Macy's says it will close its downtown Columbus department story located in City Center Mall. The department store chain says business is too slow to keep the store open.
Macy's shoppers say they're disappointed. Bernice McArver and Carnecia Gilles both guess that through the years they've spent more than $100,000 each at the City Center Macy's, known previously as Kaufmann's. McArver says she's angry; Gilles says she's heartbroken.
"I'm a shopaholic," Gilles says. "I love Macy's! Oh my gosh!"
McArver added, "We're here every day!"
But as Gilles describes it the news is not totally unexpected given City Center's burgeoning vacancy rate.
"You see businesses continue to dwindle down and to disappear and it kind of takes the morale away," Gilles says.
Renee Crumpler said losing Macy's is a big loss to downtown Columbus.
"I'm sad to see it go," Crumpler says. "Just like anybody else I was hoping to see it part of downtown Columbus. But of course you can never replace a memory here in the City Center Mall."
The company says clearance sales will begin in mid-October. The store will close in November.