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Alpha Stage
Macy's not Field's
November 14, 2006





Marshall Field’s history can be traced back to the year 1852 in
the city of Chicago. Chicagoans loved Field’s and many were sad
to see the name changed, when Federated Department Stores,
Inc. the owner of Macy’s, acquired it on August 30, 2005.
Wikipedia contains an article on Marshall Fields.

The Chicago Tribune is running an article entitled, "Macy’s
Brand a Tough Sell in Chicago." It explains that Federated
Department Stores wants to build a single well known brand
image for its many department stores. The article reports that
Macy’s Chairman and Chief Executive, "(Terry) Lundgren said
he looked for ways to keep the Field's name but decided it
couldn't be done and still accomplish his goal of creating a viable
national department store with the economies of scale to save
costs on merchandise, TV advertising and even shopping bags."

Read the Article!!

Interestingly, the first Google ad on the webpage on which this
article is located reads, “We Love Marshall Field's and will accept
no substitutes. We hope Federated figures this out. www.
fieldsfanschicago.org”


Discussion Starters:

  • Ask your child(ren) what the following words mean,
    "department store," "chief executive officer," and "brand."
    Ask them to name a few brand names. “McDonald's” is
    one of the best known brand names in the world. Suggest
    a few more brand names that your child(ren) might know
    about.

  • Many people in Chicago have not been happy that what
    they knew as Marshall Field’s is now called Macy’s. Ask
    your child(ren) if they think names are important.
    Why/why not? Ask them how they would feel if the name
    of their favorite game was changed? Can they think of
    any names that might be more fitting for their favorite
    game? What? How do you think about the importance of a
    name? Share your ideas.

  • After sharing information about this article with your child
    (ren) ask them if they can think of any questions that they
    would like to ask about it?

  • This article tells the story of an event in Chicago. Ask
    your child(ren) to consider how this story might be
    relevant to your own community. If you encourage your
    child(ren) to consider the relevance, they’ll likely come up
    with something interesting. Have any of your local stores
    been taken over by other national chains? Have you ever
    worked for a company that was bought out by another
    company? If so, tell your child about this experience.

  • Tell your child(ren) to imagine that they have started their
    own company. Have them select an item, or service, that
    they want to sell. Then tell them that as business owners
    they must think of effective ways to let as many people as
    possible know about their product. Ask them how they
    would “brand” their product? How would they go about
    explaining the product to the public in such a way that the
    public would want to purchase the product? Would there
    be some characteristics of the product that they would
    emphasize over others? Why? Add some of your own
    suggestions as well.
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