The majority of you have referenced the groundswell of customer emotion surrounding the Fields to Macy's name change. While this is indeed an emotional time in their history, there's a business lesson here: understanding customer emotion is a defining factor in the ability to create ongoing value. I believe the more deeply you understand it and act on it, the better equipped you are to deliver experiences that will resonate and bring people back again and again. What are some of the most memorable experiences (good & bad) with famous department stores?
Related Stories: | Topics:Management, customers first 2006, Macy's Inc., Retail Trade, Department Stores |
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Recent Comments | 4 Total
September 12, 2006 at 10:36pm by roger fulton
John Wanamakers in Philadelphia, when it was sold out, they decided to keep the name, the Eagle and the organ in the main store.
Howsomever, the did trash the quality, the buyers and the aura of the store sending it quickly to the middle of the market. Who cares now? It is happily in the middle of the melee with the others, keeping the same name.
We old timers know this.
Roger Fulton
Yuma, Az
September 13, 2006 at 1:19am by KS Kaushik
Update me on above mail. i.D
September 14, 2006 at 12:33am by Lou Carbone
I've seen that happen so often... There's a graveyard of half hearted attempts, Pomeroy's in Harrisburg, Pa., G. Fox in Hartford, CT; Filene's in Boston; Jordan Marsh in Boston and the list goes on and on....
Unfortunately, the chains of department stores gobbled up chains of department stores. The same barbarians who are at the gate today have been at the gate for more than two decades.
I believe a whole era has passed, never to return.
September 14, 2006 at 7:38am by Kathy
I think the strong emotional attachment you refer to is not so much a reaction to the name change, but rather the devoted customers recognize what the other comments here have referenced: it's just not going to be Marshall Fields anymore. Keeping the name isn't enough.
Marshall Fields was more than just a name on buildings, it was a culture all it's own. Growing up in Indiana, even as a child I knew a trip to Marshall Fields was worth the drive to the Chicagoland area. Whether it was the flagship store or an anchor at a mall, MF had a unique culture which created a unique shopping experience. There isn't any way to keep that identity intact and separate from other Macy holdings.
Customers know that when the Borg (in this case Macy) assimilate a store, the store will cease to maintain it's own identity and will indeed become part of the collective, stripped of almost all of the factors that made it "unique".
Sigh.