Retrenchment for Macys

Imagine if M&S announced that it was closing 15% of its stores in the UK. That's the relative significance of an announcement by US department store giant Macy's that it is to close 100 under-performing stores in the US.

The stores earmarked for closure represent around 4% of Macy's current turnover.

Macy's share price ticked up slightly on the news, having fallen almost 40% in the last 12 months as Macy's has struggled to recover from falling customer footfall and the migration of retail sales to online.

Macy's has already announced that its CEO is leaving in early 2017, signalling a change in strategic direction that will almost certainly involve much greater focus on e-commerce.