TRAVERSE CITY - Macy’s will soon be closing its doors. The Macy’s store, previously known as Hudson’s and Marshall Field’s, has been at the Grand Traverse Mall for 32 years.
We spoke with an employee who wished to be remain anonymous. They said that Macy’s isn’t really giving them details and they still have “help wanted” signs up. They believe it to be a front to not confuse customers. Garfield Township Supervisor Chuck Korn did confirm to 9&10 News that Macy’s will be closing and tells us what he what believes will eventually happen to the Grand Traverse Mall.
“I think the word on the street is that they’re pending some kind of a I’m not exactly sure what it is, but a financial move that will take them out of the business,” he says.
With the mall now having a second anchor store close within a year, TJ Maxx moved to another location in town, the future for the mall may be to shut its doors, but Korn thinks it won’t stand empty.
“I believe that we will have some new ownership there in the near future that may head in a different direction, maybe more housing, more experiential kind of things like what’s happening at the Cherry Land Center now. That seems to be the trend,” explains Korn.
With the news of Macy’s closing, Korn doesn’t think it will have that much of an impact on the township.
“I think the people who work there may be affected, but I don’t think it’s going to affect us as a community. A great deal. They’re not they’re not a major player in the economy,” he says.
With the hope of something to come, he looks back on why the mall may be struggling now.
“I think that all of our stores used to carry a lot of inventory. You know, if I wanted a shirt with a 37-inch sleeve and a 17-inch neck, they would have it. Now it’s like they don’t have a of sizes. They don’t have all the colors. So, it’s frustrating to try to find something in a store when you can just go online and click,” says Korn.
Korn was not surprised when he heard about the closure.
“We’re kind of expecting it. I shopped there for years when it was Hudson’s and Macy’s and it was definitely the trend was less and less people every time I went,” he says.
Korn says that Macy’s is expected to close after the holidays. We reached out to Macy’s for comment and they did not return our calls. The mall did contact us back and declined to comment.