The department store said the majority of its sales have evaporated as a result of temporary store closures.
Macy’s plans to furlough the majority of its workforce starting this week as the coronavirus pandemic rocks its business.
The company — which owns Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury — closed all 775 of its locations on March 18 in an effort to slow the spread of the virus. That caused the majority of its sales to evaporate in the last two weeks, it said, even though it continues to take orders through its website. Like many other retailers, it initially said stores would be closed for two weeks but now says stores will remain closed until it is safe to reopen.
“The COVID-19 outbreak continues to take a heavy toll on Macy’s, Inc. business,” the company said in a statement on Monday. Macy’s is now moving aggressively to cut costs. On Monday, it said it would hang onto only a skeleton workforce needed to maintain basic operations. The majority of its 125,000 workers will be furloughed, which means they will not receive paychecks but will continue to receive benefits like healthcare. Macy’s said it would cover the entire cost of the healthcare premium. It expects to bring workers back on a staggered basis as business comes back.
In order to continue fulfilling online orders, Macy’s said it will furlough fewer employees on the e-commerce side, such as workers in distribution centers and call centers.
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