# Why are people still so upset about Marshall Fields? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 21, 2009, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-so-upset-about-marshall-fields/522096 "2009-12-21T18:30:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![SeaDragonTattoo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@SeaDragonTattoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeaDragonTattoo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2011, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-so-upset-about-marshall-fields/522096/41 "2011-03-03T02:43:06Z")
I used to do all my Christmas shopping at the flagship Field’s on State Street. Between there and Christkindlmarket I got all my shopping done and really enjoyed doing hands-on “physical” shopping then. My first, and last, experience with Macy’s was that first Christmas after the name change. It was very different from the year before, and the many years prior that I shopped there for Christmas. I used to stop in the basement food court for late lunch - the food had changed, the tables were dirty, I went into the Ladies Room down there and it was so dirty I had to walk back out and seek a little-used room in the furniture department. The areas around elevators and escalators that used to show off some space and clean flooring had been stocked with “displays” of extra merchandise - cheap toys, games, puzzles, all extra Christmas gift stock that made the whole place into a cluttered mess. No more spacious feel, just clutter, and cheap clutter at that. The handbag section was a mess and the jewelry counters were jammed with crap all over the tops with nary a salesperson to be found. If there was still a book section, I couldn’t find it. A lot of the independent sellers that had areas they rented - there had been a clockmaker, a hair accessory maker, and some artist areas in the basement that were all gone - there were lots of empty areas. That was the last time I stepped into the State Street store. I wept and I’m sure I looked like a crazy person, but my Christmas shopping tradition that I had carried from my mother was gone. I’ve done all my shopping on Amazon ever since. It’s still very sad to me. It makes me tear up a little just thinking about it. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 8:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-so-upset-about-marshall-fields/522096/42 "2011-03-08T08:11:16Z")
well, we got the double-whammy in Detroit, when Hudson’s became Marshall Field’s, then Macy’s. I’m not enough of a “shopper” to have really noticed any differences other than signage. ---
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-so-upset-about-marshall-fields/522096/43 "2011-03-08T16:13:42Z")
> [@Tim\_R.Mortiss](#): > > I shopped there for years when it was Fields. And I’ve shopped there after the conversion. Honestly, except for the color of the shopping bags, I can’t tell the difference. Haters are being silly. This has been my experience as well, based mostly on suburban mall locations. I never frequented the State Street store, but the couple times I’ve been there and the Water Tower location post-Macy’s, things have seemed pretty much the same as before. In fact, in the few years before the switch, I sadly noted that the State Street Field’s had been getting kind of dumpy – poor lighting, display fixtures in need of repair, etc. At least Macy’s pumped in a little cash to get things looking nice again. ---
**Author:** ![President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@President\_Johnny\_Gentle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/President_Johnny_Gentle)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2011, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-so-upset-about-marshall-fields/522096/44 "2011-03-08T18:34:11Z")
In Minneapolis, the similar complaint has to do with restoring the [Dayton’s](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayton%27s) name. Dayton’s locations were converted along with Hudson’s to Marshall Fields about 10 years ago, and then were converted to Macy’s along with the entire chain. One of the major complaints deals with the annual holiday display in the flagship Dayton’s store on the Nicollet Mall in downtown Mpls. This is the store that appears in the opening credits of the Mary Tyler Moore show behind MTM tossing her hat into the air. Since 1962, there have been annual displays in the 8th floor auditorium, and many families would attend each year to see the display. Coupled with evening parades during the holiday season, Dayton’s drew a lot of visitors downtown in cold snowy weather. But now, apparently Macy’s has [decided to downplay the annual display](http://www.startribune.com/blogs/111690869.html). ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2011, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-so-upset-about-marshall-fields/522096/45 "2011-03-10T21:53:34Z")
I still don’t shop at Macy’s. Maybe if they had something no one else does, my resolve would be tested but I’m not hurting for department store options. My wife shops at Macy’s and admits that it considerably low quality (store & merchandise) than it was as Field’s. She’s a transplant from the East Coast so she’s shopped at Macy’s for years and years and had no allegiance to Field’s but she’ll say that it was nicer as Field’s before the buy-out and conversion. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2011, 3:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-so-upset-about-marshall-fields/522096/46 "2011-03-11T03:58:26Z")
The real tragedy is that when people in the future read C.M. Kornbluth’s _The Marching Morons_, nobody will get the shout-out. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-people-still-so-upset-about-marshall-fields/522096.md?page=2)