Macy’s to cut up to 4,800 jobs after weak holiday sales
CINDY ELLEN RUSSELL / NOV. 2015
Macy’s said Wednesday that it now expects its profit for its fiscal fourth quarter and full year, which run through January, to fall short of its previous estimate.
NEW YORK » Macy’s is cutting up to 4,800 jobs after disappointing holiday sales.
The Cincinnati-based department store chain says sales fell 5.2 percent in November and December at existing stores. Warm weather and lower spending by international tourists hurt sales.
The company also listed today which 40 stores it would close. It had announced it was closing stores in September. Store employees at the company’s Kailua store were told in August that their location would be closed this year.
The 59,000-square-foot location at 573 Kailua Road has roughly 70 employees.
Macy’s said Wednesday that it now expects its profit for its fiscal fourth quarter and full year, which run through January, to fall short of its previous estimate.
It sees fourth-quarter earnings per share at $2.18 to $2.23, compared with the average analyst estimate of $2.56 per share.
The company’s shares are up 4.7 percent in extended trading.
32 responses to “Macy’s to cut up to 4,800 jobs after weak holiday sales”
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Some locations are not going anywhere. 15 years ago used to visit the local store but at my age don’t have any need to have trendy clothing. Use to buy new wardrobe twice a year, in the spring and autumn while living in the Mid-West and Texas, while in California anytime was good if you needed something.
Retail in America will soon come to an end after the premiums for the ACA rise later this year.
Macy’s problems have nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act. They are rooted in upper level mismanagement that is completely out of touch with the exigencies of the contemporary marketplace. Have another cup of coffee bud.
I’m predicting the future. That’s how you invest with stocks.
Five random posts in six minutes. No: no coffee.
Sometimes I outdo myself.
Japanese tourist walking past by the Kailua Macy’s. Saying the word, takai. Which means expensive.
Got to give Macy’s credit for selling matching color pants and blouse for the ladies. Target only sells either the top or bottom only. Hardly both.
I eat at the Gazebo restaurant at Macy’s while my wife shops for clothes.
Macy’s is a heavy advertiser with the SA. Let’s hope it stays around for a long time.
This is not a surprise. My wife just had a horrible experience with Macy’s. They made a big mistake with her bill and the only way she could speak to a person was to cancel her credit card. The problem with that was that the representatives she spoke with seemed to be native Hindi speakers and had difficulty understanding what she was saying. (Our grasp of Hindi is as bad as their understanding of English) My wife is very tenacious where money is concerned and she went around in circles online and on the phone for about four hours over two days. Yesterday, she got an email that said that they had finally resolved everything to her satisfaction. We’ll see. (I checked a consumer site and found 852 complaints similar to those of my wife.) After she receives her refund, she plans on cutting up the card. Macy’s used to be a reputable company with great customer service. This is no longer the case. I expect there to be some large spaces opening up in our shopping malls before long.
We had a similar experience when my husband paid the bill and was not credited for the payment. He argued with them for several days, even had our bank get involved and it was eventually settled. But we cut up the card and he won’t even step foot in any Macy’s now.
… well since MACY’S no longer celebrates the real CHRISTMAS … WTH did they expect … HOLIDAY SALES speak for themselves …
Especially when the retails tries to pull a fast one last year by setting for Christmas way in October. Shopping fatigue set in really quickly.
Prediction: 4,800 jobs and 40 stores now – 48,000 jobs gone and 400 stores closed come October 2016.
Why shop at Macy’s or any other brick and mortar store? You can probably get the same items from Amazon cheaper and without tax. Shipped free after a small minimum.
I shop at the NEX Post Exchange at the joint base here in Pearl Harbor and Hickam for a sales tax free total.
I miss Liberty House.
I miss Yick Lung cracked seeds.
I’ll be you do, Mike. By the way, in your high school graduation class, weren’t you voted the student most likely to “suck-seed”?
I suck on seeds. What do you suck on?
Me too. Bring them back.
I wonder how many laid off at Bloomingdales nationally? My understanding is the new Hawaii store is a disaster for the company too. Not a surprise though. I walked through the store after it opened and wondered how they were going to move all that winter merchandise here. Japanese tourists are not as big a market for a department store as they think it is.
When it was Liberty house the products they sold were first rate, the help was kind if snooty, but if you wanted a quality product or gift that was where you shopped. When Macy’s took over, it became the China warehouse factory outlet. Don’t have reason to go their anymore, funny thing is, my wife just received a $100.00 gift card for Macy’s from a friend.
They have so many “sales” it’s hard to keep track. And then they have so many coupons. So many times, the coupon does not apply to the items I am interested in buying. So the coupons are not an incentive to go there and shop.
The Ala Moana store is too large to sustain itself. A day will come, when a decision will be made to either scale down the store’s retail square footage or close it completely and move its location, thus resulting in employee cuts. The center’s management probably is already looking to see what they can do with the expansive space on that end of Ala Moana and do something like they did with the old Sears location, smaller stores = smaller anchor tenants = greater profits per square foot! Macy’s could easily move-into a portion of the old Nordstrom location (like occupy half of it) and still maintain a presence at Ala Moana Center.
I agree Macy’s has too much marketing zing that it is confusing at times, with multiple ads coupons that keeps you guessing and unfriendly customer service. The target market has moved from Japanese to Chinese and Chinese buyers don’t buy goods that they make in China!
…oh and I forgot to mention – the Bloomingdales marketing concept is to have sub-tenants that are name brand tenants and they are the ones that “suck” the daylights out of the retail customers, Bloomingdales sits pretty as “master lessor” and with General Growth out of the picture now, its new landlord/owner AustralianSuper, this has to be a win-win situation for any investment firm controlling its interest. Money, money, money is the answer!
While clothing items are a different breed because of size and fit that varies from item to item, I rarely buy from a brick and motor retail store. Being able to shop on-line, comparing multiple items and pricing from variety of sources, having on-line customer reviews and free 2 day shipping makes visiting the physical store obsolete. I MAY only do so to do a “hands-on” review, then go back on-line to purchase. I NEVER use store brand credit cards. If I have a problem with a purchase that becomes difficult to resolve with the merchant, I simply dispute the sale with my credit card company. Like the TV commercial, I shop at my leisure from my home in my pajamas.
As usual. The job cuts will all take place at the bottom rank. Management is immune to layoffs.
Sounds like corporate mismanagement, and also the fact that there are too many stores selling the same stuff. Makes me wonder about the new Bloomingdales at Ala Moana, and the Saks planned for Waikiki. I occasionally shop at Macy’s but don’t plan to set foot in those other two.
Macy’s needs to sell better quality merchandise. I had to buy a bunch of gifts and all I could find was the Martha Stewart kitchen and bath items, the same type of items that Kmart used to sell.
What happened to the made in USA stuff and the good brand name? I finally found some gifts on their website, but they should sell the same merchandise in the stores.
I agree with Koadog. The merchandise has gotten so crappy. they seem to carry the lower end of even better brands. The clothing racks are a mess. The sales people are there to ring up items not to provide any help. It is not a pleasant experience to shop there anymore. They have more and more sales to try to get rid of their unwanted merchandise. When I go there I think – who buys this stuff? I see lots of Chinese people and I think this is what they have manufactured and they come here to buy it? I don’t mind paying a little more if I am getting something of quality. I have also made a number of calls to their customer service people regarding problems with billing and linking my “wallet” with my card. After five calls it is still not working. I was told that this is because they have “upgraded” their computer system.