Macy's is about to close more stores - here's where they will likely shut down

Macy's is about to kick off its next wave of store closures.

The retailer revealed plans in August to shut down 100 stores in early 2017 as it battles slowing sales and growing online competition.

Macy's Chief Financial Officer Karen Hoguet provided an update on the closures at a conference last week, and said some stores will start shutting down before the end of the year, according to the Cincinnati Business Journal.

Hoguet didn't reveal how many closures are imminent, but said "All 100 will not close at year end," according to the Business Journal.

"Many of those have leases, so it makes no sense to pay rent and not operate," she said. In other words, stores owned by Macy's will be the first to close.

Macy's has not released a comprehensive list of stores that will close. The company did not respond to Business Insider's request for comment on how many stores would close before the end of the year.

"When we have more to share, we will announce accordingly," Macy's spokeswoman Holly Thomas said.

Macy's employs more than 150,000 people, and the closures represent 15% of its store base.

The only impending closures that Macy's has confirmed are the following:

• Carolina Place in Pineville, North Carolina
• Oakwood Mall in Eau Claire, Wisconsin
• Greenwood Mall in Bowling Green, Kentucky
• Quail Springs Mall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (closed earlier this year)
• Lancaster Mall in Salem, Oregon
• Southwest Morrison St. in Portland, Oregon
• Douglaston Mall in Douglaston, New York
• Macy's Men's store in Union Square in San Francisco

In August, Morningstar analysts identified 28 stores that are most at risk for closures.

They include:

• Cottonwood Mall in Albuquerque, New Mexico
• Dover Mall and Commons in Dover, Delaware
• South Towne Center in Sandy, Utah
• Lakeland Square Mall in Lakeland, Florida
• Friendly Center in Greensboro, North Carolina
• Lakewood Center in Lakewood, California
• The Shops at Wiregrass in Wesley Chapel, Florida
• Crossroads Center in Saint Cloud, Minnesota
• Battlefield Mall in Springfield, Missouri
• Sangertown Square in New Hartford, New York
• Westfield Trumbull in Trumbull, Connecticut
• Montgomery Mall in North Wales, Pennsylvania
• Starwood National Mall Portfolio in Plano, Texas
• Peachtree Mall in Columbus, Georgia
• Glenbrook Square in Fort Wayne, Indiana
• Oglethorpe Mall in Savannah, Georgia
• Visalia Mall in Visalia, California
• Willowbrook Mall in Houston, Texas
• Town East Mall in Mesquite, Texas
• Bend River Promenade in Bend, Oregon
• Tucson Mall inTucson, Arizona
• Sunvalley Shopping Center inConcord, California
• Meadowood Mall in Reno, Nevada
• Penn Square Mall in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
• The Mall of New Hampshire in Manchester, New Hampshire

The business analytics firm 1010data has also made a prediction on where closures are most likely.

The firm identified the most at-risk areas for closures based on a review of consumer spending data that showed where Macy's is losing the most market share to competitors including Dillard's, Nordstrom, and Lord and Taylor.

Here are the top 10 cities where Macy's lost the most market share between 2014 and 2015 - and where the company is most likely to close stores as a result, according to 1010data.

1. Milwaukee, Wisconsin - 14% loss
2. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania - 12% loss
3. Hartford, Connecticut - 9.4% loss
4. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - 9.1% loss
5. Detroit, Michigan - 8.2% loss
6. Cincinnati, Ohio - 7.5% loss
7. Daytona Beach, Florida - 7.4% loss
8. St. Louis, Missouri - 6.2% loss
9. Columbus, Ohio - 5.9% loss
10. Cleveland, Ohio - 5.7% loss

Macy's experienced the biggest losses in market share in large cities in the Midwest, such as Cincinnati and Milwaukee. But areas in the South, Northeast, and Pacific Northwest also experienced significant declines, according to 1010data.

Here's a heat map showing the areas that experienced the most losses in market share.