Department What?

Hard to believe we haven’t posted about Marshall Fields yet. I’m sure this won’t be the last.

As much as the name change infuriates me, I have come to realize that it ultimately is just the State Street store that really angers me. Who goes downtown to see the Macy’s windows around Christmas?

Anyhow, Lynn Becker has a fantastic analysis of the situation here.

Someone like Marshall Field or John Wanamaker – or even a Bill Gates or Steve Jobs – all became fabulously rich as a side effect of devoting their lives to creating something really new and unique. The approach of a number-cruncher like [Federated CEO] Lundgren is much more parasitical. It’s less about creating something great than squeezing out value from an existing asset without ever really doing anything to replenish it. Today, Federated is a Department Store chain, but you get the sense that if a McKinsey consultant told Lundgren there was more profit to be had rolling drunks in the alley, the company’s focus might change overnight.

Lundgren cares about the bottom line and nothing else. And he’s arrogant as hell, saying the Macy’s brand is better than Fields. No it’s not. It’s just a New York department store, and if I wanted to shop there, I’d go to New York.

Chicagoans love Fields, despite the changes in owners. Lundgren says they’ll keep the traditions going, including the charitable giving. But every time we see “Macy’s gives” instead of “Marshall Fields gives” won’t it just seem like they’re just trying to buy our love?