Macy's shrinking its Downtown retail space
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The Macy's Department Store Downtown is downsizing.
Macy's confirmed late this afternoon that it intended to reduce the number of retail-related floors in the 13-story building from nine to six, plus the mezzanine. The department store chain already has started work on the consolidation and plans to complete it by the end of October, in time for the holiday shopping season.
Macy's said it was reducing the number of retail floors "to enhance convenience based on current level of customer traffic and demand." Through the remodeling, the gross square footage would be reduced from about 775,000 square feet to about 525,000 square feet, which Macy's said was still more than double the size of a typical suburban mall store.
As part of the consolidation, departments located on floors 8, 9 and 10 will move to lower levels. The Premier Salon will remain on the 11th floor.
Macy's also said that all current departments and services would remain in the store. It also said that all 363 employees would remain on the job.
"The store is being reconfigured for better flow among departments, making shopping easier and more convenient. In doing so, the merchandise assortment will continue to be tailored for the Downtown customer," Macy's said.
Macy's put the building, which housed the venerable Kaufmann's department store, up for sale last year. No buyer has been found. The chain said it is continuing to explore potential uses for the upper floors.
First Published September 20, 2011 6:05 pm
