On October 28, 1858, Rowland Hussey Macy opened a modest dry-goods store at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street in New York City. After several unsuccessful attempts at retailing, he was trying again. His first day’s sales totaled just $11.08—a humble beginning for a business that would become one of America’s best-known department stores.
Macy built his business through competitive pricing and aggressive advertising, while the company helped popularize one-price selling: customers paid a stated price rather than negotiating each purchase. In 1902, long after its founder’s death, Macy’s moved to Herald Square, where its flagship would grow through later expansions.
Its familiar red star had a more personal origin. As a teenager, Macy sailed aboard the whaling ship Emily Morgan and acquired a star tattoo that later inspired the store’s emblem. A popular story links the tattoo to a star that guided him to safety at sea, but that episode is better presented as legend than established fact. The tattoo connection alone gives the symbol a striking history: a souvenir of a young sailor’s life became the emblem of a retail institution.
