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Tough day for the team at Macy's, with news that 3.5% of the company's staff - including 13% of its corporate employees - will be laid off. While it's painful for individuals, the moves make a lot of sense from a strategic and communications sense. 1. New CEO Tony Spring takes over from Jeff Gennette next month, and making this move ahead of his accession enables the outgoing boss to shoulder some of the responsibility and give Spring the best chance of a clean slate. 2. The announcement comes just before an earnings announcement, which offers management the chance to shift focus analyst attention to the bright shiny new initiative which will hopefully drive the business forward. 3. The reduction in the costbase will enable Macy's to invest meaningfully in customer experience in their stores and on digital platforms, to create more of a premium environment that customers want to be part of. There are always ways to improve (for instance, Macy's have announced that layoffs will be communicated on January 26, given employees more than a week to worry about their fate), but on the whole it's a net positive in difficult circumstances. #corporatecommunications #layoffs #investorrelations

If It Ain't Fixed Don't Broke It Macy's announced another round of 150 store closures 3 years after closing 100 stores The closures and layoffs are part of a streamlining effort to better align with the ever changing consumer and marketplace Best Buy is closing 15 stores in 2024 after closing 25 stores in 2023. Additionally, Geek Squad layoffs abound as Best Buy expands the use of A.I. New Gap CEO, Richard Dickson, has stated that marketing has lost sight of the differentiation between its Gap, Old Navy, Banana Republic, and Athleta brands Three large struggling companies with similar turnaround strategies Cut costs, improve inventory mix, align symmetries, yada yada yada One thing these companies never talk about? How do we improve the lot for our employees? How do we get our employees to care? How do we get our remaining employees engaged in our success when all we've done is beat them down Okay, that was 3 things, but you get the point Companies don't know how to engage their employees, and they don't care Why should they? The Institution of Leadership has not moved the employee engagement needle since the 1990’s, which is surprising since the same tired old solutions have been recycled as new for decades Servant Leadership hasn't improved engagement Authentic Leadership hasn't improved engagement Emotional Intelligence hasn't improved engagement The Point? Just because others continue to fail to improve employee engagement doesn't mean it can't be done Better ideas, higher engagement It really is that simple The Illusion of Competence #leadership #innovation #tech #management #emotionalintelligence

Yesterday Macy's announced that it would close five stores and have corporate layoffs. This is bad news for the folks that got laid off, but it is not all that bad for Macy's and the  five malls that are losing Macy's. Macy's stated in 2020 that they were going to close 125 stores of their least productive locations over the next few years. Macy's has been closing a few stores a year since that announcement and these closings seem to be a continuation of that program. Based on our discussions with several of the five mall owners that are losing a Macy's in these closings, it may actually assist two of the owners in their re-development of their malls. Retail vacancies are at their lowest level in about 18 years. Retail rental rates are increasing. The amount of vacant department stores on the market has greatly decreased. So when a department store closes less than 1% of their stores, it does not have the impact on the retail market that major department store closing had in the past. https://lnkd.in/gip39jZ8

"Macy’s plans to lay off about 13% of its corporate staff and close five stores in a bid to trim costs and redirect spending to improve the shopping experience for customers. The job cuts total roughly 2,350 positions, or 3.5% of Macy’s overall workforce excluding seasonal hires, according to a memo sent to employees Thursday afternoon and people familiar with the situation. Macy’s plans to add more automation to its supply chain and is outsourcing some roles, according to the memo, which didn’t specify which jobs. It’s also reducing management layers to speed decision-making.” https://lnkd.in/edqfFXiE

New Post: Macy’s Plans to Cut 2,350 Jobs and Close 5 Stores - Macy’s, the country’s largest department store operator, told employees Thursday that it was laying off 13 percent of its corporate work force. The move comes as the company prepares to unveil a new strategy that will be overseen by its incoming chief executive.The cuts amount to roughly 2,350 jobs, or about 3.5 percent of the company’s overall work force, which includes employees at the subsidiaries Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury. The layoffs will be achieved by eliminating some roles and consolidating teams, according to memos seen by The New York Times.The company also said it would close five of its more than 560 Macy’s stores.The memos said the decisions were based on consumer research and were meant to make the retailer more competitive by improving its cost structure and driving faster decision making.The cutbacks were first reported by The Wall Street Journal.Tony Spring will take over as Macy’s chief executive next month from Jeff Gennette, a company veteran who is retiring after holding the post since 2017. Mr. Spring, who ran Bloomingdale’s, was named to the top position in March and has undertaken a research effort alongside Adrian Mitchell, the chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Macy’s.The company said it would unveil its wider strategy in the near future.“As we prepare to deploy a new strategy to meet the needs of an ever-changing consumer and marketplace, we made the difficult decision to reduce our work force by 3.5 percent to become a more streamlined company,” a Macy’s spokesman said in an emailed statement.In a memo to employees, the company said it would be “offshoring certain areas of the business,” but did not provide details.As consumers have spent less on apparel and discretionary items over the past year, Macy’s has struggled to increase its sales, and it has been facing pressure to improve its business. In December, an investor group submitted a bid to take the company private at $5.8 billion, which was more than $1 billion above its market value at the time.The share price has risen more than 50 percent over the last two months but remains lower than it was a year ago or early in the pandemic.“Macy’s obviously needs to keep investors satisfied, and its focus on profit has accomplished that at a time when sales performance has been extremely lackluster,” Neil Saunders, managing director of the research and consulting firm GlobalData Retail, said Thursday by email. “However, this strategy comes with an expiry date; ultimately no retailer can shrink itself to success.” #Macys #Plans #Cut #Jobs #Close #Stores https://lnkd.in/dz7Ep_rj

In an interview a while ago, Richard Baker, the owner of HBC and SAKS, described himself as a real estate guy, not a merchant.  Yesterday, it was announced that SAKS is buying NM. This was presented as a good thing: consolidation of resources, diversification of offerings (currently, the companies share a high number of brands), and many other great initiatives. Unfortunately, the real reason is unknown. When the principal of the company is not a merchant, who knows what the end goal is? Neither SAKS nor NM is doing well. A few years ago, when online was still hot, SAKS spun off their online business (remember OMNI mantra? No more). You don't need to be an economist to understand why. At the same time, NM went through bankruptcy, picking up an additional bank loan for recovery that is probably difficult to pay back. I don't think there is a bright future for department stores the way they currently run. In the last 30 years, society has undergone a dramatic change; the way people look at brands, clothes, and shopping is very different. However, department stores have patched their old ways and remain the same. Mergers like this add to this narrative, to the attempt to stay in business: cutting locations and payroll is the way to go if you have no other strategy. Macy's has been doing it for years. We will see stores closing, layoffs, and brands losing distribution. But this is justified to help both companies to survive. It is a short-term strategy - nothing is going to change if the department store doesn't change its way of doing business. If they want to keep the old model (I guess they do), two changes need to happen for them to succeed: Different ways to work with brands (partnerships). Different ways to work with sales associates. PS> WWD mentioned that only 6 malls have both NM and SAKS. However, in almost all key markets: LA, San Fran, Chicago- free standing stores are across the street from each other. #wwd #bof #fashionretail

New Post: Retail layoffs at Macy’s, Wayfair follow a big holiday season - The holiday rush has turned into the New Year’s bloodletting at a pair of major retailers. Macy’s and Wayfair have both announced significant staff cuts as they attempt to navigate a challenging retail marketplace. Macy’s, on Thursday, announced plans to cut 2,350 jobs and close five stores. The cuts work out to 13% of the chain’s corporate staff and 3.5% of its overall workforce (excluding seasonal hirers). The Wayfair cuts, meanwhile, come weeks after the CEO announced the company had returned to profitability—and encouraged workers to work even harder. On Friday, the online retailer said it has laid off 13% of its workforce, about 1,650 people. That follows 1,700 layoffs last year and 900 in 2022. Layoffs from retailers in January aren’t unusual following a slow holiday season, but 2023 was a banner year for stores, according to the Commerce Department. Both companies have had their struggles. Macy’s has seen an increasing number of shoppers wander away from department stores and embrace online shopping. Wayfair has struggled against larger online retailers. “We went overboard in hiring during a strong economic period and veered away from our core principles, and while we have come quite far back to them, we are not quite there,” Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah wrote in a memo to staff, as quoted by The Wall Street Journal. Macy’s, meanwhile, is looking to reduce its management layers and said it plans to outsource some roles. The cutbacks come as the company prepares for a CEO transition, with president Tony Spring set to take over for Jeff Gennette. At the same time, activist investors are attempting a buyout of Macy’s. (the chain has not publicly responded to those efforts.) The company is closing Macy’s locations in Ballston Quarter, Arlington, Va.; Bayfair Center, San Leandro, Calif.; Kukui Grove Center, Lihue, Hawaii; Simi Valley Town Center, Simi Valley, Calif.; and Governor’s Square, Tallahassee, Fla.Subscribe to the new Fortune CEO Weekly Europe newsletter to get corner office insights on the biggest business stories in Europe. Sign up for free. #Retail #layoffs #Macys #Wayfair #follow #big #holiday #seasonhttps://lnkd.in/drH829n7

Retail Reshuffle: Macy's Trims Costs, Walmart Raises Wages Macy's joins the ranks of Citigroup, Google, and Amazon with job cuts in 2024. The department store chain is eliminating 2,350 positions (3.5% of total staff, 13% of corporate) to streamline operations and invest in e-commerce and visual merchandising. ️ This news comes amidst a changing retail landscape: Macy's faces a takeover bid and prepares for a new CEO. Walmart hikes wages, highlighting contrasting approaches to employee compensation. Is this a sign of an industry in flux? How will these moves impact employees and consumers? Let's discuss the future of retail and the responsibility companies have towards their workforce. Share your thoughts in the comments! #macys #layoffs #retail #ecommerce #walmart #wages #futureofwork #leadership #employeerelations