Results tagged “macys”

Anecdotal reports suggest that crowds on Black Friday—the day after Thanksgiving—were up compared to last year, but retailers won't know how that translated into sales for another few days. Macy's president and CEO Terry Lundgren told the NY Times that over 5,000 waited outside the Herald Square location yesterday (more than last year) and said this year's customer was going to be more careful, "They've got a budget that they’ve planned to spend and I think most consumers will stick to that. We expect that this will be a market-share holiday season. We don’t need consumers to spend more money. We just need to make them spend more money with us."

       

While many are celebrating the slashed prices today, Reverend Billy and his Stop Shopping Choir are lambasting the Black Friday masses and the corporate overlords that preside over them. This morning the good Rev hit Macy's for his annual Buy Nothing Day. In an op-ed yesterday, he wrote, "We'll be there at 5am, when shoppers who have been up all night wait in line rush the glass doors. This is the human comedy at its most sad, and it is an environmental shopocalypse."

This year will be the first year the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade doesn't head down Broadway for its Herald Square finale outside Macy's. Instead, the procession of balloons, floats and performers will head down Seventh and Sixth Avenues, partially due to the new pedestrian plazas in Times Square and partially because 7th and 6th Avenues are wider (in 2005, some parade watchers were struck by M&M balloons!).

It's that time again—time for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And one of the fun traditions to watching the balloons being blown up the night before. This year's Thanksgiving parade balloon inflation begins tomorrow at 3 p.m. and ends at 10 p.m., with the entrance at West 77th Street and Columbus Avenue. It does get very crowded, so be patient!

Now that Halloween is out of the way, it's time to talk turkey. The annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade is just around the corner, and it's getting a new route this year. As previously mentioned, the route will no longer go down Broadway after Columbus Circle and will instead had down 7th Avenue and then 6th Avenue towards Macy's. One reason is the new pedestrian plazas in Times Square while another is the fact that 6th and 7th Avenues are wider than Broadway. As previously mentioned, the route will no longer go down Broadway after Columbus Circle and will instead had down 7th Avenue and then 6th Avenue towards Macy's.

Everybody in New York knows that Thanksgiving is about one thing and one thing only: self-promotion. So it is with honor for our melting-pot of a country that NBC has reportedly banned the cast of 'Glee' from performing at the Thanksgiving Day Parade. The cast of the hit Fox show was set to sing their hit cover of "Don't Stop Believin'" for the 83rd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, but apparently NBC didn't want to showcase their rivals' hit show. But wait, now who will provide the traditional Journey sing-along our forefathers fought for?

Tomorrow night is the 33rd annual Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks. As we all know, the fireworks will take place over the Hudson River this year, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of the river's exploration by Henry Hudson. Expect a dazzling display of 45,000 shells (which will explode a rate of more than 1,500 per minute) from six barges, which is the most barges that Macy's has ever used. Fireworks designer Gary Souza told the Post that the Hudson "gives us a broader area to launch the fireworks from and makes the show that much more spectacular. It's one of the biggest and best shows we've ever put together."

As if Macy's could move the 4th of July fireworks from the East to the Hudson River and not hear about it from Brooklyn. Council Member David Yassky issued the following statement yesterday regarding the huge dis to the borough: “The annual Fourth of July fireworks show on the East River and over the internationally-recognized Brooklyn Bridge is one of our City’s greatest spectacles. Moving the show to New Jersey would negatively impact thousands of tourists and residents who come to Manhattan and Brooklyn to enjoy the show, and the countless local business that stand to benefit from the event. I urge Macy’s to split the show so that Brooklyn residents are not robbed of this important tradition and influx of economic activity during this moment of economic uncertainty.” The Brooklyn Paper seconds that emotion today with a number of quotes from disappointed residents, including Marty Markowitz himself, who reminds the retailer that the borough is also linked to Henry Hudson's journeys. The paper notes that "the change will hinder views from the Columbia Street Waterfront District all the way to Greenpoint — and inland to Fort Greene, Park Slope and beyond."

You just purchased a condo in Williamsburg with a sick rooftop terrace overlooking the East River, but don't send out that 4th of July firework-watching party Evite to your friends just yet: They're being moved to the Hudson River this year. Macy's sure loves change.

There appears to be serious consideration being given to rerouting the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade so that the glowing neon spectrum of Times Square would be replaced by the yawning canyon of white-collar drudgery that defines Sixth Avenue. The Department of Transportation confirmed yesterday's reports that the parade may call off its right turn off Columbus Circle onto Broadway and continue over to the Avenue of Americas.

Hmm, where have we seen white bikes like this one before? Oh yeah, they're locked up in cities across America to mark locations where cyclists were fatally run over. Nothing like the memory of blood-stained asphalt to make you want to run out and buy a pretty white dress. In a boneheaded move reminiscent of DKNY's failed fashion week bike-vertising, Macy's is now utilizing what appear to be replicas of the sadly familiar Ghost Bikes in their flagship store, as part of an adorable little display called "My Funny Valentine."

We knew that retailers are desperate to boost their revenue, but this is ridiculous: According to the Staten Island Advance, for customers who used debit cards when shopping at Macys, "A computer glitch may have caused multiple debits to some customers' checking accounts on Dec. 20 from 1 to 2:45 p.m. in Macy's Central and East divisions." And, yes, that affects NYC-area locations. Macy's says the problem has been corrected and that it is working with customers' bank to fix the situation, but it may take a few days. So, in the mean time, anyone "affected by the glitch should fax their bank statements to Macy's at 513-573-2433. Write 'Attention Third Party Credit' on the bill, and block out the account number on the statement before faxing it. And in other news, some clothing makers are disputing with Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue over the huge discounts they offered during the holidays; usually vendors compensate retailers for discounts, but this year has been unusual.

Retailers were hoping for a last-minute holiday shopping push from consumers during the last weekend before Christmas. The AP noticed "shoppers swarmed racks offering 65 percent off women's clothing" at Macy's on 34th Street—not to mention other deep discounts around the store. But some shoppers, like N.C. resident Dee Dobbins, were a little more grim, "This is going to be a poor Christmas." The International Council of Shopping Centers believes that stores will be posting their "worst performance for the holidays since at least 1969, when it began tracking such data," but that's not stopping some Macy's stores—including 34th Street in Manhattan, Queens Center in Rego Park, and Staten Island locations— from being open 24 hours/day through Christmas Eve.

                  

The beautiful weather made yesterday's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade the hot ticket: The NY Post reports 3.5 million people lined the streets to enjoy the balloons, floats, and performers, while the Daily News put the spectator figure at around 1 million. Many parade watchers were waiting since early morning (4 a.m., 5 a.m.), staking out good spots to watch the 9 a.m. parade.

While stores are hoping that Black Friday sales will bring charge-happy shoppers out in full force, Reverend Billy is hoping that people will hold on to their cash. The Rev & Co. were up bright n' early this morning to kick-off their annual Buy Nothing Day at Macy's. At 4:30 a.m. the troupe was "preaching and singing to citizens to accept the Stop Shopping Gospel into their hearts."

            

It was a beautiful day for Macy's 82nd Annual Thanksgiving Day Parade. Enjoy these photographs of festivities.

                   

Last night, thousands of New Yorkers flocked to the Upper West Side to see balloons get inflated for today's Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Here are just some photographs of the pre-parade excitement--where else do you see Smurf, Pikachu and Kermit appear in front of your eyes?

The 1930 Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade certainly looked a little odd compared to the floats we see today. The Bowery Boys have now taken a stroll down memory lane, recalling some of the weirdest balloons to fly above Broadway in history. Above are a couple of old-timers, a Pinocchio from 1935 with a 44-foot nose, and a 1941 fish, which they call "artistic and graceful."

Tomorrow is the 82nd Annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade begins at 9 a.m., up at West 77th Street and Central Park West and then makes it way down CPW to Broadway, continuing down Broadway until Herald Square. Macy's says the best place to view the parade is along CPW between 61st and 72nd Streets and simply says to arrive early for good viewing.

       

Barney's went back in time a few decades, while Lord & Taylor kept it traditional, but what are other department stores choosing for their holiday window themes? The Macy's windows were unveiled last night, with all elements seeming to emanate the magic of Christmas! The AP notes that the company was going for "a behind-the-scenes look at the magical ways the elements of Christmas such as snow, stars, tinsel and ornaments are created." Take a look, and if you see any smaller scale holiday windows in your neighborhood, be sure to tag your Flickr photos with "Gothamist"!

            

Macy's Parade Studio in Hoboken opened its doors yesterday for children from various New Jersey elementary schools to get a preview of this year's eight new floats and four new giant helium balloons. Disney's new Bolt movie was represented, but the real star was a freaky display of Woodland creatures celebrating the first Thanksgiving. (Or celebrating their first acid-fueled orgy?) And if you grew up on the Smurfs, you'll be happy or appalled to know there will be a giant Smurf balloon along with a whole Smurf village float, all celebrating the 50th Smurf-iversary. They really are that old! Here's the official site for the parade.

While the Macy's 4th of July Fireworks Spectacular was definitely spectacular (see the photos), the show's organizers moved the displays further south, closer to the Williamsburg Bridge, in order for more of the NYC skyline to be seen in the TV broadcast. Not only did NBC broadcast from Brooklyn, but NBC also added a chyron (graphic) noting that the fireworks were taking place near at least seven times during the half-hour show.

          

"spectacular" by i'mjustsayin on flickr

Why go to one of the many Apple stores in New York for your iPod when you can go to...Macy's? Racked is reporting that the department store is installing Apple vending machines, holding everything from iPods to Canon digital cameras to various accessories. (Perhaps the Macy's Pirate was looking to score some iPod booty in the Apple treasure chest last weekend.)

Brooklyn kickball team Los Pirates Mechanicos (pictured) are down one man as of yesterday; Lawrence Jackson (better known as Lance) was arrested for carrying around a rusty pirate sword (also pictured) in Macy's. Unsurprisingly, the NYPD took it for a weapon, not a recreational sports prop.

Who do you sue when you get badly burned after lighting your cigarette with a stove's burner? Well, if you're Staten Island resident Joel Lederman, you'll sue Macy's because it sold a dangerous shirt.

It's not rats at a KFC/Taco Bell, but little critters are all around--sometimes in very public areas. Reader Stacey sent us footage of a window at Macy's in Herald Square, where a little mouse is really enjoying the Macy's Flower Show. WARNING: You may think this is cute.

In the middle of the month, Macy's announced it would be keeping eight locations in New York and New Jersey open from 7AM on December 21th until December 24th at 6PM - for 83 hours straight! Macy's chairman and CEO Ron Klein had explained, "We are giving our customers extra time to shop when it’s convenient for them," and said that the success of the Queens Center mall location staying open last year encouraged Macy's to expand the extra-holiday-hours shopping this year.

• Today on the Gothamist Newsmap: a ceiling collapse at Franklin Ave. and Union St. in Brooklyn, a pedestrian was fatally struck on Queens Blvd. in Woodhaven, Queens, and an unusual rescue on the south bound tower of the Throgs Neck Bridge in Queens.
• An undercover cop forgot to turn off the wire he was wearing while discussing 11 bags of cocaine he seized in a Brooklyn bust that were never turned in. He was also sure to repeatedly refer to black people using the "N-word." [No link yet, but we saw the story on NY1.]
• The mother of an escaped convict is telling him through the press to keep running, and knows some day he'll be exonerated of his crime. We foresee either a one-armed man eventually brought to justice or subsequent imprisonment in a South American jail.
• Civil disobedience on 5th Avenue. We did not realize this, but the city has offered free vendor licenses to military veterans since the Civil War. Dan Rossi is protesting the curtailment of the practice by parking his hot dog cart right in front of The Metropolitan Museum.
• There's an interesting installation at the Gavin Brown Enterprise on Greenwich St. created by artist Urs Fischer, who's dug a hole in the ground. It is an absolutely enormous hole in the ground.
• Michael Douglas is the new announcer for the NBC Nightly News. Anderson Cooper responds that he would also consider a celebrity announcer, like Fran Drescher, Clint Eastwood, Paul Reubens, or Cher.
• Macy's is going to stay open 24 hours a day until Christmas Eve. Those are going to be some tired elves.
• A siamese cat named Yoda was bludgeoned to death in an Upper East Side doorman building. Sarah Favorite, the girlfriend of Yoda's owner, was arrested and is being charged with aggravated animal cruelty.

Will Macy's give its regards to Broadway? The NY Times reports that the developers who are trying to redevelop the James Farley Post Office building into the new Moynihan Station "are in the early stage of negotiations with Macy’s" to move from the store's landmark Herald Square location to the Farley building on Eighth Avenue. Charles Bagli's article summarizes the progress of the Penn Station redevelopment and Farley-into-Moynihan Station project: It's complex, given the...