From the lunatic south comes news about Macy’s, the premier department store chain with 722 Macy’s or other-branded locations worldwide.

The company is closing 150 “underperforming” U.S. stores, which will leave a still-significant 350.

A Financial Times synopsis in March this year notes: “Dealing with plummeting sales and changing customer habits, the seller, in what it calls a bold new chapter, seeks to concentrate on digital growth and on revamping what will be its 350 go forward stores. The store closures indicate a change in consumer taste favouring online over typical retail.”

“Go forward stores.” “Bold new chapter.” Wow!

Pardon me if I smell perspiration, hear a whispered prayer and catch the flicking movement of the carnivore’s tail circling this entire initiative.

I take just a moment to bathe in nostalgia. I can remember subway excursions with my mom to Macy’s flagship Herald Square store in Manhattan.

These were not just shopping trips, but rituals. The store was vast, and we went not only to shop but to celebrate retail might and the sheer fact of plenty. It was the world in a store. (Plus my mom always sprang for a hot dog from a curbside pushcart vendor.)

The store is 1.1-million square feet of retail, occupies almost an entire New York City block and is one of the largest........

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