NEW YORK - January 8, 2009  - Macy's Inc is expected to announce as soon as Thursday it will close 10 locations, the Wall Street Journal reported citing a person familiar with the matter.

The department store operator, which runs more than 810 Macy's stores and also operates the Bloomingdale's chain, had reported a $30 million loss in the first nine months of 2008, with sales dropping 4.3 percent.

U.S. retailers faced what could be the worst holiday shopping season in nearly four decades as a yearlong recession, tighter credit, and mounting job losses squeeze household budgets.

"We have said that we will continue to prune stores on an as-needed basis over time," Macy's spokesman Jim Sluzewski told the paper, declining to comment further.

Macy's could not be immediately reached for further comment.