Career
Macy was the fourth of six children born to a Quaker family on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts. At the age of fifteen, he worked on the whaling ship Emily Morgan and had a red star tattooed on his hand, which became part of the store"s logo. Between 1843 and 1855, Macy opened four retail dry goods stores, including the original Macy"s store in downtown Haverhill, Massachusetts, established 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 and established a new store named "R.H Macy Dry Goods" at Sixth Avenue on the corner of 14th Street, significantly north of other dry goods stores of the time. On the company"s first day of business on October 28, 1858 sales totaled $11.08, equal to $302.49 today.
As the business grew, Macy"s expanded into neighboring buildings, opening up more and more departments, and used publicity devices such as a store Santa Claus, themed exhibits, and illuminated window displays to draw in customers. The store also produced its own made-to-measure clothing for both men and women, assembled in an on-site factory.
Macy died on March 29, 1877 in Paris of Bright"s disease.
He was interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx. The following year, in 1878, Macy"s partner Louisiana Forge died, and the third partner, Valentine, died in 1879. Ownership of the store passed to the Macy"s family until 1895, when it was sold to Isidor and Nathan Straus.
Macy was portrayed in the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street by character actor Harry Antrim.
In subsequent adaptations of the story, the character was played by Don Beddoe in an episode of The 20th Century-Fox Hour in 1955, Hiram Sherman in a 1959 television movie, and David Doyle in a 1973 television film.