Photo: Martha Stewart, Instagram
Are Martha Stewart and Macy’s still made for each other?
Macy’s and Martha Stewart are getting along famously these days. The department store and Sequential Brands Group, which owns Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, announced a new multi-year agreement for Macy’s to continue carrying the Martha Stewart Collection in its stores and on macys.com.
The celebrity’s line, which includes bedding and bath textiles, cookware and other items for the home, was launched as an exclusive Macy’s brand in 2007. The line, which has over 1,000 SKUs, has expanded over the years to include additional categories including fragrances and furniture. Molly Langenstein, chief private brand officer at Macy’s, called the Martha Stewart Collection “a cornerstone of our home assortment” in an interview with Women’s Wear Daily.
Macy’s and Ms. Stewart ran into a rough patch in 2011 after she signed a deal with then J.C. Penney CEO Ron Johnson to open boutiques under the celebrity’s name inside its stores. Former Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren, the story goes, hung up on Ms. Stewart when she called to tell him about the deal with Penney. While Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and Macy’s settled their legal differences in 2014, the department store and Penney only settled their dispute out-of-court last month.
As Macy’s has continued to deepen its relationship with Ms. Stewart, some have questioned whether the department store’s commitment is in line with its stated intent to attract younger consumers.
Ms. Stewart, to her credit, has sought to keep her image fresh. She is currently co-starring in a VH1 cooking show with rapper Snoop Dogg called “Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party.” The show’s guest list included Seth Rogan, Wiz Khalifa, Bella Thome and others. The unlikely friendship between the co-hosts began in 2008 when Mr. Dogg appeared on Ms. Stewart’s “Martha” show.
- Macy’s, Martha Stewart Renew Multiyear Contract – Women’s Wear Daily
- Sequential Brands Group Announces Fourth Quarter Financial Results – Sequential Brands Group
- JCPenney and Macy’s Settle Long-Running Lawsuit Over Martha Stewart Housewares – Consumerist
- Martha & Snoop’s Potluck Dinner Party – VH1
- Martha Stewart and Snoop Dogg’s Unexpectedly Adorable Friendship: A Timeline – Vulture
- What can retailers learn from the Martha Stewart flap? – RetailWire
- Martha, the brand, ain’t what it used to be – RetailWire
Discussion Questions
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS: What is your take on Macy’s continuing and expanding relationship with the Martha Stewart brand? Is it possible that the Martha Stewart Collection is both part of the problem and solution at Macy’s?
Poll
BrainTrust
Lee Kent
Principal, Your Retail Authority, LLC
Tom Redd
Global Vice President, Strategic Communications, SAP Global Retail Business Unit
While I do admire Ms. Stewart and her attempts at keeping her image fresh, even Snoop Dogg is not a big hit with the Millennials. So is this really going to help the brands?
We all know that the department store concept needs a big re-think. Ms. Stewart may keep the current sales going for a bit but both concepts are dated and need re-modeling. Millennials and their underlings are moving away from gender-specific patterns and so Ms. Stewart would be wise to drop the florals, etc. It’s a whole new way of thinking and buying and I’m just not feeling this relationship being part of the solution.
But that’s just my 2 cents.
They are made for each other. However both Macy’s and Martha are from the 1900s. The elderly Martha and the old-school Macy’s seem to have a customer base that is dying off. I wonder what percentage of people under 30 know who each is and what they are about?
Martha Stewart. How long has it been since the first volume of “how to throw a party like you live in Darien” came out? That was 1982. How many companies that were on the DOW in ’82 are still there?
I do like to watch PBS on winter Saturdays and take in ALL the cooking shows. It’s not like Martha’s apple pie is no longer relevant, it’s just that it’s dated and tired. And like Betty Crocker or Aunt Jemima, sometimes it’s best to retire the icon.
It’s not like Martha can reemerge like the updated Mr. Clean or Jolly Green Giant. Martha and Snoop Dogg are an embarrassment. A creative director with too much lurking cynicism. It requires too much disbelief to be suspended. No, I don’t think it’s cute.
The equity that Martha once brought to Macy’s is gone. And more importantly, the shopper for whom Martha was relevant is gone. If I was at Macy’s, I’d do some soul searching on celebrities. It seems “authentic and genuine” are attributes more in vogue among the latest family formers/home builders. Vivian Howard of “A Chef’s Life” seems a better fit, IF a celebrity is appropriate. And I think recent catastrophes in that realm suggest otherwise.
Martha Stewart’s brand is not part of Macy’s problems, nor is it a solution to their issues. People just aren’t fancy anymore, not even on special occasions. And with everything being about food delivery, people use paper plates and plastic. So Martha better start making some cool plastic look alike replica fine China. Oh, and Macy’s new website is too hard to navigate and they DUMP your shopping cart!
Off school today 🙂
Brand endorsements can have two components: 1) the “product quality” component, which in this case was predicated on Ms. Stewart’s ability to pick “the right items”; and 2) the “celebrity” part, wherein people buy something (almost) solely because someone else recommends it. The latter is usually fleeting and I rather think in this case the “”best by” date for Ms. Stewart had already passed when the first contract was signed. The former can last decades — think how long Chanel, or any number of similar designers were relevant. Ms. Stewart may or may not still “have it”… but we’ll have to let the market tell us that.
Well, many of my Millennials and hoards of their friends love Martha and Macy’s.
It is a lock-tight brand mix that will really lift the home department at Macy’s and with Macy’s have Martha visits at stores will increase store visits — even if they just televise on their web sites. Hey, my daughter loves the Martha Bakes show and we get great results from that love. Like cake? Then promote Martha at Macy’s. She does know how to bake!
This is a smart move for Macy’s by growing the MS brand and still continuing the appeal it has with the market segment it attracts. How long this will continue is anyone’s guess. But it appears to be one thing that Macy’s and MS are both doing well.