Macy's Says It Will Shutter 40 Locations By Next Spring

National department store chain Macy’s has announced it will close up to 40 of its stores nationwide by next spring as it continues to adjust to the shift by many consumers to online shopping.

TThe stores that will be closed generate less than 1 percent of company sales, with 35 to 40 stores out of 770 affected, the company said.

“Each year, we prune some stores that are our weakest performers so that we can concentrate our resources on the best locations and maintain a strong physical presence,” Terry J. Lundgren, Macy’s, Inc. chairman and chief executive officer, said in the news release. Lundgren said the “physical stores remain absolutely vital to our omnichannel strategy,” which he said combines the brick-and-mortar stores with a rapidly growing digitial platform, ”including robust apps and mobile-enhanced websites.”

Macy’s operates 31 stores in New Jersey, including ones at Ocean County Mall in Toms River, Monmouth Mall in Eatontown and Freehold Raceway Mall in Freehold. It also operates a Macy’s Furniture Gallery in Eatontown. Earlier this year the Ohio-based company closed 14 stores, including one at the Ledgewood Mall in Roxbury, accordingto a report on NJ.com.

The locations of the 35 to 40 stores to be closed in early 2016 will be announced at a later date, the news release said, and will not be announced until the employees of the affected stores are notified, Lundgren said.

“Macy’s is committed to treating associates affected by store closings with respect and openness,” the news release said. Employees of stores that will be closed may be offered positions at nearby stores where possible; eligible full-time and part-time employees who are laid off due to store closings will be offered severance benefits, the company said.

Since 2010, 52 Macy’s stores have been closed and 12 new Macy’s stores have been opened. In addition, six new Macy’s Backstage offprice locations are opening in fall 2015.

“We open a small number of new stores to fill gaps in our market coverage or where we have outstanding real estate opportunities,” Lundgren said.

Macy’s, Inc., with corporate offices in Cincinnati and New York, operates about 885 stores in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Guam and Puerto Rico under the names of Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Bloomingdale’s Outlet and Bluemercury, as well as the macys.com, bloomingdales.com and bluemercury.com websites.