Macy’s will close 150 “underproductive” stores – more than a fifth of its department store empire – over the next three years, the company said February 27.

According to The Guardian, after issuing a muted trading outlook for the year ahead, the iconic department store operator said it would shutter about 50 outlets by the end of 2024. In January, Macy’s announced plans to cut 2,350 jobs, or 3.5% of its workforce, calling for a “bold new chapter that concentrates more on luxury shopping.

As part of this re-fashioning, Macy’s plans to open 15 of its higher-end Bloomingdale’s stores, and 30 Blue Mercury cosmetics locations.

Even before the pandemic, department stores were facing intense competition from online rivals. JCPenney filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in May 2020, and Neiman Marcus followed suit in October 2020.

Macy’s posted a net loss of $71 million for the last quarter of 2023, down from profits of $508 million in the same period of 2022. Sales dropped 1.7%, to $8.12 billion, which was slightly higher than Wall Street analysts had expected.