[jimmywanger]

No, to continue your analogy, they wanted to be the Nordstrom of the moving world, not the Saks Fifth Avenue, not knowing that not enough people would use the high-end but not quite luxury service to make it worth their while.

[notyourday]

That's the problem: Saks Fifth Ave and Nordstrom are in the exactly same market. The upmarket is Bergdorf Goodman.

[jimmywanger]

I suppose that's the problem, which he alludes to in his article. Basically we go shopping a lot (well a lot of people do) that's why there's so much market differentiation. JC Penny and Macy's and Nordstrom and Saks and Bergdorf Goodman all offer a slightly different experience tailored to different budgets, and the stratification is very clear.

A truly upmarket experience is a concierge who knows your tastes and scours the stores to bring you what he think you'd like to wear. Just like any sort of suit you can buy in a store is orders less luxurious than a bespoke suit you get made for you on Saville Row.

[kgwgk]

FWIW, wikipedia lists Saks higher than Nordstrom: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Department_store#Segmentation

[notyourday]

Wikipedia is wrong. Saks went downmarket, Nordstrom went upmarket. They go to the same malls and same suburbs.