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  3. Macy’s reported its sales plunged 5.2% in November and December at stores open more than a year, a disappointing holiday season

Macy’s reported its sales plunged 5.2% in November and December at stores open more than a year, a disappointing holiday season

admin2020-03-17  41
问题     Macy’s reported its sales plunged 5.2% in November and December at stores open more than a year, a disappointing holiday season performance that capped a difficult year for a department store chain facing wide-ranging challenges. Its flagship stores in major U. S. cities depend heavily on international tourist spending, which shrank at many retailers due to a strong dollar. Meanwhile, Macy’s has simply struggled to lure consumers who are more interested in spending on travel or dining out than on new clothes or accessories.
    The company blamed much of the poor performance in November and December on unseasonably warm weather. "About 80% of our company’s year-over-year declines in comparable sales can be attributed to shortfalls (短缺) in cold-weather goods," said chief executive Terry Lundgren in a press release. This prompted the company to cut its forecasts for the full fourth quarter.
    However, it’s clear that Macy’s believes its troubles run deeper than a temporary aberration (偏离) off the thermometer. The retail giant said the poor financial performance this year has pushed it to begin implementing $400 million in cost-cutting measures. The company pledged to cut 600 back-office positions, though some 150 workers in those roles would be reassigned to other jobs. It also plans to offer "voluntary separation" packages to 165 senior executives. It will slash staffing at its fleet of 770 stores, a move affecting some 3,000 employees.
    The retailer also announced the locations of 36 stores it will close in early 2016. The company had previously announced the planned closures, but had not said which locations would be affected. None of the chain’s stores in the Washington metropolitan area are to be closed.
    Macy’s has been moving aggressively to try to remake itself for a new era of shopping. It has plans to open more locations of Macy’s Backstage, a newly-developed off-price concept which might help it better compete with ambitious T. J. Maxx. It’s also pushing ahead in 2016 with an expansion of Bluemercury, the beauty chain it bought last year. At a time when young beauty shoppers are often turning to Sephora or Ulta instead of department store beauty counters, Macy’s hopes Bluemercury will help strengthen its position in the category.
    One relative bright spot for Macy’s during the holiday season was the online channel, where it rang up "double-digit" increases in sales and a 25% increase in the number of orders it filled. That relative strength would be consistent with what was seen in the wider retail industry during the early part of the holiday season. While Thanksgiving, Black Friday and Cyber Monday all saw record spending online, in-store sales plunged over the holiday weekend.
In order to cut costs, Macy’s decided to ______.
选项 A、cut the salary of senior executives
B、relocate some of its chain stores
C、adjust its promotion strategies
D、reduce the size of its staff
答案D
解析 细节题。第三段最后一句指出，该公司将在其770家门店裁员，此举影响了约3000名员工。D项与原文相符，故答案为D。A项与原文不符，第三段倒数第二句指出，该公司还计划向165名高管提供“自愿离职”计划，并不是削减高管的薪水，故排除。B项与原文不符，第四段第一句指出，该零售商还宣布，将在2016年年初关闭36家门店。由此可知，该公司并不是重新安置连锁店，而是关闭门店。故排除。C项原文未提及，故排除。
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