Macy's Inc on Wednesday said its Chief Executive Officer Jeff Gennette will retire in February, after serving the U.S. department store chain for 40 years and will be succeeded by insider Tony Spring.

Spring, who is the chairman and CEO of Macy's unit Bloomingdale's, has been with the company for 36 years. He was named as a successor to Gennette after an internal and external search, Macy's said.

Gennette, 61, was credited with turning the business around with the Polaris Strategy, a three-year plan which was introduced to accelerate its digital business and ensure a profitable growth at a time when department stores were facing sagging sales due to increasing online competition.

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Under his leadership, he was able to navigate an activist investor push to spin off its online unit and decided to retain the business, as he believed the company would be profitable along with the digital platform and national footprint than a separation.

Gennette, who has been the head of the company since 2017, spearheaded it during the COVID-19 pandemic when Macy's expedited shipments and ordered products earlier, while other retailers in the United States grappled with product shortages to meet the seasonal demand.

Macy's said as part of the leadership transition, Chief Financial Officer Adrian Mitchell's responsibilities have been expanded to include the role of chief operating officer.

In early March, the department store chain forecast annual profit largely above expectations as the company looked to rein in promotional offers to beef up its margins, with Gennette referring to promotions undertaken at Macy's to get rid of excess inventory as "competitive but measured".

Shares of the company fell about 1% in premarket trading.