The Wall Street Journal reports that Macy's said yesterday that sagging holiday sales - down more than two percent compared to a year earlier - have forced it to eliminate "more than 10,000 jobs as part of a continuing plan to cut costs and close 100 stores."
According to the story, "The announcement on Wednesday continued a trend for Macy’s, which announced last January that it was eliminating about 4,500 jobs in a major restructuring. Then, too, it said slumping holiday season sales had hurt its bottom line. The company, which now has 730 stores, announced in August that it would close 100 of them. On Wednesday, it identified 68 stores to be closed."
According to the story, "The announcement on Wednesday continued a trend for Macy’s, which announced last January that it was eliminating about 4,500 jobs in a major restructuring. Then, too, it said slumping holiday season sales had hurt its bottom line. The company, which now has 730 stores, announced in August that it would close 100 of them. On Wednesday, it identified 68 stores to be closed."
- KC's View:
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You'd think that Macy's could draw in more customers just by opening more Trump Suits-and-Ties shops.
It is worth noting, by the way, that these 10,000 jobs aren't going to Mexico or any other foreign country. They're essentially being lost to the digital economy. And until people on both sides of the political aisle begin realizing that this is a fundamental and inevitable shift that must be dealt with through a combination of public policy and private enterprise, jobs are going to continue to vanish.
This is all just part of the continuing shakeout that is going to affect malls and shopping centers all over the country, as people engage in e-shopping as an alternative to traditional methods. The momentum is going to continue and grow, I suspect, and companies are going to have to figure out how to adjust to the future.
Because the future is not going to adjust to them.
