• Cincinnati Enquirer, Monday, December 28, 2009 10:43 AM

Macy's is getting the message that it's not what the retailer wants to sell but rather what the customer wants to buy, Laura Baverman reports. It is halfway through its second year of MyMacy's, a strategy to tailor the merchandise and customer experience to the communities in which each store operates. Previously, it categorized its stores by size and type, and buyers in New York sent each store within a category the same set of merchandise.

Sales are down for the first 10 months of Macy's 2009 fiscal year following a two-year slump. But analysts expect localization to help Macy's improve its sales and margins by next spring. Indeed, many of its best-performing districts in the third quarter were those that originally tested the MyMacy's concept.

Salespeople are also being given expanded roles. When a customer requests something that Macy's doesn't carry, it's recorded in a logbook. Managers review the logbooks and work with the sales associates and the district team to fulfill those requests. "It helps associates understand that their voice can make a difference," says Kathleen Allgeier, store manager at Macy's Kenwood Towne Centre in Cincinnati.

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