{"id":1004430409,"date":"2020-05-04T05:35:01","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T13:35:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/?p=1004430409"},"modified":"2020-05-05T11:03:09","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T19:03:09","slug":"macys-starts-reopening-amid-department-store-woes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/macys-starts-reopening-amid-department-store-woes\/","title":{"rendered":"Macy’s Starts Reopening Amid Department Store Woes"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Image<\/a>

Macy’s department store in Stamford, CT<\/p><\/div>\n

Macy\u2019s Inc. will kick off a phased reopening today, welcoming shoppers into 68 stores in states that have begun to ease retail restrictions. The department store chain plans to reopen stores with reduced hours in Georgia, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee and Texas, which are allowing select businesses to restart after the coronavirus outbreak prompted sweeping closures<\/a> across the U.S.<\/p>\n

A Macy\u2019s representative confirmed the move to Commercial Property Executive<\/em>, after it was first reported by The Wall Street Journal<\/em>. Chief Executive Jeff Gennette told the newspaper that the company expects to reopen all of its roughly 775 stores within six weeks, depending on state and local regulations and the rate of new infections.<\/p>\n

\n

READ ALSO:<\/strong> Top US Managers, Owners Share Reopening Strategies<\/a><\/p>\n

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Macy\u2019s is among the first retailers announcing plans to restart in-store operations as more than half of American states move to loosen restrictions imposed by the pandemic. But the Cincinnati-based retailer, already struggling before the crisis, may face an uphill battle to lure customers back, as national jobless claims top 30 million and anxiety about the virus keeps many people at home.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know how comfortable people are going to be to go in these stores,\u201d<\/em> said Joseph French, senior director of the national retail group at Institutional Property Advisors, a division of Marcus & Millichap. \u201cI think Baby Boomers are going to be kind of insane to go out shopping anytime soon.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe sooner they (Macy\u2019s) open, the better chance they have,\u201d<\/em> he added.<\/p>\n

Reopening safely<\/h2>\n

The shutdown orders added stress to a company that, like many other national retailers, was already facing turbulence amid the rise of e-commerce<\/a>. On February 5, before the response to COVID-19 shut down much of the U.S. economy, Macy\u2019s announced it was closing 125 underperforming stores across 19 states as part of a three-year turnaround strategy. S&P Global Ratings downgraded the company\u2019s credit to \u201cjunk\u201d status in the same month, citing a weaker outlook for operating performance.<\/p>\n

Macy\u2019s preemptively shuttered all 775 of its locations on March 17 in order to curb the spread of the virus. The company initially planned to reopen on March 31, but stores remained closed as the federal government extended social distancing guidelines.<\/p>\n

About a quarter of the first batch of stores to reopen are located in malls and outlet centers owned by Simon Property Group Inc., which announced it would reopen 49 properties<\/a>. The reactivated stores must meet or exceed health and safety standards, according to a business update released by Macy\u2019s, including the installation of sneeze guards and social distancing reminders throughout the store.<\/p>\n

Sanitizer depots will be installed in high-traffic areas such as entrances, escalators, elevators and points of sale. Staff will be subjected to wellness checks before starting work and will be provided with company-issued face masks to wear at all times.<\/p>\n

Industry struggles<\/h2>\n
\"\"<\/a>

Neiman Marcus store. Image courtesy of TheCustomOfLife via Wikimedia Commons<\/i><\/p><\/div>\n

Safety measures notwithstanding, virus worries will likely keep a percent of Americans away from brick-and-mortar stores for a while. A recent survey by health-care technology firm Vital Vio suggests that 40 percent of U.S. adults plan to avoid public spaces unless \u201cabsolutely necessary\u201d after the pandemic has petered out. <\/p>\n

J.Crew Group, which operates the J.Crew and Madewell clothing brands, announced today that its parent company has filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the first large U.S. retailer to do so during the COVID-19 crisis.<\/p>\n

The pain in the department store industry is especially severe. A new report by Green Street Advisors, a research and advisory firm, forecasts that more than 50 percent of department stores anchoring U.S. malls will close permanently by the end of next year, according to CNBC. About 60 percent of the roughly 1,000 malls still open in the country are anchored by department store retailers such as Macy\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Neiman Marcus Group is reportedly preparing to file for bankruptcy protection after being forced to temporarily shutter all 43 of its Neiman Marcus locations, as well as Last Call Bergdorf Goodman stores, according to Reuters. <\/p>\n

Mass closures of department stores will have ripples effects for other retailers. \u201cThe anchor stores hold the smaller stores together,\u201d<\/em> said Jonathan Hipp, principal & head of the U.S. Net Lease Group at Avison Young. \u201cCustomers don\u2019t want to shop in a mall where the department store is dark.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

French said that the fate of Macy\u2019s will hinge in large part on its success in adopting omnichannel retail. Target, which has remained open through the epidemic, is doing an \u201cincredible job with e-commerce<\/em>,\u201d he noted. The discount retailer offers contactless drive-up pickup for customers that order online.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe guys that figure out how to use e-commerce, they will survive,\u201d<\/em> he added. \u201cPeople still want to shop at brick-and-mortar stores.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The chain is welcoming shoppers to 68 locations this week. How will the department store format fare amid the pandemic\u2019s challenges?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":744,"featured_media":1004431084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21808,23891,21742,21785,21749],"tags":[33022,48950,39052,35494,33353,34836],"class_list":["post-1004430409","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured","category-national","category-latest","category-property-management","category-retail","tag-avison-young","tag-coronavirus","tag-green-street-advisors","tag-jonathan-hipp","tag-macys","tag-marcus-millichap"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMacy's Starts Reopening Amid Department Store Woes - Commercial Property Executive<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.commercialsearch.com\/news\/macys-starts-reopening-amid-department-store-woes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Macy's Starts Reopening Amid Department Store Woes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The chain is welcoming shoppers to 68 locations this week. 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