$11.06. That amount was reportedly what Rowland Hussey Macy earned on the first day his new dry-goods store opened for business in a small building on the corner of Sixth Avenue and Fourteenth Street in 1858.
But after that slow start, the R.H. Macy store began grossing tens of thousands of dollars a year. It became a full-fledged department store in 1877 and eventually occupied many storefronts along West 14th Street (like the one in the photo at left).
Fourteenth Street was a more upscale shopping district at the end of the 19th century. But even then, department store moguls could see that the future of retail was farther uptown.
So in 1902, Macy’s packed it up and relocated to a colossal new store at Herald Square on 34th Street—its current quarters today.
This weekend, Macy’s is sponsoring its 33rd annual Fireworks Spectacular, this time over the Hudson River. Macy’s pledged the first show as a tribute to America’s Bicentennial, and it quickly morphed into an Independence Day tradition.
Tags: Dry Goods stores New York City, Herald Square, Ladies' Mile, Macy's, Macy's Department Store, Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks, Rowland Hussey Macy, shopping 14th Street
July 1, 2009 at 3:48 pm |
[...] By 1877, it became a full-fledged department store and eventually took up much of West 14th with shops like this one. [Ephemeral New York] The 72-year-old driver that hit and killed the bicyclist Camille Savoy, 54, [...]
July 2, 2009 at 9:31 pm |
i understand that that building still has the red star above the door, which was macy’s tattoo from his seafaring days.