Macy's
Macy's is a mid-range chain of
American department stores with its
flagship store in
Herald Square,
New York City, which has been billed as the "world's largest store" since completion of the Seventh Avenue addition in 1924. The company also operates two other flagship storesâ€" at
San Francisco's Union Square and as of September 2006, on
Chicago's State Street, formerly
Marshall Field's).
The company is also well-known for sponsoring
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a
parade held on the streets of New York City annually since 1924.
The company is part of
Federated Department Stores and competes on an average price level in the middle of all department stores, competing above
Belk,
J.C. Penney and
Sears, and directly with
Dillard's and
Lord & Taylor (in certain markets). However, the company competes below
Bloomingdale's,
Neiman Marcus,
Nordstrom, and
Saks Fifth Avenue.
Macy's was founded in
1858 by
Rowland Hussey Macy, who in
1851 established a dry goods store in downtown
Haverhill, Massachusetts, after moving to New York City and establishing a new store named "R.H. Macy & Company" on the corner of 14th Street and 6th Avenue, which later moved to 18th Street and
Broadway on the "Ladies' Mile", the
19th century elite shopping district, where it remained for nearly forty years.
|
The Macy's flagship department store with the famous brownstone at 34th and Broadway. |
In
1896, Macy's was acquired by
Isidor Straus and his brother Nathan, who had previously sold merchandise in the store. In
1902 the flagship store moved slightly uptown to
Herald Square at 34th Street and Broadway. Although the store initially consisted of just one building, it expanded through new construction and merging, eventually occupying almost the entire block bounded by 7th Avenue on the west, Broadway on the east, 34th Street on the south, and 35th Street on the north. The only exception is one small
brownstone on the corner of 34th and Broadway, which remains a separate property. Macy's rents it annually for a legendary sum and camouflages it with giant signs.
The same problem presented itself when Macy's built a store on
Queens Boulevard in
Elmhurst,
Queens, New York. This resulted in an architecturally unique round department store on 90 percent of the lot, with a small privately owned house on the corner.
Guinness World Records lists Macy's Herald Square flagship as the world's largest
department store building, with 198,500 m² (2,150,000 ft²) of selling floor. However, some claim that other stores are larger, such as the
GUM store in
Moscow, Russia, or Tobu's Ikebukuro branch in
Tokyo.
Expansion
Macy's underwent a period of expansion during the
1920s and
1930s. The company went public in
1922 and began to open up branch stores. Acquisitions were also made outside of the New York region. Department Stores in
Toledo, Ohio (LaSalle & Koch 1924),
Atlanta, Georgia (Davison-Paxon-Stokes
1929),
Newark, New Jersey (L. Bamberger & Co. 1929),
San Francisco, California (O'Connor Moffat & Company
1945), and
Kansas City, Missouri (John Taylor Dry Goods Co. 1947) were purchased during this time. O'Conner Moffat was renamed Macy's California in 1947. Macy's began opening stores outside of its historic New York Cityâ€"Long Island trade area in
1983 with a location at
Aventura Mall in
Aventura, Florida (a suburb of
Miami), followed by several locations in
Houston, Texas;
New Orleans, Louisiana; and
Dallas, Texas. Davison's in
Atlanta, Georgia, was renamed Macy's in early
1985 with the consolidation of
Macy's Midwest (former Taylor and LaSalle's stores in
Kansas City and Toledo, respectively), but late in 1985, Macy's turned around and sold the Ohio stores to Elder-Beerman of
Dayton, Ohio, and the Missouri and Kansas stores to
Dillard's of
Little Rock, Arkansas. Bamberger's, which had aggressively expanded throughout
New Jersey, into the
Greater Philadelphia Mero Area in the
1970s, and into the
Baltimore Metro Area in the early
1980s, was renamed Macy's New Jersey in
1986.
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 Corp., which walked away with the purchase of Federated's California-based, fashion-oriented Bullock's and its high-end
Bullocks Wilshire and
I. Magnin 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 Southâ€"Bullock's (Macy's Atlanta stores plus Macy's New York operations in Texas, Florida and Louisiana), Macy's California and I. Magninâ€"Bullocks Wilshire, with the Bullocks Wilshire stores renamed I. Magnin in
1989.
Subsequently, R.H. Macy & Co., Inc., filed for bankruptcy in January
1992 at which point its banks brought in a new management team, which shut several underperforming stores and jettisoned two-thirds of the luxury I. Magnin chain.
Merger with Federated Department Stores
 |
The Macy's in downtown Cincinnati, home of Federated Department Stores. |
At the start of
1994, Federated began pursuing a merger with Macy's. After a long and difficult courtship, R.H. Macy & Co. finally merged with
Federated Department Stores on
December 19,
1994. 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, San Diego and Phoenix to
Saks Fifth Avenue. Federated also merged its
Abraham & Straus/
Jordan Marsh division with the new "Macy's East" organization based in New York, renaming the
Abraham & Straus stores in metropolitan New York with the Macy's nameplate in
1995, and then erasing the
Jordan Marsh moniker in New England in early
1996.
Federated followed that by leading a mid-1995 bid to acquire the bulk of the
Woodward & Lothrop/
John Wanamaker organization in the mid-Atlantic region, a bid it pursued half-heartedly (and soon lost to a bid led by long-time rival and future acquisition target
May Department Stores) as it soon agreed to purchase
Broadway Stores, Inc., from its majority shareholder, Sam Zell, thereby gaining a dominant position in Southern California and a strangle-hold on the Northern California marketplace. It promptly subsumed
The Broadway,
The Emporium and
Weinstock's stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico into its newly enlarged
Macy's West unit (now including the Bullock's franchise), selling several locations to competitors like Sears and J.C. Penney.
In
2001 Federated dissolved its
Stern's division in the New York metropolitan area, with the bulk of the stores being consolidated with
Macy's East. 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 franchise in Atlanta (operating as Macy's since 1985), rebranding its other Atlanta division
Rich's with the unwieldy name, Rich'sâ€"Macy's. The Macy's
Lenox Square and
Perimeter Mall locations were extensively remodeled and opened in October
2003 as the first
Bloomingdale's stores in Atlanta. The company rapidly followed suit in May
2003 with similar rebranding annoucements for its other nameplates,
Burdines in Florida,
Goldsmith's in Memphis,
Lazarus in the lower Midwest, and
Bon Marché in the Pacific Northwest.
On
March 6,
2005, Bon-Macy's (now Macy's Northwest),
Burdines-Macy's (now Macy's Florida),
Goldsmith's-Macy's (now Macy's South),
Lazarus-Macy's (now Macy's South), and
Rich's-Macy's (now Macy's South) stores were renamed as simply "Macy's." Macy's has 424 stores throughout the U.S., as of July
2005. [
1]
Merger with May Department Stores
On
February 28,
2005, at a time when Macy's had about 400 stores, Federated agreed to terms of a deal under which it would acquire
May Department Stores for $11 billion in stock, creating the nation's second largest department store chain with $30 billion in annual sales and over 1,000 stores.
On
July 28,
2005, Federated announced that, based on the success of converting its own regional brands to the Macy's name, it proposed to similarly convert 330
regional department stores owned by the May Company, named variously
Famous-Barr,
Filene's,
Foley's,
Hecht's,
The Jones Store,
Kaufmann's,
L.S. Ayres,
Meier & Frank,
Robinsons-May, or
Strawbridge's, pending approval of the merger by federal regulators. Where Macy's stores were in close proximity to other May Company stores, some redundant stores would close while others might be converted to
Bloomingdale's, another brand owned by Federated. On
September 20,
2005, Federated announced that all of its
Marshall Field's stores (including the legendary State Street store) would become Macy's by the end of
2006, becoming the new Macy's North division. The announcement was met with much hostility. If the project is completed as envisioned by the fall of 2006, Macy's will have approximately 850 stores in the United States. As of September 9, all May Company department stores will become Macy's.
On
January 12, 2006, Federated announced its plans to divest the
Lord & Taylor division by the end of 2006 after concluding that chain does not fit with their strategic focus for building the Macy's and Bloomingdale's national brands. By
June 22,
2006, it was announced that NDRC Equity Partners, LLC will purchase Lord & Taylor for $1.2 billion [
2]. Until the sale is completed, Lord & Taylor will remain a separate brand of Federated Deparment Stores.
In February
2006 Macy's appointed a new chief marketing officer, Anne MacDonald, to oversee the transformation of Macy's into a "national department store."
As of February
2006, Macy's stores are organized into seven divisions with store locations in 45 states,
Washington, D.C., and
Guam; only
Alaska,
Arkansas,
Iowa,
Mississippi and
Nebraska either have no current Macy's stores or no stores scheduled to be converted to Macy's. The seven current Macy's divisions include five former divisions existing up to 2005, plus the six former regional May Company divisions.
[3] (
Bloomingdale's is an eighth retail division of Federated. There are also seven administrative divisions that provide corporate support services).
*
Macy's East, headquartered in New York — 216 stores/29,100 employees (employment figure is for Macy's East division prior to February 2006) in
Connecticut,
Delaware,
Maine,
Maryland,
Massachusetts,
New Hampshire,
New Jersey,
New York,
Pennsylvania,
Rhode Island,
Vermont,
Virginia and
Puerto Rico. (In addition to Macy's, this division currently operates Filene's stores, the majority of Kaufmann's stores in upstate New York, Strawbridge's, and Hecht's stores in the mid-Atlantic region. After announced divestitures/store closures are completed by late 2006, this division will have 185 locations.)
*
Macy's Florida, headquartered in Miami — 61 stores/9,800 employees in
Florida. The majority of the stores were formerly
Burdines.
*
Macy's Midwest, headquartered in St. Louis — 95 stores in
Illinois,
Indiana,
Kansas,
Kentucky,
Missouri,
New York,
Ohio,
Pennsylvania, and
West Virginia. (Currently operates Famous-Barr, The Jones Store, L.S. Ayres, the bulk of Kaufmann's stores, and Macy's stores in Western Pennsylvania. After announced divestitures/store closures are completed in late 2006 and final reorganization planned for early 2007, this division will operate approximately 110 stores.)
*
Macy's North, headquartered in Minneapolis — 65 stores in
Illinois,
Indiana,
Michigan,
Minnesota,
North Dakota,
Ohio,
South Dakota, and
Wisconsin. (Currently operates as Marshall Field's, plus L.S. Ayres location in Merrillville, Indiana, and Macy's at Mall of America. One duplicate location at University Park Mall in Mishawaka, Indiana, is expected to close in spring 2006.)
*
Macy's Northwest, headquartered in Seattle — 71 stores/7,200 employees (employment figure is for Macy's Northwest division prior to February 2006) in
Idaho,
Montana,
Oregon,
Utah,
Washington, and
Wyoming. (In addition to Macy's stores, currently operates Meier & Frank stores. One duplicate location at Valley River Center in Eugene, Oregon, is to close in spring 2006.)
*
Macy's South, headquartered in Atlanta — 166 stores/14,100 employees (employment figure is for former Macy's Central division) in
Alabama,
Georgia,
Indiana,
Kentucky,
Louisiana,
North Carolina,
Ohio,
Oklahoma,
South Carolina,
Tennessee,
Texas,
Virginia, and
West Virginia. (In addition to Macy's stores, operates Hecht's stores in southern Virginia and North Carolina, and Foley's stores in Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas. After announced store divestitures in 2006 and final reorganization planned for early 2007, this division will encompass approximately 130 locations.)
*
Macy's West, headquartered in San Francisco — 232 stores/31,100 (employment figure is for Macy's West division prior to February 2006) in
Arizona,
California,
Colorado,
Hawaii,
Nevada,
New Mexico,
Texas and
Guam. (In addition to Macy's stores, operates Foley's locations in Colorado, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, as well as Robinsons-May stores. After announced divestitures/store closures are completed by late 2006, this division will operate approximately 190 stores.)
|
The "homosexual mannequins" that appeared in the window display of the Macy's East store in downtwon Boston. |
A Macy's East store in downtown
Boston, Massachusetts (former
Jordan Marsh flagship) touched off a local public relations firestorm on
June 6,
2006, when it bowed to pressure from MassResistance, a local anti-
gay group, and removed two "
homosexual mannequins" from a window display promoting Boston's Annual Pride Celebration.
Macy's further upset the gay community by removing from the display the website address for a local
AIDS Action Committee. AIDS prevention continues to be a major theme of the Boston Pride celebration. The website address was later restored, while the mannequins never made a reappearance.
Ron Klein, Chairman and CEO for Macy's, issued a public apology in InNewsweekly, a Boston-based newspaper frequently read by the gay community. The letter stated that the removal of the mannequins was the result of an "internal breakdown in communication... a mistake - unquestionably." The letter further stated, "Am I regretful that Macy's made a mis-step in this instance? Yes. I am also regretful that some may question our commitment to the GLBT community based on this incident."
*The star in the Macy's logo comes from a tattoo that
Mr. Macy got as a boy.
|
Pikachu, a famous Pokémon character, is flown often during the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. |
*The
Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, the most famous and most watched
Santa Claus Parade, has been sponsored by Macy's for over 75 years. Among New Yorkers, it is often referred to as "The Macy Day Parade". The first Macy's parade was held in Haverhill in
1854, but was only attended by about 100 people.
*Since 1976, Macy's has sponsored the annual "Macy's Fireworks Spectacular", New York City's
Independence Day fireworks display.
*The phrase "Does Macy's tell Gimbel's?" used in the USA as a put-off to inquiring people (the implication being that a company does not give information out to its competitors).
Gimbel's was the other large department store directly across 34th Street from Macy's. It has since folded.
*The classic holiday film
Miracle on 34th Street (1947) is set in Macy's 34th Street flagship store. Subsequent remakes of the film for television (1955, 1959, and 1973) are also set in Macy's. However, a 1994 remake of the film was set in the fictional "Cole's" department store after Macy's refused to have its name used in the remake of the original film.
*In the
2003 film
Elf (starring
Will Ferrel) the exterior shots of
Gimbel's department store is actually a digitally altered view of the flagship 34th Street Macy's. Gimbel's, which was also located on
Herald Square, was a chief Macy's competitor in New York City. Gimbel's Herald Square closed in 1987.
*The U.S. version for the music video "Heard 'Em Say" by
Kanye West and
Adam Levine (lead singer of
Maroon 5) was filmed inside Macy's Herald Square. The video features West and homeless children playing inside a closed Macy's at night, when Levine, as a store manager, lets them in.
*In 1971 the San Francisco flagship location adopted
the cellar theme to market gourmet kitchenware. "The cellar" private label is carried in Macy's Housewares departments, and the larger stores have basements dedicated to this theme.
*
Macy's Official Website**
Macy's Wedding & Gift Registry*
The Longest Running Show on Broadway
