NEW YORK CITY — Macy’s Inc. (NYSE: M) has unveiled plans to close 125 of its least productive stores over the next three years. The retailer will also close its offices in San Francisco, downtown Cincinnati and Lorain, Ohio, leaving the New York City office as the sole corporate headquarters. The reorganization strategy also includes increasing the Macy’s digital platform, while optimizing its brick-and-mortar portfolio and lowering overhead costs. Beginning this year, Macy’s expects the strategy to generate annual gross savings of approximately $1.5 billion, to be fully realized by year-end 2022. “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,” says Jeff Gennette, chairman and CEO of Macy’s. “Over the past three years, we have shown we can grow the top line; however, we have significant work to do to improve the bottom line.” The 125 stores that Macy’s plans to close account for approximately $1.4 billion in annual sales and one-fifth of its store footprint. Thirty of the stores are in the process of closure now. Steve Horwitz, a professor in the Miller College of Business at Ball State University in Muncie, …
