Macy’s 2020

Predicting the demise of Sears & Kmart since 2017!
Post Reply
architect
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 843
Joined: December 8th, 2015, 3:41 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 7 times
Status: Offline

Macy’s 2020

Post by architect »

During Macy’s last earnings report, it was announced that sales were good both online and at their top-tier locations, but plummeting sales at their lower-tier mall locations were dragging down results. However, Macy’s is in a bit on a conundrum as many customers still use these locations for online pickup and returns. Next month, the company will be hosting a meeting to brief investors on their turnaround plans and their vision for their store base moving forward.

With this is mind, if Macy’s was to undergo another round of store closures, which locations in your market would you expect to be on the chopping block?
marshd1000
Assistant Store Manager
Assistant Store Manager
Posts: 587
Joined: March 2nd, 2009, 1:46 pm
Been thanked: 12 times
Status: Offline

Re: Macy’s 2020

Post by marshd1000 »

In the NW, I can see stores like The Commons in Federal Way closing and the mall becoming a big box Center. Not sure if all the rural stores would go away as some are quite spaced apart. But I could also see Cascade Mall in Burlington closing. Possibly South Hill Mall in Puyallup. Maybe for Kitsap Mall in Silverdale. I think Vancouver Mall could close because of that Mall is struggling and with tax free shopping in Oregon. In Coeur d’ Alene, Macy’s at Silver Lake Mall is the smallest in the Greater Spokane area, so I could see that closing. Lastly, I could see Valley Mall in Union Gap closing given that Yakima has a poorer demographic than the Tri Cities or Wenatchee.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Macy’s 2020

Post by Super S »

marshd1000 wrote: January 4th, 2020, 6:38 am In the NW, I can see stores like The Commons in Federal Way closing and the mall becoming a big box Center. Not sure if all the rural stores would go away as some are quite spaced apart. But I could also see Cascade Mall in Burlington closing. Possibly South Hill Mall in Puyallup. Maybe for Kitsap Mall in Silverdale. I think Vancouver Mall could close because of that Mall is struggling and with tax free shopping in Oregon. In Coeur d’ Alene, Macy’s at Silver Lake Mall is the smallest in the Greater Spokane area, so I could see that closing. Lastly, I could see Valley Mall in Union Gap closing given that Yakima has a poorer demographic than the Tri Cities or Wenatchee.
The Commons is in an interesting position right now. About 15 years ago that mall was in really bad shape, and had an empty anchor at the east end and many vacancies. Target decided to move from a nearby location to a new store at the east end replacing that vacant anchor. The mall also added a new theater, and Kohl's and Dick's Sporting goods more recently. The mall has rebounded a bit, but does have a vacant former Sears. While there are other Macy's not too far away, I think sales may end up determining the future of this store.

As for Vancouver Mall, they have moved very quickly to replace vacant anchors. The Sears is going to be Hobby Lobby on one level, and another business on the upper level (I don't remember what) They also moved quickly when Nordstrom and Mervyn's closed. The Macy's there underwent a huge expansion and renovation just before the name change from Meier & Frank and is a modern, nice-looking store. The mall itself seems to do ok despite being so close to Oregon.

A few stores in Oregon strike me as possible closure candidates. Lloyd Center (which has been discussed a bit) just doesn't strike me as a good fit for them any more. The Streets of Tanasbourne, which is in a fairly new building which was the last new store built by Meier & Frank also strikes me as being out of place, and is relatively close to Washington Square. And Salem Center, which actually pre-dates the Lloyd Center location and is showing its age a bit, although the same can also be said about many of the former Meier & Frank and Bon Marche locations. Salem might be worth investing in a remodel though since the other Macy's at Lancaster Mall closed. Then you have Clackamas Town Center which has a separate home store in the former Montgomery Ward, but last time I was in that mall, noticed that they decided to move some clothing into part of the space which just looks odd and a desperate attempt to bring in foot traffic to the home store. I don't expect Macy's to leave Clackamas but could see them consolidating back into one store.
rwsandiego
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1242
Joined: April 3rd, 2016, 10:57 pm
Has thanked: 23 times
Been thanked: 55 times
Status: Offline

Re: Macy’s 2020

Post by rwsandiego »

I could see Paradise Valley in Phoenix closing. Despite its proximity to the town of Paradise Valley (the mall is in Phoenix proper a few miles north) it is pretty downscale. The mall is in very sad shape with lots of vacant storefronts and mom-and-pop stores. The Macy's is downright depressing. It is not terribly far from Scottsdale Fashion Square and Biltmore Fashion Park, both of which are pretty busy and much nicer stores. Haven't been to Superstition Springs, Arrowhead, or Chandler recently, so I don't know how those stores are doing. SanTan was pretty busy the day I was there last summer.

I could, however, see Macy's opening a location in the West Valley (Avondale or Buckeye) in the next few years. Buckeye is growing fast and there are no department stores out that way other than (I think) a Penney's.
Alpha8472
Posts: 3929
Joined: February 24th, 2009, 8:55 pm
Been thanked: 79 times
Status: Offline

Re: Macy’s 2020

Post by Alpha8472 »

There are 2 Macy's at Sunvalley Mall in Concord, California. It is a middle class area and the mall does decent business. The Macy's Men's was formerly Emporium Capwell.

The Men's store is huge at 3 stories and has the home and kitchen area as well. It does good business except for the mattress and furniture level. I hardly ever see any customers there.

The Women's store is way too crowded. If they were to close the Men's store the Women's store will not be able to handle the Men's department. However, in order to save money I believe that is what Macy's will try to do. I do not even know why they still have a Lenscrafters inside. There is already another Lenscrafters in the mall.

There is a Macy's in Walnut Creek, California that was remodeled a few years ago. It used to be 2 stores. Macy's Men's was in a separate building that used to be I. Magnin. They closed the Men's store and squeezed everything into the Women's store. The main store is so crowded now. It has Lenscrafters and a full interior Starbucks cafe run by Macy's employees. The competition in the shopping center is Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom. Macy's is the low priced retailer in this center. I doubt that it will close.
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Macy’s 2020

Post by storewanderer »

Alpha8472 wrote: January 5th, 2020, 11:42 pm


The Women's store is way too crowded. If they were to close the Men's store the Women's store will not be able to handle the Men's department. However, in order to save money I believe that is what Macy's will try to do. I do not even know why they still have a Lenscrafters inside. There is already another Lenscrafters in the mall.
They are in a similar position in Reno. Two separate stores from 1978 (three if you count the furniture store across the road in half of the long failed Pak N Save) in the mall and the women's is the original Macy's and the men's is a former Liberty House. They have focused their capital expenditures on the woman's store over the years and the men's store has become quite run down. More recently they have re-carpeted the men's store and freshened up the second floor (home) a bit so I expect they plan to continue operating both stores. Given the former Sears which was actually the nicest anchor space in the mall (built in 1995) became half dive arcade and is still half vacant, and JCP is also in the mall, I am not sure who would fill up one of the Macy's if they were to consolidate stores. I was a little bit expecting Macy's to try and combine its two stores into the larger and newer former Sears but I am guessing the property ownership structure made that too difficult to do. The Sears is one of the Seritage properties. I am not sure if Macy's owns its two spaces or leases them.
arizonaguy
Store Manager
Store Manager
Posts: 1107
Joined: July 12th, 2013, 6:07 pm
Been thanked: 35 times
Status: Offline

Re: Macy’s 2020

Post by arizonaguy »

rwsandiego wrote: January 4th, 2020, 7:20 pm I could see Paradise Valley in Phoenix closing. Despite its proximity to the town of Paradise Valley (the mall is in Phoenix proper a few miles north) it is pretty downscale. The mall is in very sad shape with lots of vacant storefronts and mom-and-pop stores. The Macy's is downright depressing. It is not terribly far from Scottsdale Fashion Square and Biltmore Fashion Park, both of which are pretty busy and much nicer stores. Haven't been to Superstition Springs, Arrowhead, or Chandler recently, so I don't know how those stores are doing. SanTan was pretty busy the day I was there last summer.

I could, however, see Macy's opening a location in the West Valley (Avondale or Buckeye) in the next few years. Buckeye is growing fast and there are no department stores out that way other than (I think) a Penney's.
Goodyear has a JCPenney and Kohl's store and I agree it could support a Macy's or a relocated Dillard's (as Dillard's still has a full line store at Desert Sky Mall).

Superstition Springs has the Phoenix Area's only Macy's Backstage store. The Backstage stores seem to be located predominantly in what I would consider 2nd tier Malls (and Superstition Springs is definitely that). I know that one mall with a Backstage store (RiverGate Mall in Goodlettsville, TN) is scheduled to close by March.

Paradise Valley Mall has no future except for Costco (which isn't even directly connected to the mall). In an earnings call last February Macerich admitted that they were leasing space in the mall to tenants on a short term basis to preserve maximum redevelopment options. Sears is closed. JCPenney's store there at over 150,000 square feet is massive for the traffic it gets. If JCPenney has another round of closures soon I'd be more surprised if its store isn't closed. Dillard's may hang on as they have done with Desert Sky, be a part of any redevelopment, or close. As was mentioned Macy's has 2 nearby stores (Biltmore and Scottsdale Fashion Square) that are significantly healthier.

Arrowhead is a nice, busy mall. The mall has recently been renovated and has few vacant inline storefronts. I can't imagine Macy's closing that store with the amount of traffic that that mall gets.
Super S
Posts: 2690
Joined: April 1st, 2009, 9:27 pm
Has thanked: 11 times
Been thanked: 61 times
Status: Offline

Re: Macy’s 2020

Post by Super S »

A few Macy's closures are surfacing. However, depending on which article you read, some are including closures from last year and the exact number of new closure announcements is not clear.

There has been one new announcement in Washington state, in Walla Walla (presumably a former Bon Marche, also a downtown store):
https://www.union-bulletin.com/news/bus ... 670c4.html
ckellogg5
Front-End Bagger
Front-End Bagger
Posts: 16
Joined: March 7th, 2010, 7:15 pm
Status: Offline

Re: Macy’s 2020

Post by ckellogg5 »

Not a Macy’s store closure but one of their call centers located in Tempe,AZ is closing. 800 jobs affected

https://www.azfamily.com/news/macy-s-to ... 564f6.html
storewanderer
Posts: 14379
Joined: February 23rd, 2009, 3:54 pm
Has thanked: 2 times
Been thanked: 298 times
Contact:
Status: Offline

Re: Macy’s 2020

Post by storewanderer »

It seems like every year, Macy's does this annual restructuring. Store closures. Close some other corporate facility and chop off hundreds of jobs. Overall impact is always thousands of jobs when you tally it up across the closing stores and whatever corporate facility they decide to close.

Kind of seems like they are just slowly winding down their operation. Or are they really this bloated that every year they need to (or more like, can continue to function after they) cut more middle management, more corporate call facilities or credit centers, etc.
Post Reply