The number of brick-and-mortar retail outposts is again on the wane as consumers shift their shopping online. Macy’s plans to close 100, or 14%, of its 728 stores, the retailer announced Thursday during its second-quarter earnings report. The brand exceeded analyst expectations by reporting a 3.9% drop to $5.7 billion in net sales for the 13 weeks ending July 30. Results were not as grim as the disastrous first quarter, when Macy’s and several brands reported sales declines following a lackluster holiday season.
The store closures, the majority of which will go dark early next year, follow the shuttering of 41 Macy’s in fiscal 2015. No specific locations were announced.
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Experts agree that there will always be a need for brick-and-mortar, yet the bloated size and fleets of decades past is now weighing down brands who need to be more nimble in a digital era.
“A lot of brick-and-mortar retailers signed leases 20 years ago for store configurations and square footage that, today, they don’t need,” said Michael Goldberg, chief executive of Zimmerman Advertising, in a recent interview with Ad Age. “What you really need in brick-and-mortar is an accent to what you do with your other channels.”
