Is a Macy's near you closing? Beleaguered department store is closing 66 locations.

MW Is a Macy's near you closing? Beleaguered department store is closing 66 locations.

By Claudia Assis

Philadelphia store, of 'Mannequin' fame, among those slated to close

Macy's Inc. late Thursday released a list of more than 60 stores slated to close this year as the retailer struggles to right itself amid diminishing foot traffic at its remaining stores and breathe new life into its business.

The list is here, and it includes nine Macy's stores in New York and another nine in California, the states losing the most stores, followed by seven store closures in Florida. Macy's historic Philadelphia City Center store, where part of the 1980s rom-com hit "Mannequin" was filmed, is also on the list.

Two stores on the list, Macy's furniture stores in Florida and Colorado, have already closed.

Macy's (M) said in February it was closing 150 stores through fiscal 2026 as part of the effort to modernize and focus on the more profitable locations. It did not say Thursday when it intends to close the remainder of the stores and whether some on that initial batch have already closed.

Macy's plan, which the company called its "Bold New Chapter," is designed "to return the company to sustainable, profitable sales growth" by closing about 150 "underproductive" stores while investing in 350 other Macy's locations.

Macy's in mid-December cut its full-year profit outlook, due to the "erroneous" accounting entries of delivery expenses done by one of its employees.

The employee hid about $151 million in small-package delivery expenses from the fiscal fourth quarter of 2021 through the third quarter of 2024, the company said then.

Analysts at UBS said in a report at that time that Macy's was likely to lose market share in retail's "competitive environment," which would continue to pressure the stock.

"We believe Macy's continues to face challenges vs. peers around price, product and service," the UBS analysts said. "We think the company's initiatives to stop share loss will likely not be enough to change the trend."

Macy's has lost more than 25% of its market share since 2012, primarily to off-price retailers and brands and Amazon.com Inc. $(AMZN)$, the analysts said.

Shares of Macy's are down 16% in the past 12 months, which contrasts with gains of around 24% for the S&P 500 index SPX.

-Claudia Assis

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January 09, 2025 17:37 ET (22:37 GMT)

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