Shopping Centers Today is the news magazine of the International Council of Shopping Centers (ICSC)
Issue link: https://sct.epubxp.com/i/448937
Macy's mulls launch of off-price division, other initiatives Macy's Inc. is restructuring its business in response to changing customer tastes. The company will close 14 of its nearly 800 stores and cut some marketing and merchan- dising jobs. It plans to plow the resulting $140 million in annual savings into efforts to improve omni-channel selling and may also launch an off-price division to com- pete with the likes of T.J.Maxx or Nordstrom Rack. "Our omni-channel strategy depends on great Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores that not only welcome shoppers through the door and deliver an outstanding shopping experi- ence, but that also fulfill orders that are shipped directly to customers around the country," said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy's chair- man and CEO, in a press release. Last year some $1 billion of direct-to-customer shipments origi- nated from Macy's and Blooming- dale's stores, he said. "We continue to maintain a very strong nation- wide network of stores through an ongoing process of selectively add- ing new locations while also trim- ming those that no longer meet our performance requirements, where the real estate can be redeployed to more productive uses, or where our leases were not renewed." A single merchandising and marketing organization will support all the Macy's Inc. online and in-store businesses to encourage store and digital growth alike, Lundgren says. Previously, store and online assortments were purchased and marketed by separate organizations at the two banners. Plans this year include creating a team to explore opportunities for any Macy's off-price business; boost- ing the technology and customer experiences of Macys. com and Bloomingdales.com; and increasing direct-to- consumer fulfillment capacity in every full-line Macy's and Bloomingdale's store. Macy's is expected to expand its San Francisco–based digital-technology organiza- tion by hiring about 150 people, says Lundgren. T H E C O M M O N A R E A SHOPPING STREET GETS WIRED, LANDLORDS RECLAIM ANCHOR SPACE, FLAGSHIP STORES GO BIG 6 S C T / F E B R u A R y 2 0 1 5 AMC Theatres tests movie-subscription service AMC Theatres, which operates nearly 350 movie theaters and nearly 5,000 screens, is hoping to boost traffic through a new subscription program called MoviePass Premium. The company began testing the system, which enables customers to pay a flat monthly rate, in Bos- ton and Denver on Jan. 5. Using a smartphone app, the customer pays $35 for one month of standard screenings, or $45 for premium screenings in enhanced theaters. Each movie may be viewed once. "This is the first time a premium- level subscription service has been launched in the U.S. and marks a significant step forward by offering passionate movie lovers the premium sight-and-sound experiences available in movie theaters," said Stacy Spikes, CEO and co-Founder of MoviePass, which is working with AMC. "This premium-tier subscription, combined with a new online ticketing feature, will appeal to our largest demo- graphic: 18-to-34-year-old moviegoers. Our goal is to keep people coming out to the movies again and again."