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102-449: The mall has 45 stores and services. It is currently anchored by a large, three-level Macy's department store on its east end. Since 2015, the mall has featured a flea market on Saturdays during the summer. Since opening in 1964, Roosevelt Mall anchors have included S. Klein , Wanamaker's , Hecht's , Strawbridge's , and Macy's . The original anchor, S. Klein, closed in 1975 due to financial problems of its owner, McCrory Stores . It

204-483: A Bloom County story from 15 December 1981 through 24 December 1981 has Santa rejecting the demands of PETCO (Professional Elves Toy-Making and Craft Organization) for higher wages, a hot tub in the locker room, and "Aggressive recruitment of a wider gender spectrum of employee" ("short broads"), with the elves then going on strike. President Reagan steps in, fires all of Santa's helpers, and replaces them with out-of-work air traffic controllers (an obvious reference to

306-406: A Montgomery Ward copywriter, and immortalized in a 1949 song by Gene Autry . Elves had been portrayed as using assembly lines to produce toys early in the 20th century. That shift was reflected in the modern depiction of Santa's residence—now often humorously portrayed as a fully mechanized production and distribution facility, equipped with the latest manufacturing technology, and overseen by

408-500: A Nast creation. His Christmas image in the Harper's issue dated 29 December 1866 was a collage of engravings titled Santa Claus and His Works , which included the caption "Santa Claussville, N.P." A colour collection of Nast's pictures, published in 1869, had a poem also titled "Santa Claus and His Works" by George P. Webster , who wrote that Santa Claus's home was "near the North Pole, in

510-539: A Phoenix suburb, that was designed to better fit open air lifestyle malls. Additional stores with the new format have opened in Fairview, Texas ; Lee's Summit, Missouri ; and Nampa, Idaho . The stores are designed to be compact and meet current demands for more convenient shopping similar to Kohl's and newer J. C. Penney stores. Lifestyle stores feature Starbucks Coffee Cafés with wireless web and fitting rooms designed to feel like lounges with sofas and Plasma TVs. Ceilings in

612-457: A bag full of gifts for children. The 1823 poem " A Visit from St. Nicholas " popularized this image in North America during the 19th century. Caricaturist and political cartoonist Thomas Nast also played a role in the creation of Santa's image. The traditional 1823 Christmas poem A Visit from St. Nicholas relates that Santa has: "a little round belly That shook when he laugh'd, like

714-680: A bearded bishop in canonical robes. In 1087, while the Greek Christian inhabitants of Myra were subjugated by the newly arrived Muslim Seljuq dynasty , and soon after their Greek Orthodox church had been declared to be in schism by the Catholic church (1054 AD), a group of merchants from the Italian city of Bari removed the major bones of Nicholas's skeleton from his sarcophagus in the Greek church in Myra. Over

816-456: A beatin', and gave the good ones toys." In Kyrgyzstan, a mountain peak was named after Santa Claus, after a Swedish company had suggested the location be a more efficient starting place for present-delivering journeys all over the world, than Lapland. In the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek , a Santa Claus Festival was held on 30 December 2007, with government officials attending. 2008 was officially declared

918-488: A culture where we've become so commercialized and hooked into manufactured icons. Santa is much more organic, integral, connected to the past, and therefore connected to the future. Norman Corwin 's 1938 comic radio play The Plot to Overthrow Christmas , set entirely in rhyme, details a conspiracy of the Devil Mephistopheles and damned figures of history to defeat the good will among men of Christmas, by sending

1020-406: A department store chain in a scripted series. Nearly two years prior to the first episode, one of the first national commercials for Macy's had aired during Desperate Housewives , shortly after the conversions of Rich's, Lazarus, Goldsmith's, The Bon Marché and Burdines. On February 27, 2007, Federated Department Stores announced plans to change its corporate name to Macy's Group, Inc. By March 28,

1122-772: A leading position in Southern California and a dominant one in the Northern California marketplace. In early 1996 Federated dissolved Broadway Stores, incorporating the majority of its locations into Macy's West , rebadging them as Macy's and using the opportunity to retire the Bullock's name. Several of the redundant Broadway locations were used to establish Bloomingdale's on the West Coast , while many others were sold to Sears . In 2000 Macy's opened its doors in Puerto Rico ,

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1224-542: A license to sell china and other goods in the Macy's store. In 1902, the flagship store moved uptown to Herald Square at 34th Street and Broadway, so far north of the other main dry goods emporia that it had to offer a steam wagonette to transport customers from 14th Street to 34th Street. Although the Herald Square store initially consisted of just one building, it expanded through new construction, eventually occupying almost

1326-533: A nephew; and Abiel T. La Forge (1842–1878) of Wisconsin , who was the husband of a cousin. Macy died in 1877 from inflammatory kidney disease (then known as Bright's disease ). La Forge died the following year, and Valentine died in 1879. Ownership of the company remained in the Macy family until 1895, when the Straus brothers, Isidor and Nathan , acquired the company (now called "R. H. Macy & Co."). Isidor Straus and his brother Nathan Straus had previously held

1428-410: A new management team, which shut several underperforming stores, jettisoned two-thirds of the luxury I. Magnin chain, and reduced Macy's to two divisions, Macy's East and Macy's West . Macy's East , New York City was a division of Macy's, Inc. It is the operating successor to the original R.H. Macy & Co., Inc. and operates the Macy's department stores in the northeast U.S. and Puerto Rico. Over

1530-406: A new store named "R. H. Macy & Co." on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets . The location was far north of where other dry goods stores were at the time. On the company's first day of business on October 28, 1858, sales totaled $ 11.08, equal to $ 390.19 today. The branding emblem at the onset of the 1858 store was a rooster. The red star did not appear to replace it until 1862. As

1632-480: A pipe in a green winter coat. Irving's book was a parody of the Dutch culture of New York, and much of this portrait is his joking invention. Irving's interpretation of Santa Claus was part of a broader movement to tone down the increasingly wild Christmas celebrations of the era, which included aggressive home invasions under the guise of wassailing , substantial premarital sex (leading to shotgun weddings in areas where

1734-462: A red coat with white fur collar and cuffs, white-fur-cuffed red trousers, a red hat trimmed with white fur, a black leather belt and boots, carrying a bag full of gifts for children. He is popularly associated with a deep, hearty laugh , frequently rendered in Christmas literature as "ho, ho, ho!" This image originated in North America during the 19th century, influenced by Dutch immigrants who brought

1836-485: A reindeer sleigh, bringing rewards to children. Some modern ideas of Santa Claus seemingly became canon after the anonymous publication of the poem A Visit From St. Nicholas (better known today as The Night Before Christmas ) in the Troy, New York , Sentinel on 23 December 1823; Clement Clarke Moore later claimed authorship, though some scholars argue that Henry Livingston, Jr. (who died nine years before Moore's claim)

1938-575: A reorganization of its divisions into Macy's Northeast (former Macy's New York and Macy's New Jersey), Macy's South/Bullock's (Macy's Atlanta stores plus Macy's New York's operations in Texas, Florida and Louisiana), and Macy's California, the latter including a semi-autonomous I. Magnin/Bullocks Wilshire organization. The Bullocks Wilshire stores were renamed I. Magnin in 1989. Subsequently, R. H. Macy & Co., Inc., filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on January 27, 1992, after which point its banks brought in

2040-686: A small house on the corner refused to sell his land. As a result, a round department store was constructed on 90 percent of the lot. The building has since been converted to the Queens Place mall, though Macy's Furniture Gallery remains in a portion as a tenant. Macy's New York began opening stores outside of its historic New York City–Long Island trade area in 1983 with a location at Aventura Mall in Aventura, Florida (a suburb of Miami), followed by several locations in Plantation, Florida (now relocated from

2142-533: A year and cut more than 10,000 jobs. Macy's claimed it would instead invest $ 250 million in digital business and growth strategies for the remaining stores. By January 2018, Macy's had revealed the locations of 81 of the 100 store closures. In September 2016, Macy's announced that it would be opening an Apple Store in its flagship location, making it the first department store to host an Apple store. The announcement came after six straight quarters of sales drops and significant store closings. In early January 2017,

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2244-492: Is a legendary figure originating in Western Christian culture who is said to bring gifts during the late evening and overnight hours on Christmas Eve . He is said to accomplish this with the aid of Christmas elves , who make the toys in his workshop , and with the aid of flying reindeer who pull his sleigh through the air. The popular conception of Santa Claus originates from folklore traditions surrounding

2346-545: Is also the patron saint of both Amsterdam and Moscow . During the Middle Ages, often on the evening before his name day of 6 December, children were bestowed gifts in his honour. This date was earlier than the original day of gifts for the children, which moved in the course of the Reformation and its opposition to the veneration of saints in many countries on 24 and 25 December. The custom of gifting to children at Christmas

2448-517: Is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy . It has been a sister brand to the Bloomingdale's department store chain since being acquired by holding company Federated Department Stores in 1994, which renamed itself Macy's, Inc. in 2007. It is the largest department store company by retail sales in the United States as of 2023. Macy's operates with 508 stores in

2550-418: Is announced as "The most Mighty and Loyal Friend of Children, His Supreme Highness – Santa Claus". Images of Santa Claus were conveyed through Haddon Sundblom 's depiction of him for The Coca-Cola Company 's Christmas advertising in the 1930s. The image spawned urban legends that Santa Claus was invented by The Coca-Cola Company or that Santa wears red and white because they are the colours used to promote

2652-491: Is one of the largest department stores in the world. The flagship store covers almost an entire New York City block, features about 1.1 million square feet (100,000 m ) of retail space, includes additional space for offices and storage, and serves as the endpoint for the Thanksgiving Day parade. The value of Herald Square alone is estimated at $ 3 billion. In August 2021, WHP Global announced that Toys "R" Us

2754-529: Is opening 400+ stores within Macy's starting in 2022. In recent years, the brand has opened new stores under the "Market By Macy's" monicker. Rowland Hussey Macy opened four retail dry goods stores between 1843 and 1855. One of them was the original Macy's store in downtown Haverhill, Massachusetts ; it opened in 1851 to serve the mill industry employees of the area. They all failed, but he learned from his mistakes. Macy moved to New York City in 1858, to establish

2856-557: Is the 25th of December, owes much to Odin, the old blue-hooded, cloaked, white-bearded Giftbringer of the north, who rode the midwinter sky on his eight-footed steed Sleipnir, visiting his people with gifts. Odin, transformed into Father Christmas, then Santa Claus, prospered with St Nicholas and the Christchild , became a leading player on the Christmas stage." In northern Europe, the Yule goat

2958-508: Is usually called "Krishkinkle", but in New York he is "St. Nicholas" or "Santa Claus". The author quotes Moore's poem in its entirety, saying that its descriptions apply to Krishkinkle too. As the years passed, Santa Claus evolved into a large, heavyset person. One of the first artists to define Santa Claus's modern image was Thomas Nast , a German-born American cartoonist of the 19th century who immortalized Santa Claus with an illustration for

3060-402: The 1981 air traffic controllers' strike ), resulting in a riot before Santa vindictively rehires them in humiliating new positions such as his reindeer. In the 2001 The Sopranos episode, " To Save Us All from Satan's Power ", Paulie Gualtieri says he "Used to think Santa and Mrs. Claus were running a sweatshop over there. The original elves were ugly, traveled with Santa to throw bad kids

3162-582: The Eastern Orthodox Church is kept on 7 January. L. Frank Baum 's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus , a children's book , was published in 1902. Much of Santa Claus's mythos was not firmly established at the time, leaving Baum to give his "Neclaus" (Necile's Little One) a variety of immortal support, a home in the Laughing Valley of Hohaho, and ten reindeer—who could not fly, but leapt in enormous, flight-like bounds. Claus's immortality

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3264-518: The English and later British colonies of North America , and later in the United States, British and Dutch versions of the gift-giver merged further. For example, in Washington Irving 's History of New York (1809), Sinterklaas was Anglicized into "Santa Claus" (a name first used in the U.S. press in 1773) but lost his bishop's apparel, and was at first pictured as a thick-bellied Dutch sailor with

3366-815: The Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan area in the 1960s and 1970s as well as into Nanuet, New York (southern Rockland County), and into the Baltimore metropolitan area in the early 1980s, was renamed Macy's New Jersey in 1986. In 1986 Edward Finkelstein, Chairman & CEO of R. H. Macy & Co., Inc., led a leveraged buy-out of the company and subsequently engaged in a takeover battle for Federated Department Stores, Inc. , in 1988 that he lost to Canada's Campeau Corporation . As part of its settlement with Campeau, Macy's purchased Federated's California-based, fashion-oriented Bullock's and its high-end Bullocks Wilshire and I. Magnin divisions. It followed with

3468-737: The Jordan Marsh moniker in New England in early 1996. Federated followed that by leading a bid in mid-1995 to acquire the bankrupt Woodward & Lothrop / John Wanamaker organization in the mid-Atlantic region, a bid it lost to a rival group led by long-time rival and future acquisition target The May Department Stores Company . Instead Federated soon agreed to purchase Broadway Stores , Inc. (owner of The Broadway , Emporium and Weinstock's stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico), from its majority shareholder, Sam Zell , thereby gaining

3570-480: The Puritans , waning in power and firmly opposed to Christmas, still held some influence) and public displays of sexual deviancy; the celebrations of the era were derided by both upper-class merchants and Christian purists. In 1821, the book A New-year's present, to the little ones from five to twelve was published in New York. It contained " Old Santeclaus with Much Delight ", an anonymous poem describing Santeclaus on

3672-812: The Wild Hunt , frequently attested as being led by the god Odin (Wodan), bearing (among many names ) the names Jólnir , meaning "Yule figure", and Langbarðr , meaning "long-beard", in Old Norse . Wodan's role during the Yuletide period has been theorized as having influenced concepts of St. Nicholas and Santa Claus in a variety of facets, including his long white beard and his gray horse for nightly rides (compare Odin's horse Sleipnir ) or his reindeer in North American tradition. Folklorist Margaret Baker maintains that "the appearance of Santa Claus or Father Christmas, whose day

3774-556: The 1963 children's book How Mrs. Santa Claus Saved Christmas , by Phyllis McGinley , helped standardize and establish the character and role of Mrs. Claus in the US. Seabury Quinn 's 1948 novel Roads draws from historical legends to tell the story of Santa and the origins of Christmas. Other modern additions to the "story" of Santa include Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer , the 9th and lead reindeer created in 1939 by Robert L. May ,

3876-480: The 3 January 1863 issue of Harper's Weekly in which Santa was dressed in an American flag , and had a puppet with the name " Jeff " written on it, reflecting its Civil War context. Nast was inspired by the Belsnickel , part of the folklure in southwestern Germany, where he was born. In this drawing, Santa is also in a sleigh pulled by reindeers. The story that Santa Claus lives at the North Pole may also have been

3978-473: The 4th-century Christian bishop Saint Nicholas , the patron saint of children. Saint Nicholas became renowned for his reported generosity and secret gift-giving. The image of Santa Claus shares similarities with the English figure of Father Christmas , and they are both now popularly regarded as the same person. Santa is generally depicted as a portly, jolly, white- bearded man, often with spectacles , wearing

4080-510: The 867 stores were Macy's, including 584 that are full line and 57 that are home, furniture, clearance and specialty stores. In November 2018, Macy's announced they would test smaller "neighborhood" stores to reduce costs and promote innovation within the customer experience realm. As of 2018, Macy's ranked 120 on the Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by revenue. Gennette has also launched an overhaul of Macy's stores called

4182-533: The Charles W. Howard Santa School, the oldest continuously run such school in the world. In some images from the early 20th century, Santa was depicted as personally making his toys by hand in a small workshop like a craftsman. Eventually, the idea emerged that he had numerous elves responsible for making the toys, but the toys were still handmade by each individual elf working in the traditional manner. The 1956 popular song by George Melachrino , "Mrs. Santa Claus", and

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4284-654: The Coca-Cola brand. Coca-Cola's competitor Pepsi-Cola used similar Santa Claus paintings in its advertisements in the 1940s and 1950s. Historically, Coca-Cola was not the first soft drink company to utilize the modern image of Santa Claus in its advertising— White Rock Beverages had used a Santa figure in monochrome advertisements for mineral water in 1915, and in 1923–25, the same company used colour images of Santa Claus in adverts for drink mixers. Earlier, Santa Claus had appeared dressed in red and white and essentially in his current form on several covers of Puck magazine in

4386-719: The Fashion Mall to the Broward Mall since the Burdines acquisition), Houston , New Orleans, and Dallas . Davison's in Atlanta was renamed Macy's Atlanta in early 1985 with the consolidation of an early incarnation of Macy's Midwest (former Taylor and Lasalle's stores in Kansas City and Toledo, respectively), but late in 1985, Macy's sold the former Midwest locations. Bamberger's , which had aggressively expanded throughout New Jersey , into

4488-727: The French speaking region, while the sinister Schmutzli accompanies Samichlaus in the Swiss German region. Schmutzli carries a twig broom to spank the naughty children. Prior to Christianization, the Germanic peoples (including the English) celebrated a midwinter event called Yule (Old English geola or giuli ). With the Christianization of Germanic Europe, numerous traditions were absorbed from Yuletide celebrations into modern Christmas, such as

4590-453: The Growth150 strategic plan. In the second quarter of 2019, Macy's shares fell more than 13 percent. On August 14, shares hit $ 15.82, which was their lowest since February 2010. After conducting two years of research, Macy's announced in 2019 that it intended to ban the sale of fur products at its stores by the end of the 2020 fiscal year. The news follows the state of California's ban on

4692-542: The Roman emperor Nero to the North Pole to assassinate Santa Claus. Through a battle of wits, Santa saves himself by winning Nero over to the joys of Christmas, and gives him a Stradivarius violin. The play was re-produced in 1940 and 1944. Many television commercials, comic strips and other media depict this as a sort of humorous business, with Santa's elves acting as a sometimes mischievously disgruntled workforce, cracking jokes and pulling pranks on their boss. For instance,

4794-540: The United States and Canada, children may leave a glass of milk and a plate of cookies intended for Santa; in Britain, Australia and New Zealand, sherry or beer, and mince pies are left instead. In Denmark, Norway and Sweden, it is common for children to leave him rice porridge with sugar and cinnamon instead. In Ireland it is popular to leave Guinness or milk, along with Christmas pudding or mince pies. In Hungary, St. Nicolaus (Mikulás) or Father Winter (Télapó) comes on

4896-526: The United States. Its flagship store is located at Herald Square in the New York City borough of Manhattan . The company had 94,000 employees and an annual revenue of $ 25.3 billion as of January 2023. Macy's has conducted the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City since 1924 and has sponsored the city's annual Fourth of July fireworks display since 1976. Macy's Herald Square

4998-545: The Year of Santa Claus in the country. The events are seen as moves to boost tourism in Kyrgyzstan. The Guinness World Record for the largest gathering of Santa Clauses is held by Thrissur , Kerala , India where on 27 December 2014, 18,112 Santas overtook the previous record. Derry City, Northern Ireland had held the record since 9 September 2007, when a total of 12,965 people dressed up as Santa or Santa's helpers. Prior to that,

5100-477: The ability to provide consumers with a convenient means to purchase iPods and other consumer electronics, saying "This is exciting because it brings most-wanted merchandise into stores in a unique new way.... How cool is that?" Today, Macy's has converted its entire Electronics section in every store to (over 400) eSpot ZoomShops . Macy's significantly increased its use of television advertising and product placement in 2006 and 2007, using branding spots that featured

5202-515: The business grew, Macy's expanded into neighboring buildings, opening more and more departments. The store used publicity devices such as a store Santa Claus , themed exhibits, and illuminated window displays to draw in customers. It also offered a money-back guarantee, although it accepted only cash into the 1950s. The store also produced its in-house made-to-measure clothing for both men and women, assembled in an on-site factory. In 1875, Macy took on two partners, Robert M. Valentine (1850–1879),

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5304-427: The cartoon base, Santa has been voiced by several people, including Mickey Rooney , Jim Cummings , Mel Smith , Ricky Tomlinson , Jim Belushi , and Alec Baldwin . Santa has been described as a positive male cultural icon : Santa is really the only cultural icon we have who's male, does not carry a gun, and is all about peace, joy, giving, and caring for other people. That's part of the magic for me, especially in

5406-418: The center areas are higher to be reminiscent of older department stores. The format was the culmination of 18 months of research to create stores for the "My Macy's" initiative that allows stores to be merchandised differently in markets across the country to meet local demands. On October 28, 2014 Macy's, Inc. announced an extension of the lease-operation agreement with Al Tayer Group LLC that would bring

5508-712: The chain's first location in a U.S. territory. It is located in the Plaza Las Américas mall in San Juan . In 2001 Federated dissolved its Stern's division in the New York metropolitan area, with the bulk of the stores being absorbed into Macy's East . Additionally, in July 2001, it acquired the Liberty House chain with department and specialty stores in Hawaii and Guam, consolidating it with Macy's West. In early 2003 Federated closed

5610-485: The color of money. On January 12, 2006, Federated announced its plans to divest May Company's Lord & Taylor division by the end of 2006 before converting and closing seven stores. On June 22, 2006, Macy's announced that NDRC Equity Partners, LLC would purchase Lord & Taylor for US$ 1.2 billion (equivalent to $ 1.81 billion in 2024), and completed the sale in October 2006. By September 9, 2006, after renaming

5712-498: The company further announced plans to convert its stock ticker symbol from "FD" to "M", and revised its name change to Macy's, Inc . The change in corporate names was approved by shareholders on May 18, 2007, and took effect on June 1, 2007. The company continues to operate stores under the Macy's and Bloomingdale's nameplates. In March 2009, Macy's opened a one-level, 120,000-square-foot (11,000 m ) concept store in Gilbert, Arizona,

5814-574: The day itself, 6 December, while Christmas, 25 December, is used by another 21% to give presents. Some 26% of the Dutch population gives presents on both days. In Belgium, presents are offered exclusively to children on 6 December, and on Christmas Day all ages may receive presents. Saint Nicolas/Sinterklaas' assistants are called " Pieten " (in Dutch) or " Père Fouettard " (in French), and they are not elves. In Switzerland, Père Fouettard accompanies Père Noël in

5916-482: The elves with Santa and Mrs. Claus as executives or managers. In 1912, actor Leedham Bantock became the first actor to be identified as having played Santa Claus in a film . Santa Claus , which he also directed, included scenes photographed in a limited, two-tone colour process and featured the use of detailed models. Since then many feature films have featured Santa Claus as a protagonist, including Miracle on 34th Street , The Santa Clause , and Elf . In

6018-461: The emblem of good cheer. His physical appearance was variable, with one image being John Leech's illustration of the " Ghost of Christmas Present " in Charles Dickens 's festive story A Christmas Carol (1843), as a great genial man in a green coat lined with fur who takes Scrooge through the bustling streets of London on the current Christmas morning, sprinkling the essence of Christmas onto

6120-493: The end of 2021, JANA had reduced their holding in Macy's by 84%, or about 1.5% of the company. In August 2021, Macy's announced they were partnering with Toys "R" Us to open toy shops in Macy's stores, starting in 2022. In November 2021, Macy's announced they were starting a free education program and boosting its corporation base salary to $ 15 per hour. In February 2023, Macy's said they would no longer sell leather goods made of exotic skins, such as reptiles or ostriches. On

6222-422: The entire block bounded by Seventh Avenue on the west, Broadway on the east, 34th Street on the south and 35th Street on the north, with the exception of a small pre-existing building on the corner of 35th Street and Seventh Avenue and another on the corner of 34th Street and Broadway. This latter 5-story building was purchased by Robert H. Smith in 1900 for $ 375,000 (equivalent to $ 13.7 million in 2024) with

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6324-484: The evening of 31 December to be opened on New Years Day. After the children have fallen asleep , parents play the role of Santa Claus and leave their gifts under the Christmas tree , which may be signed as being "from Santa Claus". Santa is generally depicted as a portly, jolly, white- bearded man, often with spectacles , wearing a red outfit consisting of jacket, trousers and hat all trimmed with white fur, accessorized with black leather belt and boots, and carrying

6426-747: The first Bloomingdale's stores in Atlanta. The company rapidly followed suit in May 2003 with similar rebranding announcements for its other nameplates, Burdines in Florida, Goldsmith's in Memphis , Lazarus in the lower Midwest, and The Bon Marché in the Pacific Northwest. On March 6, 2005, the Bon-Macy's , Burdines-Macy's , Goldsmith's-Macy's , Lazarus-Macy's , and Rich's–Macy's stores were renamed as simply "Macy's",

6528-472: The first Macy's store overseas to Abu Dhabi , anchoring a new mall with its corporate-sister Bloomingdale's , which will open its second overseas store (the first was located at The Dubai Mall ); both are slated to open in 2018. Macy's was the 15th-largest retailer in the United States for 2014 by revenue . In January 2015, it was announced that Macy's would close 14 stores nationwide and shift 830 workers from Macy's and Bloomingdale's stores. Unrelated to

6630-502: The first few years of the 20th century. The image of Santa Claus as a benevolent character became reinforced with its association with charity and philanthropy, particularly by organizations such as the Salvation Army . Volunteers dressed as Santa Claus typically became part of fundraising drives to aid needy families at Christmas time. In 1937, Charles W. Howard , who played Santa Claus in department stores and parades, established

6732-604: The first two as the new Macy's West and Macy's Florida divisions respectively and the later three as part of the Macy's Central division. As of July 2005, Macy's had 424 stores throughout the U.S. On February 28, 2005, Federated agreed to terms of a deal to acquire The May Department Stores Company for $ 11 billion (equivalent to $ 17.2 billion in 2024) in stock, creating the nation's second largest department store chain with $ 30 billion (equivalent to $ 46.8 billion in 2024) in annual sales and more than 1,000 stores. On July 28, 2005, Federated announced, based on

6834-782: The former May Company stores, Macy's operated approximately 850 stores in the United States. To promote its largest and most recent expansion, Macy's used a version of the Martha and the Vandellas hit song, " Dancing in the Street ", in its advertising. Also, the company took props from its annual Thanksgiving Day parade to various re-labeled stores throughout the nation, in what the company marketed as its "Parade on Parade". In October 2006, Federated Department Stores entered into an agreement with Zoom Systems to test more than 100 stores within retail giant Macy's. Terry Lundgren, CEO of Federated, raved about

6936-524: The happy populace. In the Netherlands and Belgium, the character of Santa Claus competes with that of Sinterklaas , based on Saint Nicolas. Santa Claus is known as de Kerstman in Dutch ("the Christmas man") and Père Noël ("Father Christmas") in French. For children in the Netherlands, Sinterklaas remains the predominant gift-giver in December; 36% of the Dutch only give presents on Sinterklaas evening or

7038-544: The holiday season in 2015. The company announced that it experienced same store sales declines of 5.2% in November and December 2015 – typically busy months. In January 2016, Macy's announced that it will layoff up to 4,800 employees. The company said that these closings would experience cost savings of $ 400 million. As of January 2016, Macy's had 770 stores in total. On August 11, 2016, Macy's announced that it would close 100 stores in early 2017, expecting to save $ 550 million

7140-443: The ice and snow". The tale had become well known by the 1870s. A boy from Colorado writing to the children's magazine The Nursery in late 1874 said, "If we did not live so very far from the North Pole, I should ask Santa Claus to bring me a donkey." The idea of a wife for Santa Claus may have been the creation of American authors, beginning in the mid-19th century. In 1889, the poet Katharine Lee Bates popularized Mrs. Claus in

7242-465: The idea of getting in the way of Macy's becoming the largest store in the world: it is largely supposed that Smith, who was a neighbor of the Macy's store on 14th Street, was acting on behalf of Siegel-Cooper , which had built what they thought was the world's largest store on Sixth Avenue in 1896. Macy's ignored the tactic, and simply built around the building, which now carries Macy's "shopping bag" sign by lease arrangement. In 1912, Isidor Straus died in

7344-515: The legend of Sinterklaas ("Saint Nicholas") to 17th-century New Amsterdam (present-day New York City ), and has been maintained and reinforced through song, radio, television, children's books, family Christmas traditions , films, and advertising. Saint Nicholas was a 4th-century Greek Christian bishop of Myra (now Demre ) in the region of Lycia in the Roman Empire , today in Turkey. Nicholas

7446-480: The majority of its historic Davison's franchise in Atlanta (operating as Macy's since 1985), rebranding its other Atlanta division Rich's with the unwieldy name, Rich's–Macy's. The downtown location – formerly the Davison's flagship store at 180 Peachtree Street – was shuttered at this time as well. The original Macy's Lenox Square and Perimeter Mall locations were extensively remodeled and opened in October 2003 as

7548-412: The manufacturing and sale of such items. In 2020, Macy's closed its Cincinnati headquarters, consolidating headquarters operations in New York City. JANA Partners , an activist investment firm, disclosed a large stake in Macy's in 2021, and sent a letter to the board recommending spinning off the company's online business. In response, Macy's hired AlixPartners to review their business structure. By

7650-576: The merger by federal regulators. The rebranding of the May stores was disliked in Chicago and elsewhere because the stores were regarded as beloved local institutions. The renaming of Filene's, Marshall Field's, and Kaufmann's, which were well known for their downtown flagship stores and local traditions provoked the most outrage. For example, Kaufmann's operated the Kaufmann's Celebrate the Season Parade which

7752-506: The morning of December 4, 2023, a stabbing occurred at Macy's Flagship store in Philadelphia, killing 27-year-old security guard Eric Harrison. In January 2024, Macy's rejected a $ 5 billion takeover from Arkhouse Management and Brigade Capital Management to acquire all of the outstanding shares of the company. Santa Claus Santa Claus (also known as Saint Nicholas , Saint Nick , Father Christmas , Kris Kringle , or Santa )

7854-424: The new Macy's star logo. Macy's television commercials are produced primarily by New York Production Services , a New York-based commercial and independent film production company. During two episodes of the popular ABC television series Desperate Housewives (" I Remember That " and " Now You Know "), a Macy's location in the fictional city of Fairview was featured, rare instances of product placement promoting

7956-410: The newer buildings were increasingly Art Deco in style. In 2012, Macy's began the first full renovation of the iconic Herald Square flagship store at a reported cost of $ 400 million. Studio V Architecture , a New York-based firm, was the overall Master Plan architect of the project. Studio V's design raised controversy over the nature of contemporary design and authentic restoration. The building

8058-455: The night of 5 December and the children get their gifts the next morning. They get sweets in a bag if they were good, and a golden coloured birch switch if not. On Christmas Eve "Little Jesus" comes and gives gifts for everyone. In Slovenia, Saint Nicholas (Miklavž) also brings small gifts for good children on the eve of 6 December. Božiček (Christmas Man) brings gifts on the eve of 25 December, and Dedek Mraz (Grandfather Frost) brings gifts in

8160-570: The objection of the monks of Myra the sailors took the bones of St. Nicholas to Bari, where they are now enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola . Sailors from Bari collected just half of Nicholas' skeleton, leaving all the minor fragments in the church sarcophagus. These were later taken by Venetian sailors during the First Crusade and placed in Venice , where a church to St. Nicholas, the patron of sailors,

8262-482: The old Dutch words for thunder and lightning, which were later changed to the more German sounding Donner and Blitzen). By 1845, "Kris Kringle" was a common variant of Santa in parts of the United States. A magazine article from 1853, describing American Christmas customs to British readers, refers to children hanging up their stockings on Christmas Eve for "a fabulous personage" whose name varies: in Pennsylvania he

8364-420: The poem "Goody Santa Claus on a Sleigh Ride". "Is There a Santa Claus?" is the title of an iconic editorial by Francis Pharcellus Church in the 21 September 1897 edition of The New York Sun that became the most reprinted in the U.S. and included the famous reply, " Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus ". In Russia, Ded Moroz emerged as a Santa Claus figure around the late 19th century where Christmas for

8466-580: The record was 3,921, which was set during the Santa Dash event in Liverpool City Centre in 2005. A gathering of Santas in 2009 in Bucharest, Romania attempted to top the world record, but failed with only 3,939 Santas. Santa Claus has been featured in many video games. The tradition of Santa Claus being said to enter dwellings through the chimney is shared by many European seasonal gift-givers. In

8568-501: The reign of Henry VIII , when he was pictured as a large man in green or scarlet robes lined with fur. He typified the spirit of good cheer at Christmas , bringing peace, joy, good food and wine and revelry. As England no longer kept the feast day of Saint Nicholas on 6 December, the Father Christmas celebration was moved to 25 December to coincide with Christmas Day. The Victorian revival of Christmas included Father Christmas as

8670-523: The remainder of the I. Magnin chain, converting several to Macy's or Bullock's and selling four in Carmel , Beverly Hills , San Diego and Phoenix to Saks Fifth Avenue . Federated also merged its Abraham & Straus / Jordan Marsh division with the new "Macy's East" organization based in New York, renaming the Abraham & Straus stores in metropolitan New York with the Macy's nameplate in 1995, and then erasing

8772-570: The sinking of the Titanic at the age of 67 with his wife, Ida. The original Broadway store was designed by architects De Lemos & Cordes , was built in 1901–02 by the Fuller Company and has a Palladian facade, but has been updated in many details. There were further additions to the west in 1924 and 1928, and the Seventh Avenue building in 1931, all designed by architect Robert D. Kohn ,

8874-423: The small Macy's North division. In May 1993, Macy's announced the planned fall 1994 launch of TV Macy's, the retailer's own home shopping channel, in conjunction with Don Hewitt , Thomas Leahy and Cablevision . R. H. Macy & Co. merged with Federated Department Stores on December 19, 1994. Following the merger, the reorganized Macy's moved its headquarters to Cincinnati , Ohio. Federated promptly shut down

8976-630: The store closings, on July 13, 2015, Macy's announced it had sold the former flagship store of Kaufmann's in Downtown Pittsburgh for redevelopment, closing the location after 128 years. In May 2015, Macy's joined the new American Express -backed Plenti rewards card, which it shares with AT&T Mobility , Direct Energy , Enterprise Rent-A-Car , ExxonMobil , Hulu , Nationwide Insurance , and Rite Aid . On September 9, 2015, Macy's announced it would close 35 to 40 under-performing stores by early 2016. The retailer's struggles continued into

9078-599: The success of converting its own regional brands to the Macy's name, its plans to similarly convert 330 regional department stores owned by the May Company (as May Department Stores was generally referred to) to the Macy's nameplate. This included May's Marshall Field's (which had just been purchased by the May Company from Target in 2004), Kaufmann's , Famous-Barr , Filene's , Foley's , Hecht's , The Jones Store , L. S. Ayres , Meier & Frank , Robinsons-May , and Strawbridge & Clothier chains, pending approval of

9180-604: The value of Macy's shares fell 14%, its biggest drop in seven months. In February 2017, the Hudson's Bay Company made an overture to Macy's for a potential takeover of the struggling department store. Macy's acquired experiential concept Story in May 2018 and made a minority investment in b8ta, a retail as a service concept, in June 2018. By February 2019, Macy's Inc. was operating 867 stores, including Macy's, Backstage, Bloomingdale's, Bloomingdale's Outlets, Bluemercury, and STORY; 641 of

9282-610: The years it has been known as Macy's New York and Macy's Northeast . On February 1, 2006, Macy's East assumed operating control over the Filene's , Strawbridge's , many of the Kaufmann's stores in upstate New York and the Hecht's stores in Pennsylvania , Maryland , D.C. and northern Virginia. These locations assumed the Macy's moniker officially on September 9, 2006. In 2008 Macy's East took over

9384-744: Was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1978. Macy's opened their first branch store outside their 34th Street location in the Parkchester development in The Bronx, on October 13, 1941. The company also acquired local department store chains across the country, including Lasalle & Koch ( Toledo , 1923), Davison-Paxon-Stokes ( Atlanta , 1929), L. Bamberger & Co. ( Newark , 1929), O'Connor Moffat & Company (San Francisco, 1945) and John Taylor Dry Goods Co. ( Kansas City , 1947). O'Connor Moffat

9486-620: Was an earlier bearer of gifts, which has to some degree become conflated with Santa Claus, for instance in the Finnish Joulupukki tradition. Early representations of the gift-giver from Church history and folklore, especially St Nicholas, merged with the English character Father Christmas to create the mythical character known to the rest of the English-speaking world as "Santa Claus" (a phonetic derivation of " Sinterklaas " in Dutch ). In

9588-606: Was built on the San Nicolò al Lido . St. Nicholas' vandalized sarcophagus can still be seen in the St. Nicholas Church in Myra. This tradition was confirmed in two important scientific investigations of the relics in Bari and Venice , which revealed that the relics in the two Italian cities belong to the same skeleton. Saint Nicholas was later claimed as a patron saint of many diverse groups, from archers , sailors, and children to pawnbrokers . He

9690-661: Was earned, much like his title ("Santa"), decided by a vote of those naturally immortal. This work also established Claus's motives: a happy childhood among immortals. When Ak, Master Woodsman of the World, exposes him to the misery and poverty of children in the outside world, Santa strives to find a way to bring joy into the lives of all children, and eventually invents toys as a principal means. Santa later appears in The Road to Oz as an honored guest at Ozma's birthday party, stated to be famous and beloved enough for everyone to bow even before he

9792-468: Was known for his generous gifts to the poor, in particular presenting the three impoverished daughters of a pious Christian with dowries so that they would not have to become prostitutes. He was very religious from an early age and devoted his life entirely to Christianity. In continental Europe (more precisely the Netherlands, Belgium, Austria, the Czech Republic and Germany), he is usually portrayed as

9894-553: Was propagated by Martin Luther as an alternative to the previous very popular gift custom on St. Nicholas, to focus the interest of the children to Christ instead of the veneration of saints. Martin Luther first suggested the Christkind as the bringer of gifts. But Nicholas remained popular as gifts bearer for the people. Father Christmas dates back as far as 16th century in England during

9996-549: Was rebranded as Macy's. The mall was also home to a location of prominent cheesesteak restaurant chain Jim's Steaks , closed due to health violations in 2017. Located directly across from Roosevelt Mall is Great Northeast Plaza, which was formerly anchored by Sears . Prior to Sears, it was anchored by Gimbels . This article about a United States shopping mall is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Macy%27s Macy's (originally R. H. Macy & Co. )

10098-659: Was renamed Macy's San Francisco in 1947, later becoming Macy's California, and John Taylor was renamed Macy's Missouri-Kansas in 1949. Stores in Toledo retained the Lasalle's name until 1981, joining the Missouri-Kansas stores to become Macy's Midwest. The Toledo stores were sold to Elder-Beerman in 1986. In 1965, Macy's opened a large branch store on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst , in the New York City borough of Queens . The owner of

10200-523: Was replaced by Wanamaker's in 1976 and was converted to Hecht's in 1995 following May Department Stores ' acquisition of the Wanamaker's chain. About a year later, Hecht's became Strawbridge's. During the Strawbridge's years, it had a bargain basement in which all furniture and goods were marked down by 80%. Following Federated Department Stores ' acquisition of May Department Stores in 2005, Strawbridge's

10302-408: Was the author. St. Nick is described as being "chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf" with "a little round belly", that "shook when he laughed like a bowlful of jelly", in spite of which the "miniature sleigh" and "tiny reindeer" still indicate that he is physically diminutive. The reindeer were also named: Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder and Blixem (Dunder and Blixem came from

10404-542: Was traditionally broadcast live throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on television. Many customers publicly vowed to never again shop at the renamed May stores and to switch to competitors. Prominent film critic Roger Ebert voiced the grief of many Chicagoans at the loss of Field's when he wrote in his column on September 21, 2005: I thought the day would never come. I am looking at my Field's charge card, which I have cut up into tiny pieces. They look like little tears

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