Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette to retire in 2024

Macy's CEO and Chair Jeff Gennette, whose plan to downsize the company led it to more stable ground, will depart the retail giant next year.

Why it matters: The retailer remains in fierce competition with Amazon, as well as with other nimble digital and physical retailers. In recent years, Macy's pushed aggressively into online retail and smaller stores, despite its outsized brick-and-mortar footprint.

Driving the news: Gennette will retire in February 2024, after four decades at Macy's, where he's been CEO for more than six years.

• Tony Spring, executive vice president of Macy's and CEO of the company's Bloomingdale's brand, will succeed Gennette as CEO.
• CFO Adrian Mitchell will add the title of chief operating officer.
• Macy's stock fell 2.6% in early morning trading.

The big picture: Gennette led the retailer during a crisis for the department store industry.

• J.C. Penney, Sears and Neiman Marcus were among the chains to file for bankruptcy protection during his tenure at Macy's.
• Gennette launched a transformation called Polaris, designed to close about 125 underperforming locations, or about one-fifth of its locations, within three years beginning in early 2020.

What they're saying: "Thanks to Mr. Gennette, Macy’s isn’t dead or even circling the drain," GlobalData retail analyst Neil Saunders wrote Wednesday. "However, it is still on a perilous glide path with weak long-term prospects. It is the job of the new CEO to change this trajectory and not to simply stick to the current course."