Macy’s Announces 5,000 Job Cuts, Closure Of 7 More Stores; Stock Tumbles
by Tyler Durden
ZeroHedge.com
Thu, 01/04/2018
The Amazon juggernaut continues to crush brick and mortar retailers.
On Thursday morning, former retail giant Macy’s, announced that was preparing to fire 5,000 job cuts, including closure of seven previously unidentified stores and other cuts at remaining locations, as it seeks stability in a tumultuous climate for “physical retail.” The retailer’s cost reductions come as it announced that its comparable holiday sales rose a modest 1.1% for the Nov/Dec period relative to 2016.
Although the company described its holiday sales as “solid,” the performance trailed fellow department-store chain J.C. Penney, which posted a 3.4% increase Thursday. Macy’s also narrowed its FY 2018 (ending Jan. 2018) year comp. sales view to a decline of 2.4%-2.7% on owned basis, down 2%-2.3% on owned plus licensed basis and total sales down 3.6%-3.9%. This was in line with the latest forecast given in November, which called for sales down 2.2%-3.3% on owned basis, down 2%-3% on owned plus licensed basis and total sales down 3.2%-4.3%.
And while Macy’s continues to struggle with margin compression and inventory (mis)management, clearly the far bigger problem is the secular decline for the company (thank you Amazon) with Macy’s today announcing it was closing 11 stores in FY19 (year ending Jan. 2019), vs the 4 announced previously, part and parcel with the 5,000 laoffs, as well as the company’s intentions to “further streamline some non-store functions.”
Macy’s disclosed the following seven locations for shuttering which it had previously not identified for closure:
Miami (Downtown), Miami
The Oaks, Gainesville, Fla.
Novato (Furniture), Novato, Calif.
Honey Creek Mall, Terre Haute, Ind.
Birchwood Mall, Fort Gratiot Township, Mich.
Fountain Place, Cincinnati
Burlington Town Center, Burlington, Vt.
The Rest…HERE
