For years Macy’s has been one of the world’s most popular department stores. This is why news of the franchise closing several locations has come as a shock to many. According to CNN, Macy’s will be closing about 100 locations this year. This news came to the public on Thursday, August 11th.
The stores closing represent about 15% of the overall franchise in the United States. CNN is also reporting that the retailer has not said which locations will be closing. Most of the stores will be closing by early 2017.
While many people were not expecting the news, Macy’s is not the only department store facing troubles like this. Many physical store locations are having issues succeeding as the market for online shopping increases. With sites like amazon.com making it easier for customers to shop from their own homes, many stores are losing customers. Most major clothing and specialty stores are also providing shoppers with online shopping options. Major shopping venues like JCPennys, Sears, Target, Kohl’s, and KMart are also announcing that many of their locations will be closing very soon. These announcements affect many people. The closings of these stores are going to put several thousand people out of work over the next several months.
CNN also reports that even Walmart is closing many locations this year. The superstore purchased Jet.com earlier this year for about $3.3 billion dollars. This will hopefully increase the companies profits and help compete with amazon.com, their main source of competition.
The retail and shopping world is evolving with technology every day. As people find convenient ways to shop from their own homes, stores will have to find ways to compete with these websites if they want to continue to make money and stay open. Hopefully, locations can find a way to get people to come to their stores and shop online so that they can remain open and continue to employee the people who have established careers with these companies.
