SourcingJul 30, 2026
De Beers Sale in ‘Final, Most Challenging’ Phase, Anglo CEO SaysThe goal is for the De Beers sale to be finished by the second half of 2026, with the subsequent approvals process expected to take a year.
EditorsFeb 08, 2017
The Malaise of Macy’s
One of Macy’s biggest problems has been its inability to convert Kaufmann’s shoppers, Editor-in-Chief (and Western Pennsylvania native) Michelle Graff writes.
Macy’s flagship store in Herald’s Square, New York City. The retailer ranks No. 4 on National Jeweler’s 2016 list of $100 Million Supersellers with an estimated $1.56 billion in watch and jewelry sales in 2015.
I started this blog on Friday after reading numerous reports about the possible sale of Macy’s.
Since then, there has been other major news that’s broken in the retail world.
On Sunday, Tiffany & Co. announced that CEO Frederic Cumenal was stepping down and would be temporarily replaced by Chairman and former CEO Michael Kowalski while the jeweler hunts for a permanent leader.
Though some news outlets seemed shocked by the news, I wasn’t.
The retailer’s sales have been, to coin Kowalski, disappointing. Worldwide net sales rose 1 percent, declined 6 percent and 7 percent in the last three quarters, and Tiffany has posted poor holiday performances back-to-back.
I don’t think it’s hard to understand why Cumenal no longer has the corner office, or why another big jewelry retailer, Signet Jewelers Ltd., also recently changed up its senior management after its holiday season was less than stellar.
Retail is changing and retailers--particularly public companies that have to answer to shareholders--have to change with it.
So, while I may return to the topics of Signet and/or Tiffany at a later date, for now I want to talk about Macy’s, Retail Dive and an interesting conversation I recently had with my mother.
While reading multiple stories about the murky future of Macy’s on Friday, I came across this excellent analysis from RetailDive.com.
In her article, Contributing Editor Daphne Howland argues that what’s killing Macy’s isn’t competition from Amazon or off-price outlets but, rather, Federated Department Stores’ (which later changed its name to Macy’s) 2005 purchase of The May Company.
The acquisition left the retailer over-stored and unable to offer exactly what customers want in every market.
Federated/Macy’s bought up “thriving” regional chains--like Kaufmann’s in Western Pennsylvania, a retail staple of my youth--with roots in their respective communities and made them “cogs in a machine,” the articles states.
The story struck a chord with me because of a recent conversation I had with my mother, in which we got to talking about the state of retail where I grew up, in Beaver County, Pennsylvania.
Mom was telling me how she’d read in the local newspaper (long live print journalism!) that the Macy’s store in the Beaver Valley Mall--which I made famous via this blog before--was one of the many Macy’s that closed at the end of last year.
She wasn’t surprised to read that Macy’s was shutting down because it
was never very busy when she shopped there, which, she also said, was not that often because she didn’t really like it.
To my mom, the store went downhill after it was converted from Kaufmann’s into Macy’s; she never saw much in there that she wanted to buy and the store itself wasn’t as nice either.
And, Mom said, a lot of other people in the area felt the same way.
Kaufmann’s had deep local roots.
Founded by 1871 by Jacob and Isaac Kaufmann, the department store was part of the fabric of Western Pennsylvania for decades. There’s the iconic clock in downtown Pittsburgh (“Meet me under the Kaufmann’s clock.”) and Fallingwater, the amazing Frank Lloyd Wright-designed weekend home the Kaufmann family had built in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, a must-see if you ever get to the area.
There really wasn’t any way for Macy’s to emulate that and, as a result, what ended up happening is exactly what my mom observed: People really never came to love Macy’s the way they loved Kaufmann’s.
My mom’s musings on Macy’s sum up perfectly the point that was made in the Retail Dive article.
The retailer got too big to deliver any kind of personalized experience to customers, to stock each store with merchandise that suited them and to make area residents feel that Macy’s knew what they liked.
And, it seems, this lack of personalization was especially detrimental to Macy’s in Midwest metropolitan regions like Pittsburgh, as this is where Macy’s is expected to close the most stores, according to Retail Dive.
Retail today is so different and so difficult that I cannot offer jewelers a panacea, a single solution for all their store’s problems. I cannot say that being a town’s “local jeweler” will save a store because, as we’ve seen, longtime family-owned retailers are closing down too.
And I cannot say that remaining a Kaufmann’s would have saved this specific store, given the long, slow economic decline of the area surrounding it and the myriad challenges facing brick-and-mortar retailers today, particularly those situated in aging malls.
But I think what can be learned from Macy’s is that for retailers, local/regional names do carry weight among area residents and aren’t necessarily so easily replaced.
As National Jeweler columnist Peter Smith stated when commenting on this story about San Francisco retailer Shreve & Co. closing the Portland, Oregon storeit opened in the space once occupied by 88-year-old store Carl Greve Jewelers: “I wonder if things would have been different if they had kept the Carl Greve name? Shreve’s had no awareness in that market. Sad to see.”
There is value in having a connection to the community and in knowing exactly what your customers want.
To my mom, the store went downhill after it was converted from Kaufmann’s into Macy’s; she never saw much in there that she wanted to buy and the store itself wasn’t as nice either.
And, Mom said, a lot of other people in the area felt the same way.
Kaufmann’s had deep local roots.
Founded by 1871 by Jacob and Isaac Kaufmann, the department store was part of the fabric of Western Pennsylvania for decades. There’s the iconic clock in downtown Pittsburgh (“Meet me under the Kaufmann’s clock.”) and Fallingwater, the amazing Frank Lloyd Wright-designed weekend home the Kaufmann family had built in Mill Run, Pennsylvania, a must-see if you ever get to the area.
There really wasn’t any way for Macy’s to emulate that and, as a result, what ended up happening is exactly what my mom observed: People really never came to love Macy’s the way they loved Kaufmann’s.
My mom’s musings on Macy’s sum up perfectly the point that was made in the Retail Dive article.
The retailer got too big to deliver any kind of personalized experience to customers, to stock each store with merchandise that suited them and to make area residents feel that Macy’s knew what they liked.
And, it seems, this lack of personalization was especially detrimental to Macy’s in Midwest metropolitan regions like Pittsburgh, as this is where Macy’s is expected to close the most stores, according to Retail Dive.
Retail today is so different and so difficult that I cannot offer jewelers a panacea, a single solution for all their store’s problems. I cannot say that being a town’s “local jeweler” will save a store because, as we’ve seen, longtime family-owned retailers are closing down too.
And I cannot say that remaining a Kaufmann’s would have saved this specific store, given the long, slow economic decline of the area surrounding it and the myriad challenges facing brick-and-mortar retailers today, particularly those situated in aging malls.
But I think what can be learned from Macy’s is that for retailers, local/regional names do carry weight among area residents and aren’t necessarily so easily replaced.
As National Jeweler columnist Peter Smith stated when commenting on this story about San Francisco retailer Shreve & Co. closing the Portland, Oregon storeit opened in the space once occupied by 88-year-old store Carl Greve Jewelers: “I wonder if things would have been different if they had kept the Carl Greve name? Shreve’s had no awareness in that market. Sad to see.”
There is value in having a connection to the community and in knowing exactly what your customers want.
More on Editors
The Latest
Policies & IssuesJul 30, 2026
JA Heads Back to Washington as New Wave of Tariffs Takes Effect David Bonaparte, along with Tim Haake and Ronnie VanderLinden, continue to lobby for tariff exemptions for diamonds, gemstones, and pearls.
SurveysJul 30, 2026
Consumer Confidence Slips in JulySurvey respondents were concerned about the rising prices of food and groceries as well as unemployment.
Brought to you by
Why More Jewelry Retailers Are Hosting Turnkey Estate Buying EventsRetailers are seeking new ways to attract customers, increase traffic, and create revenue – Estate buying events are a popular solution.
Events & AwardsJul 30, 2026
Vicenzaoro Releases 2026 Education LineupThe trade show, slated for Sept. 4-8 in Vicenza, Italy, will feature sessions on trends, AI, gemology, and manufacturing.
Weekly QuizJul 30, 2026
This Week’s QuizTest your jewelry news knowledge by answering these questions.
Events & AwardsJul 30, 2026
Hillsborough Show Moves to New Location for 2026The public shopping event featuring art, jewelry, watches, and rare collectibles, will take place in Santa Clara, California, this fall.
MajorsJul 29, 2026
Kevin Reilly Retires After 39 Years in the Jewelry Industry Reilly has been with PGI USA for the last 20 years, leading partnership development and professional education.
Brought to you by
Wedding Band Trends 2026: Personalization Takes Center StageColored gemstones, artisan finishes, mixed metals, and meaningful details are shaping demand in bridal jewelry.
FinancialsJul 29, 2026
Kering’s H1 Jewelry Sales Up 14%Boucheron reached record sales while Pomellato found success in its signature collections.
Events & AwardsJul 29, 2026
Lauren Harwell Godfrey Designs a Flag for ArkansasShe was one of more than 120 American designers who created flags for the “United Flags of Fashion” project led by CFDA and Vogue.
ColumnistsJul 28, 2026
Peter Smith: Why Your Job Postings May Be Working Against You Smith reveals the method The Retail Smiths use to help retailers and vendors write better job postings.
FinancialsJul 28, 2026
Tiffany & Co., Bulgari Lead the Way for LVMH in H1LVMH’s jewelry and watch brands outperformed the company’s other divisions in an environment the company described as “disrupted.”
CollectionsJul 28, 2026
Lionheart’s New Collection Unites Spiritual Iconography“Sacred Heart” features symbols like crosses, angel wings, the Star of David, and the evil eye as a representation of coexistence.
Events & AwardsJul 28, 2026
The Edge Funding 2 Scholarships Via 24 Karat Club SEUS The scholarships will go to early-career professionals looking to study gemology, bench work and jewelry design, or store operations.
SurveysJul 27, 2026
Jewelry Leads Luxury Market Amid Stabilization, Bain SaysBain & Company delved into the trends shaping the luxury market, the impact of AI, and more in its recent study.
SourcingJul 27, 2026
‘Rubies’ Goes on Display at Harvard MuseumThe exhibition reveals the gemology, geology, and cultural history of the iconic red gemstone.
Policies & IssuesJul 24, 2026
New Trump Tariffs: What They Mean for Jewelry The new sweeping slate of tariffs impacts 60 countries, including India, China, Thailand, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.
TrendsJul 24, 2026
Amanda’s Style File: Ode to ‘The Odyssey’From coin pendants to diamond shields, these old world-inspired jewels are the perfect accessory for an epic journey.
TrendsJul 24, 2026
Courtney Leidy’s Silk Cord Pendants Center Unexpected Pairings Our Piece of the Week pairs a checkerboard-cut amethyst with an ivy green silk cord.
PodcastsJul 23, 2026
Episode 7: Reinhold Jewelers on the Power of RelationshipsMildred Marcano Abrams and Yael Reinhold join the podcast to talk community connections, holiday plans, and preserving Reinhold’s legacy.
SourcingJul 23, 2026
De Beers’ Production Jumps 88 Percent in Q2 Production also was up in the first half of 2026 but is expected to “substantially” decrease in H2 as two key mines undergo maintenance.
CollectionsJul 23, 2026
Silvia Furmanovich’s New Collection Travels Back to the 1920s“Art Deco” fuses ancestral techniques, rare materials, and modern perspectives as a tribute to the optimism and curiosity of the movement.
IndependentsJul 23, 2026
Sissy's Log Cabin Opens Casino StoreThe jeweler’s newest store is inside Arkansas’ Saracen Casino Resort.
WatchesJul 23, 2026
Movado Inks Licensing Deal With Kate Spade New YorkThe watch company will design, manufacture, and distribute Kate Spade New York watches.
Policies & IssuesJul 22, 2026
Trump to Put 50% Tariff on Canadian Goods The higher tax is set to go into effect in August and will apply to loose polished diamonds as well as precious and base metals jewelry.
CollectionsJul 22, 2026
Monica Rich Kosann’s High Jewelry Is FruitfulThe “Enchanted Garden” series features a cherry, lemon, and pear that each hold a little secret inside.
IndependentsJul 22, 2026
Liljenquist Beckstead Opens Rolex New BoutiqueIt’s located in Tysons Galleria, an upscale shopping center in the Washington, D.C., metro area.
