Traditional department stores like Macy’s have been trying to reinvent themselves, shedding stores and expanding their e-commerce operations to try to compete with Amazon and other online retailers. But this week, Wall Street’s patience with such turnaround efforts wore thin, amid a string of unsettling earning reports by brick-and-mortar retailers, the New York Times reported. After Macy’s reported another sales decline in the second quarter on Thursday, its share price fell more than 10 percent. On Friday, J. C. Penney shares hit their lowest price in a decade, falling 16 percent after the company said its profit margins had softened more than analysts had expected. Kohl’s also fell on Friday after it reported earnings. And some analysts expect Sears to report a third consecutive double-digit decline in same-store sales for the second quarter. The retail sector is the second most actively shorted industry in the stock market behind the software and internet sector, according to S3 Partners, a financial analytics firm. And short bets on retailers have increased 18 percent since Jan. 1.
