Black to Red

The recession delivered a particularly heavy blow to the department store segment, as evidenced by the presence of so many traditional operators on this list of retailers that posted losses after being in the black the previous year.

Right at the top is Macy’s, the largest department store group in the country in terms of annual sales. Macy’s has been working dutifully to get its house in order over the last few years, centralizing what it could to become more efficient, developing the “My Macy’s” initiative to localize merchandise selection, cutting costs where feasible and boosting private label offerings to increase margins. After posting a loss for the year, Macy’s reorganized its divisional structure and reduced its workforce by 4 percent (7,000 associates).

Unlike some of its contemporaries, Belk has seen profitable and unprofitable times in its 120-year history. In noting how difficult the retailing environment was last year, president and chief merchandising officer McKay Belk said: “There are more ups and downs in a business like this. It’s hard for Wall Street to take and figure that one out. We realize it’s going to happen and we don’t get overly excited about a downturn.”

Rather than retrench, Belk has spent more than $35 million to enlarge its footprint in greater Atlanta, where it now operates 23 stores.

Wendy’s/Arby’s Group is still working to digest the Wendy’s acquisition by what was then Triarc. Wendy’s was struggling prior to the merger, and the costs of integration accounted for the loss.