Macy's Is Closing 100 Department Stores. Is Its Downtown Brooklyn Location Among Them?

DOWNTOWN BROOKLYN, NY — Is the historic Macy's on Fulton Street in downtown Brooklyn nearing its end?

In a Thursday announcement, Macy's said it will be closing 100 department stores nation-wide by early 2017.

The company did not release a list of stores to be shuttered, saying that information "will be announced at a later date, once the company makes final decisions."

Additionally, Macy's said it will maintain a retail presence in 49 of the largest 50 U.S. markets, and will increase staffing in stores that stay open.

So where does that leave downtown Brooklyn's Macy's?

The store seemed to be doing a reasonably brisk business on Thursday and Friday, but a message left for a manager about its prospects wasn't returned.

That said, changes are already coming to the 11-story property, located at 422 Fulton St.

In January, Tishman Speyer finalized a $270 million deal with Macy's, giving it ownership of the 19th-century building's top five floors, at a cost of $170 million. The developer also agreed to give Macy's $100 million for a makeover of the store (Macy's controls the basement and the building's first four floors under the deal.)

Macy's from the outside

Renderings of the redone Macy's show a gleaming lobby, new elevators and a new facade. Those images are still on display on the showroom floor, while signs outside the building read "magic in the making," noting that Macy's is "open for business during our remodel."

Inside Macy's

However, a spokesman for Tishman Speyer told Patch on Friday that the developer was deferring any comments on the property's future to Macy's. We asked if the store's remodeling project was still going forward, but didn't receive an answer by the end of the day.

If a closure took place, it would impact a significant workforce. Last August, Crain's reported that the store employed 490 people.

Pictured at top: Macy's on Fulton Street. Photos by John V. Santore