Macy’s CEO Tony Spring is not in favor of spinning off its luxury brands Bluemercury and Bloomingdale’s, despite calls from activist investors to do so.

“We continue to believe there are synergies to be leveraged across all three brands, across warehouses, legal, finance, back-end operations and co-branding. There are many opportunities to be able to leverage the scale of the portfolio.” Spring said Sunday during a discussion at the National Retail Federations (NRF) 2025 Retail’s Big Show conference in New York City.

The company, which announced a new strategic turnaround plan called “A Bold New Chapter” in February, “doubled down” on the Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury brands “as growth engines as part of our luxury sector,” Spring said. .

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He also said the store experience could be better with a smaller portfolio within the Macy’s brand.

Regardless, Spring aims to “further the case public markets that this three-brand portfolio has more value than what we’re showing today.”

A shopper leaves Macy’s in San Francisco on Nov. 24, 2023. (Ethan Swope/Getty Images/Getty Images)

In its most recent fiscal quarter, which ended Sept. 30, Bluemercury saw its 15th consecutive quarter of growth in stores open at least a year. In the same quarter, Bloomingdale’s “returned to positive same-store sales,” the company said in a regulatory filing.

In December, Barington Capital, Thor Equities LLC and their respective affiliates, all Macy’s shareholders, issued a report recommending that the retailer make changes to its capital allocation strategy and consider other structural issues. actions to enhance shareholder value.

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Macy’s, once established as one of the top department stores, has long struggled to keep up with rapid industry changes and relentless competition, forcing it to create the new plan strategic to return the company to “sustainable and profitable sales”.

In February 2024, Macy’s announced a new strategic plan for change called “A Bold New Chapter”. (Reuters/Shannon Stapleton/Reuters Photos)

Barington Capital CEO Jim Mitarotonda told FOX Business that it would be smart to spin off Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury and have them trade independently of Macy’s because they would trade at a higher multiple than their parent company.

“It is imperative that the board of directors and the management team look at how to maximize the value of the company’s owners to their shareholders as well,” Mitarotonda told FOX Business.

He also suggested that Macy’s needs to rekindle its creativity by introducing more interesting products in stores and organizing attractive events for attract the younger generations in their stores.

Part of the company’s strategy includes the renovation of 50 key stores, also known as the “First 50,” which it intends to use as a model for the next generation of Macy’s locations.

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Macy’s also plans to close about 150 “underperforming” stores by the end of 2026. The company will close 66 Macy’s locations this year.