Macy’s North division seems to be taking a page from the Circuit City playbook (see "More Gibberish from Circuit City," "Age Bias Suit at Circuit City" and "Running With the ‘Knuckleheads’ "). Not only is the famous retailer struggling to carve out a new identity for its famous State Street store in Chicago—the former Marshall Field’s—but now the company has decided to cut wages and commissions for some sales associates starting in August.

According to the Chicago Tribune, "Macy’s notified employees at its North division, made up of former Field’s stores, that it will cut the range of wages and commissions for some sales associates starting in August and offer voluntary severance packages for those who choose to leave. Macy’s officials declined to be more specific but said the pay model at the former Field’s stores is outdated and out of line with the other Macy’s divisions."

Consumer behavior expert Britt Beemer told the Tribune that it’s a mistake to lower pay, even for a portion of the sales force, going into the big holiday selling season. The risk of hurting employee morale could overshadow the efforts to attract shoppers into the stores, he said. "Those [marketing efforts] are all nice things, but when I walk in the front door of the store and the employees aren’t happy, am I going to come back?" said Beemer, founder of America’s Research Group. "When you’re a retailer, you’ve got to sell the employees first."

Cutting pay and commissions seems to be a curious way to motivate your workforce, especially a sales-oriented workforce, as Circuit City has discovered. Is Macy’s seriously thinking that this move will help fix what seems to be a growing problem in the Windy City? Only the holiday shopping season will tell, but I’m betting that this move will backfire in a big-shouldered town like Chicago.

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