Macy to Cut 700 Jobs in West, 200 in Southland
R.H. Macy & Co. on Friday said it will eliminate 700 jobs in its Macy’s West division, including about 200 in Southern California, as part of its bankruptcy reorganization.
In a separate announcement, the New York-based retailer said it plans to rebuild its Bullock’s store at Northridge Fashion Mall, which was badly damaged during the Jan. 17 earthquake. About 250 workers at the Northridge store will be idled, bringing the total Southland layoffs to about 450.
The company said it is offering severance packages to the Northridge employees but will try to rehire them when the store is replaced.
The other layoffs, which are unrelated to the earthquake, are part of Macy’s efforts to cut costs in a bid to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. Of the 700 affected Macy’s West employees, 650 are in California.
The rest are in the four other states in which Macy’s West operates: Arizona, Nevada, Texas and Minnesota.
Macy’s West operates 52 department stores under the Macy’s and Bullock’s names. The job reduction program will not affect the 13-store I. Magnin chain.
About 50 of the affected California employees are executives at the company’s West Coast headquarters in San Francisco. The remaining 600 work in the company’s 44 Macy’s and Bullock’s stores in the state, about one-third of them at the 16 Bullock’s stores in the Los Angeles area.
The 600 layoffs will include employees who operate in alterations, stock inventory, window display, bridal registries and fitting rooms. Sales positions will not be eliminated, a company spokeswoman said.
“These staff reductions are a painful but necessary step in our ongoing efforts to remain competitive and return Macy’s to profitability,” said Michael Steinberg, chairman of Macy’s West.
Cincinnati-based Federated Department Stores, which bought a large stake of Macy’s debt earlier this month, has expressed an interest in merging with Macy, but Macy has said it plans to continue to operate independently. Macy is expected in March to ask a New York Bankruptcy Court for an extension on a scheduled presentation of a complete reorganization plan.
