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- Dec 18, 201922 min
Macy's vs Gimbels - Last Store Standing
It’s the 1960s and as Americans flee cities for the suburbs, Macy’s and Gimbels face tough choices. How do they compete with the rise of discount retailers and the exciting new shopping palaces known as malls? Weakened by industry disruption, both stores become vulnerable to the new wave of financial tactics — takeovers and leveraged buyouts. One store’s fateful decision during this transition period will end with it closing its doors forever.
- Dec 15, 201922 min
Macy’s vs Gimbels - Wartime Wagers
In the late 1930s Gimbels makes a risky bet by stockpiling goods likely to be scarce in wartime. They also snap up their rival’s star copywriter, who does the best work of her career at their shop. Their savvy planning and advertising strength position them well for the post-war period, when Americans open their wallets wide. But the lifting of Depression era regulations governing retail leads to a series of price wars between all the department stores. None is as extreme as the one between Macy’s and Gimbels, which ends in mayhem, and sometimes, violence. The price wars force Macy’s to choose between honoring a sacred, century-old discount policy, or risk ending the year in the red for the first time in company history.
- Dec 11, 201925 min
Macy's vs Gimbels - Diversify or Die
It’s the 1920s and wealthy flappers and captains of industry have money to burn for raccoon coats and monogrammed sterling silver hip flasks. Gimbels makes a risky acquisition of Saks Fifth Avenue, that ends up floating Gimbels through hard times and family tragedy during the Depression. Macy’s counters Gimbels’ strategic expansion by hiring a brilliant young copywriter, one of the first female advertising executives, and entering the new industry of radio broadcasting to advertise to the masses. If you or someone you know is struggling with mental health, here are some additional resources: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255 National Alliance on Mental Illness: 1-800-950-6264 Crisis Text Line: Within the US, text HOME to 741741 Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance: 1-800-826-3632
- Dec 9, 201920 min
Macy’s vs Gimbels - Showdown Over Manhattan
It’s nearing the turn of the 19th century, and the Straus Brothers now run Macy’s emporium out of a dozen cobbled together stores in lower Manhattan. The next generation of Straus’s pressure the old guard to build a huge new Macy’s flagship on 34th street, in the still seedy red light district of Herald Square. It will take some persuading. And by the time the new venture reaps its reward, the family will be famous for a new reason; the heroism of one of the store’s founding fathers and his wife on the fateful voyage of the Titanic. Gimbels now has mammoth enterprises in Milwaukee and Philadelphia, and one of Adam’s sons also has greater ambitions. He urges the Gimbel elders to ride the wave of Macy’s high profile and build an even bigger store right on the rival’s doorstep. And when they balk, he comes up with a dastardly plan.
- Dec 4, 201923 min
Macy’s vs Gimbels - Fathers, Sons, and Civil War
As R.H. Macy’s Manhattan emporium and reputation grow during the Civil War, his teenage son rebels and runs away to join the Union army. When the boy goes AWOL, the future of Macy’s burgeoning department store faces jeopardy. But salvation arrives in the form of another recent immigrant from war-torn Germany, Lazarus Straus. His family will lead Macy’s into the next century and a golden age of the department store. But Adam Gimbel has been busy in Indiana; he now has a prosperous business and 11 children. His seven sons spur their father on to open a bigger and better store in booming Milwaukee. Their ambition and Macy’s growing fame in New York will soon lure the Gimbel Brothers east to challenge him on his home turf.
- Dec 2, 201921 min
Macy’s vs Gimbels - The Frontiersman and the Whaler
It's the mid 1800s and two very different young men set out in the world to make their fortunes. A young boy from Nantucket spends four years at sea on a whaling ship, the other becomes an itinerant peddler in the wilds of Indiana. These two adventurers, R.H. Macy and Adam Gimbel, eventually settle down as merchants, and open their own dry goods stores. They don’t know each other yet, but, as they each grow their businesses, they inadvertently create what we now know as the department store.
- Nov 26, 201922 min
The Raisin Cartels - Gambling the Future
In the midst of their heated negotiations over the price of raisins, the CEO of Sun-Maid and the head of the Raisin Bargaining Association face off, each making their pitch about the state of the raisin industry and the road forward. It is the first time the two men have been able to appeal directly to the farmers themselves. Whether the farmers decide to follow Sun-Maid’s plan for a lower price for their raisins but a healthier market overall, or stand by the R.B.A. and a higher pricer for raisins, will shape the market for the decades to come.
- Nov 26, 201922 min
The Raisin Cartels - A New Sheriff in Raisin Land
Facing a shrinking raisin market, Sun-Maid hires a new CEO with a mandate to make raisins popular with Millennials. He believes part of the reason consumers are spurning raisins is the price and is set on Sun-Maid paying less money to farmers. This puts him on a collision course with the old school raisin grower who is heading up the Raisin Bargaining Association. With many farmers struggling to make ends meet, the R.B.A. is determined to get the highest price for raisins ever. As the two men clash, tensions escalate to the point of death threats.
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About Business Wars (Ad Free)
Netflix vs. HBO. Nike vs. Adidas. Business is war. Sometimes the prize is your wallet, or your attention. Sometimes, it’s just the fun of beating the other guy. The outcome of these battles shapes what we buy and how we live. Business Wars gives you the unauthorized, real story of what drives these companies and their leaders, inventors, investors and executives to new heights -- or to ruin. Hosted by David Brown, former anchor of Marketplace. From Wondery, the network behind Dirty John and American History Tellers.
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