But that doesn’t sound right. Macy’s owns Bloomingdale’s, and anyway most people think of that as an upscale store very different from the Macy’s in their local mall. Same with Nordstrom and Dillard’s. They’re more in the range of Sak’s and Neiman Marcus.
Sears and Penny’s are definitely a step down and Kohl’s is in line with Target.
I’ve found three smaller chains that Macy’s still competes with. Boscov’s, Belk’s, and The Bon-Ton.
Is that really it? Or I am wrong in what I’m comparing Macy’s to?
The Macy’s I’ve been in were relatively upscale, comparative to or better than the Dillards I’ve been in. Nordstrom’s is higher still, and I can’t recall the last time I was in a Bloomingdales. Kohl’s is a bit nicer than Sears and JC Penny’s. Target is something else altogether. I haven’t been in any of those three B stores you listed.
I see your location is NY, maybe that has something to do with it?
Competitors do not have to be exact twins: most people shop in a range of stores: my bottom may be Wal-mart and my top may be Penny’s: your bottom may be Marshall’s and your top may be Macy’s; that person’s bottom may be Macy’s and their top may be up scale boutiques.
So Macy’s is competing with Marshall’s and Penny’s for some customers and with Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus for others.
I don’t know what the Dillard’s is like in your town, but around here they are definitely many notches below Nordstrom’s, much less Saks or Neiman’s. As a matter of fact, I’m not even sure our local Dillard’s stores are even equal to Macy’s.
OTOH Penny’s better merchandise is at least on par with Macy’s midline stuff.
At the Mall of America, the 4 big anchor stores are: Sears, Nordstroms, Macy’s and Bloomingdales.
Sears definately isn’t in the same market at the other 3, but I’d say that at least here Macy’s, Nordstroms and Bloomingdales compete for the same business.
Macy’s also competes with more niche stores for different product lines - Bed Bath and Beyond for cookware and sheets and towels, for example, or furniture and rug stores, or mattress stores.
Macy’s has become pretty much the quintessential department store that still has lots of departments aside from clothing, accessories and cosmetics. Nordstrom doesn’t have those other departments; Bloomingdale’s does have cookware and sheets and towels, but not furniture, and so on. The low-end stores like Target and Walmart do have lots of departments, but they mostly attract a different sort of clientele.
So I don’t think Macy’s is competing much with other department stores; they are mostly competing to get you in their door instead of anyone else’s door, and to meet most or all of your retail needs outside of groceries and auto supplies. It’s still about the convenience of 1-stop shopping vs. possibly better selection and prices at the niche stores.
Roddy
If you went to a mall in Texas or California or Alabama, which anchor stores would you see? I assume that Penney’s, Sears, and Macy’s are in most large malls. What other equivalent stores are?
I disagree. Bloomingdales and Nordstroms are a cut above Macy’s. I’d put Macy’s on par with (actually, slightly above) JCP’s. Herberger’s, a store we don’t see much around here (but there’s one in Rosedale) seems to be on the same level as Macy’s.
When I first saw the question, my answer was “Dayton’s.” Which Macy’s recently bought out here in the Minneapolis area.
One thing to note is that, especially since Macy’s has bought up so many regional department stores, there is a wide range among Macy’s stores. We have two Macy’s in San Francisco. The downtown Macy’s is a high-end store with a lot of designer merchandise. It definitely competes with Nordstrom and Bloomingdale’s, although it is probably a notch below them. The Macy’s in an outlying mall is far more downscale. It carries almost none of the designers I associate with Macy’s, and for those designers it does carry, it carries their lower-end lines. Most of the merchandise at that Macy’s is lower-level in-house Macy’s brands. I would compare that Macy’s to a Penney’s or a Sears.
Because of all the stores Macy’s has bought, they now have two or three stores in the same mall in some places. I have read that in this situation, they will try to make one of the stores the high-end one, and the other one a lower-end store, so that they can offer a variety and not be in direct competition with each other.
To support your point: We allow our product (which is high end) to be sold out of any Nordstrom store, but we do not allow Macy’s to sell our product at all stores, they are only allowed to place our product in the specific stores we have approved.
Nordstrom is clearly above Macy’s, but that doesn’t mean they don’t compete on some level. Nordstrom tends to be my default for clothing, but if I don’t find what I want there, I will sometimes go check Macy’s. So in the sense that either one could end up getting my money for the same purchase, they’re definitely competitors.
On a brief-ish side note, I feel like Macy’s around here has really gone down hill. I used to like them fine. I don’t know if it’s related to the change from Bon-Marche to Bon-Macy’s to Macy’s (in this area), but I really don’t like shopping at Macy’s anymore. I find that the stores tend to not be well organized, the employees are unhelpful, the displays are often cluttered, the environment is depressing (lighting and decor) and the racks are now dominated by private label merchandise (or “Macy’s exclusive” which is really the same thing). I’m not necessarily anti-private label, but I do like to have a choice, and I haven’t found most of Macy’s private label stuff to be very high quality.
So, while I wouldn’t say Macy’s is my last resort (that would be Wal-Mart, with Sears one step up), I avoid it when I can. If I’m just looking for something decent and cheap, I’ll go to Target, Old Navy, GAP, etc. If I want something nicer, I’ll go to Nordstrom, Neiman, Brooks Brothers, etc. (sadly we don’t have Bloomingdales, which I have liked the few times I’ve been to one). Macy’s only comes into play when I’ve looked elsewhere and the store happens to be nearby enough to walk through quickly to see if they have what I need.