Historic retail department store closes after 30 years

It's been a tough past several years in the retail space. 

The early 2020s brought unprecedented uncertainty and volatility. 

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COVID forced almost all retailers to shutter for some period of time. For most retailers that rely on some sort of brick-and-mortar—or in-store—presence, sales rapidly dried up.

Some companies with robust balance sheets and strong brand recognition weathered the storm. Walmart, for instance, quickly pivoted and rolled out Walmart+, its competitor to Amazon Prime. 

And since Walmart has at least one location within five miles of 90% of the U.S. population, many of its stores doubled nicely as fulfillment centers. 

Thus, it became easier and cheaper to roll out a full-scale online delivery system, as opposed to building one from scratch, which many smaller retailers had to figure out. 

Other retailers have had difficulty

But other large-scale retailers had plenty of issues, too. 

And even though COVID is largely behind us, many of its shopping patterns are here to stay. 

One such new trend is the rise of online shopping. Some large-scale retailers, particularly those with massive footprints, have had difficulty pivoting from in-person shopping models to online ones. 

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This is partly true for Macy's  (M) . 

Fewer folks are opting to shop at indoor shopping malls instead of buying furniture, formalwear, and other necessities from places like Wayfair or Amazon. 

And since Macy's has a large footprint that anchors many shopping malls across the U.S., its operating model has gone from lucrative and plentiful to costly and inefficient in just a matter of years. 

Macy's closes another store

So the retail chain has been focusing on turning things around in recent years. 

It has said it will close 150 underperforming stores in the near-term as a part of its Bold New Strategy. 

And now, one iconic downtown location is shuttering after nearly three decades in operation. 

Macy's will close its Brooklyn location at 422 Fulton Street in Brooklyn, NY in March. Customers reported seeing closure and final sale signs posted outside of the 440,000 square foot location. 

Macy's opened the location in 1995, taking over from Abraham & Strauss. The location had been home to an operating department store since about 1885.

“Closing any store is never easy, but as part of our Bold New Chapter strategy, we are closing underproductive Macy’s stores to allow us to focus our resources and prioritize investments in our go-forward stores,” Macy's CEO Tony Spring said. 

All told, Macy's has closed about 66 stores in the first quarter of 2025. 

It recently closed its Broadway Plaza location in Los Angeles earlier in March.

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