ABD previously reported that Macy’s in the Augusta Mall was launching a store within a store – a 12,000-square-foot retail space on the lower level called Macy’s Backstage, which is officially open for business.
The store, which had its soft opening on Saturday, Sept. 18 followed by a grand opening on Saturday, Sept. 25, features a variety of discount items, such as clothing, shoes, home décor, and toys, as well as designer handbags from Gucci and Louis Vuitton. The concept is designed to appeal to bargain shoppers, according to Abbey Murphree, vice president and store manager. “We were under construction for quite a bit of time, so it probably looked we were closed, but we’re open,” Murphree says. She explains customers can find brands that aren’t available in the rest of the store, and new items are delivered daily. Murphree compares Macy’s Backstage to TJ Maxx or HomeGoods and says business has been great so far.
To make room for the new store, several items had to be relocated to other parts of Macy’s, including women’s plus size clothing and home products.
TJ Maxx and Ross Dress for Less – located on Wrightsboro Road near the mall – are known for selling a variety of items, including clothing, shoes, and home goods, at discounted prices. ABD compared men’s clothing at TJ Maxx and Macy’s Backstage and found both stores featured items that were similar in price and quality. For example, both stores sell men’s dress shirts that cost under $20.
To gather customer feedback on the new store, ABD posted a non-scientific survey on two Facebook Group pages.Bridgett Scott– owner of Scott’s Travel Agency in Augusta– recently visited Macy’s Backstage. “I saw some perfume sets I plan on going back to get,” says Scott. Unlike her, Katie Rose had a different experience when she visited a Backstage store in Atlanta. “I didn’t find anything,” Rose states. Perhaps she will find what she is looking for at the Augusta location.
The grand opening celebration included a ribbon cutting and giveaways, including 100 $10 store gift cards. Customers won those cards and various promotional items, such as pens and koozies, by spinning a prize wheel. “We gave away 500 $5 gift cards weeks in advance of the store opening” to remind customers to return, states Murphree. Because items are already deeply discounted, store coupons can’t be used for Macy’s Backstage purchases.
