NEW YORK (AP) — Macy's raised its expectations for the year and reported the first increase in same-store sales since 2022 after the department store chain intensified its focus on modernizing stores and improving the customer experience.
Comparable-store sales are considered a good barometer of a retailer's health and for the last three years they had been been a reminder that the storied department store chain had a long way to go.
Macy's reported an 0.8% increase in comparable sales. Industry analysts, who had expected a 0.5% decrease, were caught off guard by the swing and the company's shares rocketed 19% higher Wednesday. They remain negative for the year, however.
The reversal in comparable-store sales underscored how Macy's campaign to improve customer experience and the merchandise on its shelves has enticed shoppers to buy even as Americans as a whole grow more cautious about spending as President Donald Trump's trade war raises economic anxiety.
Macy’s is grappling with an uncertain economic backdrop and higher costs, particularly because of the tariffs, and said Wednesday that it even though customers have proven resilient, they remain choosy about what they are buying, and executives are usure how tariffs will affect spending for the remainder of the year.
“We're celebrating the second quarter but we’re being prudent in our guidance for the third quarter and the remainder of the year because we want to see how the tariff environment plays out in totality, ” Macy's CEO Tony Spring told investors during a conference call on Wednesday.
The company said in May that it was diversifying the origin of its imports and pulling items when the math doesn’t work.
Spring told analysts that the company is trying to take a “surgical approach" when it comes to price increases. The department store has already raised some prices, though Spring did not specify where. He noted in some cases, it has had to cut back on orders on items where it raised prices.
“We've tried to be really thoughtful about what categories can bear the cost and the increases and where we’ve had to negotiate a little bit harder,” he said.
Spring said the approach by Macy's, which also owns upscale Bloomingdale’s and the cosmetic chain Bluemercury, of running different chains that cater to different types of shoppers, has been an advantage. The company is not as reliant on one product category or one consumer sector, he said.
Roughly 50% of customers at the Macy's has a household income of over $100,000, and for Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury, there's a larger percentage of shoppers with household incomes over $150,000, Spring told The Associated Press on Wednesday. But he said while the lower income segment spent less, the difference wasn't sizeable.
And tariffs may affect prices broadly.
About 20% of the department store's products came from China at the end of its last fiscal year, according to Macy's. Private brands sourced approximately 27% from China, down from 32% last year.
Macy's reported net income of $87 million, or 31 cents per share, for the quarter ended Aug. 2. That compares with $150 million, or 53 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 41 cents a share, well above the 19 cents per share estimated by FactSet.
Sales fell to $4.99 billion from $5.09 billion in the year-ago period. Analysts expected $4.7 billion, according to FactSet.
Including its licensed businesses, comparable sales rose 1.9% for all of its stores including its licensed businesses.
The retailer has closed unprofitable stores while investing heavily in modernizing Macy's locations, and that appears to be working. Macy’s first 125 revamped stores achieved comparable sales growth of 1.4%, surpassing the 1.2% gain for all Macy's locations.
The company has been adding more customer service in the fitting areas as well as the shoe department. It's also been trying to differentiate its luxury business from its rivals by adding exclusive merchandise
For the year, Macy's raised its earnings per share forecast to a range of $1.70 to $2.05, up from $1.60 to $2.
Macy's also expects sales between $21.15 billion and $21.45 billion in 2025, up from $21 billion to $21.4 billion.
Wall Street has been projection per-share earnings of $1.79 on sales of $21.18 billion for the year, according to FactSet.
FILE - Macy's sign is displayed in Mount Prospect, Ill., Thursday, July 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the rarely used federal law to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
Presidents have indeed invoked the Insurrection Act more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison responded to Trump's post by saying he would challenge any deployment in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says it has made more than 2,000 arrests in the state since early December. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe, to protect our neighbors, to maintain order,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
Frey said the federal force — five times the size of the city’s 600-officer police force — has “invaded” Minneapolis, and that residents are scared and angry.
Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.
Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.
Police chief Brian O’Hara said the shot man was being treated for a non-life-threatening injury. The two others are in custody, DHS said. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security.
Earlier Wednesday, Gov. Tim Walz described Minnesota said what's happening in the state “defies belief.”
“Let’s be very, very clear: this long ago stopped being a matter of immigration enforcement,” he said. “Instead, it’s a campaign of organized brutality against the people of Minnesota by our own federal government.”
Jonathan Ross, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer who killed Good, suffered internal bleeding to his torso during the encounter, a Homeland Security official told The Associated Press.
The official spoke to AP on condition of anonymity in order to discuss Ross’ medical condition. The official did not provide details about the severity of the injuries, and the agency did not respond to questions about the bleeding, how he suffered the injury, when it was diagnosed or his medical treatment.
Good was killed after three ICE officers surrounded her SUV on a snowy street near her home. Bystander video shows one officer ordering Good to open the door and grabbing the handle. As the vehicle begins to move forward, Ross, standing in front, raises his weapon and fires at least three shots at close range. He steps back as the SUV advances and turns.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem has said Ross was struck by the vehicle and that Good was using her SUV as a weapon — a self-defense claim that has been criticized by Minnesota officials.
Chris Madel, an attorney for Ross, declined to comment.
Good’s family has hired the same law firm that represented George Floyd’s family in a $27 million settlement with Minneapolis. Floyd, who was Black, died after a white police officer pinned his neck to the ground 2020.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. Associated Press reporters Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Julie Watson in San Diego; Rebecca Santana in Washington; Ed White in Detroit and Giovanna Dell’Orto in Minneapolis contributed.
A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
