I grew up on the San Francisco store, which is pretty much the flagship of northern California. Anyone can get spoiled shopping at that store, since it pretty much has everything and encompasses the area of a square block!!!
Comparing San Francisco to Santa Rosa is pretty much comparing apples to oranges, so I won't attempt to do that here. I just think that with all of the comparisons I've seen in these reviews, it's not fair to expect a small store to give you everything that a big store can. That expectation just has no basis in reality!
What I will say instead is that if you are shopping in Sonoma County and don't want to make the looonngg drive to a bigger town, this Macy's is THE place to go! The store carries most everything you need, and they have a great selection in a large array of different departments. I frequently shop in the big women's section [Macy Woman], and they have a nice selection of different items, although the tops do run a bit small, and the jeans stop at Size 24. If you want something with a bit more edge (as I frequently do) or if you need a Size 26, I would suggest checking out Torrid - also at the Plaza. The website http://Torrid.com is also great, edgier and more gothic.
I also shop the home store at Macy's. They have a good range of colors in the towels (although I would love to see more black towels), and they have a pretty good selection of pillows. I recently went shopping for my mom and my husband and checked out the Petite Women's section and the Men's Department. The Petite Women's section is across from Macy Woman and they have a lot of nicer items there that you don't usually see in Petites, like Calvin Klein T-Shirts (Mom loved it). What I don't like are the current lengths in the jeans. I saw lengths anywhere from 26" to 30", which is kind of ridiculous. I am 5'8" and have a 31" inseam, see what I'm saying? My mom is about 5-foot-nothing, with a 22" inseam, so my only hope is to buy her the capris after summer! I guess they are thinking that the petite women are wearing the jeans with heels in the style of the moment. They are forgetting that some petite women have no interest in wearing heels, especially the older ones, so it would be nice to see some pants and jeans that are shorter. The employees in these two womens sections are on the ball, however. When I asked for short jeans, the sales girl said, "The shortest I have are 26" or 27". Damned if she wasn't right, too! I went over there with my tape measure and that was right on the money.
The men's section had a good variety of both sizes and styles. They had both older and younger style garments and the sizes were right up into the plus sizes. Many of the shirts were available up to a 2X. The sales people were really busy because of the holiday season, but I waited in line and they walked around with me on two different occasions, helping me to find the items and the sizes I needed. This individual service that you get at Macy's is important to me because my time is very limited. I also found some great wallets on sale in this section, and my husband fell in love with one of them, which is amazing, since he is sooo picky!
I also like the regular and fine jewelry sections as well as the cosmetics counters. They are able to give you individual attention there as well. Across the board, the employees try hard, the selections are great for a smaller store, and the service is excellent. The Macy's here far outshines all of the other department stores in this area. As far as cost goes, yes the prices are higher, but you can offset that by getting a Macy's Credit Card and following the sales. They send all of the Macy's Credit Card holders regular coupons by mail and a lot of them can be combined with the sales prices to get you some great prices on quality goods. read more