Having lived in several major cities where Macy's has taken over grand old department store buildings, I can say when Macy's shows up, you can pretty much accept the fact that an era has ended. I see some glowing reviews here, perhaps coming from people that don't realize what "used to be".

This is true of the State St. Chicago location (as well as the Wanamaker building in Philadelphia). I unfortunately never got to visit Marshall Field's prior to the change. I did visit the new Macy's not too long after the take over. At that time, the store still felt kinda festive, but I could tell some of the grandeur was already gone. Now, in 2022, the store is but a whisper of what it once was. Granted, Covid played a big part...and traffic in the store still isn't back up to "exciting" yet. I have some ideas about what's going on.

I don't think the location is a destination as it once was for city dwellers. Because downtown is changing rapidly, there also isn't the type of foot traffic there once was, from people converging on the loop for work. So a lot of the customers are visitors, or maybe residents who happen to have made the trip down. Retail is also quickly changing, and the department store as an icon is dwindling. But a lot of it has to do with Macy's itself. I happened to work at the Herald Square location in the 80s and THAT was still an exciting place (not so much anymore). I also worked for Macy's again in the early 2000s in King of Prussia, PA. That's when I realized how bland the company had gotten. Presentation, the type of employees, and general atmosphere all have gone to pot. At State St. even, once you leave the main floor, some of the employees are dressed like they're going to a picnic, not selling "finer retail". Plus, Macy's pretty much stretched themselves too thin, placing multiple stores within short distances. The Water Tower/Michigan Ave. store has had to close.

That being said...the building as an architectural feature is still amazing. Please do some reading about the history of Marshall Field's and the eventual residency of the store in this location. Do take time to view the amazing "Tiffany Dome" that was designed by Tiffany himself. And yes...they still have a "bargain basement" where you can find incredible markdowns, although it's on the 2nd floor (well, men's is). AND...one of the few stores that still has an extensive candy dept!!! I will say that Macy's also is one of the only chains that WILL put in good effort to decorate for Christmas...