Macy's: an American Icon

Oct 20, 2008

Download the AdweekMedia Macy's 150th Anniversary Salute here(PDF)


A few Saturdays ago I needed a cocktail dress, so I went down to Macy's at the mall. Once inside, I proceeded to the escalators, where a large sign lists departments by floor. Before I could look it over, a manager was by my side. "Can I help you find something?" he said. I told him what I was looking for, and he escorted me to the right department. On the way, he asked if I'd heard about the store's upcoming Shop for a Cause event and explained how it benefits local charities. Since the manager had pinpointed my needs and taken me directly to the appropriate spot, I found the perfect dress in my size and was checking out within minutes. At the register, the cashier told me about Shop for a Cause, asked if I wanted to sign up to receive information about the store's next event, and asked if there was anything else she could do for me.
    
    That's exceptional service-to both the customer and the community-and that's the core reason Macy's has not just endured for 150 years but risen to the status of American icon, building countless brands along the way and boosting the local media and economies where its stores do business. The beloved American retailer marks the milestone October 28 with a month-long celebration including two New Orleans store openings, customer shopping events and a fashion-industry gala.




    From the first day Rowland Hussey Macy opened the doors of his "fancy dry goods store" in lower Manhattan in 1858, every aspect of the retailer's marketing, operating and growth strategy-from promotions to events to advertising to volunteerism-has been created and executed with the end-goal of providing nothing less than an exceptional brand and customer experience. "Customer service is one of the cornerstones of the Macy's operation; it's the most important thing," says Jerry Obarski, of retail consulting firm Merchandise Concepts and a recently retired 37-year veteran of Macy's, which now represents 800 stores in 45 states, as well as Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam.

    That service ethic is embedded in Macy's DNA, and one of the best examples dates back to 1924, when the New York flagship store in Herald Square expanded, making it the world's largest store. The mostly immigrant employees asked if they could put on a parade as a way to give back to the community for their prosperity, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade was born. The Macy's owners at the time, the Straus family, not only approved the idea but also paid for newspaper ads, including one that ran the day after the parade thanking the people of the city for attending and promising to hold the parade every year. Macy's has kept that promise annually since then, and it's become a cherished holiday tradition for many American families, drawing thousands to the streets and upwards of 40 million to the television broadcast on NBC.

EVENTS KEY TO MARKETING STRATEGY
    The parade is just one of the many exclusive, grandiose events that have been a significant part of the brand's marketing strategy over the years, extending its presence in the community and thereby its special place in the cultural landscape. The strategy follows the brand's logical philosophy: that more vibrant communities provide better environments for its stores to do business, and for its employees and customers to live and work.

    The event roster includes the Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular, fashion shows, cooking shows, numerous charitable events, and elaborate in-store flower shows, where some 500,000 plants and flowers turn the ground floor of the New York, San Francisco, Chicago and Minneapolis stores into living gardens attracting more than 250,000 people to each location.

    And of course, Macy's Christmas window displays are an event unto themselves. At the end of the first Thanksgiving Day parade, Santa disembarked from his sleigh, climbed above the Macy's marquee, unveiled the windows and declared that the holiday season had begun. "The holiday windows are a highlight of the Christmas season, but day in and day out, the windows are tied to our marketing strategy," says Patti Lee, senior vp and general manager of Macy's Herald Square.

    "There's a bit of magic in retail and I don't think Macy's has ever forgotten that," says Bob Brown, director of advertising for the Las Vegas Review Journal and Sun. "When I was a kid, one of my first impressions of Macy's was that it was where you went for Christmas shopping. And even over the years as they have become one of my best clients and I've...developed a close relationship with them, I always have in the back of my mind that Macy's is where the magic began for me as a kid."

Bold moves dominate Macy's history. One of the retailer's most well-known legacies is when the Straus family, who owned the business from 1888 to 1980, managed to influence the move of the entire New York shopping district-previously below 14th Street-uptown to the area around its Herald Square store. "Most of the long-established retailers, such as Lord & Taylor and B. Altman, were much further downtown in what is now the SoHo area," says Macy's historian Bob Rutan. "Everybody thought they were nuts to move uptown, but it basically worked." Others followed, settling in the area of Fifth and Madison, and the area between Macy's and Fifth Ave. and Madison is still the shopping hub of Manhattan today.

    "They're forward-thinking and very innovative," says Anne Obarski, executive director of retail consultancy Merchandise Concepts. "They don't do business the same old-same old. Macy's reaches out and says, these are the things we do differently… Knowing how to connect with the community and generate business in a different way is what Macy's is all about."









For more Macy's 150th Anniversary Salute coverage:
Macy's: An American Icon
Macy's and the Media
The Local Angle
Macy's "five-point" strategy
Famously Macy's