Macy's narrows losses in the Q3

New York City Macy's reported a smaller third-quarter loss as the department store operator benefited from tight inventory controls and a move to localize merchandise by region.

Macy’s said Wednesday that it lost $35 million in the quarter ended Oct. 31. That compares with $44 million in the year-ago period.

Macy's reported revenue fell almost 4% to $5.28 billion. Meanwhile, same-store sales dropped 7.5% in the quarter.

Strong performance areas include markets where the My Macy’s local merchandising program has been up since 2008, its Bloomingdale’s chain and online, whose sales rose 21.1% in the third quarter and 15.6% year-to-date.

Macy’s CEO Terry Lundgren described the quarter as “excellent,” given the economic climate.