NEWS
By From Sun news services | February 3, 2009
Macy's Inc. announced yesterday that it will cut 7,000 jobs, almost 4 percent of its work force, and reduce its contributions to its employees' retirement funds and slash its dividend to preserve cash amid a severe pullback in consumer spending. The Cincinnati-based department store chain also announced the national rollout of a plan to localize merchandising to specific markets, which it began in some regions last year. The company, which also delivered downbeat earnings and sales forecasts for the year, said it plans to integrate all its geographic divisions into a single unit.
NEWS
By Ellen Marshall | August 15, 2008
Well, it's done. The Chapter 11 filing this month by Boscov's Department Store LLC is heralded as a sign of lagging retail earnings since our "non-recession" began. However, all of us loyal Hecht's shoppers know the real truth. Boscov's was the five-and-dime of department stores. I went to the White Marsh store a total of three times in two years - me, the queen of shopping. The first visit I walked - no, ran - quickly out of the less-than-charming store, and over to Macy's. On the second visit, I bought a few items for my son and husband because I had 30 percent off coupons.
NEWS
By Susan Chandler | July 11, 2008
Frugal-minded shoppers spent their tax rebate checks at discount merchants last month, boosting sales at some of the country's largest chains. But they stayed away from higher-priced department stores and specialty stores, causing sales to fall by double-digits at Nordstrom Inc. and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. It was a sign that consumers are confining themselves to spending on the basics, and even then, they are looking for bargains, retail experts...
NEWS
By The Wall Street Journal | April 22, 2008
CHICAGO - The sprawling Macy's store on State Street here was once home to the premier name in Chicago retailing, Marshall Field's. But about a year and a half ago, Macy's forged one chain, with one name, out of Marshall Field's, Hecht's, Robinsons-May, Kaufmann's and other local department store names that it owned across the country. But Macy Inc.'s same-store sales were 1.3 percent lower last year than in 2006, and Chief Executive Officer Terry Lundgren is changing course, ditching the nationwide cookie-cutter approach in favor of tailoring merchandise at the world's largest department store chain by targeting local tastes.
NEWS
By Leslie Earnest | July 13, 2007
Alfredo Cardona of Santa Ana, Calif., has always liked buying his clothes at Nordstrom, but lately he's switched to Burlington Coat Factory, where the prices are lower. The 24-year-old financial adviser said he now shops "anywhere you can save." And he's not alone. Retailers posted moderate sales results for June yesterday as shoppers kept spending but tried to get more for their money. Wall Street celebrated the sales report with major gains yesterday, seeing evidence that the retail economy was not collapsing amid a nationwide housing downturn.
NEWS
By Hanah Cho, Andrea K. Walker and Tyeesha Dixon | November 25, 2006
The day after Thanksgiving is a special time for Michelle Robinson. Growing up in Atlanta, she and her mother would head to Macy's downtown to browse, shop and eat at the department store's cellar-level market. So, she and her sister-in-law, Jessica Robinson, arrived early yesterday at the Macy's in Towson Town Center expecting to snag some great deals. Though fans of department stores, the women left disappointed. "Macy's is known for great sales," said Michelle Robinson, 36, of Westminster, who managed to pick up a jacket for her husband but nothing else.
NEWS
By Michael Hill | November 19, 2006
The great department stores once stood in every city like eternal sentinels of American commerce. In Baltimore, they anchored the corners of Howard and Lexington streets -- Stewart's, the Hecht Co., Hochschild-Kohn, Hutzler's. And now they are gone. Some wonder if the same fate awaits the American newspaper. What was once unthinkable is now thought about as newspaper companies struggle with declining circulation and profits. Few newspapers have disappeared, but the respected Knight Ridder chain is no more, a victim of pressure from shareholders as circulation and profit margins declined.
NEWS
By Andrea K. Walker | October 28, 2006
The official grand opening of Boscov's Department Stores at three local malls is today, but crowds of customers arrived to shop yesterday, paying $5 in the name of charity to get a sneak peek and to snare some early bargains. Shoppers gathered outside the entrances of the department stores before they opened to get a first glimpse at the retailer. Crowds continued throughout the day. Some got their photographs taken with the Monopoly man. Others snacked on free samples of the department store's homemade fudge and chocolate-covered pretzels.
NEWS
By Andrea K. Walker | October 15, 2006
As Boscov's department store chief Kenneth S. Lakin stood last week among the buzz of workers preparing to open three new stores in the Baltimore area, he was reminded of advice an uncle once offered while building the 95-year-old family retail chain. "You can always get married again," Al Boscov once said. "But you can only open a store once." Boscov's executives, in the midst of the company's largest expansion in its history, are bringing new stores to the Baltimore area Oct. 28 in Marley Station Mall, Owings Mills Mall and White Marsh Mall with $12 million in renovations.
NEWS
By MarketWatch | October 6, 2006
CHICAGO -- Consumers shifted to higher-end stores in September, opening their wallets for fashionable clothing and accessories as a spell of chilly weather, a late start for back-to-school shopping and lower gas prices proved particularly helpful for upscale department stores and specialty retailers. With few notable exceptions, retailers turned in better-than-expected same-store sales results as consumers shopped for fleece, sweaters and leggings, monthly sales reports showed yesterday.