. . . to be depressed by this?

I know that with everything else going on in the world (and even in my own house!), Marshall Field's becoming Macy's shouldn't even be a blip on the radar. And yet I am saddened by it.

When I was growing up, *THE* department store in Minnesota was Dayton's. You know the story—it was where you went during the Christmas season, just to see the fabulous window displays. Every year, you could walk through a life-size children's story display (complete with animatronic characters) in the auditorium of the flagship Minneapolis store. My grandma loved that store, and she gave me the bug.

A few years ago, the store's name was changed to Marshall Field's. Even though the Dayton's (and in Michigan, Hudson's) name was no longer there, the merchandise and store environment remained the same because the three brands had all been owned by the same company. All right, I can live with that, I guess.

But now, NOW it's been sold and they want to turn it into Macy's! What will be the point of that? I can get crappy service and filthy dressing rooms at a Macy's in any city in the country. There's nothing special about it.

I'm saddened by the loss of uniqueness and the inevitable decline that this old friend will certainly undergo when it becomes part of the Macy's brand. But I'm a glass-half-full kind of girl—at least it means more time with my family as I'll no longer have to make time for shopping when we visit Minnesota.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, September 20, 2005 at 10:14 PM.