Macy’s Closing Even More Stores

No matter how one spins it, there is nothing good about an economy that forces giant retail stores to close in order to even remain operational.

Like many retail giants, the Obama economic experiment has created an environment not conducive to profitability.  As the Feds toy with the faltering economy by printing money and suppressing the interest rates, retail stores suffer as well as the employees who are laid off.

The US economy has only been supported by the vast money printing, known as quantitative easing, and the suppression of interest rates. The feds raised rates last month after nearly a decade and will be forced to suppress them again. We have and enormous, completely unrepayable debt that cannot tolerate a rise in rates. We will see another crash this year of historic proportions and it will be followed by a lowering of rates, if it doesn’t happen beforehand, and another squashing of rates.

Now Macy’s will close roughly 100 stores in the coming year, though this is not the first bad news for the chain.

Macy’s, another retail giant forced to close stores and layoff workers, told the world how they were going to fix their declining earnings and sales.  Truth and Action called the press release an embarrassment and unreadable.  It is economic psycho-babble.

“In light of our disappointing 2015 sales and earnings performance, we are making adjustments to become more efficient and productive in our operations. Moreover, we believe we can operate more effectively with an organization that is flatter and more agile so we can pursue growth and regain market share in our core Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s omnichannel businesses faster and with more intensity. We will continue to invest in strategic initiatives that anticipate emerging customer needs and create shareholder value,” said Terry J. Lundgren, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s, Inc. “The cost efficiencies represent more than two-thirds of our goal of annual SG&A expense reduction of $500 million, net of growth initiatives, from previously planned levels by 2018. In some cases, there will be short-term pain as we tighten our belt and realign our resources. But our eye is on a long-term vision of Macy’s, Inc. as a dynamic retailer that serves existing customers and acquires new ones through innovative approaches to the marketplace.”

These are considered “significant transformations” with the goal to be more valuable to their customers, hoping to reach the online shoppers, in a world that sees physical shops as not necessary.

Macy’s President Jeff Gennette said, “We decided to close a larger number of stores proactively so we can invest in a winning customer experience in our most productive and highest-potential locations,” he said in a statement. Gennette is set to take the CEO post from Terry Lundgren in early 2017.

The closures are generally seen as a good idea by analysts who follow the company because they’ll allow Macy’s to focus more on digital investments and improving the better-performing stores.

Yet, the White House continues to lie to the gullible public, claiming that unemployment is down 4.7 percent!  With this many stores closing and near half of those who are unemployed no longer looking for work, is it any wonder that the retailers don’t have customers to shop in their establishments?  One cannot afford a Ralph Lauren shirt or a high end dress from Macy’s, when one has stopped looking for employment.

Source: USA Today