How many cities still have downtown department stores?

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by Double L

Houston had a ten story downtown department store that was originally a local Houston chain called Foleys and later became a Macys that lasted from 1957 to 2013 but it has been demolished today.

Foley's downtown was a place I visited with family in my childhood. I would go with my mom and also grandmother nearly once a week. Foley's was enormous, with great restaurants, including something called the Azalea Terrace where we would always have lunch. Foley's had a huge toy store, and that's where I would get my model planes and cars. Eventually, even though Foley's downtown was still open, we would go only to the malls.

Edit: There was a big department store in downtown Austin that I would go to with another grandmother when I would visit, but I can't remember the name. I think it closed in the 70s but not sure. I would go there in the 60s, when downtown was busy and crowded. Now that downtown has become vibrant again, I wonder if there's a possibility of a large department store moving in. The population downtown might support it, but with so much online buying, I don't know if there's any way it would happen.

[SIGSEGV]

The Macy's in downtown Chicago (I live a block away) seems relatively busy though I wonder how much stuff they actually sell. I tried to buy a new couch from there when I moved into my condo, but sadly it ended up not fitting in my building's elevator .

[Six Corners]

There's a Nordstrom in downtown Spokane.

https://goo.gl/maps/RjE7uPBgUmoQsajQ9

I have to imagine it opened and continues to survive due to Nordstrom being headquartered in Seattle.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by SIGSEGV

The Macy's in downtown Chicago (I live a block away) seems relatively busy though I wonder how much stuff they actually sell. I tried to buy a new couch from there when I moved into my condo, but sadly it ended up not fitting in my building's elevator .

Did you try pivoting it up the stairs?

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[plinko]

Downtown Santa Barbara up until the last few years had Nordstrom, Saks, and Macys. None of them are there now.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by plinko

Downtown Santa Barbara up until the last few years had Nordstrom, Saks, and Macys. None of them are there now.

That’s interesting that Santa Barbara would have 3 but LA only has 1 and SD has none.

[Crawford]

Both LA and SD had lots of downtown department stores.

Horton Plaza had at least three anchors until relatively recently. Downtown LA had Macys (maybe still?), the Broadway and Bullocks. And LA had major suburban department stores as early as the 1920's.

[DCReid]

Although department stores have been past their heyday, I think it was a bad move when Macys merged with Federated and then converted many regional and local department stores, like Marshall Fields in the midwest, to Macys. Some malls and downtowns even had two Macys for a while, which was ludicrous. I think that they should have kept at least one of the regional brands and expanded to other regions. Oddly, it seems that Dilliards may be the one of the few department stores that is doing well, if you look at their stock price over the last few years. Does anyone know why - maybe they are the only department store left in the smaller metro areas like Little Rock where they are based?

[Don't Be That Guy]

Originally Posted by DCReid

Although department stores have been past their heyday, I think it was a bad move when Macys merged with Federated and then converted many regional and local department stores, like Marshall Fields in the midwest, to Macys. Some malls and downtowns even had two Macys for a while, which was ludicrous. I think that they should have kept at least one of the regional brands and expanded to other regions. Oddly, it seems that Dilliards may be the one of the few department stores that is doing well, if you look at their stock price over the last few years. Does anyone know why - maybe they are the only department store left in the smaller metro areas like Little Rock where they are based?

Macy's really cheapened the brand after buying up all of the regional department stores in the mid-west. Here in Pittsburgh, both Lazarus and Kauffman's were miles better than the Macy's that replaced them with cheap brands, lots of ugly clothes, messy stores, and bad service.

Dillard's has managed to maintain a modicum of quality and is positioned in a niche that is somewhere between Macy's and Nordstrom. You can't buy Gucci there, but they also don't carry Old Navy quality garbage.

[Crawford]

I don't see any difference between Dillards and Macys. None. Same brands.

But yeah, I've noticed that Southerners, in particular, are big fans of Dillards.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Crawford

Both LA and SD had lots of downtown department stores.

Horton Plaza had at least three anchors until relatively recently. Downtown LA had Macys (maybe still?), the Broadway and Bullocks. And LA had major suburban department stores as early as the 1920's.

When were those older ones last open?

[kool maudit]

NK and the lesser Åhléns:

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Don't Be That Guy

Macy's really cheapened the brand after buying up all of the regional department stores in the mid-west. Here in Pittsburgh, both Lazarus and Kauffman's were miles better than the Macy's that replaced them with cheap brands, lots of ugly clothes, messy stores, and bad service.

Maybe I'm not old enough to remember, but Macy's never really struck me as an upscale brand. It has carried upmarket labels like Gucci and Prada in some stores, but it seems like their sweet spot was mid-market. I recall the transition of Detroit's Hudson's brand to Marshall Fields and then to Macy's in the 1990s and early 2000s. Macy's seemed like a cheaper brand than either Hudson's or Marshall Fields.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by iheartthed

Maybe I'm not old enough to remember, but Macy's never really struck me as an upscale brand. It has carried upmarket labels like Gucci and Prada in some stores, but it seems like their sweet spot was mid-market. I recall the transition of Detroit's Hudson's brand to Marshall Fields and then to Macy's in the 1990s and early 2000s. Macy's seemed like a cheaper brand than either Hudson's or Marshall Fields.

Maybe it was more upscale in the past, but yeah, now it's mid-market. Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's is the next tier up.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by Six Corners

There's a Nordstrom in downtown Spokane.

https://goo.gl/maps/RjE7uPBgUmoQsajQ9

I have to imagine it opened and continues to survive due to Nordstrom being headquartered in Seattle.

That Spokane mall looks nice. Its probably the only luxury option for 300 miles.

[pdxtex]

Southerners love their local store brands. Bucc-ees, Publix. Dillards is probably in that club too.

[pdxtex]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Maybe it was more upscale in the past, but yeah, now it's mid-market. Nordstrom and Bloomingdale's is the next tier up.

Macy's is the Toyota Camry of department stores. Hudson's was a bit nicer but not a ton. Marshall Fields was definitely the Nordstrom of the midwest, at least for me. Growing up the name Macy's sounded fancy tho. Probably from the parade sponsorship. My only beef with Macy's is they just took over failing regional brand and just slapped their name on them. They didn't invest any money in fixing up the stores.

[Crawford]

Macys' merchandise mix is highly dependent on local demographics. They have very targeted inventory.

So basically there are Macys with higher end apparel, and Macys with lower end apparel, and everything in-between. The Macys Midtown flagship has Gucci, Louis Vuitton, Burberry, etc. but a Macys in Podunkville, Indiana will probably be Walmart-ish. Typical suburban Macys will be very mid-tier.

[mousquet]

Real wealthy people don't shop in any of those large stores anyway.
They've got their more confidential boutiques to purchase their French and Italian fashion stuff.
They may even pay servants to bring an entire collection to their homes, lol.

Those department stores are meant for regular people from the middle class.
You just have to be from some upper middle class to pay for luxury things in there.
Obviously, poor people can't afford to pay €3000 or more for a dumb handbag, but I don't see anything humiliating or dishonorable to it.

I mean, some poor are good people, while some rich can be jerks and assholes.
This is just "stuff" anyway. Nothing much after all.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by JManc

That mall has been depressingly dead the few times I've been there.

part of the issue may be it's 5 storeys, and America is over-retailed in general

Research shows in multi-level malls people rarely venture past the first 2-3 floors unless there's anchors on the higher floors.

Anchorage has always fascinated me. A city of 300k that far North!
251k of which live in 78.8 sq miles.