India, Dec. 24 -- Department stores once anchored shopping routines. They held the perfume counter, the gift registry, the school uniform run, and the last-minute birthday stop. That role is now changing. Across the US and Canada, large chains are shrinking their physical footprints between 2024 and 2026.

Some are shutting down as leases expire. Others are executing formal, multi-year downsizing plans. What remains is uneven. Flagships survive, smaller markets lose anchors as malls redraw their maps. Here is where the biggest shifts are happening.

Macy's is in the middle of a planned reduction of roughly 150 underperforming stores through 2026, with dozens already confirmed. The company is shifting focus to fewer, higher-performing flag...