St. Louis mayor: city will help 850 laid off Macy's employees

ST. LOUIS -- Mayor Francis Slay has spent much of his tenure in City Hall helping push along a resurgence in the downtown economy. And he promised Thursday that Macy's Inc.'s decision to lay off 850 employees here would not slow the city's progress.

"It all has to be put into context," Slay said during a news conference. With a base of 90,000 jobs downtown, the city won't be crying "woe is me," he said.

Instead, officials hope to help the laid-off employees find new jobs downtown or in the surrounding region, Slay said. The city has made similar efforts in the past when employers have shuttered.

The Cincinnati-based retailer announced Wednesday it was making the job cuts as part of nationwide plan to consolidate its operations. It plans to cut about 2,300 jobs from the firm's current work force of about 188,000.

Like other retailers, Macy's has struggled with disappointing sales. But it has also faced resistance from shoppers in some markets where the Macy's name replaced local favorites it absorbed when it bought St. Louis-based May Department Stores Co. in 2005.

That merger stung St. Louis, which has lost a number of corporate headquarters in recent years.

While the company left much of its management and executive staff downtown, it wasn't a surprise they were eventually moved, said Juli Niemann, an analyst with Smith Moore & Co. in St. Louis.

"Corporations very frequently promise everything when they merge with someone, then you can almost set the timer to when the boom is lowered," Niemann said.

The loss for downtown will be pronounced, she said.

"This is just ugly for St. Louis. You can't put lipstick on this one," she said. "These are high-level jobs -- we're talking administrative and executive-level jobs that were very high-paying."

Slay said the St. Louis Agency on Training and Employment will help laid-off workers try to find new jobs downtown or with other regional employers.

While the losses are pronounced, the downtown area has its bright spots. Health care company Centene Corp. is moving its headquarters from the suburbs to downtown St. Louis, relocating about 1,200 jobs there.

Slay emphasized that Macy's decision had nothing to do with the business environment in St. Louis. The retailer said its regional headquarters in Minneapolis, St. Louis and Seattle will be consolidated into offices in New York, Atlanta and San Francisco, respectively.

Niemann said the move makes sense from a retailing perspective. Macy's will be able to decentralize its decision making and make more purchasing and stocking decisions on a local level. That will help the company cater more to localized consumer interests.

"That means they're listening to their customers," she said.