Macy's (M) has gone shopping and brought back Story, a New York City concept store that changes its design and products every four to eight weeks.
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The acquisition, made at an undisclosed price, appears to be no impulse buy. It brings aboard a new executive to the Macy's team — and potentially a new way for the major department store chain to attract new foot traffic.
Story founder and CEO Rachel Shechtman has been named Macy's new "brand experience officer." She will be working on "ways to enhance the in-store customer experience with the Macy's brand," according to the release.
Hinting at the changes to come, the department store said Story "will have the opportunity to come to life in a new format."
Shechtman previously has described Story's concept as the "physical presence" of LinkedIn and Facebook (FB), meaning shoppers can explore new products and experiences in stores, according to the Wall Street Journal.
For example, Story once tailored a store for insurer Cigna (CI), using a wellness theme that featured yoga classes and panel discussions on health care while nutritional products were on sale.
Macy's shares rallied about 2% to 31.34 on the stock market today, re-entering buy range after initially clearing a 31.14 buy point last week.
Declining foot traffic and declining mall traffic have hit department stores hard, particularly those that serve as mall anchors, such as Macy's and J.C. Penney (JCP).
The major players are trying all manner of things to shake up their retail environments: Kohl's (KSS) teamed up with Amazon.com (AMZN) to make certain stores a place for returns; J.C. Penney (JCP) welcomed Sephora boutiques in its stores; Nordstrom (JWN) opened a men's location in Manhattan, complete with a rare-sneaker shop-in-shop.
In February, Walmart's (WMT) tech incubator, Store No. 8, bought virtual reality startup Spatialand, predicting that VR "has the potential to reinvent the consumer experience — with an experience we call contextual commerce."
Macy's appears to be gearing up for a makeover of sorts. It already has announced plans to introduce virtual reality furniture showrooms and special mobile-checkout counters in stores.
Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette said in the same release Wednesday that the addition of Shechtman will "help create more enriched and engaging in-store experiences and brand activations."
"We are committed to growth in 2018, and this is one important step along the way," he said.
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The post Macy's Newest Acquisition Has This Radically Different Retail Angle appeared first on Investor's Business Daily.
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