Macy's vs Dillards- struggles in the retail apocalypse

"Strip malls are history" Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon

Like many baby boomers, I grew up during the heyday of the suburban shopping mall from 1980-2000. We had a wealth of large, busy shopping malls packed with large department stores and specialty shops. You could spend an entire day there. While malls still exist today, there are fewer of them and they are struggling.

Malls and department stores offered a way to find clothing, books, gifts, movies, food, and home goods all in one pleasant location. The advent of the internet in the 21st century has slowly eroded away that benefit, as better selection and deals can usually be found online. without the headache of driving and parking. But there's always been something special to me about shopping malls, and I hope that they survive in some form or another for future generations.

One of the biggest benefits of retail is that it was in many cases an employer of last resort. Young people who were just trying to figure things out could readily find jobs and health insurance by working at a store. That's what I did in one of my early dark periods. Most stores don't require much training or education, just the ability to handle money honestly and be a decent human being to others. We're losing much of that cushion for young people today, who are forced to either go into the food service business or sign up with an exploitative gig economy company.

Young Americans are easily lost in this economy, and a significant number of them have given up trying to find a job. Working at a department store brought me out of a depression, gave me a chance to interact with interesting people. I'd hate to see that go away, but as a frequent Amazon shopper myself, I understand the lure of online shopping. Work in an Amazon warehouse, where your activities are determined by machines, doesn't come close to comparing work in a store with actual human beings. I try to shop local when I can, and enjoy the interaction with friendly salespeople.

Now to the meat of this blog post- my two retail employers of the past- Dillards and Macys. I worked full-time for Dillards and only part-time for Macys, but observed a very different corporate culture there. The first half of my time with Dillards was rewarding and fun. I got regular raises, won awards, and made friends. Management was generally good to us, and I was invited to a nice dinner at a fancy hotel every year for being a top salesperson.

But halfway into my tenure there, the founder, William Dillard senior passed away. Unlike most companies, Dillards is both publicly held and family controlled. The Dillard family inherited their dad's company and things changed radically. We were given sales goals that were impossible to reach, and when we didn't, our salary was cut. This happened to me several times and was extremely frustrating and demoralizing. We were pushed to have customers open the store credit cards with 30% interest rates. Small perks like a company picnic, softball league, and free snacks during inventory went away. The scheduling and attendance policy were tightened and became more punitive.

It took me a long time to realize how the culture had changed from one that supported employees to one that didn't. Perhaps all of retail began changing that way at the same time, but this was my experience. Eventually I left retail and went into accounting and hopefully writing.

I started working at Macys during the holidays because that was a slow time for accounting, and it showed me how one other retailer was hanging in there. Most larger retailers depend on both online and brick and mortar sales, and Macys has embraced both. They have a dedicated crew that enters the store before it opens and picks merchandise that was ordered online the day before. Most of it gets shipped out, but some of it gets picked up at a special location. Currently about 1/3 of Macys sales come from digital sources.

Macys relies on special sale promotions much more than Dillards did, and it seems like some kind of special was always going on. There is a mix of permanent and seasonal employees, and I saw several veterans who had been there a long time- not typical in retail anymore. The biggest advantage that Macys has as an employer is the lack of demotivating and unreasonable sales goals. Certainly there are goals, but they don't cut salaries of someone doesn't meet them. This makes for a much less cutthroat environment where salespeople are motivated to steal customers from each other.

Most importantly, Macy's is much more generous to its community than Dillards will ever be. They donate generously to charitable causes and sponsor round up at the registers for different charities every month. They pay for the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and New York 4th of July fireworks show, both of which cost millions of dollars and are beloved by fans nationwide. Their latest project, Mission Every One, promises to "spark togetherness for 50 million people with a $100 million commitment to strengthen connection and belonging. Because when people feel connected, they thrive."

Dillards, on the other hand, is not known to be charitable. Their main donations go to the Ronald McDonald Houses, which is actually a cause started by McDonalds, not Dillards. They have few campaigns of their own in comparison to Macys, and contribute somewhat to their hometown of Little Rock Arkansas but little anywhere else.

Retail is still hanging in there, and is a much better alternative than Amazon warehouses.

Human beings are still at the center of commerce and sales, because without us, there are no customers. We need to treat the folks behind the counter with respect and appreciation.

I applaud the folks at Macy's, Costco, Trader Joe's, and Ace Hardware for keeping capitalism more ethical and humane.

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