Macy's (legally Macy's IP Holdings, LLC) is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The original store opened on Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. The flagship Herald Square location (34th Street and Broadway) opened in 1902 and is now one of the largest department stores in the world - approximately 1.1 million square feet of selling space valued at $3 billion, spanning nearly an entire New York City block. Macy's is the largest US department store company by retail sales ($25.3B revenue, 2023; 94,000 employees; 450 locations in 2025). Operated by Macy's, Inc. (NASDAQ: M), which also owns Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury. Macy's has conducted the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade annually since 1924 and sponsored the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks since 1976.

Macy's does not operate a unified design direction. The store functions as an aggregated retail platform. The "My Macy's" initiative (from 2009) allows stores to be merchandised differently by market to meet local demand - a localised retail design approach. Macy's Backstage functions as an off-price design channel without a distinct aesthetic. The strategic pivot toward Bloomingdale's (45 new stores planned) signals a shift toward the upmarket design-led segment within the Macy's, Inc. portfolio.

R.H. Macy & Co. was acquired by the Straus brothers (Isidor and Nathan) in 1895. The Herald Square store expanded through new construction from 1902 into the 1930s, adding Palladian facade (1901-2), Art Deco extensions designed by Robert D. Kohn (1924, 1928, 1931 Seventh Avenue building). The building was listed on the National Register of Historic Places and designated a National Historic Landmark in 1978. A $400 million renovation completed from 2012 added new luxury retail spaces, including shops from Gucci, Burberry, and Longchamp.

After a 1986 leveraged buyout and a failed bid to acquire Federated Department Stores, R. H. Macy & Co. filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on January 27, 1992. Federated Department Stores acquired Macy's in December 1994, moving headquarters to Cincinnati. The February 2005 acquisition of The May Department Stores Company ($11 billion) added over 300 regional stores; all were converted to the Macy's nameplate by September 2006. Federated renamed itself Macy's, Inc. in 2007.

Lord & Taylor was divested in October 2006 ($1.2B to NRDC Equity Partners). Cincinnati headquarters closed 2020; operations consolidated to New York City. STORY experiential retail concept acquired May 2018. Toys "R" Us in-store shops partnership announced 2021 (Macy's stores). Fur products banned by end of fiscal 2020; exotic skins (reptile, ostrich) banned February 2023. Takeover approach from Hudson's Bay Company floated February 2017; rejected $5 billion Arkhouse Management / Brigade Capital bid January 2024. February 2024: announced closure of 150 underperforming stores by end of 2026. January 2025: 66 stores including landmark Philadelphia and Brooklyn locations set to close. January 2026: 14 further locations in Q1.

Women's, men's, and children's apparel, footwear, accessories, cosmetics, jewellery, and home goods. Major departments include furniture, home furnishings, and clearance. Macy's Backstage (off-price): in 319 full-line Macy's stores and 9 freestanding; brands include Izod, Arrow (Authentic Brands Group), and Ralph Lauren's Chaps. Key shop-in-shop partnerships: Apple Store in Herald Square (from 2016, first department store to host an Apple Store); Toys "R" Us (from 2022, 400+ stores); Sephora historically (now contracted to Kohls from 2021).

Macy's operates as a vertical retailer (own stores, no outbound licensing documented). Key retail milestones: first branch store outside Herald Square (Parkchester, Bronx, 1941); first US territory store (Puerto Rico, 2000); first overseas store (Abu Dhabi, 2018, under Al Tayer Group lease agreement, alongside Bloomingdale's). Macy's East and Macy's West operated as divisions until consolidation into a single national brand. International: Abu Dhabi expansion was the first overseas Macy's location; no additional international stores documented.

Largest US department store company by retail sales. 15th-largest US retailer by revenue (2014); ranked 120 on the Fortune 500 (2018). Positioned in the mid-to-premium American department store segment, competing with Nordstrom at the upper end and operating Macy's Backstage as its off-price vehicle. Bloomingdale's (sister brand within Macy's, Inc.) serves the upmarket segment. Macy's is in a documented multi-year strategic consolidation: closing lower-performing Macy's locations while expanding Bloomingdale's (45 new planned) and Bluemercury (30 new + 30 remodelled).

Macy's is primarily a distribution channel rather than a design originator, but its scale and brand portfolio create significant SPD relevance:

Dry goods and textile origin: Macy's 1858 founding store was a dry goods retailer, supplying cloth, ribbons, and fabric-based goods to the domestic sewing and garment market. The store also produced made-to-measure clothing for men and women in an on-site factory - placing textile craft at the heart of the business from its earliest days.

Herald Square renovation (2012) - luxury fashion brand concessions: The $400 million Herald Square renovation specifically brought new shops from Gucci, Burberry, and Longchamp into the flagship store. Burberry's iconic check pattern and Longchamp's documented surface design collaboration programme both entered the Macy's flagship in this context.

Macy's Backstage - Ralph Lauren's Chaps brand: The Chaps brand (Ralph Lauren Corporation) is one of the brands sold through Macy's Backstage. Ralph Lauren's broader brand identity is closely associated with preppy American surface pattern (Polo motifs, Fair Isle, Madras, stripe) - design directions that filter into the Chaps product line.

Fur and exotic skin policy: Macy's fur ban (fiscal 2020) and exotic skins ban (February 2023) are documented materials policy decisions with direct implications for leather goods and accessories surface design sourcing across the store.

Marshall Field's State Street (Chicago, now Macy's State Street): The Macy's State Street store, converted from Marshall Field's, houses a five-story Louis Comfort Tiffany mosaic-capped vaulted ceiling (1910) in its southwest corner - a significant example of applied decorative surface design integrated into retail architecture.