Most Macy’s Closures Coming To The Midwest

While it is at this point well known that Macy’s will be closing the doors on 100 retail stores by early next year, emerging data indicates most of those closures will likely be coming to Midwestern cities and areas.

Targeted for closure are locations where the value of the real estate outstrips the value the retail stores bring in. Data analytics company 1010data has projected which stores it thinks will likely be on the closure list.

Projected for the hot seat are Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, Detroit, St. Louis, Columbus, Cincinnati, and Cleveland, according to preliminary results. Also considered likely contenders are Hartford, Philly and Daytona Beach.

Now while the projections from 1010data have not been confirmed or denied from Macy’s, retail analysts think they are yet another illustration of writing that is pretty clear on the wall: Macy’s is over-stored, and if it has a hope of a future, it will contract.

“It’s the collector of all the department stores that had been losing market share over the years,” Nick Egelanian, president of retail development consultants SiteWorks International, noted. “Sometimes you think you’re beating your competitors, when you’re actually buying the remnants of their dying chains.”

The Midwest saw a particularly active Macy’s in recent memory — particularly with the acquisition of Marshall Field’s.

Macy’s has said only that it will announce which specific stores will close at a later date, and that workers displaced will be offered positions at nearby locations when possible. Other workers left without jobs will be offered severance.

Post-closures, Macy’s full-line stores will fall to 575, but the chain notes that it plans to use its more prioritized space to “heighten” its brand. What exactly that means is not quite fully sketched out yet — exclusive products and more digitally enhanced shopping are both on the potential docket.

Additionally, Macy’s said it will invest in capacity-building across its sites and apps with focus on upgrading its Buy Online, Pickup in Store offering.