What Macy’s 150 Store Closures Say About Retail and the Consumer

Sourcing Journal

Macy’s Inc. is shrinking, and so too is the level of U.S. household spending on goods. “Inflation has slowed but so has labor and wage growth. As such, we expect our consumer to remain under pressure,” Macy’s new CEO Tony Spring told investors in a conference call on fourth quarter earnings last week.

Although spending on goods may be down, consumer credit appears to be in good shape, according to Telsey Advisory Group’s chief investment officer Dana Telsey. She said on Monday that while bankcard balances and delinquencies are ticking up to pre-pandemic levels, the St. Louis Fed’s Debt Service Ratio in the third quarter of 2023—its most recent available data—at 9.8 percent remains below the 13.2 percent in the fourth quarter of 2007, right before the Great Recession.

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