Despite a blistering television holiday advertising campaign, retail giant Macy’s has announced that it will close 65 stores before the end of the year, according to a report from CBS News.
65 store closures is a sharp increase from the 50 locations it previously announced it would close by the end of the fiscal year.
According to Macy’s, the closures are part of its plan to eliminate roughly 150 underperforming stores over the next three years.
The department store chain made the update public in its third quarter earnings last Wednesday.
“We now expect to close roughly 65 locations this year,” Macy’s CEO Tony Spring said on the call. “In line with our typical cadence, closures will occur post holiday.
Macy’s was forced to delay reporting its third-quarter earnings after an employee hid up to $151 million in expenses related to delivering small packages.
The retailer, which also owns Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, last month said it discovered the accounting issue on one of its accrual accounts while preparing its quarterly financial statements.
The company revealed new details on the incident Wednesday, saying that an independent investigation found that “a single employee with responsibility for small package delivery expense accounting intentionally made erroneous accounting accrual entries and falsified underlying documentation,” according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
Macy’s isn’t alone in shuttering brick-and-mortar locations, as many retailers are moving to online, e-commerce models.
U.S. retailers have announced more than 7,100 store closures through the end of November 2024. That represents a 69% jump from the same time last year, according to recent data from research firm CoreSight.
Forty-five retailers have filed for bankruptcy protection so far this year, compared with 25 retail bankruptcies in all of 2023, the report found.
Macy’s stock has dropped roughly 20% over the past year, according to CBS News.