Macy's signs deal to put FAO Schwarz in its stores

AP did a lot of hard work reprinting a news release with all the usual corporate speak. "Our two brands have a combined history of 296 years of bringing joy and retail magic to consumers..." Give me a break. Maybe they had find the magic to stay out of bankruptcy court, where both companies once were.

Well the former glorious State Street Marshall Field's store used to carry an extensive children's department. Now Messy's don't even sell kids shoes; who will shop for toys if you can't even find items on your list? So much for a full service department.
FAO isn't what is used to be 20 years ago so the press release is about as good as announcing Donald Trump is introducing a new toupe line to complement his suit line at Messy's.

Can't shoppers get toys at Wal-Mart? They're the store that reported the big earnings this quarter.

Gle, I'm sure that is where you shop. Unless you want Chinese toys, go to Wal-mart. A freind told me Target told her to got to FAO to buy non Chinese toys.

More lead and toys breaking and poisoning the children. Way to go Wal-mart, bringi ng us all those Chinese goods and forcing retailers to consolidate.

dont any one remember when thay did this with carsons what hapened to that deal i dont think it worked out and was pulled from ther stores after a few years good luck macys

Carson's did it with one store and they put it on the 7th floor, tucked away where hardly any customers would go to. Also FAO was a different company back then. Carson's tried the Sharper Image too and I don't think that worked either. Toys are a good thing to have in a store . Field's used to have the BEST TOY department, until they could not compete in price with Toys R US and the other discount stores. They in turn cancelled all toys uder Target

Mike wrote:

Gle, I'm sure that is where you shop. Unless you want Chinese toys, go to Wal-mart. A freind told me Target told her to got to FAO to buy non Chinese toys.
More lead and toys breaking and poisoning the children. Way to go Wal-mart, bringi ng us all those Chinese goods and forcing retailers to consolidate.

Gee Mike, where do you think FAO Schwartz get's their toys, the USA?

Oh boy! An FAO Shwartz in Macys?

Nope...still no reason to shop Macys in Chicago. The blunder from NY continues....(I'm not talking about HRC!)

What a perfect pairing; an overpriced toy store with a vulgar and cheesy department store. Wow, this will certainly change my mind about shopping there!

I checked out the FAO website and compared products. You can find most of the same toys at walmart for substantially reduced prices. Not all but most. But hey if you feel better paying full retail price at Macy's go right ahead.

I encourage Macy's to bring in as many other retailers into their stores as possible. Perhaps, at some point, Alfani and Style & Co. and the similar gunk that Macy's tries to sell, will be squeezed out in favor of brands people actually heard of and respect.

Even better, how about having an upscale/classy department store within a store concept at Macy's! They can call it Marshall Field's and it could take up, oh, about eight floors of 111 N. State!

I remember the toy section at Field's on State Street back in the '60's. I can still hear the sound of the dark oak wooden floor squeaking every once in a while under my childish footsteps. The best part was the huge stuffed lions and bears that sat atop the beautiful dark wood display cabinets. Or wait, the best part was the tons & tons of beautiful dolls. No, the best was the electric train display. Wait, I know, the best part was at Christmastime when characters dressed as though they had just jumped out of Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" roamed the toy department singing and playing Christmas carols on violins & cornets. It was always THE place to stop before visiting Santa.

Or maybe the best part of Marshall Field's toy department was just the whole darn thing! What a store! I truly miss it.

I'm still skeptical and haven't shopped there , but perhaps this is a sign of better things to come (including, perhaps, the return of Field's in name and quality). If I recall correctly, their original strategy was to rely more on private labels and less on name brands. This seems to run antithetical to that. An admission of failure, perhaps?

I remember when I was a little girl (many, many moons ago) and my Papi used to take me by the hand onto the elevated trains right to Marshall Field's and we'd go down to the basement where FAO Schwartz was. And he would buy me a Marionette. Back then, they were real wood and strings...and they came in several different characters and such.

We had such a marvelous time. Then we'd go to lunch in the Walnut Room. I would always dress up.

But everyone on this list is right about FAO Schwartz...they do not make toys like they used to. I still have all of my marionettes and they are hanging up all around the house.

Pathetic.

A cruddy department store brand with sub-standard merchanidise attempting to piggyback on a once great-but now irrelevant-brand like FAO Schwartz.

With such wonderful brands already as Trump's cheesy men's wear, China-crap Alfani, Martha Stewarts overpriced home goods and bringing back such 'hot' names as Hilfiger (cough), I'm sure shoppers will just beat a path to their grimy doors.

Macy's is flailing for something to bring shoppers in. Too bad their witless MBA's in Cincy have zero creativity or merchandising savvy. Yeah, they've just been brilliant at this 'remaking' the department store. Look at the success of how they've managed to alienate just about every shopper where they killed the local department store brand....especially in Chicago.

Sales way down in L.A, Houston, Boston, Hartford, Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Pittsburgh and Maimi. Way to flop!

Just note that Macy's is doing so poorly that they no longer report same-store sales each month. For the truth of how badly they are doing in Chicago, just get the tax receipt report from the Illinois Dept of Revenue. State St alone is down well over 35%.

Less than one year to go until Macy's gives up this horrible merger/takeover fiasco and sells the former Field's stores to some company with more retail savvy.

They killed Marshall Field's and now the former Field's shoppers are going to do them in. Good Riddance! Trump, Martha and Tommy....you bought into the wrong store.

Chicago native wrote:

I remember the toy section at Field's on State Street back in the '60's. I can still hear the sound of the dark oak wooden floor squeaking every once in a while under my childish footsteps. The best part was the huge stuffed lions and bears that sat atop the beautiful dark wood display cabinets. Or wait, the best part was the tons & tons of beautiful dolls. No, the best was the electric train display. Wait, I know, the best part was at Christmastime when characters dressed as though they had just jumped out of Dickens's "A Christmas Carol" roamed the toy department singing and playing Christmas carols on violins & cornets. It was always THE place to stop before visiting Santa.
Or maybe the best part of Marshall Field's toy department was just the whole darn thing! What a store! I truly miss it.

Field's toy department in the 50s and 60s was awesome. I had forgotten about the huge stuffed animals on top of the display cabinets! They also had things hanging overhead, like model airplanes, etc.

They had such interesting, unique gift wrapping paper depicting circus characters in bright colors - I recall trapeze artists, a lion tamer, zebras, etc.

I'm sure nobody will remember macy's in 50 years the way many posters here fondly remember Field's from 50 years ago.

I just noticed that half the posts here (8 out of 16) are from states other than Illinois. Not one was complimentary to macy's. So I guess macy's has spread their unhappiness across the country (New Jersey to California), and macy's is not a problem just in the minds of Chicagoans and Field's fans.

Actually, Mike is the only one here who is complimentary to macy's.

Thomas wrote:

I checked out the FAO website and compared products. You can find most of the same toys at walmart for substantially reduced prices. Not all but most. But hey if you feel better paying full retail price at Macy's go right ahead.

I've never seen anything at Wal-Mart that costs $10,000.00, much less at toy. But I guess a Wal-Mart shopper like you might know better.

Um, this isn't the whole story. Perhaps the Tribune is asleep at the switch? Again?

"[...] But the meeting did not end peacefully. Before it adjourned, a small group of Chicago shareholders took turns calling Lundgren out on Macy's 2006 decision to shutter the Marshall Field's chain, which had been operated by the former May Co. Those stores were rebranded as Macy's, as were all of the former May Co. stores.

"My Macy's is what you're pushing for, but for me and most of my Chicago neighbors, I want my Marshall Field's," said shareholder Daniel Harcourt.

"Harcourt was followed by two other Marshall Field's supporters, including Paul Fine, who apparently got under Lundgren's skin by arguing that weak sales at Macy's are not simply the result of a poor economy and high gas prices, but because of the national rebranding of the May stores. He argued that Marshall Field's was profitable, attacking Lundgren's statement that the chain was previously one of the worst-performing department stores in the nation.

"To this, Lundgren responded: "I have the facts and you have your imagination."

"After the meeting, during a traditional question-and-answer lunch with reporters, Lundgren said he appreciated their frustration. "This is something very personal and near and dear to them," he said.

"But the topic quickly moved to initiatives well beyond Chicago, to My Macy's, international expansion and merchandise.

"Domestically, Lundgren said Macy's is looking at expansion plans through open-air malls, because so few traditional malls are being constructed. This may mean stores that are closer to 100,000 square feet, rather than its traditional 180,000. But, Lundgren said, Macy's will not consider operating specialty stores that offer only its exclusive brands, such as INC or Alfani[....]"

See http://www.bizjournals.com/cincinnati/stories...

Macy's is so silly... why do they try this bound-to-fail ideas over and over again. Consumers are not asking for celebs, stores brands, or a toy store. They are asking for one thing only - Bring Back Field's. Plain and simple.