Kohl’s, Macy’s Dive After Slashing Earnings Guidance On Weak Holiday Sales

No plans for that location were announced, but Macy’s said it signed an agreement to sell a downtown Minneapolis store open since 1902 to 601W Cos., which will redevelop the building with a mix of office and retail space.

Both stores will be shuttered within the next several months as 68 stores across the United States go dark.

Macy’s said the 68 store closures in the USA were part of the 100 closings it announced in August. Macy’s also lowered its full-year earnings guidance to $2.95 to $3.10 per share, down from a previous forecast of $3.15 to $3.40. Reuters reports Macy’s will save $550 million this year through the store closures.

Terry J. Lundgren, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s, Inc., said in a recent statement that the company’s current priority was improving its financial situation.

Macy’s issued a press release Wednesday listing the 68 store closures, which the company says is part of a strategy of “fewer stores with better customer experience”. There are now 730 Macy’s stores.

A few stores have already been shuttered, but 63 will close down between now and mid-2017, leaving about 660 US stores left open.

Macy’s announced no changes for its stores at the Cherry Hill Mall and Deptford Mall.

It will invest $250 million toward its online business, business in China, its discount outlet Macy’s Backstage and Bluemercury, the spa and beauty chain it bought in 2015. The company wants to modify the management team. It noted double-digit gains at the company’s retail websites, but said store sales “continued to be impacted by changing customer behavior”.

On the same day, the company announced that it plans to make a “headcount reduction of approximately 6,200 employees” starting in early 2017. And Macy’s is staring at the likelihood of its eighth quarter of declining sales in a row.

Macy’s is selling or has sold three other locations but is leasing the properties back and will keep operating those stores.