Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette to retire after 40 years at the department store

• Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette will retire and step down from his role in February 2024.
• Gennette has been at the department store chain for 40 years.

The chief executive of Macy's announced plans to retire in February 2024 after working for the retailer for 40 years.

Jeff Gennette joined Macy's in 1983 as an executive trainee and worked his way up the ranks, becoming CEO in 2017.

Macy's said Wednesday that Tony Spring, CEO of Macy's sister company Bloomingdale's, will take over Gennette's role. CFO Adrian Mitchell will add the role of COO to his responsibilities – overseeing stores, tech, and supply chain needs, Macy's said.

Gennette is credited with launching Macy's turnaround effort in 2020, known as Polaris. In its bid to cut costs and boost growth, the company closed underperforming stores, slashed thousands of corporate jobs, and streamlined its offices.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Wednesday, Gennette said: "We are a smaller, scrappier, more customer-focused company than we were when we went into the pandemic. We've eliminated layers, increased spans of control and really focused on how this team will become a modern department store."

Despite these changes, Macy's still faces industry-wide challenges such as inflation, which is squeezing consumer spending.

One commentator says the company also lacks innovation.

"Macy's starts off with some great ideas – such as adding the Story brand or Toys R Us sections – but then, over time, these developments get sucked into the general malaise of Macy's," said Neil Saunders of GlobalData Retail in a note to clients earlier this month.

"They end up being damp squibs rather than initiatives that propel the business forward."

Macy's joins a growing list of retailers that have lost their CEOs in recent months. Experts say the pandemic and the resulting supply chain breakdown have contributed to this turnover.

"Everyone was forgiving during the pandemic, but now we're anticipating we might get into rougher waters," Felipe Caro of UCLA's Anderson School of Management recently told Insider.

"Many boards are saying, 'Do we have the right person? We better make these changes given that things are not going to get any easier.'"

Gennette told Bloomberg that while he isn't looking for another CEO role, he may not retire from the workforce entirely: "I'm looking forward to spending more quality time with my family, but I'm still going to be relatively young."