Macy's Inc. announced on Monday, April 4, that it hired Douglas Sesler as real estate executive vice president starting Tuesday. The announcement came amid calls from activist investors for larger returns on the retailer's real estate properties.
Macy's negative 1.86 percent shares went down 1 percent more on Monday trading despite the initiative of bringing a new man on board. Sesler will head initiatives such as generating joint ventures and other collaborations involving Macy's flagships and mall-based stores. He will also be working closely with the company's banking advisers and executives. Sesler's most recent affiliation was as the president of True Square Capital LLC, a real estate advisory and investment firm.
The Macy's appointment came to him just a couple of weeks after real estate trusts expert William Lenehan was appointed to the corporation's board.
Sesler had worked for corporations such as Travelers Realty Investment Company and Citigroup. Prior to joining True Square Capital, he had several leadership stints in Bank of America Merrill Lynch International, including a position ofbeing the firm's global head of principal real estate investments.
Macy's had faced pressure from investor Starboard Capital to drive larger value from its real estate stocks. Macy's had said it will not spin off a real estate investment trust but would initiate partnerships, according to a feature from Market Watch. The retailer experienced a rough holiday season, with store sales dropping 4.7 percent during the November and December shopping periods.
Macy's already planned to close dozens of stores and receive $270 million in cash on the sales of the upper floors of Brooklyn stores. The company's shares went down 37.4 percent over the past year. However, Macy's stock had increased 21.4 percent for the year so far. The S&P 500 was up 1.1 percent for the year to date, according to a feature from Real Estate Weekly.
