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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news. You know, we were

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Speaker 1: just talking about the increase in foot traffic in malls.

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Speaker 1: A little bit earlier, I had a chance to catch

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Speaker 1: up with the CEO of Macy's, Tony Spring, to talk

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Speaker 1: about the increase in foot traffic specifically in department stores

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Speaker 1: and obviously specifically in the big brands that he manages,

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Speaker 1: including Macy's and Bloomingdale's, and his big turnaround strategy to

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Speaker 1: lessen the overall footprint of some of those stores a

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Speaker 1: leaner organization. Take a listen to what he had to say.

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Speaker 2: Just said about improving the customer experience. So we've had

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Speaker 2: record customer service scores. That's our net promoter score. Would

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Speaker 2: people recommend Macy's to a friend? And we're seeing scores

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Speaker 2: we've never thought possible at the brand, and that was

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Speaker 2: a real focus of mine. We've improved the quality of

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Speaker 2: the assortments. I thought there was way too much redundancy,

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Speaker 2: way too many of the same things, and I thought

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Speaker 2: the breadth of what we offer as a department store

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Speaker 2: needed to improve. We need to go good, better, best,

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Speaker 2: contemporary to classic in a range of brands things. As

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Speaker 2: we've talked about that are convenient, that you've heard of,

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Speaker 2: that you count on, Staples, Levi's, Nike, and then at

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Speaker 2: the same time, we've got to be there introducing new

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Speaker 2: things that you haven't heard of that are becoming more

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Speaker 2: popular because people are looking for that combination and a destination.

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Speaker 2: We also wanted to make sure that our team was

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Speaker 2: working together. So I'm a big believer that you need strategy,

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Speaker 2: you need culture, you need leadership, and you need execution.

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Speaker 2: We're now at the point where those four elements are

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Speaker 2: coming together and we're delivering a better experience for the consumer.

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Speaker 2: But you can't kind of have one without the other.

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Speaker 2: You know, a great culture without a great business, a

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Speaker 2: great business without a great culture. The combination of elements

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Speaker 2: is what I sought out to do when I kind

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Speaker 2: of came into the role, and I do think that,

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Speaker 2: you know, patients and determination go together. You have to

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Speaker 2: have the patients to kind of lay out what you

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Speaker 2: want to accomplish. You have to accept the fact that

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Speaker 2: some things just don't happen because you snap your fingers,

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Speaker 2: and then you have to have the determination the ambition

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Speaker 2: to kind of go after what you think is the

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Speaker 2: right thing to do for the business.

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Speaker 1: A big part of your strategy. This bold new chapter

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Speaker 1: is also to shrink the footprint of Macy's. At its peak,

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Speaker 1: you guys had what seven to eight hundred stores. You're

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Speaker 1: less than what four hundred now around four hundred four

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Speaker 1: hundred today, and the plan is to go down to

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Speaker 1: roughly about three point fifty. You've done a big remodel

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Speaker 1: of some of the existing stores already one hundred and

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Speaker 1: twenty five. How much further does that go in twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty six.

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Speaker 2: We'll add more stores in twenty six, and we'll close

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Speaker 2: some more stores in twenty six. And I think, as

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Speaker 2: you described it is working on both sides of the equation.

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Speaker 2: Closing stores is not alone a strategy. Reimagining stores without

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Speaker 2: dealing with stores that are past their prime is not

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Speaker 2: complete enough of a strategy. So we want to make

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Speaker 2: sure that we're doing both things, and of course it's

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Speaker 2: supported by a healthier digital business, one that is both

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Speaker 2: a place of transaction and a place of discovery. We

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Speaker 2: want to build relationships with consumer. That means we have

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Speaker 2: to be able to provide a better experience where they live.

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Speaker 2: We think of the digital business as a channel at times,

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Speaker 2: and I'm like, no, the digital business actually a geography.

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Speaker 2: The people who shop digitally in New York shop in

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Speaker 2: their stores in New York, and they want to see

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Speaker 2: a great experience digitally, physically and in between