Apparently some people still enjoy driving to a mall, finding a parking place and shopping in a real store.
Macy’s department store experienced a sales surge at the start of the year as customers poured in to buy products from clothing to hand bags to perfume.
Sales were up 4.2% in the first three months of 2018, reversing a downward trend the retailer has experienced over the last four years. Macy’s net income was $139 million in the first quarter, up from $78 million in the same quarter last year. I know Macy’s is a huge company, but an increase of $61million is a lot of money to anyone.
For decades, Macy’s was the king of department stores, but it has been struggling to reinvent itself in a time when people would rather sit on their sofa in their jammies with their laptops in their well, laps, and await the front door delivery of their shoes and clothes and Keurigs.
Macy’s is hoping to better compete with Amazon by bringing technology to its aisles. By the end of this year, shoppers at all Macy’s stores will be able to use their smartphones to scan and pay for most products with the store’s app.
The company also recently bought Story, a Manhattan shop that regularly rotates its look and merchandise, similar to the changing exhibitions at an art gallery or features in a magazine. Macy’s has also brought Story’s founder and CEO onto its leadership team to help improve the in-store experience for shoppers.
I have never kept one pair of shoes or a clothing item that I purchased online. For that reason, I do not shop that way. Even QVC shopping (which I have rarely done), has been bagged back up and schlepped to the post office for return.
I am definitely more of an in-person shopper. I want to look at the real color and see if it is a true royal blue, not periwinkle, a true lemon yellow, not golden yellow, or a true pink, not peach.
True confession here. I carry 3×5 laminated cards of my color swatches in my purse. I am a ‘winter’. FYI.
I also want to touch the fabric. I want to know how it feels against my skin.
And perhaps most importantly, I want to try the darn things on. I am a between-sizes person. I may wear one size in a brand and another size in a different brand. I also need to see if it covers what I want it to cover and accentuates what I want it to accentuate, which isn’t a lot, but I work with what I’ve got.
So, I say “Go Macy’s!” I am glad that department stores realize they still have value. And besides, I figure I am burning a few calories and toning my calves as I walk through the stores. I also get quite the cardio workout when I jump up and down in a claustrophobic fit as I attempt to pull the size two, that won’t fit, back over my head.
New clothes AND a workout. Now that is multi-tasking.