After years of sluggish sales performance, Macy's is planning drastic cuts to its store fleet in order to concentrate on better-performing locations.
About 150 underperforming stores are on the chopping block through the next three years, the company announced last week in its fourth-quarter earnings release.
Then, on Sunday, private equity investors Arkhouse and Brigade Capital upped their previous buyout offer with a proposal that would value the company at around $6.6 billion, a 33% premium to the company's market cap on Friday.
Arkhouse Managing Partners Gavriel Kahane and Jonathon Blackwell said in a statement they were "frustrated by the delay tactics" from Macy's after their deal worth $5.8 billion in December was rebuffed.
Macy's plan is to start with about 50 locations during this fiscal year, and the company has yet to specify exactly which locations will be impacted.
The move follows cuts of 2,350 jobs and closures of five stores earlier this year, and the number is a stark increase from the single-digit closures Macy's has announced in recent years.
"We are making the necessary moves to reinvigorate relationships with our customers through improved shopping experiences, relevant assortments, and compelling value," CEO Tony Spring said in a statement.
The closures are one of three priorities the retailer says will help it "return to top-line growth," including a revitalization of their merchandising assortment and modernizing the shopping experience in-store and online.
Some cost-savings from the cuts will be reinvested into about 350 remaining department stores, as well as additional small-format stores.
In addition, the corporation is leaning harder into luxury, with planned expansions of its Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury brands in the next three years.
This story will be updated once a list of locations is available.
