Personal Narrative: Macy's Shopping

Shopping is the art of purchasing goods from stores, it's one of my favorite hobbies. The feeling of attaining a new piece of clothing or multiple pieces of clothing gives me a high that no chemical can compare to. However I have come to the realization that it is just not my own on motivation driving me to want to shop but the stores have a way of manipulating their customers to buy more. One of my favorite store growing up would be Hollister Co. my friends and I were patrons of this store. Looking back I think Hollister is the perfect example of how retail stores use special tactics to manipulate their customers. As soon as you walk in into Hollister all your senses are overtaken by their carefully planned tactics to make their customers

Critically analyze the organization from the systems approach. You should consider the inputs, transformation and output elements of the operation and consider how the system creates value.

In 1858 Rowland Hussey Macy founded what is known today as Macy’s Department Store in New York City. The company is a mid-range to upscale chain of department stores that target middle to high level incomes. On November 25, 1929 Federated Department Stores was a new American retail company that was a combination of Bloomingdale’s, Filene’s of Boston, Abraham & Straus of Brooklyn, and F&R Lazarus & Company of Ohio. They all agreed to still keep separate identities but would come to link their financial interests. In 2005, Federated made a deal to acquire The Macy Department Stores Company, gaining $11 billion dollars in stock and making them the second largest department store chain in America. Macy’s operates under two names, Macy’s and Bloomindales. Today the company’s headquarters are based out of Cincinnati, Ohio and there are around 800 stores operating within the United States along with a large online presence as macys.com and Bloomingdales.com (Exhibit 1). The department store provides apparel and accessories for men, women, and children. They also provide footwear, furniture, bedding, housewares, and beauty products. Macy’s closed out the 2013 fiscal year with revenue of $9.35 billion, a net income of $730 million and a market capital of 20.86 billion.

In 1858, Mr. Rowland Hussey Macy (or more commonly known as R.H. Macy) established the first Macy’s department store in New York City. Today, 158 years later, Macy’s is a chain of mid-range American department stores with its flagship store here in Herald Square. This particular store is labelled as the “world’s largest store” because of its one million square feet of selling space. The products offered are clothing, footwear, accessories, bedding, furniture, jewelry, beauty products, and housewares. As of April 2016, the Macy’s company operates 870 stores in 45 states, as well as Puerto Rico and Guam. Within the 870 stores, the workforce includes approximately 157, 900 employees. The company operates Macy’s, Macy’s Backstage, Bloomingdale’s, Bloomingdale’s Outlet, and their new project, Bluemercury. Macy’s is the largest U.S. department store company by retail sales (2015), and they are the 15th largest retailer in the U.S. in terms of revenue (2014). 2015 Fiscal sales totaled to an impressive $27.1 billion. In 2015, Macy’s came out strong holding a winning streak of five consecutive years of growth in earnings, return on invested capital, sales, and cash flow. However, throughout the year, the company experienced a conjunction of negative factors. Due to that, Macy’s was impacted within sales, profitability and margins. Some were caused by external issues and internal. According to Business Insider, Macy’s has blamed a variety of temporary factors for the slowdown in

I ordered the retro 12 red and white on September 20, 2016 on foot locker online store. At the check-out I paid an extra ten dollars for next day shipping on the term and condition they said that if you pay for the express shipping that it was guaranteed to receive your shoes the next day.

it is important to identify key strengths of the company over upcoming threats and weak points. Macy’s differentiate itself from competition with upscale “Celebrity” brand exclusivity, merchandise based on local preferences, and unique store design atmosphere. Based on analysis performed the company weighted strategy is to move towards the online and technology advances with maintaining Macy’s upscale storefront culture, integrating new product offerings with revising promotions to satisfy its target market and expanding operations to a new markets with present demand. From opportunities analysis strategy can be divided in three fragments

Into the chattering street of the city, my mom, my sister, my cousins, my aunt, and I stepped

I still shop for clothes and shoes in stores. The reason is that sizes almost never match and I'll end up giving the item away since I can't be bothered to ship it back and request a new one.

He went back to NC that night because he still had to work next day. He was waiting to transfer his positioning to Sevierville store. Everything was still the same, he came every weekend and we had such good time. We had plan about going to see my family in 2016 and we were working and saving money on it.

I had just gotten home from bicking with my best friend Brooke and her brother and baby setter. We had just gotten home from the dollar store and i was pulling into my driveway I noticed the garage door was closed I thought maybe they closed the garage because Blake has a birthday party to go to.As I pulled into the driveway on my bike and I go to the keypad to get into the garage. When I got close I saw a note on the keypad I read it out loud

The recent recession has hurt the entire retail market and regaining profits will be a constant challenge for the entire industry. In order to remain competitive, Ann Krill states,” value and versatility have become very important. She needs an incentive to shop.” (Hymowitz, 2012) Ms. Krill goes on to say,” I think in uncertain economic times, value becomes more important...” (Hymowitz, 2012)

I purchase items from Forever 21, American Eagle, and Amazon on a regular basis. These businesses provide many jobs including retail and customer service, if which benefit the society. I usually shop at Forever 21 because it’s cheaper than other brands and also sells clothing and accessories that are in style. According to Schlossberg, M. (2015, November 22), “There are young, cash-strapped customers who just want to get their hands on stylish clothing, not caring if its going to wear out quickly.” I agree with Schlossberg because I tend to buy new clothes that I would wear more often and I wouldn’t feel bad because my old clothes were inexpensive.

“A good job is more than just a paycheck.” –James H. Douglas Jr. First jobs often provide a variety of experiences for teenagers. In many cultures, getting a job signifies the initial step towards independence from one’s parents. Not only do they represent new found liberty, but they also teach skills needed in the real world. Working at the local Giant grocery store has marked my transition to adulthood by teaching me about interpersonal relations, finance, and time management.

“Macy’s is constantly drumming up consumer interest with another sale – I think they ran about 80 sales last year. They are well aware that the millennial customer looks for value in department stores. There were similar short duration sale events and other promotional efforts by J.C.Penney and

Outlet stores and the constantly evolving fashion trends can make prices for last season significantly lower