Purposeful shopping

Purposeful shopping. On Thanksgiving in 1947, a bronze Cherub took rest on the outdoor clock at the L.S. Ayres store in downtown Indianapolis. Indianapolis holiday shoppers long celebrated the seasonal appearance of this Cherub. It disappeared in 1992. The Cherub was found at the May Department Store Co. headquarters in St. Louis. Public outcry compelled its return. People found purpose in the Cherub.

Purpose is found in shopping. We need food, shelter and clothing. Retailers strive to understand why we need which merchandise. What we identify with is at the core of marketing and advertising. In the fall, Anna Wintour of Vogue can choose the shade of green worn the following spring. Or, local trends can emerge. We identify with what we buy. Merchants keep count of what sells. Successful stores are good at keeping track. Purpose becomes a commodity.

Stores themselves are commodities. Venture Stores were founded in 1968 when a Target co-founder went to work for May Department Stores. Under an antitrust settlement reached with the Department of Justice, May was unable to acquire any more retail chains at the time, and the department store company needed Venture Stores as a way to compete against the emerging discount store chains. May then acquired Associated Dry Goods, Loehmann's, Lord & Taylor, Caldor, Foley's, Filene's and Marshall Field's before being bought by Federated Department, consolidated and renamed as Macy's.

Purpose distributes itself across the market place in the shape of a bar bell. At one end, the Macy’s supply what they know we want to wear. At the other end, boutique shops experiment with trends. There is much innovation in the middle. But, the middle is thin since the Macy’s can out wit and out last the middles.