So the Macy's at 13th and Chestnut Streets has been...something of a disappointment since it opened a couple of years ago. Don't get me wrong, the building is lovely and the first floor is rather grand. I love the feeling of walking into a large department store in the city, any city. But this Macy's, it has no home store, or "The Cellar" as they call it, which I just found to be odd. So odd that I keep to seem forgetting that it doesn't have a home section--I headed there just yesterday with the intention of buying new sheets, but no home section = no sheets. However, the good news is they are finally adding The Cellar and, to be opened in November. I won't even get picky about the fact that The Cellar will be on the 3rd floor.
Macy's was one of the places I thought I'd visit frequently while on maternity leave. After all, I love to shop, and could shop for both myself and the little dude there. There's a rest room in the children's department, and knowing that department stores usually have nice rest room (or at least well appointed ones), I thought that at least I wouldn't have to worry about where to change the baby while shopping. At the time, I was breastfeeding and my son was pooping about 12 times a day, so finding places to change him became a pretty high priority for me.
Of course, Macy's was just fine for rebuilding my back-to-work wardrobe. And I found lots of cute outfits for the kid. But when I visited the ladies room with the intent of doing a little diaper change, I ran into a problem. After navigating a couple of turns down a hallway to get to the ladies room, the ladies room in the children's department, I was met by a sharp turn up a couple of steps.
What? Steps to get into a bathroom?
At the time, I had the bassinett attachment on my Bugaboo, which made it pretty long, and literally couldn't make the turn to get up the steps. I think with an umbrella stroller it would be feasible, albeit awkward. Annoyed, I turned the Bugaboo around and looked for an alternative location for diaper-changing. Which wound up being in a seating area near the elevator on the 3rd floor (same floor as the children's department). While I was there, I also gave the baby a bottle, and, through my people-watching, realized the 3rd floor men's room is where homeless folks commonly bathe. Interesting.
I'm sure there's another ladies room in the building, with easier access (in fact, since the rest room I visited isn't ADA compliant, there must be one that is), but frankly, I'm not sure why on earth you'd design a rest room with angled steps in a children's department. The department where women would more likely have strollers with them.
So, yeah, annoying. It was the only time I visited that Macy's with the kid.
