Is Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade Its Most Valuable Asset? (Update)

The iconic department store calls the parade its “gift to the nation.” With 30 million TV viewers, it’s also a big moneymaker — at least we think it is: when it comes to parade economics, Macy’s is famously tight-lipped. In this 2024 episode, we try to loosen them up. (Part one of atwo-part series (freakonomics.com/podcast-tag/can-the-macys-par…).)

• SOURCES:• John Cheney, carpenter at Macy’s Studios.
• Will Coss (linkedin.com/in/willcoss), vice president and executive producer of Macy’s Studios.
• Jeff Kinney (wimpykid.com/about-the-author), author, cartoonist, and owner of An Unlikely Story Bookstore and Café.
• Kevin Lynch (linkedin.com/in/kevinjlynch23), vice president of global helium at Messer.
• Jen Neal, executive vice president of live events and specials for NBCUniversal Entertainment.
• Tony Spring (macysinc.com/investors/governance/board-of-dir…), chairman and C.E.O. of Macy’s Inc.
• Jessica Tisch (nyc.gov/site/nypd/about/leadership/commissione…), New York City police commissioner, former commissioner of the New York City Department of Sanitation.
• Dawn Tolson (nyc.gov/site/cecm/about/about-the-executive-di…), executive director of Citywide Event Coordination and Management and the Street Activity Permit Office for the City of New York.

• RESOURCES:• Macy’s: The Store. The Star. The Story. (amzn.to/40XwtNr), by Robert M. Grippo (2009).
• History of Macy’s of New York, 1853-1919: Chapters in the Evolution of the Department Store (amazon.com/History-1858-1919-Harvard-Studies-B…), by Ralph M. Hower (1943).
• Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade (macys.com/s/parade).

• EXTRAS:• "Helium (freakonomics.com/podcast/helium)," by The Economics of Everyday Things (2024).

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