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Rowland Hussey Macy
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rowland Hussey Macy (August 30, 1822 - March 29, 1877) was an American businessman who founded the department store chain R.H. Macy and Company.
Macy was born on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts to a Quaker family. At the age of fifteen, he worked on the whaling ship, the Emily Morgan, and had a red star tattooed on his hand that became part of the store's logo.[1]
Between 1843 and 1855, Macy opened four retail dry goods stores, including the original Macy's store in downtown Haverhill, Massachusetts. They all failed but he learned from his mistakes. In 1858, he opened a new Macy's store at Sixth Avenue and 14th Street in New York City. This was the official start for his store chain.
He was married to Louisa Houghton in 1844. The union produced two children, Rowland H. Macy born in 1847 and Florence Macy born in 1853, but ended in divorce in 1876, one year before his death in 1877, aged 54.
He is interred in the Woodlawn Cemetery in The Bronx, New York.
His character is portrayed in the 1947 movie Miracle on 34th Street by Harry Antrim.
- ^ L.H. Robbins, The City Department Store: Evolution of 75 Years, New York Times, February 12, 1933, 130.