Have you ever been to Macy’s? I mean THE Macy’s, the flagship store on 34th Street on the island of Manhattan. A couple of decades ago, I had the opportunity to wander about New York City’s boroughs, all but Staten Island, and of course I made my way to many of the notable sights and venues, from the Statue of Liberty to Yankee Stadium, from Coney Island to Wall Street, and, six months after the attack, Ground Zero.
One place I knew I wanted to see was the famous department store featured in the Christmastime film “Miracle on 34th Street” (the 1947 black-and-white version, not the 1994 remake). Destination in mind, I set out on a chilly Friday morning; it was always chilly or downright cold for the five times I was in New York because I tagged along with a life-long buddy from Greenfield who was attending economic conferences, and for the sake of economy, these four-day seminars were always held in either February or March; cold times on the Eastern seaboard.
Macy’s is near the famous Herald Square situated in the confluence of Broadway, 6th Avenue and 34th Street; the triangle shaped park is joined by the like shaped triangled Greeley Square to give the park its square designation. The name refers to the New York Herald newspaper who’s building once overlooked the area, and Greeley refers to one-time managing editor Horace “Go West, young man, go West” Greeley. Between Herald Square and 7th Avenue, 34th and 35th streets sits Macy’s, all 11 floors filling the entire city block; quite impressive.
I ventured inside to find a most unique shopping experience for this small-town boy, items were placed one at a time on shelves, some three or four tiers, with small placards beneath detailing the item and giving the price. If you wanted to purchase a toaster, there were numerous to choose from, and once your choice was made a floorwalker fetched the packaged item from a storeroom via a very speedy delivery system, and that was it; no boxed products are visible to shoppers. It is an impressive building filled with impressive items, and my bet is that someday it will be emptied of retail items and be turned into an office building or apartments.
Macy’s was started in 1858 and, as of 2023, had 508 stores across the United States; today, it has only 350, with another 66 stores in 22 states shuttering their doors soon. The reason for these closures, and the closure and downsizing of many other retailers, is online purchasing. It may take another 30 to 50 years, but the day will come when most Americans will no longer bother with driving to large malls, hassle parking in large lots, walk long distances nor have to deal with fellow shoppers and store personnel; it is easier to spend a few minutes on the keyboard with Amazon, or Temu or hundreds more, and leave delivery services to UPS or FedEx or the USPS or whomever. Future generations will adapt this method as the norm for shopping, and walking the aisles of a department store will have gone the way of the Dodo bird.
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A quick rant: there is this guy out there who dropped out of university after two years and opted instead for an easier certification, as an auctioneer. He has managed a mini-golf business, claims status as a quasi-professional poker player. On his social media account, he cites being awarded the Tax Fighter Award, and is a Certified Tax & Business Advisor (CTBA), where he can save 40% on your taxes. He once was a congressman.
That all sounds good, but: the Tax Fighter Award is from the National Tax Limitation Committee, which is traced back to a gambling website in Thailand, and the CTBA certificate came from a two-year-old Florida business called Excel Empire after a three-day seminar (this same company also offers a Tax Master certificate at $30,000 or, when on sale, $4,997). Tax experts state no such CTBA certification exists in the tax world. While in the Missouri legislature, this man never introduced a tax measure but did try to strip the Humane Society of its tax status, to enact the Scientology-backed replacement of income, payroll and sales taxes with a 30% sales tax, and to abolish the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
Now this no college degree, fast-talking, less trained than any CPA in King City, never overseen a large organization, former congressman without any tax background, this Billy Long clown, is the nominee for the powerful position of IRS commissioner. And what must our allies and enemies think?
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One of the busiest days the SVF fairgrounds sees every year is Farm Day; this is a day dedicated to Monterey County farm life when third-grade students are exposed to a variety of agricultural practices, equipment and animals. Farm Day, presented by Monterey County Agricultural Education Inc. (MCAE), is a highly organized event involving hundreds of volunteers at three venues, the Monterey County Fairgrounds, the Salinas Rodeo Grounds and here in King City and exposes over 6,000 students to a variety of aspects of the agricultural practices so vital to our county.
This year Farm Day here in King City will take place Thursday, Jan. 23. I have been a volunteer guide for this event in all three locations for some years now and I can say it is a very rewarding experience to watch these young people see and hear about our rich farming lifestyle; and at the end of the day organizers offer up a pretty good feed prepared here by King City Young Farmers. As of this writing, Jan. 11, the need for 20 more guides exists and I anticipate by the time you read this in four days there will still be some positions unfilled, so if you are interested in getting involved go to montereycountyageducation.org and follow the instructions.
Take care. Peace.
