Macy’s Focuses on Off-Mall Expansion

Macy’s (New York) is looking at smaller, off-mall stores as its future growth vehicle, CNBC reports. The retailer has opened 10 locations in strip centers — mini-versions of its namesake stores and Bloomingdale’s — and plans to add five more this fiscal year. The shops, called Market by Macy’s and Bloomie’s, are about a fifth the size of the retailer’s typical Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s department stores.

This year will be pivotal for the strategy, CEO Jeff Gennette said in a CNBC interview. The retailer will wrap up the test-and-learn phase of the stores and decide on expansion plans by year-end, he said.

“The hope is that we’re going to have a model that we’re going to be able to scale more aggressively in 2024 and beyond,” Gennette said in a call with investors in March. “We’re very bullish on the concept. We’re very bullish on the early learnings. The size, the locations are all working.”

The retailer has not announced the locations of the four planned Market by Macy’s stores, but said the additional Bloomie’s store will be in Seattle.