CEO Jeff Gennette Gives Progress Report on Macy’s Sustainability Initiatives
Macy’s Inc. is making progress on its sustainability efforts, but there’s a long road ahead to make more of an impact.
“Sustainability is one of the most consequential issues we face as an industry,” said Jeff Gennette, chairman and chief executive officer of Macy’s Inc., speaking at the WWD Sustainability Forum. “As a collective over the past few years, we have made great strides in creating a more sustainable future. I am pleased to see so many leaders, brands and retailers working together to accelerate this critical issue for our business, our people and our planet’s future.
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“But this vital work has only just begun.”
Last year, Macy’s Inc. launched Mission Every One, its social service program. It allocates $5 billion through 2025 to “the partners, the products, the people and programs that help create a more equitable and sustainable future,” Gennette said.
“Earlier this year, we celebrated the one-year anniversary of our platform and the significant progress we made on our goals, which included directing $1.4 billion of our spend in fiscal year 2022. I am proud of the work we have done to create positive societal change by embedding our social service platform into all aspects of our business. Our social purpose platform is focused on three pillars of impact: people, communities and planet. As a framework for decision-making, Mission Every One guides, challenges and encourages our colleagues to consider this work against their strategies, their operations, as well as their decision-making. An integral part of this work is sustainability.”
He said the goal at Macy’s Inc. is “to embed sustainability across our entire business and provide our customers with more sustainable products.” He said in that regard, 2022 was “a transformative year” where Macy’s created the infrastructure to advance sustainability efforts. The work, he said, was centered on including more sustainable materials and processes into the private brand products managed by the Macy’s private brand sourcing team, and with market brand partners, including Levi’s, PVH and Adidas. “We are half way there to meeting our 2025 goals with 3,000 sustainable product pages added (online) as of 2022.”
“Sustainability just isn’t about product and sourcing,” Gennette said. “It’s about the entire product ecosystem and that is why human rights, women’s equality and family well-being are also priorities throughout the company’s global value chain. In 2022, Macy’s also provided increased transparency into our comprehensive private brand practices that insured accountability and adherence to our high standards. And we have created partnerships with industry advisors including RISE (Reimaginary Industry to Support Equality) the World Wildlife Fund and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation to help us further our work and scale faster. We are dedicated to reducing our environmental impact as part of our commitment to a more sustainable future for all.”
Gennette, who retires next year and will be succeeded by Tony Spring, currently Macy’s Inc.’s president, said that in November 2022, the company committed to setting new near-term science-based emission reduction goals. This initiative “builds on our emission reductions from 2018 to 2021 where we reduced scope 1 and 2 emissions by 20 percent,” Gennette said.
“At Macy’s Inc., we are confident that our stakeholders see the progress we have made through Mission Every One as not only societal change but also a great business driver,” Gennette said. “We all know that retail is a team sport and we are all in this together. To succeed in creating a more sustainable industry we need to be peers, not competitors.”
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