Lundgren: Macy’s Experimenting

Terry Lundgren, chairman, president and ceo of Macy’s Inc. (Cincinnati) told shareholders that Macy’s “will try everything” to drive future business. “We’ll try 10 things and, if two work, we’ll follow through on them.”

Among the options Lundgren raised were smaller stores with limited inventory and full-line stores in outlet malls.

In a response to the “showrooming” trend, in which shoppers browse stores’ merchandise before ordering online, Lundgren said, “We may be able to have smaller-sized stores that are largely for samples.”

“We’re testing [fixtures] that allow customers to see physical product and search all the inventory between dot-com and stores,” he said. “We’re investing big time in mobile devices. We have a mobile app, but there’s a lot more we can do to leverage that experience to blend technology with in-store to facilitate the purchase.” 

He said Macy’s is also testing a store at the Gurnee (Ill.) Mills outlet center. “If this works, it will obviously open up new ideas to think about, such as expansion in those centers with smaller footprint stores,” Lundgren said. He was clear, though, that Macy’s won’t consider outlet stores because its sale prices are already very low.

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