The retailer said the closure is part of a plan to reduce its number of department stores nationwide.
By David Roeder and Fran Spielman Updated Jan 5, 2021, 5:37pm CST

Macy’s said Tuesday it will close its store in Water Tower Place as it trims its roster of department stores across the country to adjust to online shopping.

“The decision to close a store is always a difficult one, and Macy’s Water Tower Place has been honored to serve its customers on the Magnificent Mile for 45 years,” said Andrea Schwartz, senior director of media relations. The store was damaged during looting sprees last summer.

Schwartz said the decision stems from a store review Macy’s began in early 2020, which she noted was before COVID-19 and civil unrest disrupted retail operations.

She said the retailer will start a clearance sale at the store that will run eight to 12 weeks. Schwartz said employees have been notified. “Regular, non-seasonal colleagues who we are unable to place at a nearby Macy’s store will be eligible for severance, including outplacement resources,” she said.

Schwartz said Macy’s remains committed to Chicago at its State Street store and its suburban locations. She said Macy’s has invested $48 million in the State Street flagship since 2018.

Its suburban stores are in malls in Aurora, Calumet City, Gurnee, Joliet, Oak Brook, Orland Park, Schaumburg, Skokie and Vernon Hills.

Including its prior incarnation as Marshall Field’s, the Water Tower Place store has operated since the vertical mall opened in 1975 at 835 N. Michigan Ave.

A spokesperson for Mayor Lori Lightfoot said of the closure, “It’s always sad to hear that a business is closing as it impacts the people who work and shop there. Macy’s is making a national strategic decision, initiated in early 2020, and we are confident they will continue investing in their flagship State Street location with its iconic history in Chicago.”

The store’s closing has been rumored since August. Lightfoot said then, “My understanding is that Macy’s notified the property owners at Water Tower in February that they probably were not going to renew their lease.” The mayor took issue with reports that linked the decision to looting.

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Macy’s departure will leave Water Tower Place, an anchor of the Magnificent Mile retail district, without a full-line department store. It will create a hole on most levels of the vertical mall, once a pioneering urban venture. Data from CoStar Group show Macy’s accounts for 20% of the mall’s 818,000 square feet.


“The timing is unfortunate. It’s definitely a blow to the image of the Mag Mile,” said Ald. Brian Hopkins, whose 2nd Ward includes the mall.

Hopkins said he believes Macy’s when it asserts the closure has more to do with trends in retail than with any fallout from last year’s looting. Both Macy’s downtown stores sustained damages. (:snicker: yeah, sure, nothing to do with the riots and looting)
“I had top-level sources telling me a year ago about the likelihood that Macy’s would leave Water Tower Place,” he said.

Chicago Sun Times

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Macy's is closing another store where I live.  I went to the mall where this Macy's is located yesterday.  Half of the mall stores were vacant.

First they trashed Trump and lost millions of customers for it.  Then they started doing tranny parades and lost more customers.  Now the libtard politicians they supported have kept them in lockdown losing the few shitty customers they had left.  :lol:

Welcome to pedo joes America  :lol:

. said:

Macy's is closing another store where I live.  I went to the mall where this Macy's is located yesterday.  Half of the mall stores were vacant.

Yeah, once the anchor stores go, the entire mall starts to die.

Brick and mortar retail is going the way of the Typewriter. Keeping a Macys open is probably break even or even a loss. If they were in any way profitable they would not close them.

. said:

Brick and mortar retail is going the way of the Typewriter. Keeping a Macys open is probably break even or even a loss. If they were in any way profitable they would not close them.

­Probaby...."If"......any way profitable.

If looters would have paid for their purchases we'd keep the store open! Chicago has a thriving downtown business district.
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:indeed:

Going to Water Tower used to be a big deal. Upscale Malls, the Mag Mile, the Galleries, etc. all turning to sheeeeiiitt.

:antwon:

Having spooks loot your stores isn't a viable business model.

. said:

First they trashed Trump and lost millions of customers for it.  Then they started doing tranny parades and lost more customers.  Now the libtard politicians they supported have kept them in lockdown losing the few shitty customers they had left.  :lol:

­Maga tards are hunkering down and not spending.  It's cost efficient to be Maga tard: Tshirts year round for the warm Southern weather,  wood heating, no fancy entertainment.

Holy fucking shit.  That is a historic store.  There is a historic plaque on the top floor with names of 40 year workers going back to the 40th year of the store (Marshall Field's not Macy's).

Oh, that is Water Tower Place, not the historic State Street store.  Should have read closer.

Macy's is not leaving Chicago.  They are keeping the main store on State.

Riots can't be bad for business! That would be racist!
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:lib:

Another success story for a libshit hell hole.

I never thought the old Marshall Fields would go.

That area was nice, I guess the ghetto expands.

. said:

Macy's is not leaving Chicago.  They are keeping the main store on State.

­
For another few months

LOL

Flash mobs of urban youths have been looting those stores on a weekly basis. Media isn't reporting it because of racism.

Thanks, Trump!
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:LIBDUET:

. said:

Flash mobs of urban youths have been looting those stores on a weekly basis. Media isn't reporting it because of racism.

­To menshun that is :racist: :lol:

There is no glamor in retail anymore. Someone drops a box at your door.