Macy's

Rowland Hussey Macy opened his first dry goods store on Sixth Avenue in New York City on October 28, 1858. The flagship location at Herald Square, which opened in 1902, remains a retail landmark with 1.1 million square feet of selling space and is valued at $3 billion. Through a series of acquisitions, the chain grew from a single store into a national powerhouse. Federated Department Stores bought Macy's in 1994, then acquired The May Department Stores Company in 2005, converting most of those stores to the Macy's brand by 2006. Federated renamed itself Macy's, Inc. in 2007.

Today, Macy's is the largest department store company in the United States by retail sales, with $25.3 billion in annual revenue and 94,000 employees as of 2023. It operates 450 locations across the country, including in Puerto Rico and Guam. The company also owns Bloomingdale's and Bluemercury. Beyond retail, Macy's is known for two major New York City events: the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, running since 1924, and the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks, which began in 1976.

In February 2024, Macy's announced a strategy called "A Bold New Chapter," which includes closing 150 underperforming stores by 2026 and investing in 350 "go-forward" locations. The company also launched a new small-format store concept called Market by Macy's in early 2024. A takeover bid from Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management emerged in late 2023 but was rejected by the board.[edit]