Hoping to drive holiday traffic and win over shoppers in markets where its name replaced local favorites it absorbed as part of its acquisition of the May Department Stores in 2005, Macy's is running
star-packed ads featuring celebrities such as Donald Trump and R&B singer Usher. It has also made changes in merchandise including exclusive alliances with well-known designer brands, and has returned
to more promotions at some locations.
Former May customers haven't responded as well as the company hoped to the September 2006 re-branding. A year after Marshall Field's and other May
stores officially converted to the Macy's nameplate, dozens of protesters gathered outside the Chicago store carrying "Macy's Go Home" signs and urging a shopper boycott.
Macy's recently
announced deal to be the exclusive department store retailer for the Tommy Hilfiger U.S.A. brand of men's and women's sportswear in the United States will not begin until fall 2008, but the designer
appears in current TV ads.
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