Martha Stewart is homeless at Macy's

Macy's had planned to build a home for Martha Stewart within its department stores, a spiffy 3,000-square-foot showcase abode where the retailer could display the towels, sheets, tableware and other housewares the domestic arts diva is designing for the chain.

But even before the wedding, Macy's announced there won't be a threshhold to carry Stewart over. The store is scrapping plans to build the units, citing a slump in the housing market, although the retailer is still gung ho on the Stewart line.

Even without a roof over her head, the Macy's deal is a good thing for Stewart. First and foremost, it insulates Martha Stewart Living from the shrinking payments the company is scheduled to receive from Kmart-turned-Sears in the later years of the contract. This year, Martha Stewart Living will receive a guaranteed payment of $59 million, even without selling a single tea towel. By the time the deal winds down in 2010, the guarantee falls to $15 million, barely enough to keep Stewart in glue guns.