Macy's closing 4 Downtown stores across US

[dave8721]

Originally Posted by mhays

Selling a building doesn't always mean closing the store. It's often a way to cash out that value, then you lease the building back.

True but it does say that interested buyers include Nordstrom and Old Navy. They probably wouldnt be buying it to lease back.

[mhays]

True that.

[pdxstreetcar]

Downtown Portland Macy's Closing.

Cant say it was a surprise given how neglected the store was by Macys. This was mostly about the prime real estate for creative office space since Macy's is selling off their prime assets.

[NorthernDancer]

Originally Posted by pdxstreetcar

Downtown Portland Macy's Closing.

Cant say it was a surprise given how neglected the store was by Macys. This was mostly about the prime real estate for creative office space since Macy's is selling off their prime assets.

Does that leave dt. Portland with only one dept. store remaining (Nordstrom)?

[Pavlov's Dog]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

Does that leave dt. Portland with only one dept. store remaining (Nordstrom)?

If you consider Nordstrom a department store then that is correct. Nordstrom is more of a clothing, shoes, cosmetics and jewelry store though. You can't buy furniture or kitchen items.

Note also that just across the river from downtown is the Lloyd Center which still has a Macy's as well as a Sears. The Nordstrom there consolidated its city center operations downtown which is a better demographic for them, the cost of parking is not a major issue for Nordstrom's customer base but the downtown vibe and office worker base is a positive factor. Macy's gets lower operating costs and much easier parking for it's customers by consolidating at the Lloyd Center.

[spyguy]

Half of Macy's State Street flagship now for sale

Macy's puts State Street flagship up for sale — at least, top half of it

More than a year after first dropping hints about cashing in on its State Street store, Macy's is making it official: It's ready to sell.

The Loop flagship is formally for sale — or, to be more precise, the top half of the building is available to potential buyers or joint venture partners. The deal could generate as much as $130 million for Macy's at a time when it is slashing costs and closing stores throughout the country.

Macy's spokeswoman Andrea Schwartz confirmed in an email that the company plans to sell the eighth through the 14th floors of the building, encompassing 700,000 square feet. She did not say how much the company expects the real estate to fetch in a sale.

[Pedestrian]

In San Francisco, Macy's grew by annexing the space of adjacent department stores that went out of business and physically combining the buildings. Originally, their building was the center of a group on the south side of Union Square. Then they bought the I. Magnin building next door and basically had ⅔ of the block. Then they bought the Liberty House building across the street (Stockton St.) and made it their Men's Store.

Now they are shrinking back to something like their original footprint by selling off the other real estate for its probable conversion (at least the upper floors) to office or some other use.

It's worth noting that remaining in the Union Square area of SF are the following large department stores (besides the smaller Macy's which is still sizeable): Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Barney's New York, Saks Fifth Ave, Nieman-Marcus.

[NorthernDancer]

Originally Posted by Pedestrian

In San Francisco, Macy's grew by annexing the space of adjacent department stores that went out of business and physically combining the buildings. Originally, their building was the center of a group on the south side of Union Square. Then they bought the I. Magnin building next door and basically had ⅔ of the block. Then they bought the Liberty House building across the street (Stockton St.) and made it their Men's Store.

Now they are shrinking back to something like their original footprint by selling off the other real estate for its probable conversion (at least the upper floors) to office or some other use.

It's worth noting that remaining in the Union Square area of SF are the following large department stores (besides the smaller Macy's which is still sizeable): Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Barney's New York, Saks Fifth Ave, Nieman-Marcus.

With all the closing of department stores, downtown Toronto has actually gone from 4 to 5 department stores:

Bay Queen Street (one of the largest stores in the world)
Bay Bloor Street
Saks Fifth Avenue (opened last year)
Nordstrom (opened last year in former Sears space)
Holt Renfrew (there are plans to expand it vertically from it's current 4 floors to 8 floors)

There was also speculation that Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdale's might open a store in the 1 Bloor Street East development. We shall see.


Overall there's been at least 7 new upscale/upscalish department stores open in Toronto + Mississauga in the last year or so:

Nordstrom downtown Toronto
Nordstrom Sherway Gardens
Nordstrom Yorkdale Mall
Saks Fifth Avenue downtown Toronto
Saks Fifth Avenue Sherway Gardens
Holt Renfrew Square One (Mississauga)
Simons Square One (Mississauga)

The downtown Saks, downtown Nordstrom, and Square One Simons all took existing space, but I believe the other 4 stores were all new construction.

[Pedestrian]

Originally Posted by NorthernDancer

With all the closing of department stores, downtown Toronto has actually gone from 4 to 5 department stores:

Bay Queen Street (one of the largest stores in the world)
Bay Bloor Street
Saks Fifth Avenue (opened last year)
Nordstrom (opened last year in former Sears space)
Holt Renfrew (there are plans to expand it vertically from it's current 4 floors to 8 floors)

There was also speculation that Neiman Marcus or Bloomingdale's might open a store in the 1 Bloor Street East development. We shall see.

With the exception of Macy's and Nordstrom, Hudson Bay is rumored to be buying almost very other long-standing department store chain. Seems likely they would be interested in having a "flagship" location of whatever they do acquire in the largest city of their home country. But I really think old-style department stores are dinosaurs and I worry for the fabric of cities where they occupy a lot of space because I don't know who will take over as they keep cutting back (which I think they will). I was thinking the other day I literally can't remember when I was in a department store last and, whenever it was, it was likely in the kitchenwares department, not clothes. In actuality, if I know what I want I usually buy it online but if I want to browse I go to the stores' discount outlets (which in SF are only a few blocks away): Nordstrom Rack, Saks Off-Fifth, Nieman's Last Call.