Macy’s Logo PNG
The company’s department stores have a stellar position in the US market. It offers the widest assortment, top products, and an extensive store network. Macy’s logo conveys leadership and signals that the brand is well-known and popular.
On October 28, 1858, Rowland Hussey Macy opened R. H. Macy & Co., a fabric and dry goods shop on New York’s Sixth Avenue. Sales totaled $11.06 on opening day and roughly $85,000 during the first year. His surname gave the store its name, and a star tattoo from his years aboard a whaling ship inspired its red star emblem.
After earlier retail ventures failed, Macy built his New York business around fixed prices, cash payments, and newspaper advertising. An expanding merchandise selection gradually turned the shop into a department store.
Macy died in 1877, and brothers Isidor and Nathan Straus gained full ownership in 1896. The business relocated to Herald Square in 1902. A 1924 extension made it the world’s largest store.
Holiday entertainment became part of the Macy’s identity. Christmas window displays appeared in 1874, and the store held its first Thanksgiving parade in 1924. The 1947 film Miracle on 34th Street brought the store to audiences in cinemas. It began its annual Independence Day fireworks in 1976.
Expansion through new locations and acquisitions eventually strained finances. A debt-funded management buyout in 1986 preceded bankruptcy in 1992. Federated Department Stores acquired Macy’s in 1994, and it entered online retail in 1996.
Federated’s 2005 purchase of May Department Stores led over 400 stores to adopt the Macy’s name in 2006. The parent company became Macy’s, Inc. in 2007.
In 2015, the group acquired beauty retailer Bluemercury and introduced Macy’s Backstage discount stores. A marketplace for outside sellers followed in 2022. Facing declining sales, Macy’s announced A Bold New Chapter in 2024, with plans to close around 150 stores by the end of 2026, invest in retained locations and online services, and expand Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury.
Meaning and History
When hundreds of retail outlets across the United States became Macy’s, the company launched a large-scale rebranding effort as part of Project Star. It was called that because the star became a new element of the identity of all the renamed stores. It began appearing in advertising and signage; before that, it appeared in almost all old Macy’s logos, where it replaced the apostrophe before the “S.”
There are legends about its origins. In the most common version, Rowland Hussey Macy got a tattoo of a red five-pointed star on a whaling expedition. This is considered the most likely story. Rumors also suggest he worked as a navigator, and the star helped him find his way in heavy fog. But skeptics argue Rowland was too young: at 15, he couldn’t have held such a responsible position. Still, he had a tattoo that shaped the department store chain’s identity.
The Macy’s logo replaced the regional symbols on stores across the chain. This didn’t appeal to regular customers, but the star let them start fresh. However, no one noticed it while it was used as part of a word instead of an apostrophe. Only later, when they widened the star and moved it to the beginning of the inscription, did they give it special meaning.
Now, it is associated with holidays and the old traditions that the company introduced. As far as we know, Macy’s has organized the Thanksgiving Day Parade for almost a century and sponsored the Miracle on 34th Street fireworks for half a century, so Americans are very familiar with its flagship store, Macy’s Herald Square, and know who owns the red star symbol. In addition, the retail chain actively uses its logo for advertising, linking it to sales.
What is Macy’s?
Macy’s is a company that owns several hundred department stores across the United States. It offers a wide range of products, including home goods, furniture, jewelry, cosmetics, clothing, and appliances. Macy’s stores are associated with holidays because the retail chain hosts grand shows and sales during these times. The brand is owned by the namesake conglomerate, formerly called Federated Department Stores.
1920 – 1932
In 1858, the first RH Macy & Co. department store opened, with a rooster on its sign. Four years later, it received another emblem, a red star. Logos with inscriptions came much later. One of the earliest versions we have dates back to 1920. As far as we know, it featured beautifully handwritten text: “R. H. Macy & Co. Inc.,” a sample of old calligraphy. Below is the address of the outlet: “34TH ST. & BROADWAY “(left) and “NEW YORK CITY “(right). The company moved there in 1902 after the Straus brothers bought it. This place is now listed in the National Register of Historic Places and recognized as a landmark.
1932 – 1938
Over time, the design changed: the logo became only the white word “MACY’S.” It seemed three-dimensional because of the gray outlines of varying thickness. The developers used a stylized antique font, with the first “M” larger than the rest and extending beyond the line.
1938 – 1948
The creators made the inscription black and set it in uppercase. The typography used thin characters with long serifs. The main store address reappeared below: 34th Street and B’way, New York City.
1948 – 1986
In the mid-20th century, designers removed the address to emphasize the department store chain’s name. The word “Macy’s” remained black. The four letters after the “M” became lowercase, and the apostrophe became a small five-pointed star above the “y.”
1961 – 1970
Over time, the line thickness has changed slightly. Until 1970, the company used a logo that contained bold, flattened lettering. All letters were capital and serif.
1970 – 1977
The 1970 emblem shared nothing with the previous ones except the brand name. The font was round and grotesque; it had no apostrophe, and the letters were repainted dark red and converted to lowercase.
1978 – 1982
To make the inscription easier to read, the designers reduced the stroke thickness and returned to black. A small space appeared between characters that wasn’t present in the previous version.
1982 – 2019
In the early 1980s, the lines became even thinner, but the font changed little. A subtle five-pointed asterisk was added to the upper right corner of the “y.”
2004 – 2019
In the 21st century, the Macy’s chain of stores added its iconic red star to its logo. The new item was to the left of the word.
2019 – today
The 2019 redesign aimed to make the lettering symmetrical. The designers changed the font and adjusted the line positions so the large star now matches the height of the stylized apostrophe. In addition, its two diagonals (from the top to the legs) run parallel to the strokes of the letter “y.” This alignment creates the illusion that all characters are the same size. This is not the case: the difference is significant, especially in the “s.”
Font and Colors
For Rowland Hussey Macy, the red star was a powerful talisman. But under the Soviet regime, it took on a new meaning, so the company could not use it in the logo without evoking unwanted associations. She also could not eliminate her iconic symbol, so after the Second World War, she replaced the apostrophe in “Macy’s” with a small black asterisk. When communism fell and was forgotten, the retail chain happily affixed a large red star to its emblem. It has become the main hallmark of hundreds of brand stores worldwide.
The logo’s typeface matches Avant Garde Gothic Extra Light, a round sans serif designed by Tom Carnase and Herb Lubalin. But in the latest version, the designers changed some lines to make the letters appear symmetrical and align with the star’s diagonals.
Red (# E11A2B) has become Macy’s main color relatively recently. Paired with black, it keeps the image bright and visible on any light background.