Macy's shoppers speak out
Store battling to win back disenchanted
The battle for the hearts and pocketbooks of former Marshall Field & Co. shoppers has prompted the top executive to write his own e-mail pleas.
Antagonists of the transformation to Macy's from Field's have deluged chatrooms and reporters with postings and e-mails.
Macy's management has countered with an aggressive campaign of its own, daily surveying hundreds of shoppers about their Macy's experience, and pleading with Field's loyalists to give Macy's a chance.
(Al Podgorski/Sun-Times)
Cherry defended Field's "terrific brand equity" and recounted "how visceral people's connection to Field's is in Chicago.
"My mother worked her way through college at the Field's on State Street," Cherry said. "Even as a boy, I enjoyed going there."
Lundgren responded, writing that sales at Field's had declined for six years, and that the competitive landscape had changed dramatically in Chicago and nationwide.
"Regional department stores have struggled, and Marshall Field's was among the weakest performers on most levels," Lundgren wrote, and asked Cherry to try shopping at Macy's.
Cherry said he was surprised and humbled to receive the e-mail, and believed the message was from someone who was trying to save the department store.
Cherry led his family on a Jan. 2 shopping trip to Macy's flagship store, where they had lunch in the Walnut Room.
"We got a sense that the staff was making an extra effort to be helpful, and that the store was spruced up," Cherry said.
But the battle is far from won.
"At the end of the day, it's still disappointing to see the Field's brand gone," Cherry said.
Other shoppers have embraced Macy's without shedding a tear.
In an e-mail and interviews with the Sun-Times, Dee and Joseph Bryja, native Chicagoans and life-long Marshall Field's shoppers, said, "Customer service is exemplary at Macy's."
The Bryjas said they are pleased by the cleaner and brighter appearance of the Macy's flagship store at 111 N. State St. than at its predecessor Field's store, and by the salespeoples' easily identifiable black clothing.
The Bryja family exchanged more gifts from Macy's this Christmas Eve than they had previously bought at Field's.
Amy Hanson, vice chairwoman of administration at Macy's North in Minneapolis, where she oversees the Field's regional division's finances and operations, told the Sun-Times that surveys show shoppers can be won over by store redesigns, new merchandise and improved sales help.
Hanson, 48, rose through the ranks at Federated Department Stores in her 23-year tenure at the Cincinnati-based company.
Macy's executives read customer feedback every day, and take it seriously, Hanson said.
"I'm passionate about restrooms and fitting rooms," she said. "I want our customers to be 'wowed' by every moment in our stores."
Hanson said she has learned that she must communicate clearly because of misunderstandings. Some Field's customers believed incorrectly that Federated would build new Macy's stores in the Chicago area, while others are surprised to learn that her regional office is on the 9th floor of the Macy's store in downtown Minneapolis, where Dayton-Hudson was headquartered.
Field's loyalists continue to fault Macy's in e-mails and letters to the media. One shopper who asked to remain anonymous was exasperated by her bad experience buying towels at Macy's Web site, but she was impressed by the professional response of Ralph Hughes, former regional vice president otores for Macy's North. On Jan. 2, he was promoted to regional vice president of corporate communications for Federated.
Though Hughes' telephone call and his response were "extremely positive" and "exemplary," the shopper said Macy's will have to work hard to improve its online experience, but she added she would shop again at Macy's.
"I'm not angry at Field's," she said.
• • The Macy's store at Oak Brook's Oakbrook Center will get a major overhaul, an informed source said. A Macy's spokeswoman said it's too soon to talk about any changes.
• • Macy's is moving ahead with plans to expand celebrity chef Rick Bayless' quick-service eatery, Frontera Fresco, which sells tamales, tortas and quesadillas. It will open inside Macy's stores at Oak Brook and in Sacramento and San Francisco, Calif., within the next year or so, Bayless said.
• • Frango Mints, a Field's favorite, will get its own cookbook, featuring recipes that use the confection. The Frango Cookbook: Simple Recipes and Sweet Ideas, will be sold starting this spring at 200 Macy's stores.
Sandra Guy