Macy’s keeps closing stores in Idaho. Here’s the latest to fall
Macy’s is closing dozens of additional stores around the country, according to media reports — and one of them is in Idaho.
The Lewiston store, which employs about 50 people, will close in the coming weeks, a Macy’s spokeswoman told the Lewiston Tribune. It’s the latest victim of the department-store chain’s decade-long shrinkage in Idaho.
“After careful consideration, Macy’s has decided to close the Macy’s Lewiston Town Center store in Lewiston,” Media Relations Director Emily Workman told the Tribune by email. “A clearance sale will begin in January 2020 and run for approximately 8-12 weeks.”
That will leave three Macy’s in Idaho: one each in Boise, Idaho Falls and Coeur d’Alene. The Boise store is inside the Boise Towne Square mall.
USA Today and Business Insider have compiled lists of the coming Macy’s store closures nationwide. Business Insider reported that 30 stores will close. It also reported that Macy’s will close a call center in Arizona.
Macy’s shut its store at Nampa’s Karcher Mall, formerly The Bon Marché, in 2009, and opened a store in Nampa’s Gateway Center, though it kept a clearance store in Karcher for several more years.
It closed its downtown Boise store, also a former Bon Marche, in 2010. The building at 10th and Idaho streets was later renovated to become the headquarters of Athlos Academies.
Macy’s closed its stores in Moscow in 2016, Twin Falls in 2017 and Gateway Center in 2017.
The Tribune reported that Workman said Lewiston store employees were notified before the announcement and “regular, non-seasonal colleagues will be eligible for severance, including outplacement resources.”
“The decision to close a store is always a difficult one. In today’s retail space, we continuously review our brick-and-mortar locations, evaluate opportunities to maximize value and ensure the sustainable, long-term growth and success of our store business, but Macy’s is proud to have served the Lewiston community over the past 42 years,” she said in the email.
Many brick-and-mortar retail companies have struggled as online sales have grown in recent years. Last fall, Forever 21 joined Sears, Barneys New York and Diesel USA among chains that have filed for bankruptcy in an effort to stay in business. Chains including Shopko, Payless ShoeSource and Charlotte Russe have gone under.
Macy’s and other chains have sometimes announced closures after the holiday season. This week, Pier 1 Imports announced that it would close nearly half of its more than 900 stores.
This story was originally published January 8, 2020 at 11:40 AM.
