What's "On 34th?"

Macy's flagship store in Manhattan is on 34th Street between 6th and 7th avenues. There are 503 others across the country since Macy's has been gobbling up ailing department stores and rebranding them as their own. Suffice to say there's probably "a Macy's near you". 

There's one near me too, in the Houston Galleria. I always park near the Macy's entrance and loop through the main floor just to see what's on offer. It's usually middle-of-the-road and not very exciting. There's Lauren, Tommy Hilfiger, Vince Camuto, Anne Klein, DKNY, Calvin Klein, Michael Kors, etc. These are not high-end offerings from the familiar names, just what the average woman might like.

Macy's has had and continues to have "private brands". Once the I.N.C. line was trendy and fun, now it's tatty and cheesy. Others are Alfani, Bar III and Charter Club. Not impressed. But rounding the corner I saw a new "shop", On 34th. Right away I was transported to Herald Square (the slice of concrete on 34th Street facing Macy's). So, how was Macy's channeling their famous location for the rest of America? Reminding customers that Macy's is a shopping behemoth and has been around for ages at its iconic address is a very smart move indeed.

Basic basics, yes

The offering are Basics, capital B intentional, but I was happy to find they were basics I understand, like a $49.50 leopard midi skirt (my kind of basic). There was nothing tricked out about the displays, just racks with some vague kind of story to tell. A 100% cotton striped boat-neck tee with wide 3/4 sleeves was $39.50 and available in many color combos. The most fashion forward item (and highest price I noticed) was a heavyweight polka dot trench coat. 

$39.50 tee with style

$150 rain worthy trench

In this day and age of escalating clothing prices it's pretty refreshing to see this much quality at, shall I say, reasonable pricing. The fabric and composition is good. Things look well made with no (thank goodness) extraneous trims and gew-gaws. Plenty of offerings in plus-size too. I didn't see any petites.

$59.50 rugby mini—impressive

This has just hit the stores and maybe a little early in Houston as I did read about an August 17 launch date.

The only thing lacking might be a real focus. Who is this line for??? I think I figured that out too: everyone.