Macy's Is Shuttering 150 Stores, Investing in Luxury Retailers Bloomingdales and Blue Mercury Instead The retailer is making massive changes in the wake of changing consumer behavior.
By Emily Rella
Beloved department store chain, Macy's, announced that it would be shuttering 150 store locations and focus on its luxury subsidiaries, Bloomingdale's and Blue Mercury.
In a conference call on Tuesday, CEO Tony Springs revealed that Macy's would be shutting down underperforming stores with a plan to nix 50 by the end of 2024 and another 100 by the end of 2026.
The plan is to then build out 30 smaller stores by 2026 that are not attached to shopping malls, as well as opening 15 new Bloomingdale's locations and 30 new Blue Mercury storefronts.
Macy's also plans to remodel roughly 30 existing Blue Mercury stores as it plans to take "advantage of its leadership position in the luxury market." Macy's acquired the luxury makeup retailer in 2015 for an estimated $210 million.
Related: Amazon, Macy's Among Retailers Ending 'Free Returns' Policy
"We are making the necessary moves to reinvigorate relationships with our customers through improved shopping experiences, relevant assortments, and compelling value," Spring said in a company statement. "Our teams are energized by the work ahead as we accelerate our path to market share gains, sustainable profitable growth, and value creation for our shareholders."
The locations of the stores set to shut down (and to be built) have not yet been revealed by the company.
Spring expects the new strategy and restructuring to help bring Macy's to financial success by 2024, including "free cash flow to return to pre-pandemic levels" and "annual SG&A dollar growth below the historic rate of inflation of 2%-3%."
In January, Macy's announced that it would be laying off 3.5% of its global workforce while also closing five more department stores, just weeks before Spring took over as CEO earlier this month.
Related: Macy's Cuts Jobs, Closes Stores — CEO Tony Spring Takes Over
"As we prepare to deploy a new strategy to meet the needs of an ever-changing consumer and marketplace, we made the difficult decision to reduce our workforce by 3.5% to become a more streamlined company," a Macy's spokesperson told CNN at the time.
Macy's was up over 3.4% in a 24-hour period upon news of the company's restructuring plans.
