Macy’s swung back to a profit in its second quarter but suffered yet another sales decline as inflationary weary shoppers rein in spending, with their focus increasingly on buying the essentials.

Macy’s sales and profits fell during the first quarter as higher costs and other financial challenges had customers pulling back on spending.

Macy’s said Wednesday it has named two independent directors to its board that were pushed by activist investor Arkhouse Management, ending a proxy fight that aimed to replace most of the board and to acquire the iconic chain.

Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management are upping their offer to acquire Macy’s in a deal now valued at $6.6 billion.

Arkhouse Management is nominating nine people for Macy’s board of directors, igniting a proxy battle after the department store operator rejected a $5.8 billion takeover offer from the investment firm and Brigade Capital Management.

Philadelphia police say a man who had tried to steal merchandise from a department store returned 15 minutes later and stabbed two security guards, killing one and injuring the other.

Retailers are kicking off the unofficial start of the holiday shopping season on Friday with a bevy of discounts and other enticements.

Kohl’s reported on Wednesday that both profits and sales declined in the second quarter as the department store wrestles with shoppers’ cautious spending in a challenging economy.

Macy’s, Target and Dollar General are warning investors their sales will suffer this year as consumers shift spending to essentials.

Asian stock markets are following Wall Street higher ahead of an update on the U.S. jobs market.

Macy’s says Chairman and CEO Jeff Gennette plans to retire and will be succeeded by Bloomingdale’s Chairman and CEO Tony Spring in February.

The latest earnings reports from Macy’s and Best Buy show that consumers are still cutting back their spending on clothing and gadgets as inflationary pressures on everything from food to gas are straining household budgets.

Macy’s is tempering its sales outlook for the fiscal fourth quarter after shoppers spent less than expected during the lull between Thanksgiving weekend and the final days before Christmas.

Results from Macy’s, Kohl’s and Gap have further underscored the cloudy picture for U.S. retailers heading into the start of the holiday season.

Macy’s is trimming its expectations for the year despite topping expectations in its most recent quarter as it faces a glut of unsold inventory that has afflicted almost the entire retail sector.

Before looking ahead to next year and America’s 247th birthday in 2023, here are some photos of fireworks displays in New York City, Washington, D.C., Las Vegas and Los Angeles on Monday night.

Shoppers’ return to occasion dressing helped to power Macy’s fiscal first-quarter results, and the department store chain raised its annual earnings outlook even as surging inflation is crimping Americans’ budgets.

Macy’s is reporting strong fourth-quarter sales and profits that exceeded Wall Street estimates even as the department store chain faced numerous challenges from supply chain issues to labor shortages and inflation.

Fueled by pay gains, solid hiring and enhanced savings, Americans sharply ramped up their spending at retail stores last month in a sign that many consumers remain unfazed by rising inflation.

Americans overlooked shortages, spiking prices and uncertainty over the omicron variant to break spending records during the critical holiday shopping season.

Holiday sales rose at the fastest pace in 17 years, even as shoppers grappled with higher prices, product shortages and a raging new COVID-19 variant in the last few weeks of the season, according to one spending measure.

Americans slowed their spending from October to November but still continued to shop ahead of the critical holiday season, brushing off rising prices and shortages.

Giant balloons once again wafted through miles of Manhattan, high school and college marching bands from around the country were back, and so were the crowds at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

Target will no longer open its stores on Thanksgiving Day, making permanent a shift to the unofficial start of the holiday season that was suspended during the pandemic.

Department store chains Macy’s and Kohl’s delivered strong results for the fiscal third quarter as shoppers go back to buying dresses and other goods that fell to the bottom of the shopping list when the pandemic struck.

U.S. consumer prices rose a lower-than-expected 0.3% last month, the smallest monthly increase n seven months and a hopeful sign that inflation pressures may be cooling.

A return, at least temporarily, to near normalcy is giving a boost two of America’s largest department stores hit by the pandemic last year.

Americans cut back on their spending last month as a surge in COVID-19 cases kept people away from stores.

Americans spent more last month on clothing and dining out as the economy opened up amid fewer pandemic-related restrictions.

More than 8 million television viewers took in NBC's coverage of the Macy's Fourth of July fireworks on Sunday.

After a year lost to the coronavirus, New York City’s most well-known Fourth of July traditions were back.

At Walmart, sales of teeth whitener are popping as customers take their masks off.

Macy’s emerged from an unprecedented year with a surprising swing back into the profit column, and it boosted its guidance for all of 2021.

Students commute between classes at Downtown Burlington High School, Monday, March 22, 2021, in Burlington, Vt. Students who once shopped at a downtown mall are now attending high school in the mall's former Macy's department store, taking escalators to and from classes. The existing Burlington High School was closed last August after PCBs were found in the building. The Downtown Burlington High School opened March 4, about six months after school administrators closed the existing school, just under 2 miles away, because toxic industrial chemicals known as PCBs were found in the building and soil during renovations. As school officials looked for space where students could attend school in-person, they eventually eyed the empty department store, which closed in 2018. “It's weird but cool at the same time,” said freshman Moses Doe, 15, who said he and his family shopped plenty at Macy's before it became his school.

The department store chain said Tuesday, Feb. 23 it anticipates 2021 as a recovery and rebuilding year as the company sets a foundation for growth. Still, the department store defended its physical store business, noting that online sales are two to three times higher in markets with Macy's stores. Macy's and other department stores are being threatening on multiple levels. “It could have been a terrible year for Macy’s," Jeff Gennette, Macy's CEO, told analysts on the earnings call Tuesday. It said 25% of Macy's online sales were fulfilled in its stores.

Black Friday shoppers wear face masks as the leave Saks Fifth Avenue flagships store empty handed, Friday, Nov. 27, 2020, in New York. Crowds at stores were dramatically diminished as shoppers shifted online. Black Friday is projected to generate $10 billion in online sales, a 39% bump from the year ago period, according to Adobe. And Cyber Monday, the Monday after Thanksgiving, will remain the biggest online shopping day of the year with $12.7 billion in sales, a 35% jump. At a popular shopping area in St. Petersburg, Florida, several storefronts were empty, and the only line was at a plasma donation center.

WAUWATOSA, Wis. – Police searched Friday evening for the suspect in a shooting at a suburban Milwaukee mall that left seven adults and a teenager injured. But in the latest update, the department offered its first explanation of what may have led to the shooting. Some people remained in the mall while police searched for a suspect. Police said Cole was fleeing from police; Mensah, who is also Black, said he shot Cole because Cole pointed a gun at him. The mall was the target of sporadic protests over several months in the wake of the shooting.

FILE - In this Nov. 29, 2019, file photo a shopper leaves a Macy's department store with bags in both hands during Black Friday shopping in New York. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File)NEW YORK – Macy's swung to a quarterly loss and sales tumbled 22% as the department store chain struggled to bring shoppers back to stores during a pandemic. The New York company furloughed a majority of its employees. And they are threatening traditional department stores at multiple levels. But the department store has a heavy presence in malls, which had been struggling long before COVID-19.

FILE - Santa Claus waves during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, Nov. 28, 2019, in New York. Macy's said Santa Claus won't be greeting kids at its flagship New York store this year due to the coronavirus, interrupting a holiday tradition started nearly 160 years ago. However, Macy's said the jolly old man will still appear at the end of the televised Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. But he will still appear at the end of the televised Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade, the company said. Macy's has been using Santa Claus to draw crowds to its New York store since the early 1860s, calling itself “The Home of Santa Claus" for decades.

FILE - In this Nov. 23, 1995 file photo Woody Woodpecker leads a line of other balloons and floats into New York's Times Square during the 69th annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. A Macy's Thanksgiving parade reimagined for the coronavirus pandemic will feature floats, performers and giant balloons parading along a one-block stretch of 34th Street in front of the retailer's flagship Manhattan store, Macy's officials announced Monday, Sept. 14, 2020. The spectacle will be broadcast as usual from 9 a.m. to noon Eastern time on NBC and will include both live and recorded elements, Macy's officials said. The 2 1/2-mile Thanksgiving parade route will be axed in favor of a short stroll for the cameras, Macy’s spokesperson Orlando Veras said. Mayor Bill de Blasio thanked Macy's officials for their effort to stage the parade despite COVID-19 restrictions.

The company was forced to close stores on March 18 because of the coronavirus outbreak, causing sales to plunge by as much as 45%, the company said Thursday. Kohl's said earlier this week that sales fell 43% last quarter, while sales at L Brands, the parent company of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, dropped 37%. Macy's began reopening stores on May 4 -- just a couple days after its first fiscal quarter came to a close. Macy's is limiting the number of customers allowed inside stores that are reopening and installing social distancing signs and markers. The company says it’s working: “With two weeks of results from reopened stores, customer demand is moderately higher than we anticipated,” Gennette said.

NEW YORK Late last year, Best Buy began testing curbside pickup at select stores as a way to respond to customer needs. Macys sales were down 45% and the company says it could have a loss of at least $1 billion in the quarter. Still, it shows how the pandemic is deepening the divide between big box stores and mall-based clothing chains. Target's CEO Brian Cornell said its stores were directly involved in supplying goods for 80% of online sales. It expects another 80 Macys stores to open for Memorial Day weekend and most of its stores, including its flagship stores in Manhattan, to open in mid-June.

How much do you know about Thanksgiving Day parades?

A Mighty Morphin Power Ranger balloon at the 91st Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City on Nov. 23, 2017. NEW YORK - It's officially November, which means if you're not talking Thanksgiving Day Parade, we're not interested. The new balloons were flight tested in New Jersey Saturday "under the direction of Macy's highly skilled flight management team," according to a press release. The balloons include the beagle Snoopy, which Macy's says got an "out-of-this-world makeover" as an astronaut this year. Macy's 93rd Thanksgiving Day Parade will be on November 28.

Gwinnett Place Mall in Duluth, Georgia decorated as the Starcourt Mall from Stranger Things 3. (CNN) - The Georgia mall featured in the third season of the Netflix show "Stranger Things" is up for sale. Though the show painted the idea of a crowded shopping center, the once bustling suburban mall in Duluth, Georgia, is so empty that a decomposing body went unnoticed for two weeks in 2017. Gwinnett Place Community Improvement District Executive Director Joe Allen confirmed the sale to The Gwinnett Daily Post. However, Moonbeam only owns the largest chunk of Gwinnett Place Mall.

Sales at Target stores open at least a year increased 3.4% during the summer quarter and profit rose, Target said Wednesday. Target beat Wall Street's predictions for the recent quarter and raised its profit forecast for the rest of the year. Macy's last week said that sales at stores open at least a year inched up but profit fell 48% during its most recent quarter. Target, Walmart and discount clothing chains such as TJMaxx are gaining market share against these retailers. Target and Walmart operate stores away from malls, an advantage because foot traffic is slowing at malls around the country.

It's the latest sign of pressure on the battered department store sector. Macy's profit fell 48% during its spring quarter compared with the same period a year ago, the company said in earnings on Wednesday. During the spring, Macy's said it had a "fashion miss" in its key private-label athletic brand and struggled to sell warm weather gear. Sales at department stores dropped 4.3% over the past six months compared with a year prior, the Commerce Department said in July. Macy's has tried to combat the rise off discount chains by opening Macy's Backstage, its own lower-priced arm, within some stores.

The decision came in response to a customer's tweet criticizing the plates' message Sunday night. The $9.50 plates, designed by a company called Pourtions, feature three circles of increasing sizes in which one might place their food. The circles are labeled "skinny jeans," "favorite jeans" and "mom jeans." She tweeted a photo and asked: "How can I get these plates from Macy's banned in all 50 states?" After reviewing the complaint, we quickly removed the plates, which were only in our STORY at Macy's location in Herald Square."