Job cuts at Macy’s signal hard times ahead for retailers

Macy’s announced Wednesday the company will close 40 stores across the country after disappointing holiday sales.

The closings will mean the loss of 48-hundred jobs nationwide, at least 155 of those will reportedly be here in Western New York.

“I feel like we’re at a disadvantage losing Macy’s and everything and probably losing a store to get cologne”, said Fazzari.

Macy’s will be cutting up to 4,800 jobs, mostly at stores that will be closing, though numerous employees affected will be moved to a different location.

Lundgren said in a company statement that Macy’s plans to continue investing, in particular, in online and mobile experiences and connecting those experiences to stores.

Macy’s shares closed down 2% at $36.14, but rose 2.8% in after-hours trading on the new expense reductions.

The restructuring plans are aimed at combining positions and streamlining the way Macy’s does business, the company said.

Macy’s is the first retail giant to release holiday sale numbers, and says that many employees will be re-located into different positions. The Macy’s store at Stow-Kent opened as an O’Neil’s store in 1965. Perkins expects fourth-quarter earnings to increase a meager 0.3 percent for the 119 retailers he tracks, compared with a 12.5 percent increase a year ago.

On Wednesday, some employees who have worked for the store for several years told HVNN.com that they were informed by management at the beginning of their shifts on Wednesday morning.

The holiday selling season was challenging, as experienced throughout 2015 by much of the retailing industry. That will add to the six Macy’s discount stores the retailer has opened so far, all in the NY area.

Overall, Macy’s is not expecting a major change in sales trends in January and expects a comparable sales decline on an owned plus licensed basis in the fourth quarter to account for the November/December numbers.