senior. Thank you for joining us. We begin with breaking news right now. The Macy's store in San Francisco's Union Square is on the list of 150 stores scheduled to close in the next two years. San Francisco city leaders confirming that news. It comes after the retailer announced in a call to investors this morning that it was downsizing its Macy's brand. KTVU Erasmus is live in the newsroom with the latest developments on this story. >> Ali well, San Francisco mayor London Breed and other city leaders admit that even they are shocked and saddened by this news that the Macy's in Union Square is going to be closing now that multi storey San Francisco Macy's in Union Square, with more than 400,000ft!S of space will close. Although city leaders tell us Macy's corporate leaders have agreed to keep the store open until a new buyer can be found. It's not clear, though, how long that will take. Mayor London Breed said in a statement. Quote, the process to undergo the sale of their building to a new owner will take time. Macy's will stay open for the foreseeable future and people will remain employed at that store. She goes on to say that that being said, as someone who grew up in San Francisco, Macy's has always meant a lot to the people of this city. It's where families came to shop for the holidays. It's where many people from my community got their first jobs or even held jobs for decades. It's hard to think of Macy's not being part of our city anymore. End quote. Now, the news about Macy's closures come came during an early morning earnings call with investors as the company's new CEO announced plans to close 50 Macy's stores across the country this year and another 100 by 2026. Macy's said it would not make that list, of which stores are closing public, so we don't know which other Bay area locations may be on the list. But Macy's is also the parent company of Bloomingdale's, and the cosmetic skin care chain Bluemercury and the company says it will open 15 new Bloomingdale's stores and 30 new Bluemercury stores in the next two years. Across the country, they're going to be focusing on opening those smaller, standalone stores that are not located in traditional malls. >> Exiting stores allows us to prioritize our highest return on mall opportunities and open more small format off mall. Macy's now the Macy's Union Square store in San Francisco, employs about 400 people. >> The San Francisco Union Square Alliance says they expect that store to remain open, and that in all likelihood, they believe there will be a union Square Christmas tree in 2024. Later this year, and holiday shopping this year as well. Although what happens to that space after 2026 isn't clear. My
