. Of course, to order it used to be by phone or whatever the delivery man had on the truck at the time but I imagine it won't be difficult for that farmer to now order their stuff online if the outcome is that they get what they want when they want.
     
  12. ProdigalHorn

    ProdigalHorn 10,000+ Posts

    I used to love when the Schwan's guy came by. The guy came by my office periodically and I wandered over to see what he had. I used to order from them pretty often, and then when I moved up to Dallas, I literally wandered into a guy with his truck in my neighborhood and flagged him down. Anyway, really good food. I seem to remember it was a lot more informal and personal - you got to know the driver, you knew when he'd be by, you could get him to make sure he had certain things.

    I should see if they deliver out here... Anyway, it's similar for sure but it's more about prepared food (with some frozen vegetables too), and like with what I sometimes do with Omaha Steaks, it's usually a niche provider and doesn't really substitute for going to the grocer. There's definitely openness to try that model around the country (I think), but probably less of a chance that it will become the sole/primary source any time soon.
     
  13. Brad Austin

    Brad Austin 2,500+ Posts

    Hit nail on head exactly!

    Macy's marks their products up 20+% and then offers continuous 20% sales. Most online consumers have caught on over time.

    Macy's website does a good job with product pictures, layouts, etc. So I go there, find what I want, google the product, and then buy it elsewhere for far cheaper than their sale price. I've also gone in the store, checked out more expensive items in person, then went online and saved a bunch.

    I've done this countless times and recently saved 40% on a luxury watch I located on Macy's site and then bought elsewhere.

    What is even more absurd is they exclude most of their luxury items from these 20% discounts even though they are marked up at least that much.

    So right off the bat you know you're paying 20+% over on these items. Then any deeper discount you can locate elsewhere online is gravy.

    Buying from these stores is throwing money in the garbage. But thank you Macy's for the nice website so I can find what I'm gonna go buy elsewhere and not get fleeced. :smile1:
     
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  14. mb227

    mb227 de Plorable

    Macys took on a lot of stores some years back when they bought Foleys (acquired, whatever). Sears took a step down when they acquired KMart.

    I used to like Foleys...Macys not so much. They had done away with many of the brands of clothing that I liked and, of those they kept, jacked the prices up over where Foleys had been priced.

    Sears...loved them for tools and appliances but little else.

    If you look at the Macys list, they are closing stores that are mostly in dead malls. In Houston, for example, Greenspoint has not been a 'happening' mall ever since a deputy was killed there close to 30 years ago. The Katrina influx did nothing to help the area grow. The mall even has a fair amount of space devoted to a Houston Police Substation in the end where Sears USED to be located many moons ago. The Dillards is now a clearance center with outside doors actually boarded over due to theft issues. Think of Greenspoint in Houston in the same context as what Highland had become a while back...

    And Sears...they began abandoning the Houston area a few years back. They closed the store in The Woodlands which was frustrating because they had a Parts Department that was easy to get to for replacement parts on their products (ie. garage door openers or washer/dryer or other appliances).
     
    Last edited: Jan 5, 2017
  15. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    I have an APO address, so I order stuff online from the US all the time, including some food that I can't get here. I also buy some fancy-*** Dutch cheese and some beer that's brewed at a monastery in the Bavarian Alps and have them sent to my German address, but those are specialty items that I can't get any other way. I think most people agree with your friend that meat and produce generally need to be seen and even handled before bought, and that's a big difference maker for food shopping. If you buy your meat at butcher shops and your produce at small fruit and vegetable markets (like many in extremely urban areas do), I can see why you'd be willing to buy your meat and produce in person and buy everything else online. That actually saves you some time and effort.

    However, most people live near a major grocery store, and that's where they're buying their meat and produce. Well, if you're going to that trouble anyway, why wouldn't you just buy everything there? That's more convenient than making a separate transaction online. Anyway, that's why I could never see myself doing most of my food shopping online.
     
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  16. Hollandtx

    Hollandtx 250+ Posts

    I live within 2 miles of a Central Market and a Trader Joe's. A produce- heavy store called "Greens" is being built a half mile away from me as I write this.
    I shop for almost anything on-line, but I am super picky about my food. I'll order certain items on-line, but I want to pick my proteins and produce.
    I also believe that many people enjoy the experience of shopping at a place like Central Market. Sampling different food, cheese, wines, and breads is pretty cool.
    If you choose, they have free valet parking.
    Now, if they could keep the slow moving, cart in the middle of the aisle types in their lanes, it would be almost perfect.
    If you are in front of me, I want your cart hugging the side of the aisle and your knees hitting your chest as you scurry around.

    As far as Sears, it's kind of ironic. Their catalogs that came before Christmas were like the caveman's internet. My siblings and I would go through those giant catalogs to create our Christmas list, helpfully writing the page number and item description. :smile1: It was always part of the pre-Christmas fun.
    Also, my dad bought 100% Craftsman tools back in the day. I tried a few, but the salesman told me that they weren't as good as they used to be.
    After my dad died, my brother took my dad's giant red tool holder, the kind with all the shelves. It was almost 4 feet high and had all the tools, in perfect shape. It makes me sad that Sears is closing.
     
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    Last edited: Jan 5, 2017
  17. Mr. Deez

    Mr. Deez Beer Prophet

    I really miss Trader Joe's. In fact, I was one of these freaks who used to take 3-day weekends and drive to St. Louis or Santa Fe to shop at Trader Joe's and fill my trunk and back seat. I was very excited to learn that they were opening up in Texas, and less than a month before the first store opened, I moved overseas. Bad timing.
     
  18. Run Pincher

    Run Pincher 2,500+ Posts

    Before I even got down to your post I was going to say I don't think I've bought anything from Sears in over 20 years. The only reason I've bought something from Macy's in the last 5 years was for a wedding gift because the couple was registered there. After a look around I didn't see anything I would consider buying for myself at their already deeply discounted prices.

    I can buy quality clothing for Sears prices at Nordstrom rack, and NM last call for just a tad more. These retailers problems have nothing to do with the economy or political policies. Just some more retailers that haven't changed with demographics and societal changes that will end up like Borders and Tower Records.
     
  19. theiioftx

    theiioftx Sponsor Deputy

    I honestly thought Sears already was out of business. I was in Macy's over the holidays and thought I was in JC Penny. Bad management often leads to closed stores.
     
  20. nashhorn

    nashhorn 5,000+ Posts

    Selling off Craftsman is the end of Sears. I mean Craftsman is Sears, well maybe that and Kenmore but I understand that was on the selling block too just no buyers. Other than parts and the unusual tool I never go and with Stanley buying I'm sure alternatives will be available. But because of nostalgia I sorry to see their demise.
     
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