This Year, Be Thankful You’re Not This Former Macy’s Employee

Photo: Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

It’s supposed to be the most wonderful time of the year at Macy’s, but a shadow looms over the department-store chain going into Black Friday — and it’s not the one created by the giant Pillsbury Doughboy balloon. Today in bizarre retail news, Macy’s announced that it discovered a major accounting error while preparing its latest financial reports. Over the past three years, one employee who worked in “small package delivery expense accounting” intentionally hid somewhere between $132 and $154 million in expenses from Macy’s books. (For context, the brand said it spent $4.36 billion on deliveries during that time.)

It’s a weird case: There is no talk of a criminal investigation or any suggestion that the deceptive employee pocketed money for themselves. And the retailer insists that there’s no need to freak out if you’re a shopper or vendor: “There is no indication that the erroneous accounting accrual entries had any impact on the company’s cash management activities or vendor payments,” said the company in a financial statement, adding that the employee in question no longer works there.

Still, it’s another bad news story for Macy’s heading into its most important period of the year, the holiday-shopping season, and days before its famous Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Macy’s has struggled in recent years as Americans choose discount retailers like T.J. Maxx over department stores and spend less time at big shopping centers. Earlier this year, Macy’s said it would close 150 Macy’s locations over the next three years and invest in the remaining 350 locations. It also plans to expand the other smaller chains it owns, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, which are faring better than Macy’s.

Meanwhile, the parade must go on. This year, the slate of performers includes the usual chaotic cast of celebrity characters, including Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Maddix. As Maddix would say on Love Island, a new bombshell is entering the lineup: Minnie Mouse will make her parade debut, appearing alongside Mickey Mouse, Goofy, and the gang.