Get iPod; Buy Clothes
 
Department stores try to reclaim back-to-school sales with gadgets, hot fashion
Macy's is using new bait to lure back-to-school shoppers into its stores: the iPod. The retailer partnered with Manhattan mainstay J&R Music & Computer World on a new concept, J&R Express, which opened last month in the basement of Macy's Herald Square flagship.
 
"There was a pent-up need over there for electronics," says J&R owner Rachelle Friedman, who notes that the small shop has generated surprisingly high sales. Ms. Friedman says she would consider rolling out J&R Express in more Macy's locations if the experiment continues to go well its own. The department store closed its own electronics department 10 years ago.
 
Macy's hope is that parents will bring their kids into the store for gadgets-- from music players to digital cameras-- and stay to buy clothes and other back-to-school necessities. Department stores such as Macy's, Saks Fifth Avenue and J.C. Penney have been losing ground for a long time to specialty apparel retailers like H&M and Abercrombie & Fitch. Return to news index page: click here!