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Macy's plans to close 150 department stores in order to reinvigorate sales and its focus to luxury items.
In its Q4 earnings call on Tuesday, the company said it will close “underproductive” stores, while opening more of its, higher-end concepts, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury specifically. This is part of the vision for the retailer’s new CEO, Tony Spring.
- Spring’s plan deals with the fact that Macy’s has lost its core customer to online brands that have been able to cast a wider net and bring in more committed shoppers.
Roughly 50 of Macy's stores will close up shop this year and the rest by the end of 2026. Spring said these locations made up 25% of the company’s square footage but fewer than a 10th of sales.
“In setting our Bold New Chapter strategy, we've been our own toughest critics. We have challenged the status quo, identified what we’ve gotten right and where we could have done better,” Spring said in the company’s earnings call, adding, “We're driving a higher level of accountability amongst our teams to ensure we keep up with customers evolving taste, needs and preferences.”
As Retail Brew previously reported, an investor group submitted a $5.8 billion proposal in December to acquire Macy’s and take it private, according to the Wall Street Journal. “Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital submitted the offer to acquire Macy’s at $21 per share, which in turn boosted the company’s share price 21%.” Macy’s subsequently rejected the proposal.
Zoom out: Retail Brew reported in October of last year that Macy’s planned “to expand its small-format store footprint with as many as 30 more locations, adding to the 15 small-format Macy’s and Bloomie’s stores the retailer has already opened. The expansion will begin next year and continue through fall 2025, Macy’s said, in off-mall locations in high-traffic areas, and in some cases replacing less productive stores.”