Macy's Downtown, 601 Olive Street - CLOSED

threeonefour · PostDec 19, 2006#3012006-12-19T19:10+00:00

I was back at Macy's last Saturday wrapping up my Christmas shopping. FWIW, I've managed to do the majority of my shopping there. And, between 2:30 and 4:30 in the afternoon, it was surprisingly busy. And even though I wish there were displays in all the windows, people are still stopping to look at the windows that are decorated.

Actually, pedestrian traffic in general was up through downtown on Saturday. It wasn't like a gameday by any means, but it was brisk considering that there wasn't a game or a major convention in town. Very encouraging.

BTW...the downtown Macy's has extended its hours. Check the website, the Post-Dispatch ads, or the front doors for specifics. Some nights it will be open until 7:00 p.m., and some it will be open until 8 p.m.

Also, Papa Fabarre's is now open on Saturdays through the holiday season! Hopefully they'll consider doing this more often!

chrisindowntown · PostDec 19, 2006#3022006-12-19T19:32+00:00

Macy's also has a pretty large selection of greeting cards. Dont' remember if Famous did or not. City Grocers has a few, but certainly not the variety that Walgreens had. There over by the candy, first floor, south.

stlmike · PostDec 19, 2006#3032006-12-19T19:46+00:00

I remember people discussing earlier about the opening of the stairs to the basement during the renovation. Is the basement being used now? I haven't been able to visit this christmas season.

threeonefour · PostDec 20, 2006#3042006-12-20T06:06+00:00

Chris- Famous-Barr had greeting cards in that section some time before the transition to Macy's, but for years they were located on the sixth floor where you'll now find assorted gift and seasonal items near the china and crystal displays.

Mike- Interestingly, the escalator shaft to the basement was reopened during remodeling earlier this year, and for awhile it was possible to peer down into the basement. Escalators were in place, but then walls were built around it for a mannequin platform. Since the grand opening of Macy's, the platform and the mannequins have remained in place.

I don't know if there are plans to re-open the basement for more selling space (I'd recommend putting clearance items there like it was in the old days), but I guess the possibility is there if store management wants to at some point.

framer · PostJan 08, 2007#3052007-01-08T07:55+00:00

Interesting article about Papa FaBarre's in the Sunday Post. We are assured that they will stay open, and will soon have their liquor license restored.

threeonefour · PostJan 08, 2007#3062007-01-08T19:51+00:00

^ To paraphrase Mark Twain, I'm glad the rumors of Papa's demise are greatly exaggerated.

I did not know that the restaurant space used to be a barber shop, and I was surprised to find out that it didn't open until the mid-1970s. Of course, I wasn't built until the mid-1970s, so I had no frame of reference.

I was wondering about the liquor license, because I noticed the absence of liquor behind the bar on my last visit there a couple of weeks ago. I figured maybe they just stopped serving liquor, or they removed them to make the young missionaries that were in town that week feel more comfortable.

I (almost) cried when the Parkmoor closed at Big Bend and Clayton to make way for a bigger Walgreens there. I fear that I couldn't hold back the tears if Papa's met a similar fate.

I love that place (especially the Famous Onion Soup!). I'm glad that Macy's management knows not to mess with a good thing.

citywatcher · PostFeb 16, 2007#3072007-02-16T00:39+00:00

Gerwitz posted on Fri Oct 13, 2006 8:13 pm

This week the display window at 6th and Olive was broken and a couch was stolen. A wonderful "thank you" to Federated for investing in Downtown. Sad

The matching pieces were left behind. Thieves without style.

It looks like the same window was broken a couple of days ago, has the same thing happened again?

I wonder how the management responds and if it takes away from the nice merchandise that could be showcased without the fear that it may get ripped off.

Not to mention the cost of the window and cleanup.

They need a $30 security webcam, or a guard that doesnt sleep...

threeonefour · PostFeb 16, 2007#3082007-02-16T16:18+00:00

citywatcher wrote:It looks like the same window was broken a couple of days ago, has the same thing happened again?

Great. Just great. You'd think they'd have a more sophisticated security system.

Hopefully this doesn't discourage them from doing window displays, because it livens up the block, and it's something that Famous-Barr management neglected for so long.

stlmike · PostFeb 16, 2007#3092007-02-16T16:59+00:00

I'm sure they must be insured, though that doesn't cover the pain the ass.

jcity · PostFeb 18, 2007#3102007-02-18T21:15+00:00

too bad they don't have snipers.

tysalpha · PostFeb 19, 2007#3112007-02-19T02:32+00:00

Well there's a reason suburban department stores don't have windows.. and it's not just because people don't walk outside as much. Thieves always like to break in and steal after hours. That's why most stores have those ugly bollards outside the entrances, so people can't ram the doors with their car. It's a shame that a few bad apples have to ruin it for the rest of us.

stldtfan · PostFeb 19, 2007#3122007-02-19T20:24+00:00

JCity wrote:too bad they don't have snipers.

doug · PostFeb 23, 2007#3132007-02-23T14:59+00:00

If we only could have street performers. During the Christmas Season, the best way to attract shoppers is to have a few midgets, dressed as elves, run around Downtown with tourist guides. Really, I think that should be the plan of attack.

bikinʹ_man · PostFeb 23, 2007#3142007-02-23T15:15+00:00

over the summer i would see a sax player on olive outside the kinkos. you could hear it for blocks away. i gave him some money every time i saw him.

matguy70 · PostFeb 23, 2007#3152007-02-23T18:11+00:00

He and another street musician were outside Macy's everyday in the Christmas Season... in fact he is there (the sax player) again today.

threeonefour · PostFeb 23, 2007#3162007-02-23T18:28+00:00

^ Macy's also had in-store entertainment around Valentine's Day, so it's good to see that they're still scheduling special events downtown, and that it wasn't something they would just forget about once the grand reopening and the name change hype died down.

PostMay 22, 2007#3172007-05-22T03:36+00:00

^ Okay, after shopping there last Saturday, I'm starting to wonder.

The men's merchandise is still a disgrace overall.

On the plus side, they've arranged ties, socks, and other accessories nicely in the stores SE corner near Sixth and Olive streets. Some men's clothing has been moved into the space toward the NE corner of the building where the empty cosmetic counters used to be.

OTOH, there are no fitting rooms in the men's section on the first floor, which seems like a serious oversight. And the second floor (where most men's merchandise remains) has been largely untouched by renovations- the only floor in the place that hasn't seen a makeover in the last two years. The selection of Cardinals merchandise is pathetic and spread out over an excessively vast space. No additional brand names have been added. I thought they were supposed to increase the amount of men's merchandise following the positive response to the increased women's offerings on the main floor, but that was a few months ago and there's no evidence of any changes.

The outside of the store isn't looking as good, at least not on the barren Seventh Street side (the side that needs the most attention IMHO since Famous-Barr eliminated that entrance several years ago). More display windows just have the star logos with no mannequin displays. The only window display on the Seventh Street side features Cardinals merchandise, which seems inappropriate since their selection of said merchandise is pathetic.

I am encouraged by the changes Macy's made, the string of events they've had at the downtown store, and the steady if not overwhelming flow of customers I see each time I'm there. However, they're starting to let some of the small stuff slide, something that Famous-Barr did for years that made all of the drastic changes necessary in the first place. No matter how well downtown's doing, if Macy's can't respond to customer's wishes, they'll find what they want elsewhere and the downtown store could be doomed once and for all.

I have plenty of editing and pruning to do, but I think I have a basis for a letter I want to write to discuss these issues with Macy's management.

downtown2007 · PostMay 22, 2007#3182007-05-22T13:38+00:00

Please go to their website and submit your concerns to them!!!!

doug · PostMay 22, 2007#3192007-05-22T14:15+00:00

They need to get on the ball. With the highway shutting down they have the opportunity to recapture City shoppers who would rather do Galleria!

crbswiss · PostMay 22, 2007#3202007-05-22T16:08+00:00

I've gone to Macy's and other department stores a number of times in the last few months (suite shopping for weddings this summer) in Chicago and St. Louis. As a whole I am very dissapointed by the service and selection at Macy's compared to that of their competitors. So much so that I will be avoiding them in the future whenever possible.

trent · PostMay 22, 2007#3212007-05-22T17:54+00:00

314,

I sent that along to a friend of mine who works at Macy's corporate. She's forwarding it up the food chain.

threeonefour · PostMay 22, 2007#3222007-05-22T21:26+00:00

^ Outstanding! Thank you!

I'll still crank out a more polished version and send it to the appropriate parties.

10-intuition · PostMay 23, 2007#3232007-05-23T07:16+00:00

crbswiss wrote:I've gone to Macy's and other department stores a number of times in the last few months (suite shopping for weddings this summer) in Chicago and St. Louis. As a whole I am very dissapointed by the service and selection at Macy's compared to that of their competitors. So much so that I will be avoiding them in the future whenever possible.

I argee with you!

It will be a matter of time before the downtown store gets neglected, and becomes a dump, maybe even reduced a bit. I think GACY's spruced up the downtown store to improve their image, making St. Louisians think they are coming to town in a great way, even if we lose the Famous Barr name. They don't want us to sympathize lose are "hometown" stores.

Look what they did to Marshall Field's up in Chicago, they turned it into a bargain basement/KMART type store selling their poor quality overpriced house brands such as Alfani, Charter Club, INC, and The Cellar. Coming soon Martha Stewart home collection stuff!!! Its becoming a Kmart and a joke.

I worked at May Dept. Stores corporate up until I was laid off along with a bunch other people in my division in early 2006. I hate how Federated, now Macy's Inc. took away traditions, hometown dept stores and giving us blandness and poor quality junk all over just for the sake of profit. Its profit over traditions!

south compton · PostMay 23, 2007#3242007-05-23T12:46+00:00

ThreeOneFour wrote:^

OTOH, there are no fitting rooms in the men's section on the first floor, which seems like a serious oversight. .

There's a fitting room on the first floor tucked into the corner near the entrance by the men's dress shirts. Just one stall though.

buckethead · PostMay 23, 2007#3252007-05-23T13:29+00:00

10-intuition wrote:Its profit over traditions!

Of course it is. That's how you run a successful business.

We didn't make any money this year, but look at all our great traditions!

Macy's Downtown, 601 Olive Street - CLOSED

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