Department stores such as Macy's, Nordstrom and Saks are showing signs of recovery after the economic slump. 'Nordstrom is expected to post earnings of 79 cents per share for the quarter, more than doubling the 31 cents it posted in the year-ago period' (Cardona 2010). Nordstrom, Saks and Barneys are direct competitors as they cater to high-end clients whereas macy's is more in the middle-priced-ranged market like JC Penny. Nordstrom had the advantage of its robust online selling and a chain of Nordstrom Rack outlets to enjoy increasing sales even during recession. Saks was hardly hit when the luxury market fell and was not able to rebound as quickly as Nordstrom. Although Macy's is slowly getting back to its knees, it's still tough for middle-priced-ranged department stores because shoppers prefer either high-end products or those at value-oriented stores. Market segmentation involves the segregation of consumers into subsets of clients with...
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