Macy’s was pulling off a comeback for the ages… but things have gone badly wrong

Macy’s has been in the middle of a stunning comeback. 

Just three weeks ago, executives said they expected to turn a profit this year — a remarkable turnaround for a department store Wall Street had written off after years of dwindling sales and shuttered stores.

Once the undisputed king of American retail — home to the famous Thanksgiving Day Parade, the ‘Miracle on 34th Street’ Santa, and the flagship that once billed itself as the world’s largest store — Macy’s had spent nearly two decades sliding into decline. 

Analysts hailed its revival as the retail turnaround of the year. But it seems Macy’s has just hit a bit of a snag. 

On December 20 — Super Saturday, the crucial last Saturday before Christmas and historically one of the busiest shopping days of the year — shopper numbers at Macy’s collapsed, according to Placer.ai, a firm that tracks store visits. 

A staggering 20.7 percent fewer shoppers walked into Macy’s stores compared to last year.

Other department stores and glossy brands, from Lululemon to Belk, also saw sharp declines — while bargain chains were flooded with shoppers hunting for last-minute deals.  

But Macy’s was the steepest drop of any major US retailer. Experts say its downturn isn’t driven by a single factor.

The chain has been shrinking its store base, closing underperforming locations as part of a plan to shutter 150 sites by 2026 and focus on fewer, more modern shops.  Over the past year alone, Macy’s shut 66 stores, according to Coresight — 10 percent of its former 660-store count.

But because these were already its weakest performers, that reduction doesn’t come close to explaining the dramatic Super Saturday plunge. 

Other challenges for the holiday shopping season offer some explanation. 

Inflation remains high, families are more worried about money than they have been for years, and shoppers staying away from brick-and-mortar stores is not just a problem for Macy’s. Rivals like Saks are struggling too.

Retailers, including Macy’s, also rolled out holiday sales weeks earlier to help customers spread out spending — pulling some purchases away from Super Saturday itself. 

‘Super Saturday needs to be understood in the context of a much longer pre-Christmas period,’ Ethan Chernofsky, the chief marketing officer of Placer.ai, told the Daily Mail. ‘Any minor declines are actually impressive in this context.’

Independent analysts recently told the Daily Mail that customers shopping in Macy’s have been surprised to see a retailer that’s been getting its act together. 

‘The sloppy and slapdash execution that once plagued the chain has largely disappeared,’ Neil Saunders, managing director at GlobalData, said.

Carol Spieckerman, a retail strategist, agreed: ‘I recently visited a couple of Macy’s stores, and they were tidy. The tight racks and stacks of clothes that previously suffocated stores are gone.’

The turnaround has been led by CEO Tony Spring, who took over in February 2024 with a mandate to tidy stores, improve staffing and rethink the range of products on offer.

Early results have been promising. Macy’s raked in $4.7billion over the past three months, ahead of Wall Street expectations. 

That was enough for an $11million profit. 

‘On their own, these are respectable numbers,’ Saunders said after the company’s earnings release. ‘But in the department store sector and for Macy’s, they are extremely solid and represent a very big chink of light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel of decline.’

Macy’s wasn’t alone in seeing visitors plunge on Super Saturday.

Video game seller GameStop, down 17.7 percent; department chain Belk, down 17 percent; and athleisure brand Lululemon, down 11.9 percent, also served fewer shoppers on Super Saturday. 

Meanwhile, cost-cutting chains saw a big jump in shoppers.

Ollie’s Bargain Outlet, up 20.9 percent; Bath & Body Works, up 11.2 percent; and Ross Dress for Less, up 9.1 percent, boasted the highest year-over-year shopper increases. 

‘Value-based offerings like off-price retailers continue to be a favorite for shoppers looking for last-minute items,’ Elizabeth LaFontaine, the director of research at Placer.ai, said. 

‘Shoppers have shown themselves to be more discerning this holiday season, and Super Saturday was a key example of consumers being more selective in their final shopping trips before the holiday.’ 

Macy’s declined to comment.