download: Macy's Celebrates 150 Years in October 2008 Fun Facts & Firsts

Macy's Fun Facts!
Historical

• Macy's famous star symbol is believed to have originated in the mid-1800s when a young sailor named Rowland H. Macy tattooed a star on his hand after a constellation guided him through thick fog on his first sea voyage.
• A business visionary, R.H. Macy is credited with popularizing the one-price system in the 1850s.
• Otto Frank, the father of Anne Frank, worked at Macy's in New York for almost a year in 1909.
• Macy's was one of the first establishments to install escalators, having installed moving stairs in its Herald Square store in 1902. The four banks of escalators conveyed customers from the first to the fifth floor and could accommodate 40,000 people per hour.
• Isidor and Ida Straus, co-owners of Macy's with Isidor's brother, died tragically in 1912 with 1,500 other passengers of the Titanic. Announcing that she had spent all her life with Isidor and planned to die with him, Ida gave the maid her fur coat and put her on a lifeboat.
• Macy's mannequins of the 1920s were made of wax with real hair and glass eyes. On a hot day, they often slumped over and had to be righted by the display managers.
• In 1924 with the 7th Avenue expansion of the building complete, Macy's Herald Square became the "World's Largest Store" with over two million square feet spanning one city block
• In 1971, Macy's West opened The Cellar changing the way people shop for housewares.

General/Current

• Macy's Herald Square flagship store is registered as a National Historic Landmark.
• Macy's Herald Square spans 11 selling floors, contains seven restaurants/eateries and a U.S. Post Office.
• Macy's Herald Square carries more than 4 million separate kinds of merchandise.
• TV host and cookbook author Rachael Ray's first job in New York was working at the candy counter at Macy's Herald Square.
• On the February 11, 2007 episode of the ABC show "Desperate Housewives," entitled "I Remember That," Eva Longoria Parker's character Gabrielle Solis is seen shopping for linens at Macy's Pasadena. In the scene, Gabrielle lounges on a bed with a "Vivianne"-style sheet set by Charter Club.
• The music video "Heard 'Em Say" by Kanye West and Adam Levine was filmed entirely inside Macy's Herald Square.
• Today, Macy's presents the latest fashions trends on more than 50,000 mannequins across the U.S.
• With more than 800 stores around the country, Macy's has approximately 70,000 linear feet of escalators!

Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade®

• Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade features 10,000 participants, and is enjoyed by 3.5 million spectators and 50 million viewers.
• With this year's three new helium giants, the Parade will have featured 156 large character balloons since 1927.
• Over its 82-year run, more than 315,000 Macy's employees have come together and donated their holiday to put on the famed spectacle.
• The biggest balloon (in terms of helium capacity) is Hello Kitty at 17,320 cubic feet. She stands 33 1/2 feet tall and 45 feet long.
• The smallest giant balloon (in terms of helium capacity) is also the longest of the giant balloons! Kermit requires 11,000 cubic feet of helium and is 78 feet long and 61 feet tall.
• Garfield is the longest-running "character" in the Parade with appearances for 16 consecutive years from 1984-1999 and recently with a new balloon for another four consecutive years from 2003-2006. Snoopy is the balloon that has appeared in the most number of Parades. With his flight in 2008, Snoopy will have appeared in 33 marches down Broadway since his debut in 1968.
• In 2008, Macy's will round out the Thanksgiving holiday with a pledge to serve one million meals during the season across the country to those in need!

Macy's 4th of July Fireworks®

• Since 1976, Macy's has produced Macy's 4th of July Fireworks in New York City.
• Macy's 4th of July Fireworks is the nation's largest display of pyrotechnic firepower celebrating Independence Day.
• The 2008 event marked the 32nd year that Macy's has presented this awe-inspiring show featuring more than 1,100 shells per minute from six barges at two locations on the East River in New York City.

Macy's Holiday

• Macy's becomes a holiday tradition when "Miracle on 34th Street" is released. The hit movie wins Edmund Gwenn an Oscar for his portrayal of Santa Claus.
• As immortalized in the classic film "Miracle on 34th Street," the one-and-only Santa Claus makes his holiday home at Macy's Herald Square.
• Macy's Santaland® at the Herald Square flagship is visited by over 250,000 visitors during the holiday season.
• Macy's and Santa Claus have a long history. Santa has been visiting with children at Macy's since 1862.

Macy's Firsts!
1858 - First day sales totaled $11.06
1862 - Santa Claus begins to visit children at Macy's
1866 - Macy's own Margaret Getchell becomes America's first female retail executive
1867 - Macy's become first department store to stay open until midnight on Christmas Eve
1890s - Macy's was among the very first department stores to pioneer the concept of private brands for fashion goods - during this decade, its "Macy's" and "Red Star" brands were all the rage in New York
1902 - Macy's becomes the first American retail store with modern-day escalators
1924 - Macy's becomes the largest department store in the world
1924 - Macy's holds the first-ever Parade, that year called Macy's Christmas Parade, although it was held on Thanksgiving, and featured Macy's employees, floats, bands, animals and 10,000 onlookers. The name would change to Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1934.
1932 - Macy's introduces colored bath towels to America
1933 - The first liquor license in New York City was issued to R.H. Macy & Co. in 1933 at the end of Prohibition
1946 - Macy's Flower Show debuts the first department store flower show
1953 - Polyester hits the scene. Macy's is among the first department stores to offer a variety of styles in this hot new fabric
1980 - Macy's first Emmy - Macy's and NBC win an Emmy for the Thanksgiving Day Parade
2000 - San Juan, Puerto Rico, becomes home to the first Macy's store outside the continental United States

About Macy's
Macy's, the largest retail brand of Macy's, Inc., delivers fashion and affordable luxury to customers at more than 800 locations in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam. Offering distinctive assortments including exclusive fashion and home brands, Macy's stores are operated by four regionally based retail divisions - Macy's East, Macy's Florida, Macy's Central, and Macy's West - and an online store at macys.com.

For Macy's media materials, please visit our online pressroom at www.macys.com/pressroom