DEAL HUNTER HAVEN
Macy’s discount shops expand to Bay State
Macy’s Inc. will open the first Massachusetts location of its off-price retail concept at the Solomon Pond Mall in Marlboro on March 24 and follow it with a second at the Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro in June.
Both locations will be store-within-a-store models located within the malls’ existing Macy’s stores.
Backstage will be located in 18,600 square feet on the first floor of Macy’s at Solomon Pond. Macy’s floor layouts will be rearranged to accommodate Backstage’s merchandise, but no Macy’s departments will be eliminated as a result, according to the company.
Backstage sells clothing, housewares, home furnishings, cosmetics, pet accessories, jewelry, shoes, designer handbags and accessories at prices advertised at 20 percent to 80 percent off traditional department stores. It is competing in an industry led by TJX Cos. Inc., the Framingham owner of the offprice TJ Maxx, Marshalls and HomeGoods chains.
“Backstage offers a different shopping experience than a traditional department store and is perfect for those who enjoy great prices and the thrill of the hunt,” said Michelle Israel, senior vice president of off price for the Cincinnati-based Macy’s Inc.
Macy’s introduced seven freestanding Backstage stores in New Jersey, New York and Texas in 2015 and 2016, before switching to the store-within-a-store concept. It currently has 44 store-within-a-store locations, including at Providence Place in Rhode Island and in 16 other states.
“We have worked with various models, but have found that our customers like having options under the same roof and are spending more with the store-within-store model, giving us a lift in performance of almost seven full points per location,” Israel said.
Backstage stores have mobile checkout stations, and customers can use their Macy’s credit cards.
Macy’s Inc. is primarily targeting its existing core customers — the bulk of which already shop at offprice stores — for its Backstage shoppers, CEO Jeffrey Gennette said during an earnings call last month.
Those existing customers spend more when there is a Backstage located within a Macy’s store, with limited cannibalization of Macy’s sales, he said.
“We’re getting incremental shopping trips from her,” Gennette said. “And when we talk about what we’re doing in 2018 and taking this out to 100 more stores, it’s going to give us the opportunity to start to market this. And with that, we expect to get new customers.”