Macy's May Be Looking To Further Consolidate

My train ride in the morning is pretty uneventful on Sunday mornings, but I nearly fell out of my chair when I read the WWD article about Macy's. According to the article Macy’s Inc. is said to be looking at downsizing to two divisions from the current four.

WWD sources said the plan would fold Macy’s Florida in Miami and Macy’s Central in Atlanta into the Macy’s East and Macy’s West divisions. A Macy’s spokesman declined to comment directly on the speculation, which surfaced Thursday, a day after the retailer reported a net loss of $44 million for the third quarter. “We can’t comment on rumors, but we are fully focused on running the business for holiday,” said spokesman Jim Sluzewski.

My sources at Macy's and Lord & Taylor went on record as saying that a further consolidation in the retail sector would hamper that competitive spirit that was once so prevalent in the industry.

We'll be keeping our eye on this one...stay tuned