Macy’s To Close Even More Stores Amid Improved Holiday Losses: Are Sales Turning Around?

On Wednesday, Macy’s (M) released its November/December sales numbers and along with the announcement came the news of more store closures.

Local reports had indicated that the retailer was closing at least 15 stores, which has now reportedly been bumped to 28 Macy’s stores and a Bloomingdales location, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The news of the store closings come as part of Macy’s annual review process of its current 680 department stores and 190 specialty locations, CNBC reported.

Holiday sales for the retailer came in better than expected, with Macy’s still reporting a 0.6% drop in same-store sales at owned stores and licenses, which were not as poor as analysts had reportedly predicted at a 1.75% decrease for the shopping season.

“Macy’s, Inc.’s performance during the holiday season reflected a strong trend improvement from the third quarter,” Jeff Gennette, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s said in a statement.

“Our digital business and Growth150 stores performed well. Additionally, customers responded to our gifting assortment and marketing strategy, particularly in the 10 days before Christmas,” he added.

With the news of the holiday sales report spreading, Macy’s saw its share price spike as much as 7% in premarket trading on Wednesday, according to the news outlet. Stock prices were up over 1.75%, at the time of writing, as shares steadied with news of the store closures.

Shares of Macy’s stock were up up 1.56% as of 12:04 p.m. EST on Wednesday.