????對于仇視零售業(yè)的人來說，打擊百貨公司是他們最喜愛的消遣。然而，盡管百貨公司因其陳舊的業(yè)務模式、缺乏生氣的店面和高齡化的客戶群而備受詬病，但美國百貨公司在過去兩年中東山再起，可以說一掃長期以來的頹勢。

????讓我們來看看華爾街對預計下周出爐的零售商可比較銷售業(yè)績（開店至少一年的店面的銷售業(yè)績，外加電子商務）報告所做的預測：湯森路透（Thomson Reuters）的數(shù)據(jù)顯示，梅西百貨（Macy's）下周三有望公布4%的業(yè)績增長，而下周四零售公司彭尼（J.C. Penney）應該能亮出5.8%的好成績，諾德斯特龍（Nordstrom）則為3.2%。即便是長期舉步維艱的西爾斯（Sears）也有望斬獲1%的可比較銷售業(yè)績增長。（Bon Ton Stores和Dillard的第二季度比較銷售業(yè)績也有望獲得較大幅度攀升。）

????對于這種很多人聲稱注定要消失的零售業(yè)態(tài)來說，以上不失為是個好消息。

????當然，參照美國商務部（U.S. Department of Commerce）的數(shù)據(jù)，百貨公司總體銷售業(yè)績要遠低于2000年2,325億美元的峰值。相比之下，2012年的業(yè)績?yōu)?,797億美元，而且去年一整年的銷售業(yè)績業(yè)已出爐。（幾年前曾出現(xiàn)了多起大型連鎖商店破產(chǎn)事件，其中包括Mervyns，而這也在很大程度上說明了當時零售業(yè)的不景氣。）美國商務部發(fā)現(xiàn)，百貨公司2014年第二季度銷售業(yè)績同比下滑了0.5%。

????但是很多供應商重新發(fā)現(xiàn)，梅西百貨的井噴式增長以及彭尼從去年窘境的回歸說明，幸存下來的百貨公司正變得生機盎然。

????以Coach為例。這家高檔手包制造商在美國漸漸失寵于消費者，促使它今年決定關閉20%的專賣店，逆轉(zhuǎn)了近年來該公司一直大張旗鼓開新店的趨勢。Coach轉(zhuǎn)而將更為依賴梅西和諾德斯特龍這樣的百貨公司，利用它們所吸引的客流量。Coach并非只關注高端的比如梅西在曼哈頓的大型旗艦店，Coach在此的店中店由荷蘭建筑師勒姆?科爾哈斯設計），配備了Coach的銷售專員，隨著它對12個頂級北美市場翻倍下注，在市場收窄的情況下，Coach也將利用810家梅西品牌連鎖店來接觸消費者。

????在最近的采訪中，Coach首席執(zhí)行官維克多?路易斯對《財富》說：“美國百貨商店還是有市場的。在百貨店，消費者穿梭于不同店面時無需遠距離步行，而且對比貨品也很方便。因此，能否在百貨店中脫穎而出，熱情服務、靚麗店面都將最終成為品牌生命力的試金石?！?/p>

????梅西已成為一些小品牌首選的零售商，因為這些品牌需要的是擁有龐大銷售網(wǎng)絡的合伙人：體育商品連鎖店Finish Line和運動隊商品銷售商Lids去年與梅西結成了合作伙伴，在數(shù)十家梅西店面開設了其小型精品店。一直以來，這類合作關系在幫助梅西招攬更多的客戶方面發(fā)揮了重要的作用。

????梅西還曾以某種方式成功地增加了其在多家知名供應商心目中的分量，即便后者正在擴張自家門店。拉爾夫?勞倫（Ralph Lauren）品牌去年12%的銷售業(yè)績（8.75億美元）都是由梅西貢獻的，而兩年前為10%。而PVH旗下Tommy Hilfiger品牌在美國所有的批發(fā)銷售幾乎都被梅西包攬。

????Beating up on department stores is a favorite pastime of retail haters. And yet, despite accusations of having a passé business model, dusty stores and an aging customer base, U.S. department stores have staged a comeback in the last two years—and are arguably more vital than they have been in a long time.

????Just look at the Wall Street forecasts for the retailers’ comparable sales (sales at stores open at least a year plus e-commerce) reports expected in the next week: Macy’s , is expected to report a 4% jump on Wednesday, while J.C. Penney should post a 5.8% increase and Nordstrom a 3.2% rise on Thursday, according to Thomson Reuters data. Even the perennially struggling Sears’ U.S. namesake stores are seen posting a 1% comparable sales increase. (Bon Ton Stores and Dillard are also expected to report comparable sales jumps for the second quarter.)

????Not bad for a part of retail many have claimed is doomed to disappear.

????To be sure, overall department store sales are way below their 2000 peak of $232.5 billion, according to U.S. Department of Commerce figures, compared to $179.7 billion in 2012, the last full year for which data are available. (There was a spate of bankruptcies a few years ago that claimed chains like Mervyns, explaining a big part of the dip.) The Commerce Department found department sales were down 0.5% in the second quarter of 2014 compared to a year earlier.

????But as Macy’s explosive growth, and Penney’s return from the brink in the last year show, there is life among the department store survivors, as many vendors are re-discovering.

????Take Coach . The upscale handbag maker has fallen out of favor with U.S. customers, prompting it to decide this year to close 20% of its stores and essentially reverse a big push toward in recent years to have its own store fleet. To make up the difference, Coach will rely more on department stores like Macy’s and Nordstrom, tapping the shopper traffic those locations draw. Coach isn’t just focusing on high-profile stores like Macy’s massive flagship in Manhattan where it will soon staff shop-in-shops with Coach staff (and where its space was designed by Dutch starchitect Rem Koolhaas). Macy’s 810-store fleet will be how Coach reaches customers in smaller markets as it doubles down on its 12 top North American markets for its own stores.

????“There is place for the American department store,” Coach CEO Victor Luis told Fortune in a recent interview. “Consumers at a department store don’t have to go very far to cross-shop and in essence, compare and contrast. And so, at the end of the day, engaging well with the consumer at a department store, looking good, winning in a department store is a good test of a brand’s vitality.”

????And Macy’s has become the go-to retailer for some smaller brands needing a partner with a big footprint: Finish Line and sports team merchandise seller Lids last year struck partnerships with Macy’s to operate small boutiques at dozens of its stores. Those partnerships have been key to helping Macy’s get more shoppers into its stores.

????Macy’s has also somehow managed to become more crucial for several established vendors, even as they open up more of their own stores. Macy’s generated 12% of Ralph Lauren sales last year ($875 million), compared to 10% two years earlier. The department store accounts for almost all of PVH’s Tommy Hilfiger’s U.S. sales at wholesale.