Is a Hudson's Flashback Possible at Detroit-Area Macy's?
For Detroit, Hudson's is the department store that spurs memories of Christmas-shopping excursions and Maurice-salad lunches. The department-store chain was a Detroit staple for over a century before a merger brought about a name change to Marshall Field's. The Michigan Marshall Field's stores, however, kept at least some features of our beloved Hudson's. The same could not be said when Macy's took over Marshall Field's just a few years later. In fact, the department stores that served as an anchor to virtually every mall in the Metro Detroit area were Macy-ized in 2005, leaving little in the way of memories or regional character for Detroiters.
Apparently, Macy's has realized the error its ways in blotting out the local character of its acquired department-store chains; according to the Chicago Tribune, Macy's is launching a pilot program aimed at bringing back some regional features to some of its stores. For instance, Macy's is bringing back several higher-end brands originally carried by Marshall Field's to its Chicago stores.
Who knows? If the pilot program results in higher sales, maybe it will be expanded. What would you like to see Macy's bring back in honorarium of Hudson's in its Detroit stores?
Comments
Service, neat and orderly stores, brand names.
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You write that at least Marshall Field’s kept some of the features of our beloved Hudson’s. Perhaps you aren’t aware that Hudson’s owned Field’s, not the other way around, and that it was Hudson’s that decided to change the name of its own stores to Marshall Field’s. Hudson’s pointed to Field’s stronger sales revenues and profitability in addition to Field’s reputation for higher quality and international renown as a premium world-class store as reasons for the change.
Of course, that was a very different situation from Macy’s decision to acquire department stores nationwide simply for the prime real estate in which to create a national Macy’s chain. Macy’s has so angered and offended people in Chicago that very few locals will step foot into a Macy’s store and of course there no tourist appeal at all. Marshall Field’s, on the other hand, was the city’s 3rd most popular tourist destination and the State Street store alone attracted more than 9 million customers each year before Macy’s moved in. Now the place has all the appeal of a generic, overpriced discount mall.
Also, in Chicago Marshall Field’s is more than the center of generational family traditions and quality merchandise, Field’s created most of the city’s museum and has given more to Chicago than any other company to any city in the US. Field’s leadership and generosity date all the way back to the 1897 World’s Columbian for which Marshall Field’s built the Museum of Science and Industry and spearheaded the efforts to bring 26 million people from around the world to see Chicago as a center of fashion, commerce and architecture.
Just as Detroit wants its hometown brands and traditions restored, so do many other cities across the county. None more, perhaps, than Chicago.