Clearance sales will begin in January 2020. The store will close at the end of February.
Store employees first learned of the closing Friday morning in a regular staff meeting. An employee who was present said people were “aghast. I mean, their jobs are gone and there isn’t much in retail anymore.”
The corner of Third and Pine has also become notorious for its crime. Employees at nearby offices have come to refer to this stretch of Third Avenue as “Stab Alley.” This area was also part of Seattle’s 9.5 blocks plan in 2015 which involved mass arrests of d–g dealers and other suspects. Two years later, crime was noticeably on the rise again along Third Avenue.
Nationally, shoppers are apparently turning to other sources for fashion. Back in 2014, adjusted net operating income was $2.9 billion. By 2018, that had declined to $1.5 billion. Analysts say that Macy's is on track for net operating income to "decline significantly" in fiscal 2019.
Amazon is moving those employees to Bellevue. Brand new building they designed!
Starwood Capital Group bought four floors in the eight-story building for $65 million in 2015 and added two other floors in 2017, leaving Macy's the two bottom floors and the basement.
Two years ago, Amazon said it was leasing the top six floors of the building. The leased space is enough to hold about 1,500 employees.