NEW YORK (AP) – A cheerless holiday season is rolling over into the new year for department stores, with bad news from Macy’s and Kohl’s dragging down the entire sector.
Both reported falling sales at established stores during the crucial holiday season late Wednesday and shares are under heavy pressure in early trading Thursday.
Macy’s Inc., Kohl’s Corp., J.C. Penney Co., Target Corp., Sears Holdings Corp. and others are all attempting to navigate a new retail landscape in which the magnetic north is Amazon.com.
At stores like Macy’s, that is leading to some drastic actions. It said this week that it would cut more than 10,000 jobs, on top of plans to close 68 stores.
Shares of all department stores are declining after Macy’s and Kohl’s trimmed their expectations for the year.