Macy’s is closing more stores in 2023 — here’s the list

The first batch of Macy’s stores that are permanently closing this year

Storefront of a Macy's location

More Macy’s locations across the United States are set to close permanently this 2023.

The chain of high-end department stores confirmed to Axios in the first week of January 2023 that it will start a new round of store closures this new year as part of its Polaris transformation strategy, which was first announced in February 2020.

Macy’s store closures in 2023

Four Macy’s locations at shopping malls are slated to shut down their doors for good during the company’s first quarter of 2023, which typically runs from January through late April or early May.

According to Axios, a clearance sale at the said stores will kick off this January and will last for approximately eight to 12 weeks. Macy’s also told the website that it was “committed to offering impacted colleagues a role in nearby locations or severance packages.”

Here are the four Macy’s locations that are closing permanently in the first quarter of the year:

  • Los Angeles, California: Baldwin Hills Crenshaw Plaza, 4005 Crenshaw Blvd.
  • Fort Collins, Colorado: Foothills Mall, 215 E Foothills Parkway.
  • Kaneohe, Hawaii: Windward Center (Oahu), 46-056 Kamehameha Highway.
  • Gaithersburg, Maryland: Lakeforest Mall, 701 Russell Ave.

Macy’s Polaris transformation strategy

Macy’s Polaris transformation strategy is a business restructuring that involves shutting roughly 125 stores nationwide (one-fifth of its locations in the U.S.) and slashing about 2000 jobs for a duration of three years. The restructuring started in 2020 and several Macy’s locations had already been closed since then, including seven locations in January 2022.

The stores that had been closed and will be closing as part of the Polaris transformation strategy collectively account for $1.4 billion in sales, but individually, they are the chain’s poor performers, which happen to be located in what the company deems to be “lower-tier” malls. There have also been job cuts in some stores that remain open, while other locations have gotten to hire additional staff.

The Polaris transformation strategy also includes the elimination of 9 percent of Macy’s corporate and support positions, with an objective to concentrate top leadership roles in New York, where its flagship store is located. Additionally, Macy’s San Francisco offices, which handle tech functions, will also be closed, with the retailer shifting those tasks to its New York and Atlanta headquarters.

This huge restructuring plan is projected to produce roughly $1.5 billion in annual savings for Macy’s. “We will focus our resources on the healthy parts of our business, directly address the unhealthy parts of the business, and explore new revenue streams,” Macy’s chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette said in a statement back in February 2020.

Now that the restructuring is in its final year, Neil Saunders, managing director of the data analytics company Global Data, told Axios that much of the heavy lifting to execute the Polaris transformation strategy has been completed, noting that much of the “dead wood” has already been cut out.

“What we are seeing now is more an opportunistic and gentle pruning,” Saunders explained. “That said, I fully expect there to be more closures this year and in the years ahead as Macy’s still has a lot of sub-optimal stores that will probably perform badly as the consumer economy tightens.”

Macy’s store openings

It’s worth noting that amid the series of store closures, the chain has actually been opening new off-mall, smaller format stores called Market by Macy’s. Four of those trendier concept stores opened in 2022.

Bloomingdale’s, a Macy-owned luxury department store chain, is also slated to open its third Bloomie’s store in Seattle later this year, after successfully opening the same mini stores in Chicago and Virginia.

Lastly, Macy’s also added small Toys R Us toy shops inside all of its stores last year ahead of the holiday season.

As of October 2022, Macy’s Inc. had 722 stores in total. That includes 510 Macy’s, 54 Bloomingdale’s, and 158 Bluemercury locations.

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Sources: Axios, Business Insider, Macy’s