Macy's Boosting Online Investment & Will Close 100 Stores
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- Macy's announced Thursday it is closing 100 of its stores across the country next year.
The department store did not say which locations are closing. That will be announced later.
Macy's and many other retailers have been dealing with declining sales and profits for several years. Here in Minnesota, Macy's has 11 locations, most of them inside shopping malls.
But even loyal customers, like a family we talked with today, say they just don't go to malls anymore.
"Typically with two kids, working full-time, I end up going online. It's easier, more convenient, they have good shipping... soo," Kristin Bell, who was visiting Minneapolis from North Carolina, said.
Dr. George John is a marketing professor at the University of Minnesota's Carlson School of Management. He studies retail trends.
"I wouldn't say that just because everybody knows Macy's, and the Thanksgiving Day parade, that it insulates them from the business realities of what goes on," Dr. John said.
He says the retail industry has been struggling for the last seven years.
"It's a tough, tough world to be in if you are in retail, and even tougher if you are like Macy's because you are that middle market, which used to be the center of the marketplace. But you see the top end doing OK, you see the hard discount end doing alright, but the middle market is where it is really hurting," Dr. John said.
And our shopping habits have changed.
"Clearly there is some pressure from online, but I don't want to stress online as the sole cause of it. We just do different things. What young people want is not what their mothers and fathers wanted," he said.
Dr. John also says people are worried about the economy and holding on to their money.
"We have money but we are careful about how we spend the money. We are inundated with sales and discounts, so we look sharply before we buy," he said.
Daryl Harris works at the Macy's in downtown Minneapolis.
"I appreciate the business and I think we will be fine and Macy's will recover," Harris said.
The 100 closings represent about 15 percent of the total number of Macy's stores nationwide, and will result in the loss of jobs early next year. Again, Macy's did not announce which stores are closing.
They say they are still finalizing the list and will make that announcement at a later date. Dr. John says nationwide, malls are not doing as well as they used to. They're seeing less traffic through them.
And when you lose a big store like Macy's from a mall, it makes it harder to attract shoppers to the smaller stores.
