What: An opinion piece against Macy’s considering splitting up its online and offline activities just like what Saks and Hudson Bay did earlier in 2021.

Why it is important: Investors’ interests are usually short-termed, as the idea is to cash in “trapped” value. This can go against the interests of the company on the long terms, as recalled in this article with the history of Sears.

Macy’s is under fire from activist investors to split up their business into online and offline, just like what Saks Fifth Avenue and Hudson Bay Company did earlier in 2021. The reasoning is that this would allow to unleash “trapped” shareholder value.

The Robin Report recalls that even though Macy’s was initially slow into growing its e-commerce activities, it still significantly innovated in many fields: robust omnichannel capabilities and innovations, being a leader in attracting younger shoppers, capturing data and using stores to fulfil online orders which allowed to reduce the end of season markdowns.

According to the author, this idea goes against the tide at a moment when Amazon itself is going physical, and clearly serves investors’ interests, not customers’.

What Is Macy’s Thinking?