Marshall Field's Boycott Working?

By Louis in News on May 21, 2007 3:31PM

Chicagoist isn't above telling you "we told you so." While we disagree whether Chicagoans should go or not go to the State Street Macy's, we never agreed with the decision to change the Marshall Field's landmark on State Street to a Macy's. The reasons were tenuous at best — brand cohesiveness and the strength of the Macy's name. So, we were not surprised when Federated's chief financial officer, Karen Hoguet, said that the Chicago flagship is "doing badly."

We remember that the State Street store wasn't a huge success before the changeover, why anyone thought that inciting boycotts and protests would help bolster sales at the store is beyond us. You would think maybe a last-minute announcement that the name is staying would have engendered some sort of affection for the store that had already been run by Federated for years. But when the black awnings unfurled on State Street, it had the ominous foreboding of a hackneyed poem.

What will save the black symbiote, aside from Peter Parker? The chief financial officer says that they could do more to drive traffic to the store, which is floundering like MJ's stage career. They plan on increasing advertising and adding more sales events like the current 50% discount off clearance items.

Also, in the continuing effort to rid the corporation of brand diversity, Federated is changing its own name to to Macy's Incorporated.

Image via rpatrickmohrphotography.