Macy’s Cost-Cutting Initiative Means Fewer Stores and Jobs in New Year

Disappointing holiday sales prompted iconic department store Macy’s Inc. to announce major cost-cutting moves on Wednesday.

During November and December’s uncharacteristically warm weather, Macy’s same-store sales declined 4.7%. "The holiday selling season was challenging, as experienced throughout 2015 by much of the retailing industry," said Macy’s chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren. "In the November/December period, we were particularly disadvantaged by the historically warm weather in northern climate zones where both Macy's and Bloomingdale's are especially well-represented. About 80% of our company's year-over-year declines in comparable sales can be attributed to shortfalls in cold-weather goods such as coats, sweaters, boots, hats, gloves and scarves. We also continued to feel the impact of lower spending by international tourists as the value of the dollar remained strong.”

In addition to previously announced closure of 40 stores in 2016, the retailer announced job cuts that total over 3500 positions across the remaining 770 Macy’s and Bloomingdales stores. The company will also implement voluntary separation agreements for approximately 165 senior executives and consolidate their four existing Macy’s credit and customer services center facilities into 3 after they close the St. Louis location in the spring.