Macy’s has announced that it will be closing up to 40 stores due to weak sales in the coming year.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that company spokesman Jim Sluzewski said that at this time it has not been determined exactly which underperforming stores will close its doors.
“We’ll announce them as the final decisions are made,” he said. “It should be toward the end of the year.”
USA Today noted Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren said that the changes have come as consumers have changed how they shop and many purchase the bulk of merchandise online.
“Many customers change their shopping habits and often the sales volume of a store gets divided among the new and nearby, existing centers,” he explained in a statement. “Each year, we prune some stores that are our weakest performers so that we can concentrate our resources on the best locations and maintain a strong physical presence."
Even though the department store chain will be shuttering a good number of stores, it still has plans to open six Macy’s Backstage stores locations.
Over the past few years, the retailer has closed 52 stores and opened 12. Currently, it operates 770 stores.
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