I have been unimpressed with Macy's for a long time. Stein Mart hasn't impressed me since the great economic crash of 2008, when I got a pair of Theory wool skinny pants for $2.95 + tax. Less than $4 for a pair of pants that I literally wore to death? I think my cost per wear on those pants was around 50 cents within a month, and probably around 1/100 of a cent over the lifetime of that pair of pants.
Stein Mart and Chico's both seemed to carry an unusually large amount of blinged out boho polyester in my area. Macy's wasn't much better. Dillard's hasn't impressed me in over a decade, either.
I only shop Walmart and target clothes for stuff I know I'm just going to destroy at work; same for Gap, Old Navy, and several other mainstream retailers. When I do shop those retailers, it's clearance and/or deeply discounted sale items. Nordstrom and The Real Real have become my go-to solutions for clothes to wear when I'm not at work (which isn't often these days thanks to the joys of being an essential worker).
While I'm not a fan of most retailers, I do lament the loss of choice for lots of women. All of these store and restaurant closings remind me of that line in that Stallone movie "Demolition Man": they're on the way to a gala dinner, and Stallone asks Bullock what restaurant it's at, she replies "Taco Bell", he is dumbfounded that he had to put on a tuxedo for dinner at Taco Bell, she informs him that after the restaurant wars of the 90s "all restaurants are Taco Bell". All drugstores are CVS/Walgreens, all grocery stores are Kroger/Walmart, all department stores are Target/WalMart, all the hardware stores are Lowe's/Home Depot..... Its like that Canadian show "Continuum" where all governments collapse and there is now a 'Corporate Congress'. We are losing mom & pop operations, we are losing small banks, we are losing choice. It's surreal and it makes me sad.
I hope you find some suitable alternatives for shopping for yourself!
