The All-American Department Store

Macy's Inc. is a national retailer with brands that reflect the spirit of America. The timeless values that made the United States strong are the same values that make Macy's strong. These values are:
1. A belief in the promise of the future with the energy and determination to get us there.
2. A belief that our heritage mirrors the optimism, inclusion and integrity that provide for both stability and growth.
3. A belief that taking advantage of the right opportunities will continue to lead us to success in all that we do.
Macy's continues to enhance their All-American image by hiring a diverse staff which represents the United States, providing great customer service in a family-friendly environment and in giving back to the communities and donating to a number of great non-profit organizations.
Macy's sells merchandise through private brands which appeal to a certain customer lifestyle and support marketing programs that create a precisely defined corporate brand image.
One of their private brands is Charter Club, they offer timeless all-American style in women's apparel and home collections. Women that purchase these clothing appreciate a put-together look with the right balance of classic style and sophistication. The home collection provides the essential elements to create elegant and traditional d'cor. Charter Club is just one of Macy's private brands that help build on their company brand.
As mentioned, Macy's Inc. also donates to non-profit organizations throughout the year which enhance their all-American image. Their PR campaign for the holiday season surrounds the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Children can bring in their letters to Santa into Macy's to help wishes come true. For every stamped letter brought in and dropped into the special letterbox, Macy's will donate $1 up to one million dollars to the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
The Make-A-Wish Foundation grants the wishes of children with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength and joy.
If you've seen the commercials, you may want to write a letter to Santa yourself, it is cute and heartfelt.

Click the links for more information on Macy's Corporate Vision and the Make-A Wish Foundation.

Good News, Bad News.

Macy's biggest crisis in 2009 is regarding the 7,000 layoffs that happened company wide. Announced in February as part of the 2009 reorganization plan, this was the best way for Macy's Inc. to reduce their debt.
A news release was written by the company and sent out to major newspapers the same day. CEO, Terry Lundgren had mentioned that although 7,000 jobs will be lost, 1,200 district and regional positions will be created.
The Public Relations team at Macy's does an excellent job to mention the good with the bad. In this economy, a retail company understands that their sales may be lower than normal but remain positive and continue to be proactive.
A new program was launched called "My Macy's" concurrent with the job cuts. This program focuses on customer needs by region, it should reduce costs since customer needs vary by location which should increase customer satisfaction. The customer-focused approach has set Macy's Inc. apart from other retailers. The customer should always come first, but it has become their main priority due to the poor economic conditions.
When a company layoffs employees, consumers tend to see retailers in a "different light". By continuing to provide for the customer, Macy's Inc. is doing a great job handling what could be bad press.

Click HERE to read an article on the Macy's reorganization plan.

"To Our Shareholders"

The annual report and reading information on Macy's latest earnings may not intrigued the average customer, but with the economy at its' worse since the Great Depression reading about how your favorite department store is doing financially may spark an interest in more than the investors.
Macy's annual report includes information about the executive officers and other issues regarding the business outside of accounting, which is information about lawsuits filed against the company and the department store's competition. The report is a lot to read, it is 106 pages of information which can even steer away investors from being updated on the company's latest news, although it is very well written.
The letter to the shareholders is the first page of the Macy's annual report. The first two paragraphs address the economic crisis and how it has taken a toll on their earnings but it continues to mention the strategies that will enable the company to increase their cash flow.
This will reassure investors and along them to continue to be comfortable investing in Macy's.
Macy's Inc. sent out another news release regarding the company's earnings on November 11th. It is written in economic terms but the average customer can grasp that Macy's is excited that the company's third quarter results have exceeded their expectations when reading the lead and the quotes provided by the CEO, Terry Lundgren. Lundgren's quotes sincerely express how gracious he is that Macy's was able to do so well despite the economic situation.
Investors will be more than happy when reading this news release, it definitely instills confidence.

Take a look at the ANNUAL REPORT.

Retail Benefits the Community

Macy's Inc. believes that by giving back to the community, their contributions, leadership and volunteer efforts help create stronger, healthier places to work and live. In 2008, contributions from the company, employees along with the Macy's foundation had totaled more than $76.6 million.
Macy's and Bloomingdale's are proud to sponsor events that support their philanthropic focus areas and benefits communities across the country. The company's focus areas include women's issues, arts and culture, education, HIV/AIDS and the environment.
Macy's held its third annual "Shop For A Cause" event in Macy's department stores nationwide which raised more than $9.1 million in just one day. The event is designed to raise awareness and support for local and regional nonprofit organizations across the United States.
2008 had marked Macy's fifth year as a national sponsor for Go Red For Women, the American Heart Association campaign for prevention and awareness of heart disease for women.
This year, Macy's teamed up with Feeding America, the nation's largest domestic hunger relief organization. They created the Come Together campaign which started on September 13th and ended on October 21st. The company's goal was to donate 10 million meals to those in need, it was achieved!
All three events are just examples of what Macy's Inc. does to benefit the community. It is all good public relations for the company especially because they pride themselves on being an "iconic American retailing brand" which has been around for 150 years.
Macy's does a lot for the community, but Bloomingdale's is just as much a part of Macy's Inc. Bloomingdale's does not seem to do as much for the community as Macy's does. As a high end department store, it would be great if they found ways to benefit local communities as it would remove the negative connotations that come with being an expensive, luxury retail store.

Fashionable Compassion for HIV/AIDS Research

For the past 27 years, the Macy's Passport Fashion Show features a unique blend of fashion, live theater and fine food all while raising awareness for HIV and AIDS.
This event all began in 1982 as a fashion show in an employee cafeteria and has since become one of the largest and longest-running HIV/AIDS events of its kind.
Macy's has used Facebook and Twitter to publicize the event that was held in San Francisco on September 16-17 and Los Angeles on September 24-25 of this year. Both are great forms of social media which will reach the demographic which is most affected by HIV and AIDS.
On the east coast, we are least notified about the event through forms of media outside of Facebook and Twitter, since the money raised goes to the local HIV/AIDS organizations in San Francisco and LA; press releases were only featured in west coast newspapers.
Although we are on the east coast, we have the ability to donate to the Passport Fashion Show since there is a link on the Macy's website. The link regarding the Passport Fashion not only features the ability to donate to the event, it gives a brief history, a list of the event's sponsors and beneficiaries.
Reading the updates on Twitter, one becomes aware of how excited people are about the fashion show, it is an event that many look forward to every year. Even though we don't hear much about this incredible event on the east coast, we know Macy's has done a great job to promote it since to date the Passport Fashion Show has raised 28 million dollars to HIV/AIDS charities and research projects.

Fan Pages and Followers

Many corporations are beginning to realize that the best way to reach large audiences is through the use of social media. Macy's Inc. has a Twitter account as well as Facebook fan pages for Bloomingdale's and Macy's department stores.
Both are used for customer service, promoting upcoming events like their Passport Fashion Shows and speaking about their current philanthropic causes they are involved in, it is currently Feeding America. There goal is to provide 10 million meals to people in the United States by October 21t.
While all this is great for the company, consumers may have a difficult time finding their Facebook and Twitter pages, or may be completely unaware they exist.
Looking through the company' website, there are no links to these pages and it's not even noted somewhere on the website that they are aware of what the use of social media could provide for the company.
To date, Macy's has about 80,000 fans on Facebook, Bloomingdale's has 9,000 and on Twitter Macy's Inc. has approximately 2,765. For such a large corporation these numbers are low.
If I were the PR person for the company, I would do my best to network with designers and vendors that sell products in Macy's Inc. stores to promote the company's use of social media. I would also add links from the Twitter and Facebook pages to the corporate website and explain how social media is now a great way to network, build the brand, share product information and is a great tool for customer service.

View the Macy's Inc. Twitter and Facebook Accounts.

More Than A Department Store

I am here writing a blog about a department store that I have always associated with older men and women and only shopped in for a prom/formal dress or a designer handbag.
This blog will be used to educate myself and those that read it about Macy's Inc. which is more than a department store.

Macy's Inc. is one of the nation's premier retailers. The company operates more than 800 Macy's department stores and furniture galleries in 45 states as well as 40 Bloomingdale stores in 12 states.
As a company they believe in being socially responsible to the people and community it does business with and are incredibly proactive. For example, in 1995 following government investigations into sweatshop conditions and incidents of child labor, Macy's Inc. adopted a stringent Vendor/Supplier Code of Conduct that sets out specific standards and requirements for any vendor doing business with the corporation. The corporate website also features the annual report and fact book which is accessible to anyone. Included in the report are the good and bad that may have happened to the company throughout the year, consumers, investors and vendors are not denied the truth about Macy's Inc.

There is so much information on the corporate website; Macy's and Bloomingdale's are more than your average department store, selling clothes, shoes or furniture. Macy's Inc. is active in the community; they are willing to sponsor events that support their philanthropic focus areas such as women's issues, arts, culture, education and HIV/AIDS.

It is nice to know that a large corporation is willing to do so much for the community. I shop and work at a store that has faced issues regarding discrimination towards its customers and employees. The only thing they have seemed to do is hire minorities and feature them in their marketing. Maybe I will consider shopping at Macy's or Bloomingdale's more often, at least I know while I'm searching through the clothes racks I'm not being judged based on my looks or size.

For More Information: Visit the Company Website