America's department store since 1858 - now rewriting its own playbook one store at a time.
From an $11.06 opening day to a $22 billion retailer, Macy's has spent 168 years learning that longevity in retail is a matter of reinvention.
On October 28, 1858, a former Nantucket whaler named Rowland Hussey Macy opened a dry goods store on Sixth Avenue in New York City. It took in $11.06 on its first day. Macy had already failed at retail several times in Massachusetts, and there was little reason to think this attempt would be different. The red star he used as a symbol - borrowed from a tattoo he wore on his hand - would eventually become one of the most recognized marks in American retail.
More than a century and a half later, Macy's is the flagship brand of Macy's, Inc., a publicly traded company (NYSE: M) headquartered in New York with roughly 95,000 employees and around 450 stores. It sells apparel, footwear, accessories, beauty, fragrances and home goods to mass-market and aspirational shoppers, both in its stores and through macys.com. Alongside the namesake chain, the company owns the higher-end department store Bloomingdale's and the beauty specialty retailer Bluemercury - three nameplates aimed at three distinct customers.
The company sits in a difficult part of the market. The American department store, once the anchor of every major mall and downtown, has been squeezed for two decades between Amazon and online retail on one side, off-price chains like TJX on another, and luxury houses on a third. Macy's answer, announced by CEO Tony Spring in early 2024, is a multiyear plan it calls the "Bold New Chapter": close about 150 underproductive Macy's stores through 2026, concentrate investment in roughly 350 go-forward locations, and grow Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury.
Closing any store is never easy, but as part of our Bold New Chapter strategy, we are closing underproductive stores to focus our resources on go-forward stores, where customers are already responding to better product and elevated service.
The logic is "fewer, better." Rather than defend every location, Macy's is betting that a cleaner, better-staffed and better-merchandised store is worth more than a larger, neglected fleet. Early evidence has come from a pilot known as the "First 50" - later expanded under the "Reimagine" banner - where investments in staffing, service and product produced several consecutive quarters of sales growth and record customer-satisfaction scores for the Macy's nameplate.
Buys and merchandises fashion, beauty and home goods - national and private-label - and sells them at retail margin across stores and macys.com.
Mainstream shoppers at Macy's, affluent buyers at Bloomingdale's, and prestige-beauty customers at Bluemercury - tens of millions of shoppers a year.
Keeping a 168-year-old department store worth visiting when a phone can deliver almost anything overnight. The answer: focus, service and store experience.
Near-universal name recognition, a portfolio spanning value to luxury, cultural events like the Thanksgiving Day Parade, and the Herald Square flagship.
Macy's, Inc. spreads its bet across three nameplates - approximate share of the roughly $22B net-sales base, and the shape of the turnaround.
Shares illustrative; Macy's nameplate is the large majority of sales.
A department store is really a bundle of stores. Here's the lineup shoppers move through, in person and online.
Apparel, shoes, accessories, beauty, fragrance, and home goods across ~450 U.S. locations, anchored by the Herald Square flagship.
The digital anchor of the omnichannel model, with buy-online options fulfilled from stores and same-day delivery.
The upscale nameplate for luxury and contemporary fashion, plus Bloomie's small-format stores and outlets.
Specialty beauty and spa retail - prestige cosmetics, skincare and services - and the group's steadiest grower.
In-house apparel, home and accessory brands that anchor value pricing and support margins.
The Thanksgiving Day Parade and July 4th Fireworks - marketing and civic spectacle rolled into one.
Macy's competes with Nordstrom, Kohl's, Dillard's and JCPenney among department stores, and increasingly with Amazon, Target, Walmart and off-price chains for the same wallet. Its distinct assets are scale and brand: a name almost every American recognizes, a store portfolio that reaches from value to luxury, and merchandising expertise built over generations.
The Reimagine work adds a newer capability - running the department store as an experience rather than a warehouse. Cleaner floors, real staffing, and curated product are unglamorous, but they are the levers the turnaround is pulling, and the early sales data suggests they matter.
Key milestones from a single dry goods shop to a national retail group.
Rowland Hussey Macy opens a dry goods store on Sixth Avenue; day one sales: $11.06.
Macy's relocates to the flagship later billed as one of the largest stores in the world.
Macy's stages its first parade in New York, starting an enduring national tradition.
R.H. Macy & Co. is acquired by Federated Department Stores.
Regional department stores convert to the Macy's nameplate, creating a coast-to-coast chain.
The parent renames itself and trades under ticker M.
CEO Tony Spring launches a turnaround to close ~150 stores and reinvest in the rest.
Macy's discloses further closures as the plan approaches its ~150-store goal.
Selected searches for leadership interviews and product/store walkthroughs.
Macy's was founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy as a dry goods store in New York City. It rang up $11.06 in sales on its opening day.
Macy's is the flagship brand of Macy's, Inc. (NYSE: M), which also owns the luxury department store Bloomingdale's and the beauty chain Bluemercury.
Macy's operates roughly 450 stores. Under the "Bold New Chapter" plan it is closing about 150 underproductive locations while investing in around 350 go-forward stores.
It's the turnaround plan announced by CEO Tony Spring in 2024: close underperforming stores, invest in and modernize go-forward and "Reimagine" stores, and grow Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury.
The red star comes from a tattoo founder Rowland Macy got during his days as a Nantucket whaler; it became a symbol of the store and was later formalized into the logo.
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