What Jeff Gennette’s Retirement Means For Macy’s

Macy’s, Inc. CEO Jeff Gennette, 61, said last week that he will retire in February of 2024 after nearly 40 years working for the department store giant.

Tony Spring, the chairman and CEO of Bloomingdale’s, has been named to succeed Mr. Gennette after the retailer engaged in “a rigorous succession planning process that included an internal and external search.” Mr. Spring, 58, is now president and CEO-elect for Macy’s, Inc. and has been named to the company’s board. He will be responsible for leading Macy’s, Inc.’s customer, merchandising and brand teams and overseeing the Bloomingdale’s and bluemercury businesses.

Mr. Gennette, in an internal memo, said, “Tony has achieved strong results in his nine years as CEO of Bloomingdale’s, where he began his career nearly 36 years ago as a trainee. He has driven stronger customer connections and high colleague engagement, and in the last fiscal year, he delivered record sales. He has also helped drive the execution of our Polaris transformation strategy as a key member of Macy’s, Inc.’s Corporate Strategy Group.”

Polaris is Macy’s, Inc.’s multi-year plan to turn the company around that has included closing unprofitable stores, opening new, smaller concepts in off-mall locations, its Backstage off-price store-within-a-store offering, merchandising enhancements, greater personalization and an upgrade to its loyalty program.

Mr. Gennette called Mr. Spring “a proven and effective leader, known for his customer-focused innovation, successful brand building and merchandising, while living our values of Acceptance, Integrity, Respect and Giving Back. He is a trusted partner to me and others across the company and his deep experience makes him well-suited to lead Macy’s, Inc. on our transformation journey.”

Mr. Gennette’s accolades for Mr. Spring, however, did not convince some of the experts on the RetailWire BrainTrust in an online discussion last week, who had varying levels of skepticism regarding how far the heir apparent could take the chain.

“I don’t see how Macy’s will be able to innovate with speed and scale with (another) long-time insider at the helm,” wrote Patricia Vekich Waldron, CEO of Vision First. “It seems like an insular approach when what’s needed is radical transformation and exponentially improved operations.”

“If Mr. Spring is the right man for the job, why was there a rigorous succession planning process that included an internal and external search,” wrote Professor Gene Detroyer. “An excellent succession plan has everyone in place before succession is needed. I conclude that anyone with the necessary skills and experience was not interested in taking on the challenges that Macy’s is facing.”

“Part of me admires Macy’s for developing and promoting homegrown talent (first Terry Lundgren, then Jeff Gennette, now Tony Spring) to its CEO role,” wrote Dick Seesel, principal at Retailing in Focus. “There is an advantage in being steeped in your company’s culture before taking the reins, and your leadership team and associates know what they are getting. On the downside, this kind of succession planning feels insular in the middle of so much retail disruption.”

Mr. Spring has led Bloomingdale’s introduction of its new Bloomie’s small store concept. The first 22,000 square-foot Bloomie’s opened in Fairfax, VA, in 2021.

That was followed by a 50,000 square-foot Bloomie’s in the Chicago area market that replaced a 206,000 square-foot Bloomingdale’s earlier this year. Another Bloomie’s is planned to open in Seattle this year.

Mr. Spring has led Bloomingdale’s merchandising function as its CEO. The retailer recently announced that Denise Magid would be its new chief merchant. Ms. Magid was Bloomingdale’s EVP and GMM for ready-to-wear, center core (shoes, handbags, accessories and fine jewelry), concessions and Bloomingdale’s outlets. Adrian Mitchell has been named chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Macy’s, Inc.

With Macy’s switching things up in the C-suite, some on the BrainTrust identified existing pain points the new top brass will encounter, and suggested possible remedies.

“Macy’s is still plagued by a lot of uninspiring locations — not just
just
the unprofitable ones,” wrote Mr. Seesel. “To many brick-and-mortar shoppers, Macy’s has yet to recapture the cachet of local markets’ Federated nameplates and it begins with the merchandising.”

“Mr. Spring is inheriting one of the more complicated jobs in retail right now,” wrote Jeff Sward, founding partner at Merchandising Metrics. “Macy’s is still a mall-based department store with its own in-house discount store. They are moving off mall with smaller footprints. And they have a robust e-commerce business. But it’s a lot more complicated than operating fewer mall stores and opening smaller off-mall stores.”

“Macy’s has had challenges resonating with Gen Z and Millennials, who find their products at other department stores, Amazon
AMZN
, Target
TGT
, Nordstrom, Walmart
WMT
, etc., which are far superior in their inventory management, supply chain capabilities, and in-store experiences,” wrote Brandon Rael, strategy and operations leader. “Stagnation has become the death of brands and is a warning for a company, even with all the history and significance of Macy’s.”

“It will be interesting to see how this plays out under Tony Spring’s leadership,” wrote Mr. Rael.