Chicago protesters demand return of Marshall Field’s

CHICAGO – It’s been a year since Marshall Field’s vanished to make way for Macy’s. To mark the occasion, dozens of protesters gathered outside Macy’s huge State Street store, suggesting shoppers boycott the retailer and demanding a return of the Field’s imprint.\nChants of “Field’s is Chicago, Boycott Macy’s!” were heard and signs reading “Macy’s Go Home!” fluttered in the air. Protesters wore the green that distinguished Marshall Field’s shopping bags, and a handful of women decked out in colorful 1890s-style dresses and hats marched around the square-block store, drawing honks from passing cars.\nThe store is one of about 400 properties nationwide converted last year to the Macy’s nameplate by Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores Inc., which acquired them when it bought May Department Stores Co. in 2005. The move gave Federated more than 800 Macy’s stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico. Federated then changed its name to Macy’s Inc.\nBut in Chicago, Macy’s has to overcome loyalty to Field’s that stretches back generations.\n“The point is to protest a brutal and stupid takeover of a crowned jewel of Chicago. They’ve turned it into a Wal-Mart,” said Tom O’Brien, a 51-year-old writer.\nO’Brien said Sunday’s protest of the Macy’s takeover was his third.\n“(Macy’s) sales are down, their stock prices are down,” he said. “People aren’t giving up on this.”\nMarch organizer Jim McKay, a 44-year-old adjunct professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, said the goal is to bring Marshall Field’s back someday. It’s ambitious, he said, but attainable.\n“Macy’s is a run of the mill, template, ubiquitous kind of store. It’s not the same quality as Marshall Field’s,” McKay said between shouts into a megaphone.\nThe building that once housed Field’s was designated a national landmark in 1978. Macy’s occupies eight of its 12 floors.\n“The vast majority of our customers have told us they want to know more about Macy’s, and how we’re striving to provide outstanding service, offer well-known, high-quality merchandise and preserve the local traditions,” Macy’s spokeswoman Jennifer McNamara said in a statement.\nAmanda Burton, 26, dodged the protesters as she left the store. She hadn’t bought anything but said she often does, adding she was perplexed by the protesters.\n“Usually when people are protesting something, it’s because there’s some injustice being done, and I don’t see that happening, so it seems kind of frivolous,” Burton said.\nProtesters said recent financial bad news from Macy’s is a sign of success. Macy’s said its second-quarter earnings fell 77 percent as it continues to be hurt by costs from its takeover of May along with lower sales.\nMacy’s projected last month that third-quarter earnings, excluding merger costs, will now be 5 to 10 cents per share, with earnings for the full year, without the merger costs, of $2.15 to $2.30 per share. Analysts projected 19 cents a share for the third quarter and $2.37 per share for the year.