Jan. 9--The post-holiday shopping blues finally came knocking at Crestwood Court. Macy's Inc. will close its department store at the struggling Crestwood mall after 39 years of operations there.

The decision was part of a broad restructuring effort announced Thursday by the department store chain, and it comes as the nation's retailers reported a dreadful holiday shopping season.

The Crestwood store is among 11 locations -- all described as "underperforming" -- that Macy's plans to close nationwide. Besides the cost-cutting move, the retailer also said fourth-quarter earnings will be lower than expected because it marked down prices sharply.

Macy's wouldn't say when the local store would close. But an executive of Chicago-based Centrum Properties, the owner of Crestwood Court, told city officials the store will close April 1, said Jim Eckrich, the city administrator. Clearance sales begin Wednesday at the Crestwood store.

Macy's, based in Cincinnati, said the 11 closures will eliminate 960 jobs, including 176 at the Crestwood store. The mall will have only Sears as a major anchor after Macy's closes.

Don Phares, professor emeritus of economics at the University of Missouri in St. Louis, said store closings are a symptom of broader trouble.

"A lot of these stores in the malls were doing reasonably well last year," he said. "Then the economy went down the tubes. It just put them over the edge."

Nationwide, retailers reported a bleak picture: Same-store sales were down 1.7 percent for December, with many chains reporting declines of 10 percent and more, according to an index released Thursday by the International Council of Shopping Centers and Goldman Sachs.

Holiday spending was so anemic that even Wal-Mart didn't escape unscathed: It posted a smaller sales gain than Wall Street expected and cut its earnings outlook for the fourth quarter.

With the exception of drugstores and supermarkets, retailers "are in terrible shape," said Neil Stern, a senior partner at McMillan Doolittle, a retail consultant in Chicago. Consumers "are simply not spending."

Analysts also blamed winter storms and a scarcity of compelling fashions for December's poor sales.

Dismal sales figures for the holiday shopping season are probably a sign of worse to come for merchants in 2009 -- not only more sharp discounts and cheaper groceries but probably fewer stores.

Macy's declined to comment on the future of the downtown St. Louis store, long known for having lower sales than other local stores.

Though 2009 looks bleak, Stern doubts Macy's will shut down more stores this year.