Macy’s has become a powerful firm and world-renowned name-brand largely through business deals and the publicity fostered by its Thanksgiving Day Parade. The company’s influence and image extend elsewhere as well, though.

The parade stands as an overtly store-hosted celebration, but Macy’s makes its mark on another American holiday in a more subtle way. Though not everyone is aware, it is Macy’s that sponsors the annual Fourth of July fireworks display at Liberty Island. The event is an Independence Day tradition for many New Yorkers, and is televised each year on NBC, the same network that televises the parade.

In 2002, Macy’s agreed to the first repetition of its annual parade, to be held at the Universal Studios Theme Park in Orlando , Florida . The event featured 16 floats and the same signature balloons that appeared in the real parade in New York . Starting on December 13 th and continuing through January 5 th, the parade made its way down the park’s Hollywood Boulevard and ended with the lighting of a huge Christmas tree in front of the Macy’s façade in the park’s replicated New York downtown area. The decision was a promotional joint-venture between Universal and Macy’s, as Macy’s opened its first Orlando store that October. The president of Universal Orlando , Bob Gault excitedly called the occasion a “historical event,” and producer/director of Macy’s parade, Robin Hall, stated that the collaboration would “set the stage for a whole new holiday tradition in family entertainment.”[1]