CHICAGO — Macy’s expected resistance when it began putting its name on the door of local favorites like Kaufmann’s and Filene’s after it bought May Co. more than two years ago.
But nowhere has the switch proved harder than Chicago, where anger at the loss of the iconic Marshall Field’s chain stubbornly refused to recede.
“There are a lot of people who just can’t get over the Marshall Field’s name change,” said Frank Guzzetta, the former president of Marshall Field’s who is now chairman and chief executive of Macy’s North, one of seven regional divisions of Macy’s Inc. “Those people, no matter how hard we worked at it, have continued to be detractors.”
That’s why this holiday season, Macy’s has all but given up wooing the Field’s faithful.
Instead, executives are mounting a full-fledged campaign to bring in new shoppers – especially those who lack a deep-rooted Field’s connection – to its flagship State Street store.
The changes include a wine bar in the store’s Walnut Room – hallowed ground for generations of Chicagoans who have meals served by tuxedo-clad waiters as part of a holiday tradition.
There’s also free Wi-Fi, the city’s only FAO Schwarz toy store and college nights featuring denim fitting clinics and a “shoe diva” shopping party – designed to target children, college students and young professionals that are flocking to new downtown condos.
“You have to, at some point, stop and say, ‘I apologize, I’m sorry you feel that way,’ and move on,” Guzzetta said.
Macy’s won’t say how much it is investing to turn around its Chicago business, or how much sales have dropped. But Lord and Taylor chief executive Jane Elfers says her chain scored a 12 percentage point bump in sales since the Field’s-to-Macy’s switch last year.
Chicago began its love affair with the dry-goods store that eventually became Marshall Field’s in 1865.
So far, once-tentative shoppers seem pleased.
“Even though there was the transition,” Marge Chastain said, “it’s still Marshall Field’s to me.”
