After going through a troublesome period, markets rewarded Macy’s yesterday thanks to some improvement in performance, and the company’s offloading some assets deemed unneeded. Macy’s CEO Jeff Gennette told the WSJ that “All boats are rising and everybody in retail right now is benefiting from strong consumer confidence.” Consumer confidence is strong. As you can see on the chart below, consumer sentiment, as measure by the University of Michigan survey, is nearing its all-time highs. Americans seem to be responding positively to tax cuts and an economic picture that looks better than it has since 2007.
Suzanne Kapner and Allison Prang report that Macy’s plans to keep the momentum going. They write:
To keep the momentum going, Macy’s plans to roll out several initiatives this year, including mobile checkout. Shoppers will be able to scan items on their mobile phones and then stop by a service desk to have censor tags removed.
Macy’s is also introducing an incentive plan, available to its more than 130,000 employees, including part-time workers. The plan will allow employees at all levels to share in sales when Macy’s beats internal benchmarks.
“Whether you are in our warehouse, or call center, I want you to wake up every day excited about working with our customers,” Mr. Gennette said.
