Macy's To Close Five More Stores

More bad news for Macy's. The department store chain has announced that it will close five more stores during the next couple of months. Macy's closed 11 stores in 2009 and nine stores in 2008. The move will affect 307 full-and part-time employees and includes stores in Boise, Idaho, Waterford, Michigan, St. Ann, Missouri, Missoula, Montana and Burlington, New Jersey. Last year the company eliminated around 7,000 jobs. At the affected stores clearance sales will begun this Sunday and run for several months. After the closings, Macy's will operate 849 Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores and plans to open a Bloomingdale's in Santa Monica, California and one in Dubai.

An article in the Idaho Statesman laments the loss of the Boise store which has been in place for decades as a department store with a variety of different names. It was the last true department store in the downtown area and the article compares the loss to a death in the family. The St. Ann closure could end up dooming the Northwest Plaza in St. Ann. St. Louis Today reports that a group of investors bought the mall out of foreclosure in September for $29.95 million, The 1.7 million square foot mall has lost its Dillard's and many smaller stores. The Waterford, Michigan store is one of the last remaining anchors at the Summit Place Mall. The Detroit News says that the interior of the Waterford mall was closed five months ago. Commercial real estate broker Robert Pliska has been trying to sell the 84-acre site which was foreclosed on in October.