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PLANO, Texas — JCPenney and Macy’s are looking to run leaner in 2015 with store closings, layoffs and staff reorganizations.
JCPenney said it will close about 40 stores over the coming year. Most of the closings, almost 4% of Penney’s 1,060 U.S. stores, should take place on or near April 4 and will affect around 2,250 employees.
“We continually evaluate our store portfolio to determine whether there’s a need to close or relocate underperforming stores,” Joey Thomas, a company spokes-man said. “Reviews such as these are essential in meeting our long-term goals for future company growth.”
He added that eligible associates who do not remain with the company will receive separation benefits, and, if possible, receive assistance in identifying other job opportunities at nearby JCPenney stores.
The retailer had just reported that comparable store sales grew 3.7% during the 2014 holiday season compared with the same period in 2013. It also said it expects fourth-quarter comp-store sales to increase in the upper end of its previous guidance range of 2% to 4%.
Cincinnati-based Macy’s, whose holiday season same-store sales were up 2.7%, announced Thursday that it will close 14 Macy’s stores. Together, those stores account for approximately $130 million in annual sales, some of which is expected to be retained in nearby stores and with online sales.
It also is reorganizing the merchandising and marketing functions under its Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s banners to combine the brick-and-mortar and online buying teams within each brand. That move should affect around 115 employees at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s New York offices, and around 150 people in markets across the country.
| “Our business is rapidly evolving in response to changes in the way customers are shopping across stores, desktops, tablets and smartphones. We must continue to invest in our business to focus on where the customer is headed — to prepare for what’s next.” — TERRY LUNDGREN, MACY’S |  |
“Our business is rapidly evolving in response to changes in the way customers are shopping across stores, desktops, tablets and smartphones. We must continue to invest in our business to focus on where the customer is headed — to prepare for what’s next,” said Terry Lundgren, Macy’s chairman and CEO. “Macy’s Inc. has benefited in recent years by having invested early and aggressively in our M.O.M. strategies (My Macy’s localization, Omnichannel integration and Magic Selling customer engagement). This has included talent, technology, omnichannel infrastructure and fulfillment capability.”
Macy’s will be increasing its workforce in some functions and locations while decreasing in others. In all, around 2,200 employees will be affected by refocusing staff and modifying sales service and support in each of its stores.
In addition to the closings, Macy’s also announced two new stores: a three-story Blooming-dale’s of 150,000 square feet at Westfield Valley Fair Shopping Center in San Jose, Calif., scheduled to open in fall 2017 and employ about 250, and a 155,000-square-foot store on two levels to replace its existing 136,000-square-foot Westfield Century City location in Los Angeles. That store should open in November 2016.
Those are in addition to seven other new Macy’s and Blooming-dale’s locations currently planned and/or under construction.
The Macy’s Inc. workforce is expected to remain at a level of approximately 175,000 associates.
Macy’s said the changes are estimated to generate savings of about $140 million per year, beginning this year. The company said it expects to reinvest savings into technology and growth initiatives and to offset higher expense expected in health care and retirement plans.
