Macy’s got its name from its founder Rowland H. Macy, who was born in Nantucket on August 30th 1822.[1] He spent some time in the Navy, during which he acquired a tattoo of a red star which would later become the trademark symbol of Macy’s.[2]

In 1851, Mr. Macy opened a small dry-goods store in Haverhill Mass. where first day sales totaled a whopping $11.06. A firm believer in marketing, he spent great amounts on advertising and ensured the success of his business.[3]

In 1857 the store moved from Haverhill to a new location in New York City to become R. H. Macy

and Company. During the next few decades it would move several more times to various locations in the city.[4]

In 1870, Macy’s began the first of many firsts by setting the department store practice of creating elaborate holiday window displays and by hiring the first in-store Santa Claus.[5]

The store moved one final time in 1902 from 14 th Street to its current location on 34 th Street at Herald Square. At the time the move was considered risky, but the store has gained monumental successes since.

During the 1920’s and 30’s Macy’s underwent a period of expansion. Initially consisting of one building, Macy’s has expanded through new construction and merging, eventually occupying the entire block bounded by 7 th Avenue , Broadway, and 34 th and 35 th Streets.[6]

In 1924, coinciding with the first parade, Macy’s completed its 7 th Avenue addition to become “The World’s Largest Store.”[7]

In 1986 Edward Finkelstein, chairman and CEO of R. H. Macy and Co. Inc., led a leveraged buy-out of the company and engaged in a take-over battle for Federated Department Stores, which it lost to a Canadian company.

In January of 1992, Macy’s filed for bankruptcy and had to shut several of its stores. Two years later in 1994, R. H. Macy and Co. merged with Federated Department Stores.

Over the next few years Federated merged with other stores across the U.S. and consolidated all under the Macy’s nameplate. In 1996, Federated took the brand name a step further by doing away with its hyphenated-names (Bon-Macy’s, Burdines-Macy’s, Goldsmiths-Macy’s, Lazarus-Macy’s, and Rich-Macy’s) renaming all simply as “Macy’s.”