Our History

Since our modest beginnings in 1858, Macy’s has focused on making retail work better for people – both our customers and our employees.

Our founder, Rowland Hussey Macy, was a genuine innovator, and the company that still bears his name has always followed suit.

Macy’s proud heritage includes a host of innovations and milestones that have made it a company associates are proud to work with. Here are just a few:

• Macy’s was the first retailer to promote a woman, Margaret Getchell, to an executive position.
• In 1919, Macy’s established its Executive Development Program (originally called the Executive Training Program), providing a tremendous resource to train and mentor college graduates as they transition into careers at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.
• Macy’s immigrant employees organized the first Christmas Parade in 1924 to celebrate their new American heritage. Floats, bands and animals from the zoo attracted 10,000 spectators. It was the start of a tradition now known as the annual Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
• Some famous faces have worked at Macy’s. Jimmy Walker (mayor of New York City, 1926 – 1932) was a Macy’s employee before entering politics. Other celebrities including Carol Channing (a Broadway favorite in Hello, Dolly) and Burgess Meredith (“Mick” in the Rocky movies and “The Penguin” in the Batman TV series) made their marks at Macy’s before hitting the marquees.
• Our employee volunteer program, Partners in Time, was launched in 1989 to help and encourage our associates to give back to their communities.
• In 2009, My Macy’s premiered – a company-wide strategy that gives locally based executives the power to make more and better decisions to tailor their stores to the exact needs of their communities.

You can read more about Macy’s history on our corporate web site.