Previous flagship locations

An early Macy's building, dating from 1894, at 56 West 14th Street, designated a NYC landmark in 2012

Macy's was founded by Rowland Hussey Macy, who between 1843 and 1855 opened four retail dry goods stores, including the original Macy's store in downtown Haverhill, Massachusetts, established in 1851 to serve the mill industry employees of the area. They all failed, but he learned from his mistakes. He moved to New York City in 1858 and established a new store named "R.H Macy Dry Goods" at Sixth Avenue on the corner of 14th Street. On the company's first day of business on October 28, 1858, sales totaled $11.08, equivalent to $374.08 today. From the very beginning, Macy's logo has included a star in one form or another, echoing a red star-shaped tattoo that Macy got as a teenager when he worked on a Nantucket whaling ship.^[6][7]

As the business grew, Macy's expanded into neighboring buildings, opening more department stores, and used publicity devices such as a store Santa Claus, themed exhibits, and illuminated window displays to draw in customers.^[8] The store later moved to 18th Street and Broadway, on the "Ladies' Mile", the elite shopping district of the time, where it remained for nearly forty years.

In 1875, Macy took on two partners, Robert M. Valentine (1850–1879), a nephew; and Abiel T. La Forge (1842–1878) of Wisconsin, who was the husband of a cousin.^[9][10] Macy died just two years later in 1877 from Bright's disease.^[11] La Forge died in 1878 and Valentine died in 1879.^[9][10] Ownership of the company was passed down through the Macy family until 1895, when the company, now called "R. H. Macy & Co.", was acquired by Isidor Straus and his brother Nathan Straus, who had previously held a license to sell china and other goods in the Macy's store.

Move

Macy's entrance

In 1902, the flagship store moved uptown to Herald Square 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.^[12] 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. Robert H. Smith purchased this latter 5-story building in 1900 for $375,000 (equivalent to $10,899,015 in 2022) 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.^[13] That building earned the name Million Dollar Corner when it was finally sold for a then record $1 million on December 6, 1911.^[14]

The original Broadway store was designed in 1901 and 1902 by architects Theodore de Lemos and A. W. Cordes under their architecture firm De Lemos & Cordes, and was erected by the Fuller Construction Company. It has a Palladian facade, but has been updated in many details. Other additions to the west were completed in 1924 and 1928, and the Seventh Avenue building in 1931, all designed by architect Robert D. Kohn, the newer buildings becoming increasingly Art Deco in style.^[13][15] The store boasts several wooden escalators still in operation.

Renovations

The building in 2018

In 2012, Macy's began the first full renovation of the flagship store at a reported cost of $400 million (~$507 million in 2022).^[16][17] Studio V Architecture, a New York-based firm, was the overall master plan architect of the project, with Kevin Kennon Architects providing the exterior and entryway designs. The renovations completed in November 2015 but Macy's continues to modify the store to suit changing customer tastes and maximize return on the real estate.^[18]

In 2016, the company explored adding one or two towers to the building to house hotel or office space. The next year, it considered turning the structure's roof into a park.^[19][20] Macy's unveiled plans in 2019 to build a 1.2-million-square-foot (110,000 m²) office building atop the existing store.^[21][22] The following February, the plans were updated: the tower would be over 900 feet (270 m) tall and consist of 1.5 million square feet (140,000 m²) of space, including a sky lobby. The tower's construction would also include improvements to the nearby area.^[23][24]

Incidents

In August 2014, Macy's agreed to a $650,000 penalty proposed by the New York Attorney General to settle a number of claims of racial profiling and false detention involving nearly two dozen African-American, Latino and other customers at the Herald Square store who had lodged complaints in February 2013. As part of the deal, the retail group agreed to introduce policies to ensure all customers were treated equally regardless of race or ethnicity.^[25]

On June 1–2, 2020, during the George Floyd protests in New York City, 17 people attempted to loot Macy's Herald Square as part of a series of looting incidents around Midtown Manhattan but were thwarted by NYPD. The store had been boarded up on May 31 in advance of the protests, but looters took the boards apart.^[26][27] Though physical damage was limited, The New York Times reported that it was symbolic of Macy's financial troubles, which had resulted after the location was forced to close during the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City.^[28]