Department store operator Macy's Inc said it planned to hire about 86,000 workers for the holiday shopping season, up from about 83,000 last year.

Macy's said it would hire about 1,125 for its customer service centers, about 3,000 for delivery and store pickup services for online orders at Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores, and more than 850 to support its holiday events such as the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

The company said it anticipated higher sales in its online business and was hiring about 10,000 workers to fulfill online orders at its megacenters, including in West Virginia, Arizona, Portland, Tennessee and Connecticut.

Macy's hired about 6,600 seasonal workers last year for its online order fulfillment centers.

Retailers make nearly a third of their annual sales and generate almost 40 percent of their profits during the selling season that starts a day after Thanksgiving and goes on until early January.

Rival Kohl's Corp said this month that it would hire more than 67,000 workers for the holiday shopping season, about 34 percent more than last season.