As a parting shot to Christmas, freelance communications consultant Steve Tanner and wife Amy take a look at this year’s Macy’s State Street holiday windows. Even though Steve’s an avowed ‘Macy’s hater’, the Tanners find a few things to like in a window display at least better than last year’s illuminated vacuum-cleaner hoses.
If it’s any day ending in ‘-day’, you know I’m still eating. This weekend on my Gaper’s Block Drive-Thru foodie byline, the love is as crispy as it is juicy. Browse through to Chicago’s favorite, home-grown group blog and read all about it…
Take a look at this video of 2008’s State Street Christmas windows and decide for yourself whether Macy’s firing of longtime window dresser Amy Meadows was really such a bright idea.
I’ll cut to the chase: Macy’s State Street has cost-cut its Chicago Loop holiday windows and Christmas tree so deeply this year, I personally don’t believe it’s worth bothering to make that time-honored family foray downtown to see them.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren will go to the grave–and take the former Marshall Field’s with him–before he and his team get a clue about how to treat Chicagoans.
Who says you can’t teach an old Macy’s, Inc. CEO new tricks? Last week, Crain’s Chicago Business and the Chicago Tribune both announced the rollout of a new Macy’s marketing campaign entitled, ‘Take Me to State Street.’ According to the papers, the campaign will be full-court media push highlighting the flagship State Street store as a premiere retail destination. It’s about time.
It’s generally not a good sign when the ABC news van is parked in front of your establishment in the middle of the business day. ABC was reporting on food health violations at the new Macy’s State Street. I’d much rather discuss the economic health of the store after a year of deaf-eared marketing decisions by Federated CEO Terry Lundgren.
If you thought you heard a citywide refrain of ‘I told you so’ yesterday, you weren’t imagining things. According to a report in Wednesday’s Chicago Tribune, Federated finally admits feeling financial pain over a hardcore group of former Marshall Field’s shoppers who decided to quit shopping the chain when the nameplate was switched to Macy’s last fall.
This weekend, as the respirator plug is pulled on the Marshall Field nameplate once and for all, Federated will finally get to see how well their big advertising push to lure old Field’s customers to the new ‘Macy’s on State Street’ has worked. My guess is not very. One look at the campaign’s commercials and printed ads easily shows why: where’s Chicago? And why would anyone in Chicago–or anywhere else–cares about Macy’s arrival, anyway?
Yesterday, the Macy’s on State Street signage troubles that I uncovered weren’t the only public-relations blunder dogging the Cincinnati-based department store giant, Federated. Full-court press also went to the South Loop’s Eleven City Diner for daring to serve a sandwich named after the defunct Marshall Field’s–a sandwich that actually earned a cease-and-desist letter from Federated.