Macy's announces 150 closings, but says Dartmouth Mall Macy's to stay open
DARTMOUTH — Macy's announced Tuesday that it was closing approximately 150 stores nationwide - 50 by the end of next February - but added Thursday the Dartmouth Mall Macy's will be spared.
The company responded to a request for comment by email Thursday, "Macy’s Dartmouth will remain open."
It's added in the email, "Our new strategy is designed to return Macy’s Inc. to profitable growth and enhance the customer experience. We intend to close approximately 150 Macy’s stores over the next three years. This allows us to focus our investments and resources on Macy’s go-forward locations including full line, furniture and current off-mall locations and Bloomie’s, Bloomingdale’s The Outlet and Bluemercury stores. We look forward to continuing to serve our customers at Macy’s Dartmouth."
Stores to close are 'underproductive'
Macy's characterized the stores that are closing in the Tuesday announcement as "underproductive locations."
The Providence Journal reported that all 150 will close by 2026. That represents 30% of Macy's 493 locations.
The company said it would be prioritizing investment in the approximately 350 remaining "go-forward" locations, which would include the Dartmouth Mall Macy's.
The company owns 481 big box stores, and 12 "small format locations," The Providence Journal reported.
Macy's has 16 stores in Massachusetts
There are 16 Macy's stores in Massachusetts, including at the Dartmouth Mall. The others are located in Auburn, Boston, Dorchester, Natick, Framingham, Peabody, Hanover, Marlboro, Holyoke, North Attleboro, Hyannis, Braintree, Kingston, Burlington, and Saugus.
Macy's plans to build 30 more smaller stores over the next two years in stand-alone locations away from shopping malls. The smaller stores range from 30,000 to 50,000 square feet, one-fifth the size of the department stores that anchor malls, The Providence Journal reported.
The New York Times reported that the stores targeted for closure make up 25% of the company's square footage but 10% of its sales.
Macy's announced 2,350 layoffs, which is 3.5% of its workforce, in January, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing a memo to employees.
In January, the company had also announced it was closing five Macy's stores located in California, Florida, Hawaii, and Virginia.
Dartmouth Mall owner filed bankruptcy last December
The real estate investment trust that owns the Dartmouth Mall voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last December to restructure debt, but said at that time there would be no interruption to operations and that it would likely emerge in early February 2024.
Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, or PREIT, which is headquartered in Philadelphia, has not made any announcement on coming out of the bankruptcy as yet.
PREIT said the reorganization plan was to reduce its total indebtedness by approximately $880 million.
The 140,000-square-foot Dartmouth Mall Macy's is listed as the mall's "anchor" on PREIT's website.
PREIT emerged from bankruptcy before
PREIT filed voluntarily for Chapter 11 bankruptcy before on Nov. 1, 2020 from which it was able to successfully emerge on Dec. 22, 2020.
PREIT owns almost 20 malls nationally, according to its website. Dartmouth Mall is its only Massachusetts mall. Its holdings include the Cherry Hill Mall in Cherry Hill, N.J., and the Woodland Mall in Grand Rapids, Mich.
Under the reorganization terms, PREIT said it would emerge following the court-supervised process with a restructured balance sheet, and will no longer be a publicly traded company.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Dartmouth Mall Macy's to be spared amid 150 Macy's closings
