"Most Of Our Upscale Clientele Is Smaller" Says Macy's
Nonk was telling me about this Consumerist article last night, and I almost fell over. A woman named Amanda went to Macy’s and tried to buy a formal dress in a plus size. And here’s what she was allegedly told:
Pam: I’m sorry, ma’am. Macy’s does not cater to your size.
Me: I beg your pardon?
Pam: It’s a demographic thing, ma’am. We do not carry plus sizes of formal wear or business suits. We find, demographically speaking, that most of our upscale clientele is smaller, so we have a really large petites department and just the basics for our plus sized customers. It’s nothing against you, ma’am. It’s just demographics.
Me: Let me make sure I understand, please. Your “upscale” customers who buy party dresses and business suits are all petite? And your plus sized customers are not “upscale”?
Pam: Yes ma’am. The demographics tell us that plus sized women just don’t need social wear.
Me: So what you are saying then is that larger women don’t have good jobs and don’t go to parties.
Pam: That’s correct, ma’am.
Then Pam told Amanda that she should try a store that caters to women of color, who “tend to be larger.” Now, I’m sure the conversation did not go down exactly like this, but even if this is half-true, it has me concerned.
I get all my formalwear at Nordstrom, which has an outstanding selection of gorgeous dresses (like my party dress, hello) Has anyone been to Macy’s lately? Have you noticed a dearth of business and formalwear? What’s the real story here?
Posted by mo pie
Filed under: Fashion, Fatism, Race & Ethnicity, Work
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Wow. I wonder if Pam still has a job at Macy’s? Even if they don’t carry plus sized formal wear, the way she put it was incredibly rude!
Sorry, I don’t mean to derail the conversation, but I just thought I’d delurk to ask if anyone else is having troubles with this site? It hasn’t let me access it for days, and even now I can only see the front page. I can’t see any of the old posts or archives. I just get the ol’ Page Not Found message of doom.
I respectfully disagree. Yes, Your saleperson didn’t phrase herself correctly. That said, I can tell you (as a size 18) that I’ve managed women’s boutiques for most of my adult life. I ALWAYS made a point of stocking plus sized high-fashion clothing, and unfortunately, it would molder on the rack. Eventually I could not afford to feature it though I would have the occasional plus-size customer come in and accuse me of bieng a fattist.
You cannot demand that a retailer stock something that does not sell, and I say that to you as a plus sized woman.
In my experience the only reasons plus-sized merchandize won’t sell is because:-
a) It’s overpriced
b) It’s ugly and/or badly made
or
c) It hasn’t been publicised sufficiently well that a particular shop stocks plus-sizes.
ooh, ooh, ooh! i used to be employed by a macy’s in bellingham, wa in 2004! i was what they called a floater, which meant i worked in whatever department needed me, so i spent some time in the plus-size depatment, which they called “women’s world”. to echo earlier sentiments, it was TINY. it was about a quarter of the size of the other two women’s departments, which included “moderate apparel” (i guess that means they were moderately priced?) and the high-end fashion department with the formal wear. it was funny because throughout the orientation they emphasize the average macy’s customer and what they said over and over again was that she wears a size 14, doesn’t mind spending more for quality, and loves fashion. so why don’t they cater to this average customer? most ridiculous job i ever had.
I can’t find plus size formal or businesswear ANYWHERE, not just at Macy’s. But my experience at Macy’s is that yes, they have a pathetic plus size department.
mydressishung:
Techinically, Macy’s does cater to the “average” consumer. Size 14 is available in straight sizes in almost every mid-range and some high-range brands in the store, albeit on the higher end of the size range. On top of that, the few plus size brands they do sell probably start at 16.
I’m not justifying it, I’m just giving you Macy’s “logic”.
I recently moved to an area where they have a Macy’s Woman store, that ONLY caters to plus size women…and they have both suits and formal dresses (I haven’t gotten a dress there but I did get an amazing coat and several blouses…that I love, love, love for the holiday)…maybe they will transition to more of that type of thing? I also have found that Macys.com has both suits and dresses that are plus sized….which I know isn’t the same as having a retail store, but still is a lot of the name brands that I’ve come to expect from Macy’s
I had this same issue at Macy’s in Ohio. I was interviewing for a promotion (which I got) and went to Macy’s for a suit to be told “Macy’s doesn’t sell plus-sized suits. I snarked off a bit about the assumption that I must just sit around all day eating and went to Dillards.
At Dillards I recieved excellent customer service and they had a good selection in my size.
Macy’s lost a young, upwardly mobile professional for life and the business of most of the people I’ve shared this with.
I think it depends on the location. The Macy’s where my sister lives is great for career clothing – Cincinnati area — my area in northern Indiana, it sucks big time.
The Macy’s here was remodeled a few years ago. After they changed things around, they moved the plus size department to the very back of the store. I was shopping one day and I heard a woman complain (very loudly!) that the plus size section shouldn’t be hidden away. A few months later, the section was moved to a more central location and they added tons of merchandise.
Macy’s Women has gone down hill in the last few years. The stuff in my Macy’s in suburban Boston today is matronly, ugly and garish. And as many of you noted, this section is hidden away and very hard to find. I get most of my dressy clothes at Nordstroms and Talbots. (If you go make a trip to Talbots, call to make sure they carry plus sizes because I find fewer of their bricks & mortar stores do.) Five years ago, I got some great dressy and career outfits at Sak’s Salon Z in downtown Boston. I was really bummed when Saks discontinued carrying plus sizes.
If those statements made by the salesperson are accurate/true, that’s incredibly rude.
I’m not a plus-size, but rather a petite. Store offerings for petite, plus, big & tall, etc. vary drastically from store to store, region to region. Unfortunately, the salesperson has little to do with a store’s product mix. Now, to make a comment that the “wealthier clientele” are not plus size seems bogus. However, what could be a more realistic scenario is that the particular store’s buyer determined plus size formal wear was to be minimized or removed from the product mix. If the store cannot turn over their inventory, it ends up on the clearance rack and money is lost. IF the store was in fact ignoring that they have a reasonable demographic who desires plus size wear, then YES, it should be considered and stocked.
Umm – Women of Color??
Because the last time I checked, certain ‘Women of Color’, East Asians in particular, are smaller than average ‘Non-Women of Color aka White women’. This Macy employee should have been specific to her customer which women of color store she should visit instead.
Why doesn’t she just step out from behind the ‘Political Correctness’ bullshit and just say it – Black Women. Go to a Black Women store because they’re generally fatter.
Really the reality with using the phrase Women (or Person) of Colour is to avoid being accused of being racist to Black, Hispanic and dark-skin women, when the racism is clearly there.
I spoke with the General Manager of our Macys Department after they stopped carrying Plus Size Suits she said that it was one of the best sellers and it was a corporate decision to replace it with Petites. The General Manager said she had a lot of complaints and was going to bring the plus size suits back that fall. I guess corporate overruled because they have not come back. I know a lady who works in the office and she said petites have not and do not sell well but they are forced to carry them. Individual stores cannot make decisions based on their sales.