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Macy's Closing Pompano Beach Store, Pier 1 To Close Half Their Stores Nationwide

January 7, 2020 / 5:40 PM EST / CBS Miami

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MIAMI (CBSMiami/CNN) – Major retailers Macy's and Pier 1 Imports have announced they will be closing a number of stores in the coming year.

After half a century in business, the Macy's location in the Pompano Citi Centre will close this spring. An eight to 12-week clearance sale, beginning later this month, will take place before the doors are closed.

Macy's will also be closing stores in Vero Beach and Sanford.

Regular, non-seasonal colleagues who we are unable to place at nearby Macy's store will be eligible for severance, including outplacement resources.

"The decision to close a store is always a difficult one, but Macy's is proud to have served the Vero Beach community over the past 24 years, the Pompano community over the past 50 years and the Sanford community over the past 25 years. We encourage customers to shop with us at nearby Macy's stores, including Macy's Altamonte Mall, Macy's Boca Town Center, Macy's Coral Square, Macy's Galleria, Macy's the Mall at Millenia, Macy's Melbourne Square, Macy's Orlando Fashion Square, Macy's Treasure Coast Square, as well as online at macys.com," according to a statement from the company.

In their third-quarter earning's report issued in November 2019, Macy's reported steeper than expected sales declines. The Florida stores won't be the only ones shutting down. Stores in Georgia, Illinois, Kansas, Ohio, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Tennessee will also close.

The news of the closure comes on the heels of Monday's announcement that Bloomingdale's is closing up shop at The Falls.

The luxury department store chain announced it's Miami store will be going out of business effective January 11th after 35 years at the southwest Miami-Dade location.

Speaking of closings, Pier 1 Imports stores in the state, and nationwide, are wondering if they'll be closing their doors this year.

The company has announced they will close nearly half of its stores and is reportedly nearing a bankruptcy filing. No details were given on which stores will close and when.

The home goods retailer has been struggling for years against rising pressure online and from big-box rivals. Its stock, which was at $300 a share in 2015, is trading at around $5 today.

Pier 1 shares tumbled nearly 17 percent Monday. after Bloomberg reported the news of potential bankruptcy.

Pier 1 operated 942 stores in the United States and Canada at the end of its latest quarter. It said Monday that it will close up to 450 stores "in order to better align its business with the current operating environment." Pier 1 will also close distribution centers and lay off corporate employees.

During the company's latest quarter, sales at stores open for at least one year decreased by 11.4 percent compared with the same time last year. The company also lost $59 million,

Pier 1 is far from the only casualty of competition and shifting consumer habits in retail.

In 2019, US retailers announced 9,302 store closings, a 59 percent jump from 2018 and the highest number since Coresight Research began tracking the data in 2012.

Bed Bath & Beyond, a rival home decor retailer, has also struggled in recent years. Bed Bath & Beyond's new CEO, Mark Tritton, previously worked in Target's C-suite helping build the chain's popular stable of private-label clothing and home furnishings' brands.

The discount shoe retailer Payless ShoeSource alone announced in February it would be closing all of its roughly 2,500 North American stores, up from the 2,100 it initially cited, in what The Wall Street Journal reported could be the largest retail liquidation in history.

Then in March, Charlotte Russe, Family Dollar, Abercrombie & Fitch and Chico's announced more than 1,100 closings over the course of 24 hours.

Sears and Kmart were among the retailers that also announced store closings in 2019.

Department stores and clothing brands are being hit especially hard despite a strong economy and consumers flush with cash.

"We did go to the mall for Christmas but I do Amazon. I work and I get home late and Amazon makes it very convenient to just go online and order and return what I need to," shopper Lu Spigelman of La Honda, California, told CBS San Francisco.