Macy’s announced the closures Thursday. They represent about 15% of all Macy’s department stores. The iconic retailer did not disclose the locations of stores, but said most of them will be shut down in early 2017.
The Macy’s move is the latest in a wave of store closures amid the rise and success of Amazon and other online shopping options.
For instance, Walmart announced plans in January to shut down 269 stores this year and just this week, inked a $3.3 billion deal to acquire Amazon rival Jet.com….
Sports Authority, once the nation’s largest sporting goods retailer, is shutting all 450 of its stores after filing for bankruptcy. Other traditional retailers such as Target, JC Penney, Kmart, Sears and Kohl’s have also pulled the plug on hundreds of stores in recent months.
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The Macy’s move is the latest blow to malls, many of which rely on the iconic department store to serve as an “anchor” tenant. Those malls impacted risk losing a major source of revenue and a suffering a traffic slowdown in traffic that is likely to hurt other stores. Struggles for other department stores make filling the hole left by Macy’s even more challenging.