Macy's Corporation is a chain of middle to upper range department stores in the United States. In addition to its famous New York flagship store, the company operates over 800 stores in the United States, as well as 300 consumer electronic stores called eSpot ZoomShop kiosks. As of 2009, they posted revenues of almost $25 billion with net income of just shy of $1billion. Macy's, Inc. employees about 200,000 people, and though no longer the largest store in the world, is the annual sponsor of the New York City Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade that has been in place since 1924 (www.macys.com).
Situational Analysis - As with any number of stores that have been in business for several decades, Macy's has endeavored to keep up with the times -- albeit not without controversy. Their biggest current challenge is deciding what niche they actually wish to fill, and moving aggressively forward with that plan.
SWOT
Strengths
Weaknesses
Opportunities
Threats
Anchored to most major Mall locations
High priced leases, lots of $$ tied up without commiserate customer return
Revamp brick and mortar strategy; find out what works where, when, and how
Too little, too late
High consumer name recognition; long history
Long history but no real marketing message or workable niche
Try to be more of a niche to more of the population; not a little bit of everything to a few
Competition from big discounters and E-commerce
Reputation for sales
Customers become jaded
Memberships, fewer "one" day sales, more believable sales
Too ingrained...
Not exclusive enough for upscale, too expensive for casual. This strategy has worked for them during flush economic times, but seems to be sitting on the fence and really unappealing to many during tougher economic periods. Even during tough times the demographic that can shop for upscale items seems more insulated; it is the lower and middle who then cannot afford Macy's style. Right now, they are trying to appeal…
