Macy's To Shut Down 5 Underperforming Stores

From Reuters.com:

Macy's to shut 5 underperforming stores

NEW YORK, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Macy's Inc (M.N) said on Tuesday it was closing five of its namesake department stores, affecting about 307 employees, as it pares underperforming locations.

Macy's said it would offer jobs at nearby stores to displaced employees when possible.

The five stores Macy's is closing are in Boise, Idaho; Waterford, Michigan; St. Ann, Missouri; Missoula, Montana, and Burlington, New Jersey. Those locations "no longer meet our performance requirements," Chief Executive Terry Lundgren said in a statement.

Clearance sales at the closed stores are set to begin on Sunday and last about 60 days, the company said.

The company also said it plans to open two Bloomingdale's stores in 2010, one in Santa Monica, California, and the other in Dubai, which will be the first foreign location for the upscale department store.

The Dubai store, which will be located at The Dubai Mall, is scheduled to open in February, a Macy's spokesman said.

In the three months ended in October 2009, the retailer opened or re-opened six stores. Following the closings announced on Tuesday, it will operate 809 Macy's stores and 40 Bloomingdale's locations.

Macy's has struggled with shrinking sales during the economic slowdown. In November it forecast that sales at its stores open for at least a year, or same-store sales, would fall between 5.4 percent and 5.7 percent during its current fiscal year.

Macy's is expected to announced December's same-store sales results on Thursday.

Shares fell 23 cents, or 1.4 percent, to $16.84 on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Phil Wahba; Editing by Steve Orlofsky, Bernard Orr)