Nearly three years after the landmark Marshall Field's store on State Street was revamped (or, some would say, eviscerated) and turned into a Macy's, a new survey shows Chicagoans are still miffed.
The group FieldsFansChicago.org conducted a survey and found that more than 70 percent of people prefer Field's over Macy's, shop less at the store after the name change, and would shop more if Marshall Field's was brought back.
FieldsFansChicago definitely comes at the issue with a strong point of view. They've been staging protests since the 2006 switchover, writing letters and even showing up at a stockholder meeting, trying to convince Macy's Inc. to bring back Marshall Field's.
FieldsFans thinks that if Macy's turned the State Street store back into Marshall Field's, people would shop more and it would actually help the company out in this tough economic climate.
But CEO Terry Lundgren told FieldsFans he disagrees with their findings, the group said.
Macy's stock price has been on a fairly steady decline since early 2007, when it was trading around $40 a share. At the time of this writing, the price was $11.55.
Macy's is restructuring, but there's no indication that would involve a return of the Marshall Field's brand. The company announced in early 2009 that it would centralize buying and merchandise planning for all its stores.
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FieldsFansChicago.org conducted the survey itself on the street in Chicago. A spokesman said they tried to be as fair as possible, avoiding making any statements or showing any signs or buttons that would influence respondents.
An e-mail to Macy's public relations department wasn't immediately returned.
