![Red star](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Red_star.svg)
Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co.) is an American chain of high-end department stores founded in 1858 by
Rowland Hussey Macy
Rowland Hussey Macy Sr. (August 30, 1822 – March 29, 1877) was an American businessman who founded the department store chain Macy's.
Life and career
Macy was the fourth of six children born to a Quaker family on Nantucket Island, Massachus ...
. It became a division of the
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
-based Federated Department Stores in 1994, through which it is affiliated with the
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a div ...
department store chain; the holding company was renamed
Macy's, Inc.
Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito' ...
in 2007. As of 2015, Macy's was the largest U.S.
department store
A department store is a retail establishment offering a wide range of consumer goods in different areas of the store, each area ("department") specializing in a product category. In modern major cities, the department store made a dramatic app ...
company by retail sales.
Macy's as of October 29, 2022, has 510 stores (569 boxes), inclusive of 445 department stores (499 boxes; includes 51 stores or 55 boxes that are neighborhood stores), 46 furniture galleries (51 boxes), 1 furniture clearance center, 9 freestanding Backstage stores, 7 Market by Macy's and 2 stores converted to fulfillment centers (there are a total of 506 full line stores and a total of 551 stores) with the Macy's nameplate in operation throughout the United States.
Its
flagship store
A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, characteristically a flag officer entitled by custom to fly a distinguishing flag. Used more loosely, it is the lead ship in a fleet of vessels, typically the fi ...
is located at
Herald Square
Herald Square is a major commercial intersection in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue (officially Avenue of the Americas), and 34th Street. Named for the now-defunct ''New ...
in the
New York City borough
New York City is composed of five boroughs: The Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, and Staten Island. Each borough is coextensive with a respective county of New York State, making New York City the largest U.S. municipality situated in mult ...
of
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
. The company had 130,000 employees and earned annual revenue of $24.8 billion as of 2017.
Macy's has conducted the annual
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade
The Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is an annual parade in New York City presented by the U.S.-based department store chain Macy's. The Parade first took place in 1924, tying it for the second-oldest Thanksgiving parade in the United States with ...
in New York City since 1924 and has sponsored the city's annual
Fourth of July
Independence Day (colloquially the Fourth of July) is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the Declaration of Independence, which was ratified by the Second Continental Congress on July 4, 1776, establishing the United States ...
fireworks display since 1976. Macy's
Herald Square
Herald Square is a major commercial intersection in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue (officially Avenue of the Americas), and 34th Street. Named for the now-defunct ''New ...
is one of the largest department stores in the world. The flagship store covers almost an entire New York City block, features about 1.1 million square feet of retail space, includes additional space for offices and storage, and serves as the endpoint for the Thanksgiving Day parade. The value of Herald Square alone is estimated at around $3 billion.
In August 2021, WHP Global announced that
Toys "R" Us
Toys "R" Us is an American toy, clothing, and baby product retailer owned by Tru Kids (doing business as Tru Kids Brands) and various others. The company was founded in 1957; its first store was built in April 1948, with its headquarters loc ...
is opening 400+
stores within Macy's starting in 2022.
Early history
1800s
Rowland Hussey Macy
Rowland Hussey Macy Sr. (August 30, 1822 – March 29, 1877) was an American businessman who founded the department store chain Macy's.
Life and career
Macy was the fourth of six children born to a Quaker family on Nantucket Island, Massachus ...
opened four retail
dry goods
Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and forme ...
stores between 1843 and 1855. One of them was the original Macy's store in downtown
Haverhill, Massachusetts; it opened in 1851 to serve the mill industry employees of the area. They all failed, but he learned from his mistakes. Macy moved to
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
in 1858, to establish a new store named "R. H. Macy & Co." on
Sixth Avenue between
13th
In music or music theory, a thirteenth is the note thirteen scale degrees from the root of a chord and also the interval between the root and the thirteenth. The interval can be also described as a compound sixth, spanning an octave pl ...
and
14th Streets. The location was far north of where other
dry goods
Dry goods is a historic term describing the type of product line a store carries, which differs by region. The term comes from the textile trade, and the shops appear to have spread with the mercantile trade across the British Empire (and forme ...
stores were at the time.
[Abelson, Elaine S. "R. H. Macy" in ] On the company's first day of business on October 28, 1858, sales totaled $11.08, equal to $ today. The branding emblem at the onset of the 1858 store was a rooster. The red star did not appear to replace it until 1862.
As the business grew, Macy's expanded into neighboring buildings, opening more and more departments. The store used publicity devices such as a store
Santa Claus, themed exhibits, and illuminated window displays to draw in customers. It also offered a money-back guarantee, although it accepted only cash into the 1950s. The store also produced its in-house
made-to-measure
Made-to-measure (MTM) typically refers to custom clothing that is cut and sewn using a standard-sized base pattern. Suits and sport coats are the most common garments made-to-measure. The fit of a made-to-measure garment is expected to be superio ...
clothing for both men and women, assembled in an on-site factory.
In 1875, Macy took on two partners, Robert M. Valentine (1850–1879), a nephew; and Abiel T. La Forge (1842–1878) of
Wisconsin
Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...
, who was the husband of a cousin.
Macy died in 1877 from
inflammatory kidney disease (then known as
Bright's disease
Bright's disease is a historical classification of kidney diseases that are described in modern medicine as acute or chronic nephritis. It was characterized by swelling and the presence of albumin in the urine, and was frequently accompanied ...
).
La Forge died the following year, and Valentine died in 1879.
Ownership of the company remained in the Macy family until 1895, when the Straus brothers,
Isidor and
Nathan, acquired the company (now called "R. H. Macy & Co."). Isidor Straus and his brother Nathan Straus had previously held a license to sell china and other goods in the Macy's store.
1900s
Construction of Macy's Herald Square
![USA-NYC-Macys](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/USA-NYC-Macys.JPG)
In 1902, the flagship store moved uptown to
Herald Square
Herald Square is a major commercial intersection in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York City, formed by the intersection of Broadway, Sixth Avenue (officially Avenue of the Americas), and 34th Street. Named for the now-defunct ''New ...
at
34th Street and Broadway, so far north of the other main dry goods emporia that it had to offer a steam wagonette to transport customers from 14th Street to 34th Street.
Although the Herald Square store initially consisted of just one building, it expanded through new construction, eventually occupying almost the entire block bounded by
Seventh Avenue on the west, Broadway on the east, 34th Street on the south and
35th Street on the north, with the exception of a small pre-existing building on the corner of 35th Street and Seventh Avenue and another on the corner of 34th Street and Broadway. This latter 5-story building was purchased by Robert H. Smith in 1900 for $375,000 (equivalent to $ in ) with the idea of getting in the way of Macy's becoming the largest store in the world: it is largely supposed that Smith, who was a neighbor of the Macy's store on 14th Street, was acting on behalf of
Siegel-Cooper, which had built what they thought was the world's largest store on Sixth Avenue in 1896. Macy's ignored the tactic, and simply built around the building, which now carries Macy's "shopping bag" sign by lease arrangement.
In 1912, Isidor Straus died in the sinking of the ''
Titanic
RMS ''Titanic'' was a British passenger liner, operated by the White Star Line, which sank in the North Atlantic Ocean on 15 April 1912 after striking an iceberg during her maiden voyage from Southampton, England, to New York City, Unit ...
'' at the age of 67 with his wife, Ida.
The
original Broadway store was designed by architects
De Lemos & Cordes, was built in 1901–02 by the
Fuller Company
George A. Fuller (1851 – December 14, 1900) was an American architect often credited as being the "inventor" of modern skyscrapers and the modern contracting system.
Early life and career
Fuller was born in Templeton, Massachusetts, near W ...
and has a
Palladian
Palladian architecture is a European architectural style derived from the work of the Venetian architect Andrea Palladio (1508–1580). What is today recognised as Palladian architecture evolved from his concepts of symmetry, perspective and ...
facade, but has been updated in many details. There were further additions to the west in 1924 and 1928, and the Seventh Avenue building in 1931, all designed by architect
Robert D. Kohn, the newer buildings were increasingly
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
in style.
[, pp. 225–26] In 2012, Macy's began the first full renovation of the iconic Herald Square flagship store at a reported cost of $400 million.
Studio V Architecture, a New York-based firm, was the overall Master Plan architect of the project. Studio V's design raised controversy over the nature of contemporary design and authentic restoration.
The building was added to the
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
as a
National Historic Landmark
A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the United States government for its outstanding historical significance. Only some 2,500 (~3%) of over 90,000 places listed ...
in 1978.
[ and ]
National expansion
![San Francisco Macys](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/San_Francisco_Macys.jpg)
In the 1960s, Macy's built a store on
Queens Boulevard
Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Queens connecting Midtown Manhattan, via the Queensboro Bridge, to Jamaica. It is long and forms part of New York State Route 25.
Queens Boulevard runs northwest to s ...
in
Elmhurst, in the New York City
borough
A borough is an administrative division in various English-speaking countries. In principle, the term ''borough'' designates a self-governing walled town, although in practice, official use of the term varies widely.
History
In the Middle A ...
of
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
. This resulted in a round department store on 90 percent of the lot, with a small privately owned house on the corner. Macy's no longer fully occupies this building, which now contains the
Queens Place Mall, with Macy's Furniture Gallery as a tenant; instead it moved its full outlet to the nearby
Queens Center
Queens Center Mall is an urban shopping mall in Elmhurst, Queens, New York City, on Queens Boulevard between 57th Avenue and Woodhaven Boulevard. Queens Center Mall is the largest mall in Queens. It is currently owned and managed by The Macerich ...
.
More distant acquisitions included
Lasalle & Koch (
Toledo, 1924),
Davison-Paxon-Stokes (
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
, 1929),
L. Bamberger & Co. (
Newark, 1929),
O'Connor Moffat & Company (San Francisco, 1945) and John Taylor Dry Goods Co. (
Kansas City, 1947). O'Connor Moffat was renamed
Macy's San Francisco in 1947, later becoming Macy's California, and John Taylor was renamed Macy's Missouri-Kansas in 1949. Stores in Toledo retained the Lasalle's name until 1981, joining the Missouri-Kansas stores to become Macy's Midwest. The Toledo stores were sold to
Elder-Beerman
The Elder-Beerman Stores Corp., commonly known as Elder-Beerman, was an American chain of department stores founded in 1883 and whose last stores closed in 2018. The chain, based primarily in the Midwestern United States, was composed of 31 stor ...
in 1986.
Macy's New York began opening stores outside of its historic New York City–Long Island trade area in 1983 with a location at
Aventura Mall in
Aventura, Florida
Aventura is a planned, suburban city in northeastern Miami-Dade County, Florida, United States, 17 miles north of the city of Miami and part of the Miami metropolitan area. The city is especially well-known for Aventura Mall, the 5th largest ...
(a suburb of Miami), followed by several locations in
Plantation, Florida
Plantation is a city in Broward County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the population was 91,750. It is a principal city of the Miami metropolitan area. The city's name comes from the previous part-owner of the land, the E ...
(now relocated from the Fashion Mall to the Broward Mall since the
Burdines
Burdines (} ) was an American chain of department stores operating in the state of Florida, headquartered in Miami. The original store opened in Bartow, Florida in 1896 as a carriage-trade shop. Over its nearly 110-year history, Burdines grew ...
acquisition),
Houston
Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 i ...
, New Orleans, and
Dallas
Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...
. Davison's in
Atlanta
Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...
was renamed Macy's Atlanta in early 1985 with the consolidation of an early incarnation of
Macy's Midwest Macy's Midwest, St. Louis, Missouri, is a former division of Macy's, Inc. It had operations in New York, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. It was created February 1, 2006 from a reorganization of ...
(former Taylor and Lasalle's stores in
Kansas City and Toledo, respectively), but late in 1985, Macy's sold the former Midwest locations.
Bamberger's, which had aggressively expanded throughout
New Jersey
New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...
, into the
Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan area in the 1960s and 1970s as well as into Nanuet, New York (southern Rockland County), and into the
Baltimore metropolitan area
The Baltimore–Columbia–Towson Metropolitan Statistical Area, also known as Central Maryland, is a Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) in Maryland as defined by the United States Office of Management and Budget (OMB). As of the 2010 Census, t ...
in the early 1980s, was renamed Macy's New Jersey in 1986.
History under Federated
1986–1993: Attempted buy-outs and bankruptcy
In 1986 Edward Finkelstein, Chairman & CEO of R. H. Macy & Co., Inc., led a leveraged buy-out of the company and subsequently engaged in a takeover battle for
Federated Department Stores, Inc., in 1988 that he lost to Canada's
Campeau Corporation. As part of its settlement with Campeau, Macy's purchased Federated's California-based, fashion-oriented
Bullock's
Bullock's was a chain of full-line department stores from 1907 through 1995, headquartered in Los Angeles, growing to operate across California, Arizona and Nevada. Bullock's also operated as many as seven more upscale Bullocks Wilshire specialty ...
and its high-end
Bullocks Wilshire
Bullocks Wilshire, located at 3050 Wilshire Boulevard in Los Angeles, California, is a Art Deco building. The building opened in September 1929 as a luxury department store for owner John G. Bullock (owner of the more mainstream Bullock's in Dow ...
and
I. Magnin
I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, ...
divisions. It followed with a reorganization of its divisions into Macy's Northeast (former Macy's New York and Macy's New Jersey), Macy's South/Bullock's (Macy's Atlanta stores plus Macy's New York's operations in Texas, Florida and Louisiana), and Macy's California, the latter including a semi-autonomous I. Magnin/Bullocks Wilshire organization. The Bullocks Wilshire stores were renamed I. Magnin in 1989. Subsequently, R. H. Macy & Co., Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 27, 1992, after which point its banks brought in a new management team, which shut several underperforming stores, jettisoned two-thirds of the luxury I. Magnin chain, and reduced Macy's to two divisions,
Macy's East
Macy's East, New York City, New York was a division of Macy's, Inc. It was the operating successor to the original R.H. Macy & Co., Inc. and operates the Macy's department stores in the northeast U.S. and Puerto Rico. Over the years it has bee ...
and
Macy's West
Macy's West is a longtime division of Macy's, Inc. (formerly Federated Department Stores), representing one of the New York-based department store chain's earliest notable acquisitions and westward expansions. Headquartered in San Francisco, Ca ...
.
Macy's East, New York City was a division of
Macy's, Inc.
Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito' ...
It is the operating successor to the original R.H. Macy & Co., Inc. and operates the Macy's department stores in the northeast U.S. and Puerto Rico. Over the years it has been known as Macy's New York and Macy's Northeast. On February 1, 2006, Macy's East assumed operating control over the
Filene's
Filene's (formally William Filene & Sons Co.) was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts, was supplemented by the foundation of its off-p ...
,
Strawbridge's, many of the
Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Summary
The store was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of the famous Fallingwater house. In the post-war years, the store became a regio ...
stores in upstate New York and the
Hecht's
Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores that operated mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States. The firm originated in Baltimore, Maryland.
By 20 ...
stores in
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...
,
Maryland
Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...
, D.C. and northern Virginia. These locations assumed the Macy's moniker officially on September 9, 2006. In 2008 Macy's East took over the small Macy's North division.
In May 1993, Macy's announced the planned fall 1994 launch of TV Macy's, the retailer's own home shopping channel, in conjunction with
Don Hewitt
Donald Shepard Hewitt (December 14, 1922 – August 19, 2009) was an American television news producer and executive, best known for creating the CBS television news magazine ''60 Minutes'' in 1968, which at the time of his death was the longest- ...
, Thomas Leahy and
Cablevision
Cablevision Systems Corporation was an American cable television company with systems serving areas surrounding New York City. It was the fifth-largest cable provider and ninth-largest television provider in the United States. Throughout its ex ...
.
1994–2005: Acquisition by Federated
![Macy's Headquarters](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f1/Macy%27s_Headquarters.jpg)
R. H. Macy & Co. merged with
Federated Department Stores
Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito ...
on December 19, 1994. Following the merger, the reorganized Macy's moved its headquarters to
Cincinnati
Cincinnati ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Hamilton County. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line wit ...
, Ohio. Federated promptly shut down the remainder of the I. Magnin chain, converting several to Macy's or Bullock's and selling four in
Carmel,
Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California. A notable and historic suburb of Greater Los Angeles, it is in a wealthy area immediately southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. ...
, San Diego and
Phoenix
Phoenix most often refers to:
* Phoenix (mythology), a legendary bird from ancient Greek folklore
* Phoenix, Arizona, a city in the United States
Phoenix may also refer to:
Mythology
Greek mythological figures
* Phoenix (son of Amyntor), a ...
to
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (originally Saks & Company; colloquially Saks) is an American luxury department store chain headquartered in New York City and founded by Andrew Saks. The original store opened in the F Street shopping district of Washington ...
. Federated also merged its
Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...
/
Jordan Marsh
Jordan Marsh (officially Jordan Marsh & Company) was an American department store chain that was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and operated throughout New England. It was founded by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh in 1841. The ...
division with the new "Macy's East" organization based in New York, renaming the
Abraham & Straus
Abraham & Straus, commonly shortened to A&S, was a major New York City department store, based in Brooklyn. Founded in 1865, it became part of Federated Department Stores in 1929. Shortly after Federated's 1994 acquisition of R.H. Macy & Company ...
stores in metropolitan New York with the Macy's nameplate in 1995, and then erasing the
Jordan Marsh
Jordan Marsh (officially Jordan Marsh & Company) was an American department store chain that was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and operated throughout New England. It was founded by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh in 1841. The ...
moniker in
New England
New England is a region comprising six states in the Northeastern United States: Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. It is bordered by the state of New York (state), New York to the west and by the Can ...
in early 1996.
Federated followed that by leading a bid in mid-1995 to acquire the bankrupt
Woodward & Lothrop
Woodward & Lothrop was a department store chain headquartered in Washington, D.C. that began as the capital's first department store in 1887. Woodies, as it was often nicknamed, maintained stores in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Its flagship ...
/
John Wanamaker organization in the mid-Atlantic region, a bid it lost to a rival group led by long-time rival and future acquisition target
The May Department Stores Company
The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many ...
. Instead Federated soon agreed to purchase
Broadway Stores, Inc. (owner of
The Broadway
The Broadway was a mid-level department store chain headquartered in Los Angeles, California. Founded in 1896 by English-born Arthur Letts Sr., and named after what was once the city's main shopping street, the Broadway became a dominant reta ...
,
Emporium and
Weinstock's
Weinstock's, originally Weinstock, Lubin, and Co., was an American department store chain headquartered in Sacramento, California. It was founded by Harris Weinstock and his half-brother, David Lubin. The chain was purchased by Hale's in 1949, b ...
stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico), from its majority shareholder,
Sam Zell
Samuel Zell (born Shmuel Zielonka, September 28, 1941) is an American billionaire businessman and philanthropist. A former lawyer, Zell is the founder and chairman of Equity Group Investments, a private investment firm, founded in 1968. He ha ...
, thereby gaining a leading position in Southern California and a dominant one in the Northern California marketplace. In early 1996 Federated dissolved Broadway Stores, incorporating the majority of its locations into
Macy's West
Macy's West is a longtime division of Macy's, Inc. (formerly Federated Department Stores), representing one of the New York-based department store chain's earliest notable acquisitions and westward expansions. Headquartered in San Francisco, Ca ...
, rebadging them as Macy's and using the opportunity to retire the Bullock's name. Several of the redundant Broadway locations were used to establish
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a div ...
on the
West Coast, while many others were sold to
Sears
Sears, Roebuck and Co. ( ), commonly known as Sears, is an American chain of department stores founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosenwald, with what began a ...
.
In 2001 Federated dissolved its
Stern's
Stern's (originally Stern Brothers) was a regional department store chain serving the U.S. states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. The chain was in business for more than 130 years.
In 2001, Stern's parent company Federated Departmen ...
division in the New York metropolitan area, with the bulk of the stores being absorbed into
Macy's East
Macy's East, New York City, New York was a division of Macy's, Inc. It was the operating successor to the original R.H. Macy & Co., Inc. and operates the Macy's department stores in the northeast U.S. and Puerto Rico. Over the years it has bee ...
. Additionally, in July 2001 it acquired the
Liberty House chain with department and specialty stores in Hawaii and Guam, consolidating it with Macy's West.
In early 2003 Federated closed the majority of its historic
Davison's
Davison's of Atlanta was a department store chain and an Atlanta shopping institution. It was the major competition to Rich's and it took the Macy's name in 1986.
Founding
Davison's first opened its doors in Atlanta in 1891 and had its orig ...
franchise in Atlanta (operating as Macy's since 1985), rebranding its other Atlanta division
Rich's with the unwieldy name, Rich's–Macy's. The downtown location – formerly the Davison's flagship store at
180 Peachtree Street – was shuttered at this time as well. The original Macy's
Lenox Square
Lenox Square is a shopping mall in the Buckhead district of Atlanta, Georgia. With 198 tenants and of gross leasable area, it is the third-largest mall in Georgia. The mall is currently owned and managed by Simon Property Group, and is consider ...
and
Perimeter Mall
Perimeter Mall is a shopping mall in Perimeter Center, Dunwoody, Georgia, a suburb of Atlanta, near the interchange of Interstate 285 (the Perimeter) and Georgia State Route 400. It is the second largest shopping mall in the state of Georgia, ...
locations were extensively remodeled and opened in October 2003 as the first
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a div ...
stores in Atlanta. The company rapidly followed suit in May 2003 with similar rebranding announcements for its other nameplates,
Burdines
Burdines (} ) was an American chain of department stores operating in the state of Florida, headquartered in Miami. The original store opened in Bartow, Florida in 1896 as a carriage-trade shop. Over its nearly 110-year history, Burdines grew ...
in Florida,
Goldsmith's
Goldsmith's was a department store founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1870 by German immigrant brothers Jacob and Isaac Goldsmith. It grew into a chain largely located in the Memphis metropolitan area, until 2005, when the nameplate was eliminated ...
in
Memphis
Memphis most commonly refers to:
* Memphis, Egypt, a former capital of ancient Egypt
* Memphis, Tennessee, a major American city
Memphis may also refer to:
Places United States
* Memphis, Alabama
* Memphis, Florida
* Memphis, Indiana
* Memp ...
,
Lazarus in the lower Midwest, and
The Bon Marché
The Bon Marché, whose French name translates to "the good market" or "the good deal", was a department store chain launched in Seattle, Washington, United States, in 1890 by Edward Nordhoff. The name was influenced by Le Bon Marché, the note ...
in the Pacific Northwest.
On March 6, 2005, the
Bon-Macy's,
Burdines-Macy's
Burdines (} ) was an American chain of department stores operating in the state of Florida, headquartered in Miami. The original store opened in Bartow, Florida in 1896 as a carriage-trade shop. Over its nearly 110-year history, Burdines grew i ...
,
Goldsmith's-Macy's,
Lazarus-Macy's, and
Rich's–Macy's stores were renamed as simply "Macy's", the first two as the new
Macy's West
Macy's West is a longtime division of Macy's, Inc. (formerly Federated Department Stores), representing one of the New York-based department store chain's earliest notable acquisitions and westward expansions. Headquartered in San Francisco, Ca ...
and
Macy's Florida divisions respectively and the later three as part of the
Macy's Central division. As of July 2005, Macy's had 424 stores throughout the U.S.
2005–2006: Effects of Federated–May merger
![Macy's at Westfield Hawthorn](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Macy%27s_at_Westfield_Hawthorn.jpg)
On February 28, 2005, Federated agreed to terms of a deal to acquire
The May Department Stores Company
The May Department Stores Company was an American department store holding company, formerly headquartered in downtown St. Louis, Missouri. It was founded in Leadville, Colorado, by David May in 1877, moving to St. Louis in 1905. After many ...
for $11 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in stock, creating the nation's second largest department store chain with $30 billion (equivalent to $ in ) in annual sales and more than 1,000 stores.
On July 28, 2005, Federated announced, based on the success of converting its own regional brands to the Macy's name, its plans to similarly convert 330
regional department stores owned by the May Company (as May Department Stores was generally referred to) to the Macy's nameplate. This included May's
Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company (commonly known as Marshall Field's) was an upscale department store in Chicago, Illinois. Founded in the 19th century, it grew to become a large chain before Macy's, Inc acquired it in 2005. Its eponymous founder, Mar ...
(which had just been purchased by the May Company from
Target
Target may refer to:
Physical items
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artillery, f ...
in 2004),
Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Summary
The store was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of the famous Fallingwater house. In the post-war years, the store became a regio ...
,
Famous-Barr
The Famous-Barr Co. (originally Famous and Barr Co.) was a division of Macy's, Inc. (formerly Federated Department Stores). Headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, in the Railway Exchange Building, it was the flagship store of The May Department S ...
,
Filene's
Filene's (formally William Filene & Sons Co.) was an American department store chain; it was founded by William Filene in 1881. The success of the original full-line store in Boston, Massachusetts, was supplemented by the foundation of its off-p ...
,
Foley's
Foley's was a chain of department stores owned by May Department Stores and headquartered in Downtown Houston, Texas. On August 30, 2005, the division was dissolved and operation of the stores was assumed by Federated's Macy's West and Macy's ...
,
Hecht's
Hecht's, also known as Hecht Brothers, Hecht Bros. and the Hecht Company, was a large chain of department stores that operated mainly in the mid-Atlantic and southern region of the United States. The firm originated in Baltimore, Maryland.
By 20 ...
,
The Jones Store
The Jones Store Company was an American chain of department stores located in the Kansas City area formerly operated by Mercantile Stores Company and the St. Louis, Missouri-based May Co.
History
The Jones Store Company was founded in 1887 as an ...
,
L. S. Ayres,
Meier & Frank
Meier & Frank was a prominent chain of department stores founded in Portland, Oregon, and later bought by The May Department Stores Company. Meier & Frank operated in the Pacific Northwest from 1857 to 2006.
History Summary
Meier & Frank was f ...
,
Robinsons-May
Robinsons-May was a chain of department stores operating in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada, from 1993 until 2006. It was created when May Department Stores combined two of its chains, May Company California and J. W. Robinson's cha ...
, and
Strawbridge & Clothier chains, pending approval of the merger by federal regulators.
The rebranding of the May stores was disliked in Chicago and elsewhere because the stores were regarded as beloved local institutions. The renaming of Filene's, Marshall Field's, and Kaufmann's, which were well known for their downtown flagship stores and local traditions provoked the most outrage. For example, Kaufmann's operated the Kaufmann's
Celebrate the Season Parade which was traditionally broadcast live throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on television. Many customers publicly vowed to never again shop at the renamed May stores and to switch to competitors. Prominent film critic
Roger Ebert voiced the grief of many Chicagoans at the loss of Field's when he wrote in his column on September 21, 2005:
On January 12, 2006, Federated announced its plans to divest May Company's
Lord & Taylor
Lord & Taylor was the oldest brick and mortar department store in the United States, in business from 1826 to 2020. The brand was purchased during former owner Le Tote's 2020 liquidation bankruptcy and relaunched by new owner, Saadia Group, as ...
division by the end of 2006 before converting and closing seven stores. On June 22, 2006, Macy's announced that NDRC Equity Partners, LLC would purchase Lord & Taylor for US$1.2 billion (equivalent to $ in ),
and completed the sale in October 2006.
By September 9, 2006, after renaming the former May Company stores, Macy's operated approximately 850 stores in the United States. To promote its largest and most recent expansion, Macy's used a version of the
Martha and the Vandellas hit song, "Dancing in the Street", in its advertising. Also, the company took
props
A prop, formally known as (theatrical) property, is an object used on stage or screen by actors during a performance or screen production. In practical terms, a prop is considered to be anything movable or portable on a stage or a set, distinc ...
from its annual
Thanksgiving Day parade to various re-labeled stores throughout the nation, in what the company marketed as its "Parade on Parade".
In October 2006, Federated Department Stores entered into an agreement with
Zoom Systems ZoomSystems specializes in the design, technology, software development, and operation of automated retail stores. ZoomSystems technology and services support automated, self-service retail stores called ZoomShops located in airports, malls, milita ...
to test more than 100 stores within retail giant Macy's. Terry Lundgren, CEO of Federated, raved about the ability to provide consumers with a convenient means to purchase iPods and other consumer electronics, saying "This is exciting because it brings most-wanted merchandise into stores in a unique new way.... How cool is that?" Today, Macy's has converted its entire Electronics section in every store to (over 400) eSpot
ZoomShops ZoomSystems specializes in the design, technology, software development, and operation of automated retail stores. ZoomSystems technology and services support automated, self-service retail stores called ZoomShops located in airports, malls, milit ...
.
Current operations under Macy's, Inc.
2007–2014
![Macy's Fairview](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Macy%27s_Fairview.jpg)
Macy's significantly increased its use of television advertising and product placement in 2006 and 2007, using branding spots that featured the new Macy's star logo. Macy's television commercials are produced primarily by
New York Production Services, a New York-based commercial and independent film production company. During two episodes of the popular
ABC television series ''
Desperate Housewives ''("
I Remember That" and "
Now You Know"), a Macy's location in the fictional city of Fairview was featured, rare instances of
product placement promoting a department store chain in a scripted series. Nearly two years prior to the first episode, one of the first national commercials for Macy's had aired during ''Desperate Housewives'', shortly after the conversions of Rich's, Lazarus, Goldsmith's, The Bon Marché and Burdines.
On February 27, 2007, Federated Department Stores announced plans to change its corporate name to Macy's Group, Inc.
By March 28, the company further announced plans to convert its stock ticker symbol from "FD" to "M", and revised its name change to
Macy's, Inc
Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shilli ...
.
The change in corporate names was approved by shareholders on May 18, 2007, and took effect on June 1, 2007. The company continues to operate stores under the Macy's and Bloomingdale's nameplates.
In March 2009, Macy's opened a one-level, concept store in Gilbert, Arizona, a Phoenix suburb, that was designed to better fit open air lifestyle malls.
Additional stores with the new format have opened in
Fairview, Texas
Fairview is a town in Collin County, Texas, United States. It is part of the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area. As of the 2017 census, the town population was 8,950. The estimated population in 2018 was 9,092. The town is adjacent to the Hear ...
;
Lee's Summit, Missouri
Lee's Summit is a city located within the counties of Jackson (primarily) and Cass in the U.S. state of Missouri. It is a suburb of Kansas City, Missouri. As of the 2020 census its population was 101,108, making it the sixth-largest city in bo ...
; and
Nampa, Idaho
Nampa () is the largest city in Canyon County, Idaho. Its population was 100,200 at the time of the 2020 Census. It is Idaho's third-most populous city. Nampa is about west of Boise along Interstate 84, and six miles (10 km) west of Meridian. ...
. The stores are designed to be compact and meet current demands for more convenient shopping similar to Kohl's and newer J. C. Penney stores. Lifestyle stores feature Starbucks Coffee Cafés with wireless web and fitting rooms designed to feel like lounges with sofas and Plasma TVs. Ceilings in the center areas are higher to be reminiscent of older department stores. The format was the culmination of 18 months of research to create stores for the "My Macy's" initiative that allows stores to be merchandised differently in markets across the country to meet local demands.
On October 28, 2014
Macy's, Inc.
Macy's, Inc. (originally Federated Department Stores, Inc.) is an American conglomerate holding company. Upon its establishment, Federated held ownership of the regional department store chains Abraham & Straus, Lazarus, Filene's, and Shillito' ...
announced an extension of the lease-operation agreement with
Al Tayer Group
Al Tayer Group () is a privately held holding company established in 1979. Currently the group has operations in 6 countries in the Middle East, including nearly 200 stores and 23 showrooms in multiple markets in the Middle East. The company is he ...
LLC that would bring the first Macy's store overseas to
Abu Dhabi, anchoring a new mall with its corporate-sister
Bloomingdale's
Bloomingdale's Inc. is an American luxury department store chain; it was founded in New York City by Joseph B. and Lyman G. Bloomingdale in 1861. A third brother, Emanuel Watson Bloomingdale, was also involved in the business. It became a div ...
, which will open its second overseas store (the first was located at
The Dubai Mall
The Dubai Mall ( ar, دبي مول "Dubai Mall") is a shopping mall in Dubai. It is the second largest mall in the world after the Iran Mall by total land area, and the 26th-largest shopping mall in the world by gross leasable area, tying with ...
); both are slated to open in 2018.
Macy's was the 15th-largest retailer in the United States for 2014 by
revenue
In accounting, revenue is the total amount of income generated by the sale of goods and services related to the primary operations of the business.
Commercial revenue may also be referred to as sales or as turnover. Some companies receive reven ...
.
2015–present
![Macy's University Town Center](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Macy%27s_University_Town_Center.jpg)
In January 2015, it was announced that Macy's would close 14 stores nationwide and shift 830 workers from Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores.
Unrelated to the store closings, on July 13, 2015 Macy's announced it had sold the former flagship store of
Kaufmann's
Kaufmann's was a department store that originated in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Summary
The store was owned in the early 20th century by Edgar J. Kaufmann, patron of the famous Fallingwater house. In the post-war years, the store became a regio ...
in
Downtown Pittsburgh
Downtown Pittsburgh, colloquially referred to as the Golden Triangle, and officially the Central Business District, is the urban downtown center of Pittsburgh. It is located at the confluence of the Allegheny River and the Monongahela River who ...
for redevelopment, closing the location after 128 years.
In May 2015, Macy's joined the new
American Express-backed
Plenti rewards card, which it shares with
AT&T Mobility,
Direct Energy
Direct Energy LP is a North American retailer of energy and energy services. The company was founded in Toronto in 1986 and now has more than four million customers in Canada and the United States. Direct Energy is a subsidiary of NRG Energy.
His ...
,
Enterprise Rent-A-Car,
ExxonMobil,
Hulu,
Nationwide Insurance
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and affiliated companies, commonly shortened to Nationwide, is a group of large U.S. insurance and financial services companies based in Columbus, Ohio. The company also operates regional headquarters in Scott ...
, and
Rite Aid
Rite Aid Corporation is an American drugstore chain based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was founded in 1962 in Scranton, Pennsylvania, by Alex Grass under the name Thrift D Discount Center. The company ranked No. 148 in the Fortune 500 l ...
.
On September 9, 2015, Macy's announced it would close 35 to 40 under-performing stores by early 2016. The retailer's struggles continued into the holiday season in 2015. The company announced that it experienced same store sales declines of 5.2% in November and December 2015 – typically busy months. In January 2016, Macy's announced that it will
layoff up to 4,800 employees.
The company said that these closings would experience cost savings of $400 million.
[ As of January 2016, Macy's had 770 stores in total.
On August 11, 2016, Macy's announced that it would close 100 stores in early 2017, expecting to save $550 million a year and cut more than 10,000 jobs. Macy's claimed it would instead invest $250 million in digital business and growth strategies for the remaining stores. By January 2018, Macy's had revealed the locations of 81 of the 100 store closures.
In September 2016, Macy's announced that it would be opening an ]Apple Store
The Apple Store is a chain of retail stores owned and operated by Apple Inc. The stores sell various Apple products, including Mac personal computers, iPhone smartphones, iPad tablet computers, Apple Watch smartwatches, Apple TV digital me ...
in its flagship location, making it the first department store to host an Apple store. The announcement came after six straight quarters of sales drops and significant store closings. In early January 2017, the value of Macy's shares fell 14%, its biggest drop in seven months.
In February 2017, the Hudson's Bay Company
The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC; french: Compagnie de la Baie d'Hudson) is a Canadian retail business group. A fur trading business for much of its existence, HBC now owns and operates retail stores in Canada. The company's namesake business di ...
made an overture to Macy's for a potential takeover of the struggling department store.
Macy's acquired experiential concept Story in May 2018 and made a minority investment in b8ta, a retail as a service concept, in June 2018.
By February 2019, Macy's Inc. was operating 867 stores, including Macy's, Backstage, Bloomingdale's, Bloomingdale's Outlets, Bluemercury, and STORY; 641 of the 867 stores were Macy's, including 584 that are full line and 57 that are home, furniture, clearance and specialty stores.
In November 2018, Macy's announced they would test smaller "neighborhood" stores to reduce costs and promote innovation within the customer experience realm.
As of 2018, Macy's ranked 120 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue. Gennette has also launched an overhaul of Macy's stores called the Growth150 strategic plan.
In the second quarter of 2019, Macy's shares fell more than 13 percent. On August 14, shares hit $15.82, which was their lowest since February 2010.
After conducting two years of research, Macy's announced in 2019 that it intended to ban the sale of fur
Fur is a thick growth of hair that covers the skin of mammals. It consists of a combination of oily guard hair on top and thick underfur beneath. The guard hair keeps moisture from reaching the skin; the underfur acts as an insulating blanket t ...
products at its stores by the end of the 2020 fiscal year. The news follows the state of California's ban on the manufacturing and sale of such items.
In 2020, Macy's closed its Cincinnati headquarters, consolidating headquarters operations in New York City. JANA Partners
JANA Partners LLC ("JANA" or "JANA Partners") is an investment manager specializing in event-driven investing. It was founded in 2001 by Barry Rosenstein. JANA engages in traditional shareholder activism and socially responsible investing.
Hi ...
, an activist investment firm, disclosed a large stake in Macy's in 2021, and sent a letter to the board recommending spinning off the company's online business. In response, Macy's hired AlixPartners
AlixPartners is a financial advisory and global consulting firm best known for its work in the turnaround space.Merx, Katie. "Thinking Big Thoughts." ''Crain's Detroit Business'' 19.36 (2003): 18. ''Regional Business News.'' Web. 29 May 2013. J ...
to review their business structure. By the end of 2021, JANA had reduced their holding in Macy's by 84%, or about 1.5% of the company.
In August 2021, Macy's announced they were partnering with Toys "R" Us to open toy shops in Macy's stores, starting in 2022. In November 2021, Macy's announced they were starting a free education program and boosting its corporation base salary to $15 per hour.
Nameplates
Current
* Macy's – chain of department stores usually located in shopping malls; in properties that have multiple Macy's locations, the second stores are often arranged in the following department configurations:
** Women and Children
** Furniture Clearance
** Furniture Gallery
** Furniture and Kids
** Furniture and Men's
** Furniture, Home, Kids, and Men's
** Furniture, Home, and Men's
** Furniture, Kids, and Men's
** Home, Kids, and Men's
** Home, Kids, and Women's
** Home and Men's
** Kids and Men's
** Men’s
* Macy's Backstage – chain of off-price stores-within-stores located inside 302 full-line Macy's department stores, with 9 freestanding locations. Some brands sold in Macy's Backstage stores are not or no longer sold by full line Macy's stores, such as PVH's Izod
The Izod Corporation (officially stylized as IZOD) is an American midrange clothing company that produces dressy-casual clothing, sportswear for men, and footwear and accessories. It is a division of Authentic Brands Group, and is currently m ...
and Arrow brands, and Ralph Lauren Corporation
Ralph Lauren Corporation is an American publicly traded fashion company that was founded in 1967 by American fashion designer Ralph Lauren. The company is headquartered in New York City, producing products ranging from the mid-range to the luxur ...
's Chaps brand.
Former
The nameplates of regional department stores were usually replaced entirely by the Macy's brand upon acquisition, with the exception of some chains that were co-branded
Co-branding is a marketing strategy that involves strategic alliance of multiple brand names jointly used on a single product or service.
Co-branding is an arrangement that associates a single product or service with more than one brand name, o ...
before eventually being replaced by Macy's completely:
Criticism and controversy
In July 2003, then-New York State Attorney General
The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has been in existence in some form since 1626, under the Dutch colonial government o ...
Eliot Spitzer launched an investigation of the private policing system Macy's has used to deal with suspected shoplifters. The investigation was prompted by a civil rights lawsuit and an article in ''The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', which reported on many of Macy's tactics, including private jails and interrogations. Spitzer's investigation found many of Macy's actions, from ethnic profiling to handcuffing detainees, to be unlawful. In 2005, Macy's settled the civil rights complaint for $600,000 (equivalent to $ in ), claiming to have put the illegal tactics to an end while maintaining the security system itself.
On June 6, 2006, Macy's downtown Boston store (formerly the Jordan Marsh
Jordan Marsh (officially Jordan Marsh & Company) was an American department store chain that was headquartered in Boston, Massachusetts, and operated throughout New England. It was founded by Eben Dyer Jordan and Benjamin L. Marsh in 1841. The ...
flagship) removed two mannequin
A mannequin (also called a dummy, lay figure, or dress form) is a doll, often articulated, used by artists, tailors, dressmakers, window dressers and others, especially to display or fit clothing and show off different fabrics and textiles. P ...
s and the Web address of the AIDS Action Committee from a window display promoting Boston's annual gay pride
LGBT pride (also known as gay pride or simply pride) is the promotion of the self-affirmation, dignity, equality, and increased visibility of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people as a social group. Pride, as opposed to s ...
celebration. The removal was apparently in response to pressure from MassResistance, a local group opposed to same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage, also known as gay marriage, is the marriage of two people of the same sex or gender. marriage between same-sex couples is legally performed and recognized in 33 countries, with the most recent being Mexico, constituting ...
, whose members complained the mannequins were "homosexual". The removal of the mannequins was controversial and Boston mayor Thomas Menino
Thomas Michael Menino (December 27, 1942 – October 30, 2014) was an American politician who served as the 53rd mayor of Boston, from 1993 to 2014. He was the city's longest-serving mayor. He was elected mayor in 1993 after first serving three ...
was quoted as saying:
Macy's responded by publishing an apology by the Macy's East chairman, Ron Klein, in ''In Newsweekly'', a Boston-area weekly with a large gay readership. Klein's description of the incident as "an internal breakdown in communication", further stated it was regrettable some would doubt Macy's commitment to diversity as a result.[ ''Note: Only the first of two pages have been archived.''] The Web address was later restored – the mannequins, however, never made a reappearance.
See also
* List of department stores of the United States
This is a list of department stores of the United States currently operating.
Department stores
Corporate chains national
* Hudson's Bay Company
** Saks Fifth Avenue
** Saks Off 5th
* Macy's
**Bloomingdale's
* Neiman Marcus Group, Inc ...
References
External links
*
''The Romance of a Great Store'' by Edward Hungerford
Straus Historical Society
{{Authority control
Clothing retailers of the United States
Companies based in Cincinnati
Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1992
Department stores of the United States
Midtown Manhattan
Retail companies established in 1858
Shops in New York City
1858 establishments in New York (state)
Economy of New York City
Furniture retailers of the United Kingdom
Toys "R" Us