COVINA, Calif. – Most major department stores, the emporiums of discretionary spending, saw traffic slump during the first calendar quarter of 2026.
Among the chains with dedicated home departments, only Boscov’s experienced an uptick in overall traffic during the period from January through March. That +0.9 growth in year-over-year store visits was offset by a decline of 1.4% in visits per store, according to Placer.ai‘s recent report on “The Department Store Divide.”
Macy’s had the roughest go of it, with overall visits dropping 10.2%. Per-store visits fell 3.8%.
Placer.ai noted that Saturdays accounted for more than a quarter (25.4%) of department store visits during the period – well above both the 17.4% average for non-discretionary brick-and-mortar retailers and the 21.6% average for discretionary chains. The data included traffic at Van Maur, Saks Fifth Avenue and Nordstroms along with Boscov’s, Bloomingdale’s, Dillard’s, JCPenney, Kohl’s and Macy’s department stores.
“As a result, March 2026 – which had one fewer Saturday than March 2025 – saw visits soften across the board,” Placer.ai explained.
April store visits data for department stores was slightly more positive. Bloomingdale’s overall visits rose 1.7%. Kohl’s traffic was down just 1.4% vs down 11.5% in March. Macy’s saw its year-over-year visit gap narrow to 2.4% in April.
“Department store performance in Q1 2026 reflected today’s increasingly bifurcated landscape, where premium, experience-driven retailers continue to draw shoppers even amid broader caution, while mid-market chains remain more exposed to macro pressure,” the Placer.ai report concluded.
