I've walked through Macy's at the Empire Mall more times than I can count — sometimes for actual purchases, sometimes just cutting through from the parking garage on a January afternoon when windchill makes the outdoor route feel punishing. It's the anchor store everyone forgets is still there until they need it.
The thing about Macy's is it occupies this strange middle ground in 2025 Sioux Falls retail. Not boutique enough for the Phillips Avenue crowd, not discount enough for the budget-conscious families driving in from Tea or Hartford — but reliably stocked with brands you actually recognize. I bought work pants here last fall when I needed something presentable in under an hour, and the women's department delivered without making me feel like I was settling.
The home goods section surprises me every time. Kitchen Aid mixers, decent sheet sets, the kind of wedding registry staples that haven't migrated fully online yet. I've seen mothers and daughters navigating the cosmetics counters near the mall entrance, testing foundations under those unforgiving fluorescent lights that somehow still exist in 2025.
Weekend traffic picks up near the jewelry displays and the fragrance gauntlet you walk through whether you want to or not — Calvin Klein and Michael Kors competing for airspace while teenagers drift toward the juniors section in the back. The sales associates range from genuinely helpful to clearly counting minutes until their shift ends, which feels honest for a department store fighting against the Amazon algorithm.
The fitting rooms are hit-or-miss — sometimes pristine, sometimes littered with hangers and tags from previous customers. But there's something almost comforting about a store that still exists in physical space, still employs actual people, still lets you return things to a counter instead of printing shipping labels at home. Not cutting-edge, not dying — just persistently here on West Empire Place, holding its corner of the mall while Sioux Falls decides what shopping becomes next.
— Grace