Macy’s ‘Polaris’ Reinvention Strategy: It’s About Time

With its just-revealed “Polaris” three-year strategy, retail experts and industry analysts credit Macy’s Inc. for implementing massive store closings and staff cuts, attempting to “reinvent” ready-to-wear and for exploring off-mall opportunities and new brick-and-mortar concepts. There’s also a “market ecosystem” pilot in the works involving clustering Backstage freestanding, off-price stores and the new Market by Macy’s concept around Macy’s stores in three markets. “By October, we will have everything in place with the ecosystem market in Dallas, Atlanta and Washington, D.C.,” Macy’s Inc. chairman and chief executive officer Jeff Gennette told WWD. He said a total of 12 stores will be in the pilot and that Macy’s will be able to gauge customer response and make adjustments quickly. Additionally, Macy’s is monetizing real estate, including having an office tower built atop the Herald Square flagship, and even testing customizing clothing with a third party so, for example, one can change the neckline or the length of a dress. Wall Street showed a degree of confidence in the Polaris plans following Macy’s investor conference on Wednesday, lifting the retailer’s stock by $1 to $17.44, or 6 percent. Through the restructurings, Macy’s expects annual gross cost savings of $1.5 billion to be fully realized by year-end

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