Everyone gets their own personal Quixotic campaign. The sort of thing that provides a topic to proselytize about at cocktail parties, gets one mentioned in Public Lives, maybe even a needlessly long profile in the New Yorker (“His career as a critic began inauspiciously, when he told an secondary school instructor that if they could not come prepared with a lesson plan each day, then perhaps they should seek a career in food service”). A idea so crazy, it just might work.
[And, perhaps even a meta-Quixotic campaign inside of it: when referring to my travails, please refer to them as “Kee-hoe-tec” rather than the popular pronounciation. At very least, all you New School grads who spout off about “Ben-ha-min” because you read the synopsis of “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction“]
Anyway, here’s the plan: get Macy’s to restore the windows to the flagship store in Herald Square. Massively expensive? Sure. Reduce retailing space inside? Probably. Increase number of visitors who wander through with not intention of purchasing? Hopefully.
Regardless of the downmarket aura of the Herald Square area, and the vauge brand identity of Macy’s, there’s no reason they can’t house themselves in a building that is visually striking beyond its simple girth (a friend once snorted derisively when he saw it from the Broadway side, commenting that it didn’t seem so big, until I walked him a few feet south, so he could see it recede all the way to Seventh Avenue). And the facade is in reasonably good shape. The only reason it is so unattractive is the painted or walled up windows caked with grime.
Look what such an approach does for Saks, which gleams upscale retailer. And big box stores are invading the city, some which are being very aggressive in creating more urbane versions of their default template. Meanwhile, Macy’s clings to an outmoded suburban ideal. Given that whatever failing department store chain controls them now might want to stake out a better position vis-a-vis Target’s seemingly unstoppable ability to capture high and low end shoppers, it might be a good tactical maneveur as well. Think of all the residual good will possible from such a ‘street-friendly’ gesture. And legions of Simon Doonan acolytes will swoon at the increased oppotunity.
This campaign won’t have a clever name, certainly not one with punctuation. It probably won’t exist longer than this post, but that’s what makes it so Quixotic. And it’s not a half bad idea. So if you are having cocktails with the Federated people, or the May people, or whatever they are calling themselves these days, mention it. It they are dubious, tell them they could put a Starbucks or ten in there as well. Synergy. They’ll love that.
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Let there be light.
Everyone gets their own personal Quixotic campaign. The sort of thing that provides a topic to proselytize about at cocktail parties, gets one mentioned in Public Lives, maybe even a needlessly long profile in the New Yorker (“His career as a critic began inauspiciously, when he told an secondary school instructor that if they could not come prepared with a lesson plan each day, then perhaps they should seek a career in food service”). A idea so crazy, it just might work.
[And, perhaps even a meta-Quixotic campaign inside of it: when referring to my travails, please refer to them as “Kee-hoe-tec” rather than the popular pronounciation. At very least, all you New School grads who spout off about “Ben-ha-min” because you read the synopsis of “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction“]Anyway, here’s the plan: get Macy’s to restore the windows to the flagship store in Herald Square. Massively expensive? Sure. Reduce retailing space inside? Probably. Increase number of visitors who wander through with not intention of purchasing? Hopefully.
Regardless of the downmarket aura of the Herald Square area, and the vauge brand identity of Macy’s, there’s no reason they can’t house themselves in a building that is visually striking beyond its simple girth (a friend once snorted derisively when he saw it from the Broadway side, commenting that it didn’t seem so big, until I walked him a few feet south, so he could see it recede all the way to Seventh Avenue). And the facade is in reasonably good shape. The only reason it is so unattractive is the painted or walled up windows caked with grime. Look what such an approach does for Saks, which gleams upscale retailer. And big box stores are invading the city, some which are being very aggressive in creating more urbane versions of their default template. Meanwhile, Macy’s clings to an outmoded suburban ideal. Given that whatever failing department store chain controls them now might want to stake out a better position vis-a-vis Target’s seemingly unstoppable ability to capture high and low end shoppers, it might be a good tactical maneveur as well. Think of all the residual good will possible from such a ‘street-friendly’ gesture. And legions of Simon Doonan acolytes will swoon at the increased oppotunity. This campaign won’t have a clever name, certainly not one with punctuation. It probably won’t exist longer than this post, but that’s what makes it so Quixotic. And it’s not a half bad idea. So if you are having cocktails with the Federated people, or the May people, or whatever they are calling themselves these days, mention it. It they are dubious, tell them they could put a Starbucks or ten in there as well. Synergy. They’ll love that.