From sailors to merchants: as the founder of Macy's is associated with the "Titanic"

Macy's American department store, which will celebrate its 2018 anniversary in 160, is not only the oldest, but also one of the most popular in the United States. And the founder of the department store network, Roland Chassis Macy, who was born in 1822 on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts, is considered a vivid example of the realization of the American dream.

As a child, Roland raved about the sea, and in 15 for years he hired a whaling ship. Macy's star logo is a symbolic reminder of a tattoo with a red star on the sailor’s hand during his work on the ship. Four years later, Macy went ashore with a strong intention to achieve success in another field.

In 1843, he opened a tiny haberdashery store, but soon went bankrupt. Failure only provoked the novice trader. In 1849, in the wake of the gold rush, Macy, his brother and several friends went to California, organizing the supply of food and trade in land.

Macey returned home with capital in 4 thousand dollars, which was enough for two more attempts to open a store in the American province. They again had no success, and 36-year-old Roland Macy decided to try his luck in New York, where he started his business from scratch.

In 1858, he rented one of the cheapest premises in Manhattan and opened a shop under the name RH Macy & Co, focusing on a variety of assortments: clothes and bedding, picture frames and silverware, jewelry and watches, gloves, soap and perfume.

Macy was a stranger in New York, and banks denied him credit. He decided to do the same, ceasing to release goods to customers on credit. By the way, this rule persisted in his company until the 50s of the XX century. In addition, he had fixed prices without the possibility of bargaining, which at that time was a wonder.

The first year of trading in New York brought Macy a profit of $ 90 thousand, and over the course of several years he bought 11 stores in the district and created a department store that occupies almost the entire quarter. After that, revenues began to amount to millions of dollars.

Illuminated showcases, various exhibitions and promotions, guaranteed money back for low-quality goods - such were Roland Macy's innovations. In 1862, he introduced the tradition of dressing sellers on Christmas Eve in Santa Claus costumes, decorating Christmas-style shop windows and extending opening hours on the eve of holidays.

During the years of the American Civil War, Macy was one of the first in America to hire girls instead of male salesmen called up for service. In 1866, one of them, for the first time in the history of American trade, became a manager at its department store.

In 1874, Macy subleased the basement of his building to L. Straus & Sons, which traded in Chinese goods and tableware. Then he could not even imagine that the Strauss brothers, who run this business, would play an important role in the fate of his enterprise.

In 1877, Roland Macy died suddenly from jade during a business trip to Paris. Macy bequeathed his property to his wife and daughter, and planned to hand over his affairs to his nephew Robert Valentin and husband to his cousin Abiel la Forget, whom he had made his business partners two years before his death.

However, almost immediately after Macy, Forge died of tuberculosis, and a year later Robert Valentin also died. Macy's "Orphaned" went to the brothers Isidore and Nathan Strauss, who in 1902 opened Macy's flagship department store in the Herald Square district on 34 Street.

Macy's Herald Square at that time consisted of 9 floors of a wide variety of goods, dozens of elevators (the first elevator in New York appeared here) and escalators. In 1942, it was recognized as the largest department store in the world.

For more than 20, the Strauss brothers ruled Macy's empire. In 1912, Isidore Strauss and his wife, Ida, set out on a fateful journey on the infamous Titanic. The story of their death is depicted in the famous movie “Titanic”, where an elderly couple, embracing, lay in bed awaiting death. At the time of the evacuation of a sinking ship, one of the officers offered them a place in the boat, but the Straus couple refused, giving a chance for salvation to their young maid.

The brainchild of the former sailor Roland Macy, in contrast to the Titanic, turned out to be an enterprise capable of keeping afloat, despite wars, financial crises and a change of owners. However, in 1992, Macy's turned out to be bankrupt due to unsuccessful financial operations.

Even heavy television "artillery" was thrown to the rescue of the department store - in the popular TV series "Desperate Housewives" there was a lot of Macy's hidden advertising. And in 2008, when Macy's celebrated its 150 anniversary, its name was mentioned in almost all popular American talk shows.

Today, Macy's on 34 Street in Manhattan is considered one of the most attractive tourist attractions in New York, along with the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building.

The traditional Thanksgiving parade, which Macy's has already held for 92 of the year, the annual flower festival held here in April-May over 60 for years in a row, various fashion shows, exclusive exhibitions and star parties are Macy's integral parts for both New Yorkers and numerous tourists.

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