Future of Macy's locations in Western Pa. uncertain after company announces 150 closures

The fate of six Macy’s locations in Western Pennsylvania is unknown after the company announced Tuesday it will close 150 stores over the next three years, with 50 closing by the end of 2024.

The department store chain hasn’t named specific locations or states where it will shutter underperforming stores. It also will be opening 15 of its higher-­end Bloomingdale’s and 30 of its luxury Blue Mercury cosmetics stores, with exact locations to come.

Macy’s also plans to accelerate the expansion of small-format stores, announcing plans in October to add up to 30 of these through fall 2025, for a total of about 42. The next round of expansion starts in the fall.

The pivot away from mid­level big-box retail has come with costs. In January, Macy’s said it would lay off about 3.5% of its workforce and close five locations.

Macy’s posted a $71 million loss in the fourth quarter of 2023, reflecting declines in digital and in-store sales compared with 2022. Brick-and-mortar retailers, including JCPenney and Neiman Marcus, have buckled under competition from online rivals and reduced store counts as a result.

Macy’s occupies an anchor spot at six malls or shopping centers in the region: Westmoreland Mall, Pittsburgh Mills mall, Monroeville Mall, Ross Park Mall, South Hills Village mall and the Mall at Robinson.

These malls range from full or near-full occupancy to mostly empty, with Pittsburgh Mills in Frazer at the latter end of that spectrum. At the last count made available by township officials, 75% of the mall’s storefronts are vacant.

It’s there that Kate Ross bargain hunts at Macy’s each Tuesday. A Brackenridge resident, she said the convenience keeps her coming back.

“I would be highly disappointed,” Ross said. “I don’t want to be driving out to Ross Park.”

Not everyone would be sad to see the store go.

“I (wouldn’t) miss it,” said Tom Rocke of Oakmont. “They don’t have as much of a selection as they used to.”

Rocke began frequenting Marshalls and T.J. Maxx years ago, and said Tuesday he was only “killing time” in Macy’s while his wife shopped elsewhere.

At the Monroeville Mall, Sharon Ewing of Blairsville wasn’t surprised to hear the news about Macy’s storefronts closing.

“I’ve been concerned about Macy’s closing because you can tell they’re slowing up, have less in the store and are closing different areas (of the stores),” she said.

Some Macy’s have begun using dividers to block off empty sections, she said. Macy’s is one of Ewing’s favorite stores for clothes shopping. And even when she orders an item online, she likes being able to return it at a store.

If the Monroeville location closes, Ewing said she’ll start making the trip to the one in Hempfield at the Westmoreland Mall. If both stores close, she’s not sure what she’ll do.

“I’m not a big online shopper for clothes,” Ewing said. “I like to try them on. I wonder what I’ll do.”

Kelly Geyer of Scottdale is more of an online shopper. She visited Macy’s at the Westmoreland Mall only to find a gown after the one she ordered on Amazon didn’t arrive on time. None of the dresses were her size, she said.

Except in cases like these, she said she’s not particularly inclined to shop at the mall.

“They already lost Sears,” Geyer said. “They lost the other big store (Bon-Ton) … when the casino came in. To be honest, this mall is slowly dying.”

For malls, the impact of Macy’s leaving depends on their financial situation and clientele, said Robb Paltz, associate managing director at Moody’s.

“If you’re a struggling mall and then one of your anchors leaves, maybe it’s the nail in the coffin,” Paltz said.

But anchors might not always be as important as they seem to a mall’s success. High-volume stores inside malls have become “the new anchors” and have historically brought in the most money for mall owners, Paltz said.

Profitable malls with strong traffic could actually benefit from their Macy’s closing if the store doesn’t complement the mall’s other offerings.

“Here, it actually presents an opportunity for the owner to take back the box that Macy’s vacates.”

The Associated Press contributed.