Macy’s, Nordstrom buck the traffic trend for department stores

Quick Information

• Nordstrom noticed a 3.3% rise in store visits and 4.1% in visits per location
• Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s had modest visitors beneficial properties however weaker averages per retailer
• Belk skilled an 11% year-over-year drop in Q1 visits, the most important decline in Placer.ai‘s report
• April 2025 introduced improved visitors for JCPenney, Belk, and Dillard’s

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. – Most shops skilled a decline in retailer visits throughout the first quarter, whether or not they have been high-end or reasonably priced.

Simply 3 of the 8 department shops tracked in Placer.ai‘s most up-to-date report noticed constructive retailer visitors throughout the interval from January by March 2025: Nordstrom, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.

Among the many high-end department shops, solely Nordstrom gained in each total retailer visits (+3.3%) and common visits per location (+4.1%), based on Placer.ai’s “Department Stores in 2025” report.

Though Macy’s total in-store visitors ticked up 1.1% throughout the interval, its common visits per retailer have been flattish, down 0.2%. Equally, Bloomingdale’s total quantity was up 2.7% whereas common visits per retailer fell 2.2%.

“As shopper budgets proceed to react to the pressure of rising costs, department shops are experiencing blended visitation patterns. Whereas luxurious buyers have, in some instances, been extra insulated from the results of inflation and rising prices, visits to high-end department shops haven’t been spared from this total volatility,” the situation analytics agency famous within the report.

The primary quarter of the calendar yr was notably robust for Belk, which noticed year-over-year visitors drop practically 11%.

Outcomes for the primary month of the second quarter of the calendar yr present enchancment for some department shops.

“April visits provided a extra constructive outlook, with Belk and JCPenney, specifically, displaying elevated visits in all however one week of April 2025. Dillard’s additionally displayed promising visitation patterns, with weekly visits up for 2 weeks of April,” Placer.ai reported.

Nordstrom’s and Bloomingdale’s visitors in April additionally improved “for essentially the most half,” it stated.