Where Will Macy's Be in 5 Years?
As was expected, Macy's (NYSE: M) didn't have a great go of it during the first quarter of fiscal 2020, which ended on May 2. With physical stores shuttered for half of the period, the company burned through $164 million in negative operating cash flow on revenue of $3 billion -- compared with negative $38 million in operating cash flow and revenue of $5.5 billion a year ago.
It would be easy to chalk up Macy's latest struggles to COVID-19, but the chain's woes predate this latest crisis. The department store business model can't break out of the long and slow death spiral it's been stuck in, especially as the world pivots to digital sales and renders many real estate-heavy operations redundant.
Death is hardly knocking on Macy's door. Sears Holdings and J.C. Penney proved that bankruptcy can extend corporate life expectancy far longer than otherwise possible. Still, the prospects aren't looking great for this storied retailer.
Source Fool.com
