The iconic Macy’s retail chain has announced it will close 65 stores by the end of January 2025, exceeding previous estimations of 50 closures.
The retailer, which was founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy, was acquired in 1994 by the Federated Department Stores holding company, which also owns Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury. FDS rebranded itself as “Macy’s Inc.” in 2007.
Macy’s CEO Tony Spring made the announcement this past Thursday during a Q3 earning call, saying, “In line with our typical cadence, closures will occur post-holiday.”
Macy’s reduced its earnings outlook after concluding its investigation into an employee plot to hide millions of dollars in expenses.
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COO/CFO Adrian Mitchell added that the closures would only impact underperforming locations. “These are places where the economics are not as favorable. These are places where customers have shifted away from those centers to shop, and these are stores that are just incredibly difficult to run,” he said.
The move comes as part of a plan to streamline the company’s operations and eliminate a total of some 150 underperforming stores over the next three years as consumer trends continue to shift.
But Macy’s is not the only retailer facing tough decisions in the face of limping sales.
More than 7,100 retail stores are set to close by the end of this calendar year, a 69 percent jump from the same period last year, according to data published by the Coresight Research firm.
The largest number of store closures in 2024 can be attributed to a list of 30 retailers, the report found. Thus far, 45 retailers have filed for bankruptcy in 2024, compared with 25 retail bankruptcy cases in 2023.
Family Dollar leads the list with 677 stores on target to be closed, followed by CVS Health (586), Big Lots (580), Conn’s (553) and rue21 (543).
Walgreens is also set to close 259 locations; DK will close 249 stores; and Foot Locker plans to shutter 124 locations.
Macy’s has not disclosed which particular stores will be closed, nor the exact dates when they will be shuttered.
