News

Macy's flagship face-lift upsets preservationists

September 20, 2012

Macy's department store is upsetting a few New Yorkers, according to an article in the Salt Lake Tribune.

The iconic NYC flagship location, hailed as America’s biggest department store, has nine floors of retail space and covers nearly an entire city block. But the art deco style the building received in the 1930s is set to disappear as the flagship becomes the recipient of a $400 million dollar makeover. 

Those dissatisfied with the new look compare it to an Apple store, with ultra-modern, gleaming white rooms taking away the warm and homey feeling from the previous décor. 

"Macy’s has Apple fever," said Theodore Grunewald, a New York preservation activist, in the article. "Everyone is jealous of Apple, and thinks the secret to the company’s success is this ... minimalist design vocabulary they have. But this is about protection of our heritage."

Read more about store design and layout.