[95726] in Discussion of MIT-community interests
Cust-No.55173312398 - You have a $50-Macys GiftCard Waiting for-You.
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (MacysPoints)
Fri Feb 24 10:01:36 2017
Date: Fri, 24 Feb 2017 08:06:05 -0700
Reply-To: MacysPoints@bonusrewardsupdatedpoints.com
To: mit-talk-mtg@charon.mit.edu
From: MacysPoints <MacysPoints@bonusrewardsupdatedpoints.com>
<html>
<head>
<title>Shopper-Rewards</title>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1">
<style type="text/css">
#Right1 {
font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
font-size: 15px;
text-align: center;
}
#Second {
font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
font-size: 15px;
text-align: center;
}
#Lastly25 {
font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
font-size: 15px;
}
#Bottom {
font-family: Georgia, "Times New Roman", Times, serif;
font-size: 8px;
}
</style>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF" leftmargin="0" topmargin="0" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0">
<table id="Table_01" width="585" height="576" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0">
<tr>
<td width="225" height="197">
<a href="http://newbonus.bonusrewardsupdatedpoints.com"><img src="http://see1.bonusrewardsupdatedpoints.com" width="221" height="193" alt=""></a></td>
<td width="360" id="Right1"><p style="font-weight: bold; font-size: 17.5px;">Your $50-Macy's Points Will Soon-Expire! - mit-talk-mtg@charon.mit.edu</p>
<p>Did you know that you have a $50-Macy's RewardsCard waiting for you? It is only going to be available for another 48-more hours, after which it will expire-if you have not claimed it.</p>
<p>We wanted to make sure that you do not miss-out on this amazing-special.</p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" id="Second"><p>Please let us know how you feel about your latest shopping-experience at Macy's by filling-out a short-survey, at the end of which you will be able to get your $50-GiftCard.</p>
<p><br>
<span style="font-weight: bold"><a href="http://newbonus.bonusrewardsupdatedpoints.com">Go Here to Claim-This Macy's Bonus-Now</a></span></p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" id="Bottom"><p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Macy’s revealed restructuring plans in January that include the closure of 68 of its 730 stores, cutting more than 10,000 jobs, many of them management positions. At the same time, comparable store sales fell 2.1 percent during November and December last year, after seven straight quarters of decline. Macy’s says the restructuring will allow it to focus on areas of growth, including its off-price concept Macy’s Backstage, beauty specialty retail chain Bluemercury — which the company acquired in 2015 for $210 million — and China, where it plans to launch e-commerce in 2017. Some in the industry like Steven Dennis, a retail consultant and former Neiman Marcus executive, believe Macy’s is still a powerful brand worth saving in the long-term.</p>
<p>“If Amazon were to buy Macy’s, I certainly don’t think it’s a crazy idea but there are some complications… I would be sceptical that they would continue to operate them as Macy’s over time,” he said. “I would assume that if HBC were to buy Macy’s, they would be interested in preserving the brand, it’s still a very powerful brand but it’s just hit some hard times. So if your goal were to have Macy’s stay around, I would think that HBC would be the more likely player.” Macy's is one of the many retail stocks that have suffered in the last year, due to an unfavorable retail environment in the United States. Before the weakness that took place in the industry, the company's result were stable, although top-line growth hasn't been particularly exciting in the last decade. Sales declined in the years from 2007 to 2010, and then started to rise again in 2011, topping in 2015. The sales, income and margin contraction occurred in 2016 has been the sharpest since 2009, and the stock is currently trading at 5 years low, 60% below the top reached in July 2015. Trading at 13.5 times earnings and with a dividend yield of 5.1%, we all want to know whether investing in the stock at these prices can be a good contrarian play. The first thing we should do is trying to understand the reasons behind the decline and whether they can constitute a long-term threat or not. There are a few factors that I think are negatively affecting the company's results and stock price: The first factor is clearly the negative environment in the retail sector triggered by a strong dollar. Many retail players, especially the ones that depends on sales of apparel and fashion items, experienced a decline in sales because of lower tourist traffic and tourist spending in their shops. I think this sudden weakness is also the reason why companies found themselves with excessive inventory that started to dump at significant discounts. The second factor that is scaring investors is the rising competition from online players, in particular Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). The internet giant is a relatively new player in fashion retail, but it already accounts for around 7% of the market, and according to Cowen, its market share is set to double in 5 years. The third factor is the excessive expansion of retail companies that has taken place in the last decade, while sales increased less than proportionally. The belief that there is an overcapacity in brick and mortar retail in the United States is gaining popularity. And numbers actually confirm a huge difference with other countries. For instance, according to Clarion Partners, the United States has 24 square feet of retail real estate per capita, against 16 square feet per capita in Canada. The fourth factor is related to concerns that an import tariff under President Trump will hurt the apparel and fashion industry, which heavily relies on the import of materials, semi-finished goods and finished products. Should a similar measure pass, the damage for fashion retailers would be significant. I would like to share a few thoughts on these four points. It's clear that the combined action of these factors has created weakness in the sector and fueled the massive decline we have seen. But it's important to understand what factors are actually long-term threats and what factors could improve the situation in the near future.</p>
<p>Regarding the macro trends that affected the retail space (strong dollar, declining tourist spending, heavy discounts), I don't think these factors will keep impacting the sector for a long time. The initial weakness was triggered by recessions in many emerging markets like Brazil, Russia and oil-exporters, fueled by the idea that China would be the next to fall. Capitals looking for a safe haven fueled a strong appreciation of the dollar, which was also helped by other macro phenomena such as the sharp fall in energy prices. All these factors affected tourists' purchasing power, which started to delay their trips or spent less than usual. I think this trend is reversing, for several reasons. Energy prices are more stable, the dollar too. Many emerging markets such as Brazil and Russia have seen improving economic growth estimates, and tourists spending from China, which is becoming increasingly important for the retail industry's health, is on the rise again.</p>
<p>Regarding the concerns about ecommerce growth, there are a few things to point out. First, we don't know how much of the company's revenue come from the ecommerce channel, although we know it is growing at double digit rates. I can't have an informed opinion on Macy's ecommerce business and I am disappointed by the company's decision to omit the segment's results in quarterly reports. But in general, I think that the most important brick and mortar retailers can build a successful omni-channel business. The reason is that the two channels are not compartmentalized. Some scale advantages and cost efficiencies remains even if the business is split between the two channels, brand awareness benefits both channels and many customers who shop both online and in physical stores could prefer the traditional retailers' online channels, if companies give them the right incentives, such as special promotions and additional services.</p>
<p> </p></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2" id="Lastly25"><p> </p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you would.rather not-get-further bonusads-you can.end them by <a href="http://yghw1.bonusrewardsupdatedpoints.com">going-here</a>.</p>
<p>** 2885 Sanford_Ave.S.W. #40442.<br>
-Grandville.<br>
Michigan - #49418.</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p></td>
</tr>
</table>
<img src="http://trc.bonusrewardsupdatedpoints.com/redirect.php?email=mit-talk-mtg@charon.mit.edu">
</body>
</html>
