Rowland Hussey Macy
Co-founder 1858Background
Retail entrepreneur who founded R.H. Macy & Co. in New York in 1858. His visionary concepts remain influential in modern retail strategy. His pioneering legacy remains essential.
Role at Macy's, Inc.
Macy's possesses arguably the most resilient, historic founding story in American retail history, rooted entirely in the gritty commercial explosion of 19th-century New York City and defined by a founder who suffered repeated bankruptcies before achieving triumph. The company was officially founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. Macy was an adventurous former Quaker whaler from Nantucket. Before arriving in New York he was a retail failure; he had opened and bankrupted four separate dry goods stores in Massachusetts and California. At the age of 36, determined but experienced in failure, he moved to New York City and opened 'R.H. Macy & Co.' on 6th Avenue in Manhattan. His foundational masterstroke was rejecting the standard retail practices of the era. At the time, store prices were fluid; clerks haggled with every customer, and amounts of goods were sold on dangerous credit. Macy instituted revolutionary, policies: he established a strict 'one-price' system (eliminating haggling) and strictly required cash payments (eliminating credit defaults). Furthermore he was a brilliant, aggressive marketer. He heavily utilized newspaper advertising and pioneered elaborate, illuminated window displays to drive foot traffic (the red star logo was derived from a tattoo he got while whaling). By revolutionizing retail transparency and theatrical merchandising, Rowland Macy transformed from a serial bankrupt into the founding father of the modern American department store, cementing his legendary status.