Say it ain't so Macy's: A lifetime of memories

Recently, Macy’s CEO Tony Spring announced a significant overhaul of its business strategy, which includes closing around 150 Macy’s stores over the next three years while expanding its upscale Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury chains. Say it ain’t so Tony!

This marks Macy’s second major downsizing since 2020, reducing its store count to 350, down from over 700 before the pandemic. The closed stores, labeled as "underproductive locations," represented 25% of the company’s space but only contributed 10% of sales. Macy’s anticipates earning $600 million to $750 million from selling these stores and optimizing warehouses.

Spring emphasized the importance of quality over quantity, stating, "We have to focus on having the best stores, not the largest number of stores."

And even though I was wildly opposed to Marshall Field’s morphing into Macy’s, as time passed, I developed a warm heart for this newcomer.  A friend of mine, Andrea Schwartz Stryker, headed up the Macy’s staff that consisted of a lot of great, caring talent, so I had wonderful access to their many events that were to come.

I relished the Spring Flower Shows where the entire floor felt like you had wandered into the Land of Oz- so many brilliant colors and assortment of remarkable floral displays and the SMELL!! Omg, it even wafted out onto the streets. I never missed it and my mom always flew up from Southern Illinois so we could go together.

Macy’s also created an amazing way to give back – Glamorama! This exciting yearly fundraising event/fashion show/party always brought out the A-listers, celebrities, politicians, hell, everybody who was anybody attended. The fashion show featured models like Cindy Crawford and one show was even produced by the late, great Victor Skrebneski! It was always a blow-out- I remember one memorable segment with all male models dressed in Tommy Hilfiger underwear and, for the finale, IT RAINED!

Every year, Glamorama benefited a different charity. For five years, it supported Ronald McDonald House Charities and I was the gala chair throughout. (What a thrill and honor that was!) Guests dressed to the nines for this party that also included an after-party that took up the whole top floor of Macy’s. It was as wild as the parties at Studio 54 without the coke spoon.  

During this time, celebrity guests attending included Jason Derulo, Sheryl Crow, Ceelo Green (not my favorite), Far East Movement, Evander Holyfield Jr., Macy Gray, Eric Hutchinson, Robin Thicke and so many others. It was pure excitement.

And then, at Christmastime, I always looked forward to the Great Tree Lighting. I was lucky to interview the many celebrities who hosted this event like Ryan Seacrest. He told me his mentor was Dick Clark and that his favorite piece of advice to him was to “be on time and always show up.” And even though, Macy’s Christmas décor never matched Marshall Field’s, at least they tried in the ways that they could.

Oh yes, friends. Those were heady days at Macy’s- sadly, all gone now. But still, I sure don’t want to see our Macy’s leave. Fingers crossed. Say it ain’t so Tony!

The company has been notifying affected workers and aims to close about 50 stores this fiscal year, with the rest shuttered by the end of 2026.