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Macy’s is shuttering stores—again. The retailer is eliminating 15% of its portfolio—or 100 locations—in response to lacking foot traffic and a sizable drop in sales.
Company shares have been down 50% for the past 12 months, but this latest move caused pre-market trading to jump 15% to $38.95 today, and it seems the retailer may have helped its friends—JC Penney’s stocks jumped 5.4% this morning and Target followed behind with a 2.7% increase, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren says we can expect the closures to occur in early 2017, and hopes the loss of underperforming stores will allow the company to focus on building its online presence. It remains uncertain how many jobs will be lost due to the closures, but the company did say certain employees will receive severance pay. [WSJ]
