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Macy's CEO: We are happy with how many stores we have open

Don’t expect that post holiday season mass store closure announcement from Macy’s (M).

“We believe we have the right [sized] store portfolio today,” Macy’s chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette told Yahoo Finance on Black Friday. “It doesn’t mean we aren’t going to drop some stores in the future, but we may be adding stores too. I am very comfortable with the size of our store fleet right now.”

That level of comfort stems from Macy’s moving quickly years ago to close weaker-performing stores to better operate in the age of digital shopping.

Macy’s announced in Aug. 2016 that it would close 100 stores. Since then, the department store retailer has pruned some stores but nothing of the severity of the actions taken in 2016. Money saved from the closed stores has been plowed back into the healthier ones via renovated departments and exterior facades. The online business has also received dollars with the goal of making it easier for consumers to shop.

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The company currently operates 690 stores under the Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s brands. It also runs more than 180 specialty stores under the Bloomingdale’s The Outlet, Bluemercury, Macy’s Backstage and Story banners.

Pedestrians and shoppers pass in front of a Macy’s Inc. store in New York, U.S., on Monday, July 18, 2016. (David Williams/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Pedestrians and shoppers pass in front of a Macy’s Inc. store in New York, U.S., on Monday, July 18, 2016. (David Williams/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Gennette looks like the exception among retail CEOs right now as 2019 sets to kick off. Gap CEO Art Peak told analysts last week he will likely shutter “hundreds” of lagging Gap stores very soon. Macy’s struggling rival J.C. Penney is actively reviewing its store fleet size under new CEO Jill Soltau.

Meanwhile, the bankruptcy of Sears Holdings in early October equates to scores more Sears stores closing after the holidays.

The exits of Sears — and potentially soon J.C. Penney in many malls — leaves Macy’s in prime position to pickup new sales. It already did so when competitor Bon-Ton liquidated its 256 store chain in the spring of this year following its bankruptcy.

“We definitely took advantage when Bon-Ton liquidated, we shared many of the same customers. We don’t see that much with Sears. When Sears closes — and they have been closing in many of our malls for years — we have not seen any effect. So I don’t expect Sears to have an effect,” Gennette says.

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Brian Sozzi is an editor-at-large at Yahoo Finance. Follow him on Twitter @BrianSozzi

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