With just one day until the ribbons are cut and the signs are unveiled, staff at Colorado Macy’s stores are scurrying to complete displays and stock new products.
Workers spent Thursday morning putting the final touches on a Macy’s sign outside the chain’s Cherry Creek store before re-covering it with a banner bearing the soon-to-disappear Foley’s name. The banner will come down Saturday, when Macy’s parent Federated Department Stores Inc. marks the official switch from Foley’s to Macy’s.
“It’s been crazy,” said store manager Terri Reich as she toured the store Thursday. In between greeting customers, employees and workers brought in to help “Macy-ize” the store, Reich proudly pointed out Macy’s exclusive clothing lines, including INC and Alfani, which she says are already gaining popularity with Colorado customers.
“The reaction has been phenomenal,” she said. “Customers are actually stopping me and saying, ‘Thank you for the new lines. Thank you for widening the aisles.”‘
In addition to a roomier layout and expanded shoe and handbag sections, customers will find renovated dressing rooms that include cozy seating areas with televisions.
Yet the biggest changes that customers will notice compared with Foley’s will likely be a trendier mix of clothing and improved customer service, said personal shopper Rachael Donaldson, who evaluated the store at the request of The Denver Post.
“They have a really good assortment, and nobody makes you feel like you don’t belong,” said Donaldson, of Product Denver.
Donaldson was particularly impressed with Macy’s shoe selection – especially its assortment of high-end Coach shoes – and the availability of some hard-to-find sizes and styles of jeans.
Donaldson said she was surprised by the number of sale-priced items, including several racks bearing markdowns of 25 percent and 50 percent. She also commented on the quality and style available in the children’s department. Several items in that department were available at “Old Navy or Target prices,” she said.
After quizzing salespeople in the shoe department and a trendy women’s department called Impulse, Donaldson also gave high marks to their knowledge and eagerness to help.
“I can find some of the styles elsewhere, but finding someone to help you can sometimes be hard,” she said.
Salespeople at Macy’s appeared well-trained and seemed to enjoy their jobs, she said.
While Donaldson said shoppers will likely be pleased with the selection and service, she expressed disappointment with some features, such as carpet and lighting, which she deemed too “dark and dated.”
The Cherry Creek Macy’s store will be the chain’s flagship store for the Colorado market, stocking the widest assortment of products. Other Macy’s stores will have a merchandise mix that is tailored to each area’s demographic mix.
Staff writer Kristi Arellano can be reached at 303-954-1902 or karellano@denverpost.com.
