Macy’s Inc. CEO Tony Spring agrees with many people’s assessment that a great number of its namesake department stores are substandard and deserve to be closed. So Spring, who took on the top job last year, has been closing dozens of stores and focusing on 125 Macy’s locations that the retailer believes have the most potential.
The company’s latest set of financial results, released on Wednesday, suggest Spring’s strategy is sound, even if it ultimately means a smaller footprint for the retail chain. At the 125 stores that the company has chosen to focus on, sales fell by only 1.3% compared with the same quarter last year. Analysts said those figures aren’t bad, given the rise in consumer anxiety this spring and the shift toward essentials and low prices.
