Macy's Closing 100 Locations in 2017

Macy’s announced this morning that it will be closing about 100 stores as early as the beginning of 2017. Nearly all the locations are cash-flow positive, but their profitability has been steadily declining. These closures are part of the company's attempt to improve business, following six consecutive quarters of declining sales. Macy's currently has 728 stores, 675 of which are full-line stores.

Total Retail’s Take: Many department stores, including Macy’s, have been struggling to stay afloat in an increasingly digital world. Simply put, Amazon.com is taking market share from all retailers, but department stores seem to be absorbing a particularly big blow. Macy's has been trying new things to revive itself, like setting up a prototype of a more upscale store in Ohio as a well as the launch of an off-price chain of stores called Macy's Backstage. Time will tell if Jeff Gennette, who’s assuming the role of CEO in 2017, and some of these new initiatives will be enough to turn the department store chain around.