Boring Stores Are Crushing Macy's

Macy's is emerging from a four-year, $400 million renovation of its Manhattan flagship store, adding 100,000 square feet of new retail space, a sixth-floor Italian restaurant, and a floor just for millennials. (If only more of them had visited before.) The department store is struggling to figure out how to make its physical stores more appealing to get shoppers through the front doors.

"We need to work hard to make the brick-and-mortar experience a lot more exciting," Macy's Chief Financial Officer Karen Hoguet said during a conference call with analysts Wednesday. Macy's reported dire results that morning, slashing its profit forecast for the year and sending shares down as much as 9.7 percent, to $33.42. Sales fell for the fifth straight quarter, dipping 7.4 percent, to $5.77 billion. Hoguet assured analysts that the retailer is testing new concepts in an effort to spur foot traffic.