New York – A tight rein on home merchandise buys at Macy’s Inc. combined with weaker consumer demand drove down home category sales for the 1st half of the fiscal year by over $250 million.
Consolidated home sales for Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s nameplates fell 13% to $1.6 billion for the six-month period ended July 29, according to the company’s most recent 10-Q filing with the SEC. The category breakout for home in the report also includes restaurant sales, allowance for merchandise returns adjustments and breakage income from unredeemed gift cards.
During the company’s Q2 review with investors late last month, chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette said that within the home sector the home textiles and housewares businesses were continuing to improve.
Macy’s Inc. ended Q2 with total company merchandise inventories down 10% year-over-year and down 18% to 2019.
Going into the back half of the year, the company planned to balance the stock-to-sales ratio and tap into its receipt reserve to chase in-demand products and categories, Gennette said.
