urbanSTL

DeBaliviere wrote:^

That is so great to hear - maybe it will be the beginning of a new holiday tradition for many St. Louis families.

Yep- maybe we'll see you, your better half, and little Miss or Master DeBaliviere there next year!

Imagine what it could be like in a few years, when the Mercantile Exchange is completed - how cool will that be?

That's what I was thinking when we were there Wednesday evening. My mom came with us to Macy's, and since she hasn't lived in the area for a long time, she was quite impressed when I pointed out to her all the buildings that will be part of Mercantile Exchange.



Not long ago I was beginning to question Macy's commitment to downtown St. Louis, but with the new holiday events, the ongoing in-store improvements, and the talks they've had with Pyramid about MX, I think we can look forward to many years of Macy's as the true anchor of downtown retail.

I went to lunch at Jimmy Johns yesterday and was surprised at the number of people checking the downtown Macy's out. Was really nice to see.

ThreeOneFour wrote:

DeBaliviere wrote:^

That is so great to hear - maybe it will be the beginning of a new holiday tradition for many St. Louis families.

Yep- maybe we'll see you, your better half, and little Miss or Master DeBaliviere there next year!

I think that's the plan - might be a good way to celebrate DeBalivette's first Thanksgiving!

I drove by and saw lots of people checking out the windows this week. The window displays are actually really quality. I just wish they would open ALL of the windows, since some have been covered over the years. Very cool to see all the people enjoying it.

DeBaliviere wrote:I think that's the plan - might be a good way to celebrate DeBalivette's first Thanksgiving!

Hey, great name!



Now that you know you have a girl on the way, you know she'll already be equipped with the ability and desire to shop! Now you'll just have to introduce her to the downtown Macy's to do as much of her shopping there as possible in the future...and I'd say the sooner the better!

I hope she'll be getting a BIG allowance.

Random: if you want to see what's possibly lurking behind the "rehabbed" portions of the store, go up to the sixth floor - over by the elevators, you can see the tops of very ornate columns, the bottoms of which have been drywalled over.

Here are a few photos of the windows.

Wow! Much more ambitious than I had pictured. Very cool.

Macy's Friends and Family discount, 20% off almost anything now until Monday...



http://forums.slickdeals.net/showpost.p ... stcount=21

DeBaliviere wrote:Random: if you want to see what's possibly lurking behind the "rehabbed" portions of the store, go up to the sixth floor - over by the elevators, you can see the tops of very ornate columns, the bottoms of which have been drywalled over.

I've noticed that before, and I wish they'd consider exposing all of the columns. If I'm not mistaken, I think most of them were covered up in the early 1980s in an effort to "modernize" the store so it would fit in with the adjacent St. Louis Centre. The current look is fine, but I think it would be cool to see the old columns again.



Columns were also prominent in Stix Baer & Fuller, until Dillard's covered them with mirrors in the 1984 remodel. Based on what I've heard, it looks like the retail space (and some of the units) in The Laurel will have the original and/or restored columns. Cool.



The animated window displays are great. I wish Macy's would decorate every window around the store, even if some if it is just merchandise, but the store still looks more inviting than it has in the last 20 or 25 years IMHO.

One thing that hasn't changed is offering later holiday shopping hours. I was at Macy's around 5:45 on Black Friday expecting they'd be open until 9:00. WRONG. They closed at 6:00 and when I mentioned my surprise, was told there wasn't enough foot traffic yet to warrant the longer hours, so all you Downtowners.....support your downtown stores!

^ I may be wrong, but I thought I read somewhere that the downtown Macy's will be open later toward Christmas Eve- at least until 7:00 or 8:00.



I've never had the privilege of visiting the Steel City, even though I've been to places all around it. What's up with Pittsburgh? Their downtown Macy's (the erstwhile Kaufmann's flagship) was open from 8:00 until 10:00 on Black Friday, and is staying open until 9 p.m. on weeknights during the holiday season. Is their downtown (and are the surrounding neighborhoods) that much farther along than Saint Louis? The longer hours at Macy's there make me think this is the case.



Speaking of Macy's downtown stores elsewhere, the downtown Macy's in Columbus (formerly Kaufmann's, previously Marshall Field's) is closing. I'm guessing the failure of the adjacent Columbus City Center has much to do with the store's closing. Macy's already closed a store in downtown Columbus in 2004, the old Lazarus flagship, just before all Lazarus stores were completely converted to the Macy's brand (they were Lazarus-Macy's for awhile).

A number of downtown retailers (besides Macys) are staying open late on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, at least until 7 pm, some even later, during the holiday season.



Additionally we are hosting two holiday open houses, this weekend, Friday evening and Saturday and next weekend, same times. Many of us are also open on Sundays.



We will have a trolley running from Union Station to Olive & Broadway, making a bit of a loop, stopping by participating businesses, and of course also by Macy's to see the great windows.



Free movies both weekends at the Orpheum, live entertainment at Union Station, great merchandise at lots of cool shops who are all working super hard to get your business & support.



Bring your friends, family, and come on down-more details & a printable map at www.shopdowntownstl.com

^ That makes sense, and it's consistent with what I know about Pittsburgh (large daytime downtown population, no suburban CBDs competing with downtown, etc.).



I'm guessing the demise of the downtown department stores (the current Macy's and the previous Macy's that occupied the Lazarus flagship building) in Columbus and the adjoining mall has much to do with the popularity of Easton Town Center and Polaris Fashion Place. It isn't like it's all that difficult to get from place to place in Columbus anyway, so it's a tough sell to get shoppers to downtown or what's left of the other remaining suburban shopping centers when there are two newer and rather large developments competing for the attention of shoppers.

Pittsburgh is an awesome city. Of course, I lived in the area until 2000 (and return a few times a year to visit family and friends), so I'm a bit biased. Yes, I grew up saying "y'inz."



While it's a bit lacking in transit options (limited rail, a bus system that leaves much to be desired), downtown is usually hopping. Naturally, the place is busy during the day, with major business entities (Yay Heinz katsup!) making homes there, Pirates/Steelers/Penguins games always happening, and a few universities. There also are plenty of cheap and free events, especially during the summer (their art festival is one of the greatest, and the radio station and bars often close off side streets for street fair type deals with vendors, food, etc.). And the gorgeous tall buildings... it feels like a city should, "dirty steel city" image be damned.



But even at night, there usually are people out and about, checking out the restaurants and, yes, even shopping. I don't remember super-late hours downtown, but I do remember going to Kaufmann's in the evening (edited to add: The highlight of shopping for a homecoming or prom dress each high school year was going to the downtown Kaufmann's. It usually was girl bonding time, with me, my mom, and either my aunt or my mom's friend from work.). I'm sure the 10 p.m. thing goes with the holidays, but it's always nice to see a city keep its life in the evening.



Oh, and yes, there are a lot of loftworks going up and old, historic-type home renovations taking place. I love it, and I can't wait to eventually go back to live (no offense to St. Louis, which I've also come to love). Edited to add: A $300,000 loft renovation (old two-family, three-level building that they converted into a personal loft) in one of the "poorer" inner 'burbs that's seeing an infusion of community, business and life was profiled sometime in this past year on that "My house is worth what?" show. The $300,000 price is what it's worth now; they paid like $100,000 for it. Pittsburgh home prices are awesome. Oh, and the owners were a former pro-football player and his wife who shunned the suburbs to be close to the city.



By the way, if you're in that area of the country and are heading to P'burgh, be sure to head downtown via I-279. When you pop out of the loooong tunnel through the hill and find yourself suddenly on one of the city's bazillion bridges, it's seriously is the best reveal of a city ever. Absolutely stunning.



God, I can't wait until I go for the annual holiday visit.

u2acro wrote: I love it, and I can't wait to eventually go back to live (no offense to St. Louis, which I've also come to love).

Well, when you put it like that, no one's going to be offended here.



I'm glad you're happy here in St. Louis, but I certainly can't blame you for wanting to return to Pittsburgh someday. It looks and sounds like a great place. I figure I'll get to Pittsburgh eventually, because I'm trying to make it to as many MLB stadiums as possible (I'm almost to the halfway point- and I've got to see the one in Pittsburgh since many unbiased sources say it's one of the best).

Oh my gosh, PNC is beautiful! I was a real witch about it and wanted to HATE it, since I grew up with Three Rivers (total deja vu when Busch II came down here!). When I finally attended a game, I was amazed. It was absolutely stunning, just what you think a city ballpark should be. It's a very family-friendly place, and they showcase the city's foods by selling pierogies, Quaker Steak's wings, and Primanti sammiches. And now that they have the Negro League stuff up, it's even better. Seriously, if you love historical baseball and have a thing for Clemente and Stargell, this is your place.

Pittsburgh is definitely a city I would like to visit. I've driven through it, and it was impressive, especially the topography, lots of hills, the rivers, etc. Not to make this a city vs. city debate, but luckily st louis as a metro area is growing, while unfortunately, Pittsburgh is actually losing population region wide. Pittsburgh seems to have a highly concentrated downtown, and I'm jealous!