News

Macy's sales dip may be economic harbinger for retail segment

May 12, 2016

The first quarter didn’t deliver big money for Macy's given a 7.4 percent drop in revenue, and the retailer isn’t optimistic things will change around quick as it revamped its full year expectations given the quarterly activity.

Initially, according to a Washington Post article, Macy's was projecting a 1 percent dip in sales and has now changed that figure to 3.5 to 4.5 percent.

"We're frankly, scratching our heads. We see the same economic data you all see," said Karen Hoguet, Macy's CFO, on a conference call, according to the Post.

The tenured retailer's quarterly financials may reflect a trend coming into play for the retail industry overall. The past year's lower than usual gas prices and overall improvement in economy isn't translating to robust wins for retailers, states the Post.

At Macy's the news is tempering any expectation of change.

"We are not counting on consumers to spend more this year, but we are working on giving them reason to shop more with us," Hoguet said, according to the Post.

Yet Macy's ecommerce is showing more life than brick-and-mortar cash register action with the retailer reporting a double-digit increase in sales.

According to CNBC Macy's shares dropped nearly 8 percent after the earnings insight was reported.