Cincinnati's third-largest public company is pulling its headquarters from the city, according to a report by The Cincinnati Business Courier published this afternoon.
The company will move operations in Cincinnati to its other headquarters in New York City. Some of the 500 employees working in the Cincinnati office will be relocated, but not all jobs will be kept, according to the report.
“We appreciate the hard work Macy’s local employees have put in over the last several years and hope those employees will stay in our community," Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley said in a statement today. "Our city’s renaissance has persisted and continues today with our metro leading the state in job gains over the last decade and adding 24,000 jobs in 2019—more than any other Ohio metro.
"Functionally, Macy’s stopped using Cincinnati as their headquarters ten years ago. This departure, while disappointing, is indicative of a changing retail industry and how they must adapt. It will not stop our city’s continued growth. “
Speculation about whether the department store giant would stay in the Queen City has been circulating since at least May 2018, when Macy's closed its downtown Cincinnati store a block from its headquarters and laid off some administrative staff.
Macy's operates about 880 stores across the country under different brand names. Those include five remaining stores owned by Macy's in the Greater Cincinnati area after one in Northgate Mall closes in March this year. That store closing will mean 139 layoffs.
The retail company is expected to lay out its plan for the next three years to investors tomorrow at an event in New York City. That plan will include closing 125 more stores across the country and laying off 2,000 corporate positions.
“We will focus our resources on the healthy parts of our business, directly address the unhealthy parts of the business and explore new revenue streams," Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette said in a news release today. "Over the past three years, we have shown we can grow the top line; however, we have significant work to do to improve the bottom line. We are confident the strategy we are announcing today will allow us to stabilize margin in 2020 and set the foundation for sustainable, profitable growth.”
