Macy’s teams up with Brookfield to develop store locations

With sales continuing to slide, graying retailer Macy’s is teaming up with Brookfield Asset Management to evaluate options for developing real estate at some 50 store locations.

The department store said on its quarterly earnings call Thursday that it will sell stores in San Francisco and downtown Portland, and will continue to weigh options for locations in Minneapolis, Chicago and New York City, Forbes reported.

Earlier this year, Macy’s tapped Eastdil Secured [TRDataCustom] to market partnership stakes in several properties, including its iconic Herald Square location. That was after selling its Downtown Brooklyn store at 422 Fulton Street to Tishman Speyer for $170 million.

Meanwhile, Macy’s will work with Brookfield to explore redeveloping existing stores or strips of unused land. These locations will mostly be owned and ground-leased in shopping malls that are not owned by big-time mall operators, according to Forbes.

Macy’s, like many of its competitors, has been struggling amid a tough retail environment. The company has had to close more than 100 locations and lay off employees in order to cut costs.

Net income in the third quarter fell to $17 million, down from $118 million the same time last year. [Forbes] – Rich Bockmann