Lenox Square/Phipps Plaza

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

I can't imagine why Lenox Macy's would not be able to perform equally to Miami. They both pull from large trade areas and both have numerous locations in their markets.

I'm really beginning to hate Macy's - they are getting a well deserved backlash to their cross-country ravaging of local department store chains.

I agree with you perimeter285 that they both pull from large, substancial trade areas as you said, and the Lenox location draws not just Atlanta area residence, but many people from out of state and factor in the tourist and convention trade that Atlanta receives also.

But like you, I am really angry at Macy's. They had owned Atlanta based Davison's since 1923 and the Davison's stores were eventually rebranded as Macy's in 1985. Then in the early 90's Macy's went bankrupt and Federated Department Stores bought out Macy's. Federated also bought Rich's in 1976 due to a heavy debt load incurred by the Rich Family. But at least we had Macy's and Rich's which was Atlanta's favored homegrown department store. Then in 2003 Federated decided to merge Macy's and Rich's because it owned both department stores and saw this as having overlapping sales. As you know the Macy's stores were closed and Rich's became Rich's-Macy's. When they did this I knew it would only be a matter of time before the Rich's name was dropped altogether.

And this happened to locally homegrown stores in several major cities, and then Federated bought out the May Co. department stores and branded them all Macy's, so now Federated is known as Macy's Inc. and all they manage now are Macy's and Bloomingdale's department stores.

I just dream of a day when some rich Atlanta billionaire might reform Rich's and bring us back our favorite Atlanta based department store. You can always dream right?

Edited January 5, 2008 by kennethdisraili

[VistaLakes01]

Um, there are many large Miami stores and I'm assuming they brought this up because the major Miami stores perform better? Similarly, a few years is a lot for a company that recently went through a merger.

Two more retailers are signed for Streets of Buckhead,

Vilebrequin: French swimwear - has numerous locations in US, all in upscale shopping centers/districts

Optical Shops of Aspen: Upscale sunglasses

I think that it will probably be the Dadeland store. Back in the day when it was Burdines it was comparable to Rich's Lenox store. It seems here in the Orlando market Federated has kept the Millenia Macy's "a real Macy's" and out of the Burdines conversion stores only Florida Mall has undergone the biggest change, they carry colognes and perfumes that the other conversion stores don't and a larger selection of designer shoes, etc.

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

I think that it will probably be the Dadeland store. Back in the day when it was Burdines it was comparable to Rich's Lenox store. It seems here in the Orlando market Federated has kept the Millenia Macy's "a real Macy's" and out of the Burdines conversion stores only Florida Mall has undergone the biggest change, they carry colognes and perfumes that the other conversion stores don't and a larger selection of designer shoes, etc.

Don't jump on that so fast metrowester, the Macy's Co. has not confirmed this yet and it is not a done deal.

But I still find it hard to believe because Lenox Square is in a trade area of 1.2 million people, has over 15 million visits per year, and Atlanta still leads the nation in increased tourism. Plus it is located in Buckhead with a population of over 100,000 in 52,000 households, has a daytime work population of 60,000 working in nearly 20 million square feet of office space that frequent the mall and Macy's on a daily basis, and the mediun income in Buckhead is $100,000 dollars. Plus Simon's Lenox Square and Phipps Plaza generate over 1 Billion dollars in revenue each year.

So with that in mind, the Macy's Co. might not be ready to take the flag down off the Lenox Square department store just yet.

[Temeteron]

Any ins and/or outs for Feb 08??

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

Nothing much is going on with Lenox/Phipps right now as all the hoopla is centered around all the announcements for The Streets of Buckhead, and is giving Lenox/Phipps Marketing Director Tisha Melay migrane headaches!!

[Andrea]

Lenox will be hosting the Atlanta Dogwood Festival April 4th, 5th, & 6th 2008.

Atlanta Dogwood Festival

[DaltonGA]

At least for now Lenox will continue to be the flagship Macy's for the division as Macy's is consoldating Macy's South with Macy's Midwest into Macy's Central, keeping Atlanta as the division headquarter's. I actually hate this for St. Louis, as this was May's headquarters and Famous-Barr was as much a part of St. Louis as Rich's was for Atlanta. I still think Macy's Florida will eventually be merged into Macy's South, but Rich's and Burdine's long had a tradition of inter-corporate rivalry in Federated and actually represent what I think Macy's needs to strive to acheive by tailoring the department store to the market, not offering a one size from the cookie cutter fits all version of Macy's.

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

Roberto Coin, featuring his famous Italian jewelry has opened his first boutique in the United States at Phipps Plaza next to Ross-Simmons on the level two Nordstrom wing.

This just helps to salitify Phipps Plaza as the most posh mall in the Southeast.

For more information here is the Roberto Coin website>

http://www.robertocoin.it/

Edited February 11, 2008 by kennethdisraili

[socaguy]

Man, when I worked at Macy's back in the 90's there was only a Macys East and a Macy's West. Of course New York was the main store for Macys East but Atlanta (Lenox) was always considered second. There was always some type of competition going on between the NY region and the Atlanta region, (which included Florida). Times have changed and Macys is just about everywhere now!

[VistaLakes01]

At least for now Lenox will continue to be the flagship Macy's for the division as Macy's is consoldating Macy's South with Macy's Midwest into Macy's Central, keeping Atlanta as the division headquarter's. I actually hate this for St. Louis, as this was May's headquarters and Famous-Barr was as much a part of St. Louis as Rich's was for Atlanta. I still think Macy's Florida will eventually be merged into Macy's South, but Rich's and Burdine's long had a tradition of inter-corporate rivalry in Federated and actually represent what I think Macy's needs to strive to acheive by tailoring the department store to the market, not offering a one size from the cookie cutter fits all version of Macy's.

That makes sense. Are you saying that Florida is a big enough market to be Macy's South eventually? And for that combined region including St.Louis Atlanta will be the flagship? It would make sense since Burdines hat a lot or more resorty but fashionable stuff in the mix,

[DaltonGA]

That makes sense. Are you saying that Florida is a big enough market to be Macy's South eventually? And for that combined region including St.Louis Atlanta will be the flagship? It would make sense since Burdines hat a lot or more resorty but fashionable stuff in the mix,

No, actually I don't think the 63 or so stores in Macy's Florida is enough to justify is existence as a separate division. The new Macy's Central is going to be roughly 250 stores as will Macy's East once Macy's North is added. Macy's West will be even larger with Macy's Northwest with over 270 stores.

Also, Atlanta was the division headquarters for Federated's Central group which included Rich's, Lazarus, and Goldsmith's. Macy's was a separate division in Federated until 2003 when the regional chains were "hyphenated" into Rich's-Macy's, Burdine's-Macy's, Bon-Macy's, Lazarus-Macy's, and Goldsmith's-Macy's. At this point the old Macy's at Lenox, which was originally Davison's until 1985-86, was closed for conversion to Bloomingdale's while the Rich's became Rich's-Macy's until 2005 at which it became simply Macy's.

Most industry observers say that Macy's Florida is the most profitible Macy's division which is why it wasn't merged into Macy's South while Macy's Midwest and Macy's North were underperforming in relation to Macy's South and Macy's East. I suspect tourism, particularly international visitors and international business benefits the Florida stores along with retirees who probably represent transplants from Macy's core eastern business, a group more conservative and more loyal to a long known store name as opposed to "newcomers" such as Target and Costco.

[VistaLakes01]

No, actually I don't think the 63 or so stores in Macy's Florida is enough to justify is existence as a separate division. The new Macy's Central is going to be roughly 250 stores as will Macy's East once Macy's North is added. Macy's West will be even larger with Macy's Northwest with over 270 stores.

Also, Atlanta was the division headquarters for Federated's Central group which included Rich's, Lazarus, and Goldsmith's. Macy's was a separate division in Federated until 2003 when the regional chains were "hyphenated" into Rich's-Macy's, Burdine's-Macy's, Bon-Macy's, Lazarus-Macy's, and Goldsmith's-Macy's. At this point the old Macy's at Lenox, which was originally Davison's until 1985-86, was closed for conversion to Bloomingdale's while the Rich's became Rich's-Macy's until 2005 at which it became simply Macy's.

Most industry observers say that Macy's Florida is the most profitible Macy's division which is why it wasn't merged into Macy's South while Macy's Midwest and Macy's North were underperforming in relation to Macy's South and Macy's East. I suspect tourism, particularly international visitors and international business benefits the Florida stores along with retirees who probably represent transplants from Macy's core eastern business, a group more conservative and more loyal to a long known store name as opposed to "newcomers" such as Target and Costco.

Oh, I didn't know the divisions were that big. When you talk about Macy's Florida, is that currently the what all Macy's in Florida are under or was that when we still had Macy's and Burdine's?

[Student]

Could someone do me a favor? Could someone arrange these department stores in order from lower end to higher end?

Macy's

Dillards

Neiman Marcus

JC Penny's

Sears

Belk

Nordstrom

Bloomingdales

Saks Fifth Avenue

and add any other thatI might have left out

[Manolos]

Could someone do me a favor? Could someone arrange these department stores in order from lower end to higher end?

Macy's

Dillards

Neiman Marcus

JC Penny's

Sears

Belk

Nordstrom

Bloomingdales

Saks Fifth Avenue

and add any other thatI might have left out

Average store reputation probably:

JC Penney/Belk/Sears

Dillard's

Macy's/Lord and Taylor

Nordstrom

Bloomingdales

Neiman Marcus/Saks Fifth Avenue

Barneys New York/Takashimaya

Bergdorf Goodman

[StevenRocks]

Sears

JCPenney

Dillard's/Belk/Macy's

Bloomingdales

Nordstrom

Saks Fifth Avenue

Neiman Marcus

[VistaLakes01]

Based on the market I'm in (Florida not including Jacksonville or the panhandle):

Sears

JCPenney/Belk/Kohls/Bealls

Dillard's/Macy's

Nordstrom/Bloomingdale's

Saks Fifth Avenue

Neiman Marcus

(Just so there is no outcries about Belk since they seem to have a different marketing strategy here, all stores listed in that category are building stand-alone stores or as part of non-upscale lifestyle centers that don't incorporate residential and upscale restaurants, just average stores. All four of the stores in that category look almost identical and carry the same price range and types of products (in the stand alone stores) with front check out registers and shopping carts)

[micropundit]

MADEWELL, the latest from the folks at J. CREW, will open their first Ga location( and 10th overall) in Lennox Square tis summer.

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

I had not heard of Madewell, so I went searching and they have some older articles about it's creation so I'll post one of them and then Madewell's website:

Creation of Madewell> http://www.boston.com/business/articles/20...w_casual_chain/

Madewell website> http://www.madewell1937.com/SP08/index.html

[Temeteron]

Sears

JCPenney

Dillard's/Belk/Macy's

Bloomingdales

Nordstrom

Saks Fifth Avenue

Neiman Marcus

I think it also depends on what city you are in....

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

I think it also depends on what city you are in....

I agree with Temeteron on that issue Steve.

[DaltonGA]

Belk is the anomoly among mid-range department stores. It level of ranking can vary from market to market and even within a particular market. But remember they are distinctly southern in market scope-Branson, MO is the only store outside of what is traditionally recognized as the South, though in the past they were even in Indiana and had a bigger Maryland presence(a state that is traditionally Southern). Some of the variation come from the various partnerships which allowed the partners some leaway in store merchandising, serving many smaller towns that department stores generally bypassed, and W.H. Belk's philosophy that his stores catered to common people in the middle and working class sectors who could expect to buy better goods at affordable prices.

Dillard's had somewhat developed similarly to Belk, but W.T. Dillard bought out the partners earlier when the business was smaller and began cultivating a single brand strategy. Dillard's still serves some smaller markets, but more and more Dillard's and Macy's seem to be more and more alike, which is a move upscale for Dillard's and downscale for Macy's(or at least the old legacy banners such as Rich's, Burdine's, and Marshall Fields). Dillard's downscaled many of the department stores it acquired and is moving to remedy that, Ivey's is the most glaring example.

Belk on the other hand, has continued to serve small markets, medium markets and large markets. The consolidation of the company into a single entity in the 90's, seems to be paying off. They were able to adopt the Kohl's strategy of store layout to re-establish themselves in Atlanta and Orlando which positioned them well with a resurgent JCPenney. When the opportunity to expand with the purchase of Proffit's/McRae's from Saks came along, they were ready to return to markets they had abandoned while becoming more contemporary. Where there was overlap, they were able to use the overlap to expand their offerings, separating into Women's stores and Men's and Home stores. They still have some opportunities with the Parisian acquisition, as some of the fashion offerings may have been more upmarket than Belk carried outside of the SouthPark flagship. But Belk is a more comprehensive department store than Parisian, many of the Parisians are too small for Belk's merchandising strategy and the store appear cluttered. Town Center for example has had to expand to tenant locations in the Parisian/Belk wing. Many are commenting that Belk at Phipps Plaza is too small, which was never a problem that Parisian patrons saw as Parisian mainly focused on upscale clothing and accessories and little in the way of home furnishings that mid-range department stores carry. Belk at Northgate Mall, Chattanooga, inherited a tiny Miller Bros./Proffits location and utilizes the neighboring former Pier 1 for a Women's store and once again, part of the former Murphy, this time as a Home Store. An aside, Belk, opened in the former Murphy as Belk Women's, but the location was sold to Proffit's prior to Proffit's acquiring the Miller's/Hess's location in the mall, so the location returned to Belk with the Proffit's/McRae merger.

What Belk seems to be doing is filling the department store void left behind with the Macy-izing and Dillard-ization of regional chains. As such, its stores fall more into the A-B-C and even D classifications while Dillard's and Macy's seem to be focusing on A and B stores and the C stores are in danger. Also, the "baggage" of C stores is more noticeable with Belk as such stores were called Lazarus, Horne's, Block's, Rich's, etc at pre-Macy's, Inc Federated while JB White, Gayfers, McAlpins, and others had those stores which Dillard's ultimately eliminated. I don't think it's a bad thing to have C stores if the market will sustain them, and Belk seems to be comfortable with that format. The Bon-Ton has preserved the regional chain approach in the Midwest and East, as well as the banners for now, and other chains such as Von Maur and Boscov's are filling those market gaps in their respective regions of operations. Considering that premium department stores such as Nordstrom and Neiman-Marcus are doing well at taking the higher end from the mid-market chains while Target and Wal-Mart are squeezing from below and JCPenney and Kohl's competing in the mid-range, Belk has maintained its position better than Macy's or Dillard's and the defunct holding companies they have absorbed over the last two decades had done. They have managed to consolidate, first the various Belk entites, and most recently Sak's southern group, without the financial strain that Macy's and Dillard's have seen.

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

^^^^ Thanks for explaining all of that confussion, it helps to better understand where Belk stands and the format theey are using in relation to their store formats.

[VistaLakes01]

^^^^ Thanks for explaining all of that confussion, it helps to better understand where Belk stands and the format theey are using in relation to their store formats.

While it appears Belk has decided on the Kohl's and stand-alone JCPenney format in the Orlando market, there is still a true mall style Belk in Seminole Town Center, while I would say the merchandise is not that fashion foward, the store itself has a more upscale Dillards appeal to it. When JCPenney announced the building of several stand alone stores in the Orlando market, they stated that the stores are primarily designed to be a dash in-dash out (Target) type store that shoppers would frequent during the week and making the traditional JCPenney mall stores for special weekend mall trips where a family may spend an entire Saturday or Sunday outing to the mall and those stores will cater to that crowd. Maybe Belk is doing something similiar in the Orlando market, leaving a few stores for the weekend mall outing and offering a better variety of merchandise. I think this stand alone format is to compete with the Target and Kohls type shopping, that way they can sell more merchandise during the week and not just on the busy weekends at the mall. Makes sense, basically a strategy aimed at the Target shopper to pull some business dominated by Target and make a few bucks in that market.

[VistaLakes01]

[Kenneth Disraili-Jean]

MADEWELL, the latest from the folks at J. CREW, will open their first Ga location( and 10th overall) in Lennox Square tis summer.

Do you or anyone else for that matter know where Madewell will locate, possibly in the former Polo By Ralph Lauren space?