Macy’s To Open New Ohio Distribution Center

It looks like Macy’s will be doing some new building in in central Ohio, thanks to an awareness of some state tax incentives.

According to reports, Macy’s will open a new regional distribution center in the Rickenbacker Airport area that is expected to create 410 jobs when it opens in Fall 2019. The Macy’s project was one of six awarded tax incentives that are collectively expected to bring or create 1,280 jobs in Ohio while retaining about 3,019. The new jobs are to have an annual payroll of $54 million. The projects themselves are expected to lead to investments of more than $119 million.

“Macy’s has a strong business in Ohio, and we are excited to continue building our presence in the state,” said Jeff Gennette, Macy’s chairman and CEO, in a statement.

Reports also indicated that the Macy’s Backstage line of discount stores has proven particularly popular among Ohio customers. Macy’s plans to open six new Backstage locations in Ohio by the end of June. Backstage was launched in response to the popularity of retailers such as T.J. Maxx, Marshalls and Nordstrom Rack, all of which deal in discount and discontinued merchandise.

“This new distribution center will enable us to move merchandise to our Backstage locations faster and with more flexibility,” Gennette noted.

Backstage locations started out as free-standing stores but, in 2016, Macy’s rebooted the plan and began placing Backstage locations as a store-within-a-store in existing Macy’s locations. According to in-house estimates, Backstage locations have boosted sales in those Macy’s stores by 6 percent or more.

Michelle Israel, Macy’s senior vice president of off-price, said in a statement, “Macy’s Backstage brings great deals, the thrill of the hunt and fun into our existing Macy’s locations.”

Macy’s, to date, has 6,500 employees in Ohio.