Macy’s saw strong sales across all of its divisions, reported a net profit of $286mn, up from $103mn in the year-ago period. Adjusted net income came to $315mn compared to $126mn in the year-ago period. For the quarter ended April 30, comparable sales rose 12.8%. The second quarter, while trending up in wear-to-work, dresses and occasion fashion, will see a significant amount of clearance of categories that spiked during the pandemic, namely casual, active and soft home including textiles, housewares and tabletop. Macy’s is forecasting that sales will be flat to up 1% for the full year.

Macy’s has about 14% more active customers than a year ago, active meaning consumers who shop within a year. While their digital growth slowed last quarter, they are hopeful for a robust digital growth in the future. Charging up the digital side of the business will be personalized messaging, and launch of a marketplace which will happen in the third quarter this year. It will vastly expand Macy’s offering to categories such as pet supplies and electronics.

In other news, Macy’s is embarking on a sweeping overhaul of its private brand business, which accounts for just under 20% of the total business. By division, Macy’s comparable sales were up 10.7% on an owned basis and up 10.1% on an owned-plus-licensed basis. A shift in consumer shopping behaviour to more occasion-based apparel triggered increased robust sales in dresses, women’s shoes, accessories and men’s tailored clothing. Digital sales increased 2% year-over-year, while increasing 34% versus the first quarter of 2019. Digital penetration was 33% of net sales, a 4-%age point decline from the first quarter of 2021, but a 9-%age point improvement over the first quarter of 2019.