KPO'M

Macy's Should Monetize Its Former Brands

Of course, the whole "My Macy's" campaign was a partial repudiation of the "national brand" concept. Even management admitted that trying to make every store a cookie-cutter match for all the others across the nation was a recipe for disaster. Bringing back branded merchandise is a logical next step.

Something that the article and "no more propaganda" don't point out is that Macy's has $9 billion of debt (May was a leveraged buyout). They don't just need to do less badly than their peers. They need to hit one out of the park. Selling a few of those brand names along with some prime locations would be a great way of raising that cash, at least when the private equity market recovers a bit. Chicago is a prime example. When it gets right down to it, most of the Field's fans really just care about State Street. Macy's could keep most of their locations in that market, perhaps move their flagship to Water Tower, and keep on trucking after getting the cash infusion from a sale. I'm sure the same is true in other markets.