The Columnist Manifesto

Federated Stores, the retail conglomerate that owns Macy's and Bloomingdale's, has bought out Marshall Field's. Apparently this buyout doesn't mean that Federated will add the venerable midwestern department store chain to its stable of brands; rather, it plans to erase Marshall Field's and replace all the stores with Macy's. (See here.)


I'm not one to get all weepy over the demise of a particular big business in the "creative destruction" (in Joseph Schumpeter's famous phrase) that is our capitalist system. On the other hand, retail establishments can become part of the cultural fabric of our lives. I hate it when the local businesses that ground a small community are wiped out by yet another Walmart on the outskirts. The demise and Macification of Marshall Field's is different, but not entirely: It's another victory in the inexorable march of national sameness over regional variation.


Marshall Field's has been a mainstay of downtown Chicago for over a century. and one wonders what will happen to its elegant old interior. Apparently, the Macy's people -- whom you can see scurrying around with blueprints as you do your Christmas shopping -- are going to completely redo it.



The chieftans of Federated are retail experts, and I'm not, but I can't help but wonder what they think they gain by shutting down the downtown Chicago flagship store for 6-8 months while they gut the place and rebuild it as Macy's. Not to mention all the other stores that will be shut down during the makeovers. And what about all the business goodwill associated with the Marshall Field's name? And are they just going to dump Frango Mints?

Please tell me that the business plan is something smarter than "we're going to ditch all those tight-fisted Marshall Field's nerds so we can bring in all the Macy's shoppers who are really hip and will spend lots of money."