Retail therapy: Macy’s taps CBRE to help offload stores

From the Los Angeles site: CBRE will give struggling Macy’s a helping hand with plans to shutter about 100 stores, the global brokerage announced Thursday.

Macy’s announced plans earlier this week to close 68 stores across the United States, including five in Florida, following disappointing holiday sales.

The department store giant will close its 108,000-square-foot store at CityPlace in West Palm Beach, an outdoor mall owned by the Related Companies, by the end of 2017. The other Florida stores are in Lakeland, Oviedo, Sarasota and Tampa.

The locations represent about 15 percent of all Macy’s department stores. The move will save the company an estimated $550 million a year starting in 2017, Macy’s said.

CBRE’s Retail Advisory & Transaction Services business line will assist in further dispositions.

“CBRE has dedicated the resources and expertise to expand its dispositions business at a time when many retailers are optimizing their store portfolios to focus on their best-positioned, most-profitable operations,” Brandon Famous, CBRE’s senior managing director and retail specialist, said in a statement.

Macy’s announced Wednesday that 63 U.S. stores will close between now and mid-2017. [EPR] — Cathaleen Chen