Macy’s, an American Icon, Announces Nationwide Closures and Cutbacks

It is not going to be a very happy new year for many Macy’s employees as the iconic brand announced last week that it will be closing 68 stores and cutting 10,000 or more jobs. In a recent press release, Macy’s stated that the closure of the 68 stores, out of their total of 730 stores, would allow them to reorganize their field structure that supports the remaining stores, reinforcing the strategy of fewer stress with better customer experience. All 68 stores should be closed by mid-2017.

Going Digital

Macy’s expects the closings and job cuts to generate annual expense savings of approximately $550 million beginning as soon as this year. The company will invest some of these savings into digital business. This seems to be a growing trend among retail store fronts as consumers do more shopping online now. I am certainly guilty of online shopping as it is a big time saver and you have greater selection at your fingertips!

Todd Lundgren, chairman and CEO of Macy’s Inc. offered this statement, “Over the past year, we have been focused and disciplined about making strategic decisions to position us to gain market share and return to growth over time. While we are pleased with the strong performance of our highly developed online business, as well as the progress we have made on selling and visual presentation programs and expense reduction initiatives in 2016, we continue to experience declining traffic in our stores where the majority of our business is still transacted. Given the overall trends challenging us and the broader retail industry, and the time needed to execute new strategies, we expect our 2017 change in comparable sales to be relatively consistent with our November/December sales trend.”

Store Closings

A few of the announced stores were shuttered just before the end of 2016. Thankfully, upon viewing the full list of announced closings included in the press release, it does not appear many stores in our area will be affected. The good news for some store associates is that Macy’s plans to offer them jobs in nearby stores if possible and some store associates will be eligible for severance benefits.

No mention if any of these changes will affect the famous Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade that is anticipated by many Americans as an annual tradition.

The closing of these Macy’s stores may not affect you directly, but this can happen in any town anywhere. Losing a job as a result of cutbacks can take a toll on anyone’s financial future. If you are struggling with a job loss or other financial problem, maybe we can help. Feel free to contact our office nearest you and scheduled a free consultation with an attorney to discuss your issues.