What: a second location for Macy’s newest concept “Market by Macy’s” launched last year.

Why it is important: department stores have been declining and in need of reinvention, even before the covid crisis. Last year Macy’s launched a new model, smaller than traditional spaces, with a major focus on community -a trend that has been strengthened by the pandemic

The Market by Macy’s is a community-centric, flexible retail store format with community-driven events. Following the opening of a first outpost in Texas in February 2020, Macy’s said it has “maximized learnings from the initial Market by Macy’s national debut to create a scalable store format” for the second outpost, also located in Texas. The store features items across fashion, beauty, home and gifts; it is a selected assortment of what’s available at full-line Macy’s stores.

Since the pandemic, big retailers such as department stores have been suffering from the loss of clients (Macy's is actually reducing is department store network), while the demand for community and local retail has been increasing (read about it in our exclusive article: The Rebirth of Local Retail) and retailers have been rethinking their models in order to cater to their local customers.

Macy’s is not the first retailer to develop local concepts: Nordstrom launched its Nordstrom Local concept in 2017 and continues to expand it; not to mention Neighborhood Goods, a “new type of department store” that offer a curated ever-rotating assortment based on the local-community needs  Sports retailers Nike and Foot Locker both recently launched community-centric concept: Nike Unite and Foot Locker Community Power Store.

Macy’s Latest Format Gets a Second Site 

Related items:

• IADS Exclusive - The rebirth of local retail
• IADS White Paper: “Global pandemic, local department stores”
• Macy’s reducing its network by 45 stores