How Macy’s And Wanamaker’s Dealt With Two Pandemics, 102 Years Apart

Will the reopening of Macy’s bring a sense of normalcy back to America’s retail scene? Department stores, formerly regarded as America’s temples of commerce, survived the 1918 pandemic. Can they survive the current one? There was a time when department stores anchored cities and towns of all sizes. But today they are smaller, fewer and weaker. When governors initially released their individual stay-at-home orders, most retail stores were ordered to close. Businesses that carried health, food and home improvement items were deemed “essential.” Most department stores dropped those lines at least 30 years ago. Read more at Forbes.