TROY (WWJ) -- Amid changing consumer habits and the meteoric rise of online shopping. a once thriving department store chain is shuttering four locations in Michigan
In Metro Detroit, Macy's said it will close the store at the former Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, as well as the store at the Oakland Mall in Troy.
The stores have operated in the malls as Macy's since they rebranded from Marshall Fields nearly 20 years ago.
The other locations closing down in Michigan are the Genesee Valley Center in Flint and Grand Traverse Mall in Traverse City.
It's part of a massive restructuring at the department store chain with more than 66 struggling stores currently on the chopping block nationwide.
The Detroit News reported Macy's announced its "Bold New Chapter" strategy in February 2024, saying it would involve closing a total 150 underproductive stores over a three-year period.
“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, where customers are already responding positively to better product offerings and elevated service,” Tony Spring, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s Inc. said in a statement.
The Lakeside Macy's closure comes as the defunct Sterling Heights mall is set to be demolished, making way for a town-square style mixed-use development on the massive property, at Hall Road and Schoenherr.
Earlier reports had said Out of the Box Ventures, the new owners of Lakeside Mall in Sterling Heights, had agreed to keep the Macy’s department store open as the property was redeveloped.
After the closings, Macy's will have ten remaining stores in Michigan, including Ann Arbor, Dearborn, Grandville, Kentwood, Novi, Okemos, Portage, Saginaw, Taylor and at the Somerset Collection in Troy.
Macy's says it will be running clearance sales at the closing stores over the next 8 to 12 weeks. And if you want to return an item in person, you may do so at these stores only through Jan. 13.
No exact date for the store closures was given.