Understanding The Retail Department Stores

When examining competitive advantage, it is also important to consider the market and take into account the existing competition against larger firms.

Macy operates in department store retail industry. The U.S. Department Store industry includes over 3500 stores with combined annual revenue of $70 billion representing 20% of the global industry. Department stores in the US increased at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.4% between 2004 and 2009. The US Department store product mix includes a variety of products such as women, men, and children apparel, shoes, cosmetics, and home and furniture. Clothing and footwear market sales accounted for a 53% share of the department stores retail format in 2009 (DataMonitor).

Due to the economy downturn period, Macy’s and many other retailers were suffering. Fortunately, Macy’s has chosen the beneficial marketing strategy to fit the objective of business. This paper will analyze the company’s situation from its financial aspect, industry aspect, the competitive part and Macy’s marketing strategies to conclude that Macy’s could have stable profit in the next three to five years.

The industry we have chosen is the department store-retail industry. Within this industry, we have chosen the department stores of JCPenney and Macy’s. We find this industry, as well as these two companies, interesting from a strategic perspective. JCPenney has recently undergone a massive strategic restructuring in regards to its pricing, brand offerings, and store layout, pushing it away from the typical department store strategy of discounts and coupons. Its new strategy has become much closer to Wal-Mart’s strategy of every day low prices. Macy’s, on the other hand, has restructured with a push from the economic

This report presents data describing the differences amongst the two department stores, their fundamental visions, and comparative statistics. Macy’s or Dillard’s: Differences amongst these competitors There are several aspects you can analyze from each department store. Major pieces do set each one apart from the other. Brand names carried by Macy’s and Dillard’s from an average shoppers point of view can go completely unnoticed unless price is involved. For trend shoppers brand names can either make or break a retail store. It can easily determine if he or she will walk to Macy’s or Dillard’s because they already know the store does or does not carry that brand. This is consistent with each department throughout both stores and

The companies that were chosen for a company analysis include Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Burlington. Since the retail industry has been lagging behind lately, these companies will help determine the prospective financial investment in the retail industry. As Macy’s as our primary company, we chose Kohl’s and Burlington to be the two comparative companies. These companies are comparable due to the same SIC code of 5311 in the subgroup of department stores. These companies offer similar products and services with little differentiation between the three.

Department stores are not easy to manage, and take a whole team of individuals to run daily operations smoothly. Dillard’s success at the turn of the century came from balancing finances properly, incorporating a friendly atmosphere, and building its reputation as a welcoming upscale department store. In recent years, however, Dillard’s Inc. has surfaced in headlines for being listed as one of the worst companies in the nation to work for. With stiff competition and acquisition factors, the department store industry is not one to lag behind in and

Comparative shopping is done in the industry constantly. But the point of the task is to identify strengths and weaknesses of your store’s merchandise mix in comparison to the competitors’. Are you offering the customer something unique in one segment of your business, but not in others? Are you just a poor second in comparison to a strong competitor? Are you under- or over-developed in certain classifications? Are your prices in line with the rest of your store? In relation to your

In this segment, the retailer J.C. Penney will be analyzed against the department store retail industry, with particular emphasis placed upon their competitors, Macy’s and Kohl’s. The major components to be discussed will include the general external environment (i.e. demographics, economics, politics, legal requirements, technologies and global expansion), the industry environment, the competitive environment, the driving forces and the key factors for success within the industry. In terms of the general external environment, the retail industry is a multi-trillion dollar business in the United States alone and maintains operations primarily due to consumer spending. Such purchases rely upon the disposable income of

Today’s consumer has multiple options to fill their shopping needs. They have the option to shop at online retailers, big box and mass merchant stores, department stores, smaller chain stores, individual kiosk, and other local or international convenient stores to fill their shopping needs. Regardless of the retailer that a consumer chooses, all retailers aim to satisfy their shoppers’ needs and strive to be the best in the business. In order to adequately and successfully do this, retailers must develop a firm mission, vision, and have core values for how they will operate as a retailer to meet the frequently changing demands of its consumer base.

The financial data will support the strategy as the ratios and numbers show that Macy’s has resources and capital available for the implementation. Evaluation of external and internal factors positively presenting an opportunity for Macy’s to use designed strategy to and keep competitiveness in the industry. Summarizing Macy’s is a well-established organization with over 150 successful years in business that still has an ability to compete with leaders in the industry if the right

Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's largest and well known department store chains. Started over 150 years ago, Macy's has continually generated excellent returns for its shareholders and employees. Currently, in the midst of a global recession, Macy's has generated huge profits with same store sales increasing 5.3% year to date. In 2012 same store sales increased 4.6% in the month of February alone (Macy's Inc., 2012). In fact, throughout the duration of 2012, Macy's is projecting even larger profits for its underlying business operations. Even though Macy's has experienced success with both its assortments and brand, its competitors haven't faired so well. Sears, due in part to part to a lackluster holiday season, has been forced to close nearly 120 locations to generate excess liquidity in an effort to shore up its balance sheet (Isidore, 2011).Other competitors who cater specifically to the middle class consumer have also lost significant amounts of market share as consumers trade down due to the economy. This performance is primarily due to the core functions and operations of the business. Planning, organizing, leading, and controlling. Macy's excels at these forms of management, which has allowed the company to perform at a higher level relative to its peers in the industry.

Department store is a large retail establishment, which offers consumer goods in different categories. It makes dramatic appearance in the big cities and reshaped shopping habits of consumers. Each department specializes in one kind. Today in department stores there are different categories such as: clothing, furniture, toys, home applicants, cosmetics etc. Barney’s, Bloomingdales and Macy’s are the example of department stores.

Although department stores returned to growth globally in 2010, according to Euromonitor International, the format remains vulnerable not only to the growth of fast fashion chains but also to the growing apparel penetration of leading grocery retailers. For staple apparel items and increasingly for on trend fashion styles too, the grocery

When customers shop for products, they often have a number of different retailers with various business models to choose from. At the two extremes of the spectrum are specialty stores that only sell products within a given category and general retailers, or department stores, which sell a much wider range of goods. Specialty stores have certain advantages for owners and customers, but they also pose possible drawbacks.