How many cities still have downtown department stores?

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by 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.

When I lived in Calgary I had a younger friend that became obsessed with "designer labels"
I had to put it to him bluntly: "look, no one in the REAL world cares if your jeans cost $350 or $50. You're only impressing yourself and other pretentious people"

It's just stuff. exactly

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by 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.

what was Lord & Taylor like? so many NY state women seem to decry the loss of that store. I had a Prof that once mentioned besides NYC or Toronto she only shops at Lord & Taylor or (when out West) Nordstrom lol

[mhays]

Originally Posted by Wigs

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.

Really REALLY wealthy people are often unpretentious. It's often the mid-range that tries to flaunt it.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Wigs

what was Lord & Taylor like? so many NY state women seem to decry the loss of that store. I had a Prof that once mentioned besides NYC or Toronto she only shops at Lord & Taylor or (when out West) Nordstrom lol

There was at least one in Houston. It was Neiman's/ Nordstrom level of fancy.

[iheartthed]

Originally Posted by Wigs

what was Lord & Taylor like? so many NY state women seem to decry the loss of that store. I had a Prof that once mentioned besides NYC or Toronto she only shops at Lord & Taylor or (when out West) Nordstrom lol

Lord & Taylor was more upscale than Macy's, but not quite as upscale as Bloomingdale's. My sense is that the spectrum in order of least-to-most expensive goes something like this:

Macy's -> Lord & Taylor -> Nordstrom's -> Bloomingdale's -> Saks

I don't think I've ever been into Neiman Marcus, and have only been to Nordstrom's once or twice.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Wigs

When I lived in Calgary I had a younger friend that became obsessed with "designer labels"
I had to put it to him bluntly: "look, no one in the REAL world cares if your jeans cost $350 or $50. You're only impressing yourself and other pretentious people"

It's just stuff. exactly

Reminds me of when people buy $10,000 couches.

[Crawford]

Originally Posted by homebucket

Reminds me of when people buy $10,000 couches.

A 10k couch isn't that crazy these days. It's still in the (upper) range of regular chain retailers.

Consumer home goods have gotten pretty expensive. A Subzero fridge starts around 14k now.

If you're outfitting a home with, say a $1 million+ value, it seems pretty silly to go the Ikea or discount bin route (IMO). Ok, maybe exceptions for places with absurd home values.

[homebucket]

Originally Posted by Crawford

A 10k couch isn't that crazy these days. It's still in the (upper) range of regular chain retailers.

Consumer home goods have gotten pretty expensive. A Subzero fridge starts around 14k now.

If you're outfitting a home with, say a $1 million+ value, it seems pretty silly to go the Ikea or discount bin route (IMO). Ok, maybe exceptions for places with absurd home values.

Right. Accounting for inflation and such that couch is probably $20k in today’s money.

[badrunner]

Originally Posted by Crawford

A 10k couch isn't that crazy these days. It's still in the (upper) range of regular chain retailers.

Consumer home goods have gotten pretty expensive. A Subzero fridge starts around 14k now.

If you're outfitting a home with, say a $1 million+ value, it seems pretty silly to go the Ikea or discount bin route (IMO). Ok, maybe exceptions for places with absurd home values.

The rule of thumb is to spend 10% of a home's value on its furnishings. However, this might not make much sense in a red hot real estate market where a 1000sqft bungalow goes for $1m.

[JManc]

Originally Posted by Crawford

A 10k couch isn't that crazy these days. It's still in the (upper) range of regular chain retailers.

Consumer home goods have gotten pretty expensive. A Subzero fridge starts around 14k now.

If you're outfitting a home with, say a $1 million+ value, it seems pretty silly to go the Ikea or discount bin route (IMO). Ok, maybe exceptions for places with absurd home values.

A million dollar home really isn't that extravagant considering the market. Most people are not buying Sub Zero, Wolfe or other high end appliances. A meh 3 bedroom ranch costs north of $1.5 million around here and I suspect the vast majority are cross shopping Samsung (junk), Maytag and so on.

[homebucket]

Btw just checked RH and their sofas generally range from $3-4k on the low end to just under $10k at the upper end. I don't think most people are spending that kinda dough on sofas here.

[mrnyc]

note that with retail changes and brick and mortar struggles there is a corresponding rise in thrift store shopping.

its pretty noticible everywhere you go from chains like buffalo exchange and ragstock to seemingly more prevalent mom&pops thrift stores:


The clothing resale market alone is estimated to be worth US$30-40bn, with annual growth of 15-20% per annum from 2020-2024, according to the Boston Consulting Group. Their recent survey of 7000 shoppers in six countries showed that sustainability was the biggest factor behind the growth, with 70% citing it as the top reason for buying pre-worn clothing.


more:
https://ivend.com/blog/the-rise-and-...-retail-store/


Rise of Thrifting: Solution to Fast Fashion or Stealing from the Poor?
…

But in the past decade, thrifting has taken on a completely new life, especially among individuals of Generation Z, born between 1995 and 2010. 

https://econreview.berkeley.edu/rise...from-the-poor/

[pdxtex]

You can get nice sectionals at Costco for 1000 bucks. I bought a giant memory foam bed there too. Its great. Also Lord and Taylor was nice. It was the height of preppy retail. Lots of green carpets and wood furniture.

[Buckeye Native 001]

I think part of the ongoing joke about the $10,000 couch was that it first made its appearance/reference on this forum in either 2009 or 2010. That's what made the discussion so absurd IIRC.

[PhillyRising]

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 owns Bloomingdale's.

The Macy's here in Exton, PA is a run down eyesore in a dying mall. The Target up the road is more upscale inside.

The Macy's in King Of Prussia is far more upscale because it has to be in that mall. It's in the same part of the complex as the Bloomingdale's.

[AviationGuy]

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 .

Oh no...that's like when I bought a grand piano and the store staff came out and assured me that it could be brought up the stairs to the condo where I lived at the time. Well, it didn't work. So I had to hire a truck with a lift on the back to hoist up the piano to the outside deck. The details of how they swung the piano onto the deck were so scary that I didn't watch. And when I moved years later, they repeated it in reverse!

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by JManc

There was at least one in Houston. It was Neiman's/ Nordstrom level of fancy.

Was that the one in the Galleria area?

When I was growing up, our "luxury" store was Foleys in its prime in the 60s. Even though we went there a lot, I'll bet we bought a lot more at Penney's. Does Penney's exist anymore?

[SIGSEGV]

Originally Posted by AviationGuy

Oh no...that's like when I bought a grand piano and the store staff came out and assured me that it could be brought up the stairs to the condo where I lived at the time. Well, it didn't work. So I had to hire a truck with a lift on the back to hoist up the piano to the outside deck. The details of how they swung the piano onto the deck were so scary that I didn't watch. And when I moved years later, they repeated it in reverse!

Wow that sounds super scary! I guess you probably trusted the deck more after that.. At least I got a refund for the couch lol.

[AviationGuy]

Originally Posted by JManc

A million dollar home really isn't that extravagant considering the market. Most people are not buying Sub Zero, Wolfe or other high end appliances. A meh 3 bedroom ranch costs north of $1.5 million around here and I suspect the vast majority are cross shopping Samsung (junk), Maytag and so on.

You're talking about where you're working in CA, right? Not much less expensive in Austin unless you want to live in a ghetto, which is expensive as well. People in my neighborhood who are paying over $1M for a basic 3-br ranch aren't spending a lot on furnishings. They're stretched just to be able to live in a reasonably safe area.

[Wigs]

Originally Posted by Buckeye Native 001

I think part of the ongoing joke about the $10,000 couch was that it first made its appearance/reference on this forum in either 2009 or 2010. That's what made the discussion so absurd IIRC.

Buckeye, I'm glad you're the unofficial SSP historian. There's so many gems like this that I've forgotten

And to spend $10k when the housing market crash/financial markets recession hit ~2009 is seriously gauche