Macy’s Job Cuts: Will The Retailer Make A Turnaround?

Macy’s (M) will be cutting 100 top management jobs in an effort to reduce costs as it faces a reduction in sales from 2018.

The company made the announcement about the cost-saving measures on Tuesday, saying that the senior vice president-level or higher level job cuts are due in part to a weakened spending at the end of last year. This caused a reduced 2018 outlook for the retailer that saw the number of holiday shoppers drop in December, CNBC reported.

Macy’s is looking for $100 million in yearly cost savings for fiscal 2019. The job cuts are part of an effort by Macy’s “to increase the speed of decision making.”

“The steps we are announcing to further streamline our management structure will allow us to move faster, reduce costs and be more responsive to changing customer expectations," Jeff Gennette, Macy’s CEO, said.

Company revenues fell from $8.67 billion a year ago to $8.46 billion, but were ahead of analyst estimates of $8.45 billion, CNBC reported. In-store sales were up 0.7 percent, which was short of the company’s expectations of 0.9 percent growth. Meanwhile, online sales were also up double-digits.

For 2019, Macy’s plans to invest in growing its sales as CFO Paula Price said, “2019, like 2018, will be a year of investment.” Macy’s said it will double the number of pop-up shops, add 45 more Backstage locations, and focus on product categories that will gain market share as well as add more technology to its store locations. The company also said it has plans to downsize some locations.

Shares of Macy’s stock were up 0.70 percent as of 12:16 p.m. EST on Tuesday.