Benedict Advertising - Business Building Solutions

by Donna Cooper, Jr. Copywriter

Over the weekend I was watching Mannequin on A&E. As I reveled in the nostalgia of this movie, I realized that the setting looked oddly familiar. While I have yet to verify this, the department store, which was known as Prince & Co. in the movie, looked an awful lot like Marshall Field’s in Chicago.

So, I got on the internet and started to poke around to any references of that movie being filmed in the historic department store. While I found out that it was based in Philadelphia, I did come across something slightly more interesting.

Now, before I go into that, I’d like to take a quick detour. About a month ago, I was in Chicago for a workshop, and I actually went to this department store. It was amazing. Ten stories tall, a chocolate shop in the basement, an elegant restaurant on the 7th floor, and escalators that zig and zag all the way to the top.

But what was interesting about this building, and about what I found on the internet, was that Macy’s had recently purchased the May Company, which owned Marshall Field’s and switched the store to Macy’s in 2006—and the citizens of Chicago are not happy!

Marshall Field’s has been a landmark in Chicago for over 150 years, and the people of Chicago aren’t going to let it go with out a fight. Since the switch to the Macy’s Brand Marshall Field’s patrons have boycotted Macy’s (and Bloomingdales), petitioned the company, and have staged protests in an attempt to restore Marshall Field’s to it’s former glory and to reinstitute it as a Chicago Landmark.

Now, they won’t settle for just switching the name back to Marshall Field’s. Oh no! They want to turn back the clock and pretend Macy’s never even happened. They want to restore Marshall Field’s to the same standards of world-class quality in service, fashion, merchandise, food and culture.

So, what’s a brand to do?

While Macy’s is the largest department store in the world, with over 800 stores across the country, it can’t compete with the hearts of the citizens of Chicago, can it?

When does a brand like Macy’s, realize that they’re not going to win over the hearts and dollars of citizens in Chicago and throw in the towel?

Come on, Macy’s—Have a heart. Bring back Marshall Field’s.

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2007 at 6:08 am and is filed under What's the 411?. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.