Macy's Shoe Dept

[mskim61]

Macy's has a great shoe dept. with many different vendors and styles available. They also seem to have a continously running clearance rack. But for some reason their purchasing dept refuses to order anything larger than a size 10. I have found that some of their shoes are available in size 11 0r 12 by other sources. They are definitely losing a lot of sales. Anyone have any insight into their philosophy?

[Shoeiee]

The answer for Macy's choice to sell primarily size 10 and below is probably an economic decision. The company is looking for sheer profits, not supplying any 'niche market' group. And most women are still sizes 10 and below. Unfortunately...

[Firefox]

Yes it's purely driven by profit. Since they have a limited amount of storage space and display space (huge, but still limited), stocking more uncommon sizes in a style means that they can stock less styles. They are not losing sales, because overall, they need to offer choice across styles, so what they stock is a balance between choice across styles and choice across sizes, determined by experience and market research. If they offered the large sizes, they would lose sales because other style ranges would need to be removed.

[hoverfly]

And people who wear larger sizes know thy can wait for the sales and still have a good chance in getting what they want. Unlike other smaller sizes people will pay full price where demand will out strip supply.

[johnieheel]

And people who wear larger sizes know thy can wait for the sales and still have a good chance in getting what they want. Unlike other smaller sizes people will pay full price where demand will out strip supply.

Ya, like me! I wear a 9-9 1/2 and my wife wears an 8- 81/2 so when we see a shoe we like and they have it in our size, guess what? FULL PRICE. Can't turn a eye catch down you know.$$$$$$

[HappyFeat]

I buy a lot of shoes at Macy's. I have noticed on the tags on the display models that they often have a size listed only US sizes 6 to 10. However, I decided to ask anyway for an 11, and the had them in some styles. One clerk even gave me a tour of the shoe department pointing out all of the styles that hey had in stock in 11. Often, if they don't have it in a size you want, they will direct you to another area store, or will have them shipped from another store. Macy's is a relatively new phenomena in my area. My area was mainly served by Kaufmann's, Lazurus, Hecht's, and other local stores that were bought by Macy's. These stores often ran bigger clearances and had more selection, though Macy's quality is a bit higher. What I have surmised is that Macy's is a better corporation that manages inventory better, therefore it sells what is most likely common sizes. Further, the styles are more homogeneous, leaving out a lot of regional variation. In the end it may be better for a person of a more common size, but those of use who don't fall within the 80% of the population, we just get left out.

[crotchboots-m]

most main line department stores(j.c.penney,target,etc) only carry up to size 11. the reason being is not anti-male sentiment to carrying larger,but economical reasons. i am sure there statistics show that the shoe size distribution curve shows anything larger as being not worth stocking. better to sell those size 8s at full retail than be stuck with 12 and 13s and have to mark them down to only make 1 or 2 dollars on them.