Among the 100 Macy's stores that are set to close, as the retail giant announced today, will be the hulking, nearly windowless men's store across the street from their Union Square flagship, at 120 Stockton Street. The SF Business Times picks up this detail, which was also caught by Curbed, reporting that the 263,640-square-foot store is slated for redevelopment which likely means demolition.
No doubt the satellite men's store has suffered a bit from the past two years of construction on the Central Subway, but that's been the least of the chain's problems according to a retail expert. Consultant Jeff Green suggests that the rise of online shopping has, inevitably, impacted the company. And, "Not only are there too many stores in the chain, the stores themselves are too oversized for this changing retail environment."
Green notes that in many cases, chains like Macy's are realizing that a property they own is far more valuable than the sales being generated at that property.
Reportedly, Macy's has also been considering reconfiguring the flagship store to generate more revenue, possibly by renting out the upper floors as office space.
Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren issued a statement:
We operate in a fast-changing world, and our company is moving forward decisively to build further on Macy’s heritage as a preferred shopping destination for fashion, quality, value and convenience. This involves doing things differently and making tough decisions as we position ourselves to serve customers.
It remains unclear who a potential buyer for the men's store property might be, or when we can expect the major clearance sale to commence.
Currently, Macy's operates 728 stores, 675 of them carrying a full product line, and took in $27 billion in revenue last year. The store count is expected to drop by about 15 percent, or 100 stores.