For the second time in a month, the Macy’s store at the Paddock Mall in Ocala has dodged a huge bullet.
Macy’s announced last week that it plans to close about 125 stores – one fifth of its locations – and eliminate about 2,000 positions over the next three years. That announcement followed a similar one in early January when the company announced it was closing about 30 stores in 19 states.
Four stores in Florida – the most in any state – are slated for closure, with the closest one to Ocala being in Sanford at the Seminole Towne Centre. The others are in Pompano Beach and Vero Beach, with the fourth location being a Bloomingdales in Miami.
Besides Florida, the states affected by the massive closures are California (two stores), Connecticut (one), Georgia (two), Hawaii (one), Idaho (one), Illinois (two), Indiana (one), Kansas (one), Kentucky (one), Maryland (one), Massachusetts (one), Montana (one), New York (two), North Carolina (one), Ohio (three), Pennsylvania (two), Tennessee (one) and Washington (three).
Liquidation sales already have begun at about 30 Macy’s stores located in lower-tier malls across the country. The company also is expected to eliminate about nine percent of its corporate and support positions.
The Ocala Macy’s store was in the news in October 2018 when a fire broke out in the intimate apparel section. Crews from Ocala Fire Rescue responded to the incident, cleared the store and found the small blaze in the bottom rack of an intimate apparel stand. They then deactivated the sprinkler system, inspected the business area for additional fires and ventilated the building.