In February Macy’s announced an updated strategy and three-year plan designed to stabilize profitability and position the company for growth. “We have a clear vision of where Macy’s, Inc. and our brands, Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury, fit into retail today. We are confident in our Polaris strategy, and we have the resources required to return Macy’s, Inc. to sustainable, profitable growth,” said Jeff Gennette, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Macy’s, Inc. “We will focus our resources on the healthy parts of our business, directly address the unhealthy parts of the business and explore new revenue streams. Over the past three years, we have shown we can grow the top-line; however, we have significant work to do to improve the bottom-line. We are confident the strategy we are announcing today will allow us to stabilize margin in 2020 and set the foundation for sustainable, profitable growth.”

What a difference a couple of months makes. Macy’s Inc. is reportedly looking for a buyer for the 171-store Bluemercury beauty business. According to WWD the retailer hired Goldman Sachs mid-March, before the COVID-19 shutdown, to shop the asset with private equity firms among the players interested.

Macy’s acquired Bluemercury in February 2015 for approximately $210 million in cash from founders Marla and Barry Beck. The chain has grown from 60 stores to the current count of 171 locations. The DNA of Bluemercury remains rooted in neighborhoods, and expansion has focused on bringing luxury beauty out of the mall and onto Main Street through customer-centric neighborhood stores. In August of 2017 Bluemercury opened a flagship at the New York Hilton Midtown with an eye towards building a brand with household name recognition.

The report that Macy’s is looking to sell Bluemercury comes on the heels of other reports that the department store company is considering raising as much as $5 billion in debt to help it weather the financial crisis brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.