Department stores were once on the leading edge of retailing — big, exciting places to shop, where consumers could find everything from the latest toaster to an evening dress and matching shoes. Now, they are fighting for their lives, the Wall Street Journal reported. In May, J.C. Penney Co., Neiman Marcus Group Ltd. and Stage Stores Inc. filed for bankruptcy, adding to the list of chains that have shrunk or disappeared in recent years. Saving the department store — or at least salvaging it — isn’t impossible, but doing so will require a radical rethink of how stores operate and relate to shoppers, say veteran retail executives. It would be easy to blame the rise of fast fashion, off-price chains like T.J. Maxx, the internet and, most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic for the demise of department stores. But rivals in Europe and Japan are healthier, even with those factors in play. In the U.K., Harrods and Selfridges are renowned for their food halls, which provide a sensory experience not replicated online. In Japan, the department store Nihombashi Mitsukoshi has hosted exhibits where artisans make ceramics, weave fabrics and practice other traditional crafts, creating a sense of theater. “The U.S. players haven’t been able to replicate the same type of excitement and pizzazz,” said Craig Johnson, president of consulting firm Customer Growth Partners. “U.S. department stores are too stale and slow.” Former industry executives date the problems to the 1980s, when a series of mergers and overexpansion led to bloat. “The focus became more about how to take care of the corporate office, not the customer,” said Allen Questrom, the former CEO of Neiman Marcus, Barneys New York Inc., J.C. Penney and Federated Department Stores Inc., which later became Macy’s Inc.
