- March 13, 2017
- 1:54 pm
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Quinlan Ramble to NYC – Macy’s
Quinlan Ramble to New York City
Day #7, 3/10/2017
Tessie Li Ruo Lin (Quinlan ’19)
How to better end this trip than with a visit to Macy’s? After Bloomberg’s, we headed straight to the largest retail store in the world! Even though the first company (Bloomberg) we visited that same day was impressive, Macy’s was indeed the best way to mark the very end of this amazing trip. We previously visited a total of eight different companies, but this was the first retail store for us, which made it quite exciting.
We grabbed a quick but delicious lunch before making our way up to the 12th floor, where Macy’s office was located. We were greeted by Matthew Alexander, an extremely friendly employee of Macy’s who currently holds the position of College Relations Manager at the company. With his team, they had a brief but concise presentation about the company, its history, values and culture, and also shared some valuable information about available internship positions and programs that are open to sophomores, juniors, and seniors.
After the presentation, we had a mini panel style discussion with two amazing employees at Macy’s: Bianca Perez and Meghan Willis. Bianca Perez is now an Associate Financial Planner at Macy’s. She was previously a tax consultant at Deloitte, but decided for a little change in 2016. More interestingly, Bianca is a Loyola alumnus. She graduated at Loyola University of Chicago with a Masters in Science in Accountancy in 2014. Some of us had met her during the Alumni Reception on Tuesday, which was a helpful networking event. On the other hand, Meghan Willis is a Digital Associate Merchant at Macy’s. She currently studies at New York University, where her tuition is partly paid by Macy’s as one of the many benefits of being an employee at the company. 
And of course, towards the end, we had a tour of the store at Herald Square, which is the flagship of Macy’s department store. A Talent Acquisition and Recruitment Specialist, Vincent Bond, was our tour guide and successfully led an interactive and very entertaining little tour. Starting from the top floor, which sold mostly luggage and furniture, we went down all the way to the first floor, where makeup, fragrances, bags and other accessories were located. Walking at the pace of New Yorkers, we quickly scanned the different products that were sold and how each were strategically placed. Once in a while, we would stop and gather around a little corner in order to not annoy the thousands of customers there. By the end of this very informative tour, we realized that a complex thought process occurred behind the placement of every single item that can be found in the Macy’s store. For instance, the suitcases are located on the top floor because it is not an impulse buy, nor is furniture. When people come to buy a suitcase or a couch, they usually have a specific type in mind and do not just randomly buy these items while shopping for other items. Mr. Bond also focused specifically on a Nike placement in the store. He pointed out that it sought to convey a feeling of movement with the mannequin’s being positioned as if they were running or stretching, proving that it is these small details that make all the difference. It was also mentioned that there were no mirrors in this particular area for various reasons, including the lack of enough space. Clearly, owning a store in Macy’s costs money, therefore, unless it is necessary, like in the case of shoes, the use of mirrors are usually minimized to save the limited space that each company is entitled to.
Last but not least, we got some amazing SWAG which included a red, middle size Macy’s notebook, a cool pen (which we took some time figuring out how to use), and a portable charger! After this extremely entertaining tour of the store, our little Quinlan Ramble group headed back to the hotel to get ready for our last dinner at The Smith. We were all a bit tired, but happy to be heading back home the following day. Most of all though, we were quite shocked that we had already come to the end of this trip. We were all sad to leave this beautiful and lively city of New York and our fellow Loyola classmates and faculty who have all made this trip an extraordinary and unforgettable experience!