A customer exits the Macy’s flagship department store in midtown Manhattan in New York City, U.S., December 11, 2023.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Macy’s on Thursday said it will cut about 3.5% of its workforce and close five of its namesake stores as the legacy department store moves to trim costs and turn around slowing sales.
The move will affect approximately 2,350 positions across its corporate office and stores, company spokesman Chris Grams said. The stores will close in early 2024, he added.
“As we prepare to deploy a new strategy to meet the needs of an everchanging consumer and marketplace, we made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by 3.5% to become a more streamlined company,” the company said in a statement.
Macy’s is the middle of an effort to turn the roughly 166-year-old department store into a brand that resonates with consumers who are shopping online, looking for value and turning to competitors including e-commerce retailers like Amazon and Shein, big-box players like Target and off-price names like TJX-owned T.J.Maxx instead of its stores. As part of that push, Macy’s is overhauling its private label brands, opening smaller shops outside of the mall and looking to its beauty chain, Bluemercury, and higher-end department store, Bloomingdale’s, to drive growth.
The company will also get a new leader soon. Tony Spring, CEO of Bloomingdale’s, will step into the CEO role for Macy’s in early February as outgoing CEO Jeff Gennette retires.
Yet Macy’s sales and stock performance have lagged. The company has not yet reported its holiday quarter, but said in October that it expected same-store sales to decline by up to 7% for its fiscal 2023.
Shares of the company closed on Thursday at $17.93, down nearly 11% so far this year. That compares to the roughly flat performance of the S&P 500 during the same period.
The news was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.
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