Macy’s has faced its fair share of struggles, experiencing years of declining sales that have forced the historic retailer to close dozens of stores and lay off hundreds of corporate and retail employees.
Once the leader of American department stores, the company has spent the past decade shrinking its footprint and rethinking its future in the ever-evolving retail landscape.
While many nostalgic locations have disappeared from local communities, Macy’s now appears to be taking back the closure of one of its most iconic locations nationwide.
This unexpected decision marks a surprising twist in the company’s ongoing transformation strategy and could even open the door for customers to live inside one of its most famous properties.
In early 2024, Macy’s unveiled its “Bold New Chapter” strategy, a plan to shutter around 150 underperforming stores by 2026 while focusing investments on its remaining 350 stronger locations. The company’s growth ambitions now center on its more profitable, higher-end divisions, such as Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury.
Over the past decade, Macy’s has already closed more than a third of its stores, along with a distribution center and two third-party logistics facilities. Among those slated for closure was the Macy’s Union Square Flagship, an approximately 400,000-square-foot shopping institution that has served San Francisco for nearly a century.
Macy’s opened its San Francisco flagship in 1945, following its acquisition of the site from O’Connor Moffatt Co., which first launched the store in 1929. For generations, the building has been both a retail destination and a local landmark.
“As someone who grew up in San Francisco, Macy’s has always meant a lot to the people of this city,” said Former San Francisco Mayor London Breed in a statement at the time.
“It’s where families came to shop for the holidays. It’s where many people from my community got their first jobs, or even held jobs for decades. It’s hard to think of Macy’s not being part of our city anymore.”
Now, it seems Macy’s (M) is having second thoughts, or perhaps the property has proven too valuable to sell.
The company has partnered with the real estate firm TMG Partners to explore new development options for the Union Square site as part of a broader evaluation of its real estate portfolio.
For now, the flagship location will remain open, with Macy’s planning to continue operations through at least the first quarter of 2026. That window will give both companies time to assess future uses for the property.
