Revisiting one of my earliest wallet card photos with a big update:
You may be familiar with the famous Macy's building on 34th Street, which until a few years ago was the largest store in the world (and is still the largest in the US). Interestingly, the huge red shopping bag that says "Macy's" is on the one part of the block that Macy's does not actually own. Around 1901, R.H. Macy decided to move his store to 34th street, he quietly started buying up all of the property on the block so that he could build his superstore. However, one of his rivals found out and bought the property on the corner, with the idea that he would sell it to Macy and purchase their prior location. However, Macy decided to just build around the property instead of giving in to the guy who bought the corner property. In the 1920s, that building changed hands, and Macy's began renting the top floors of the building for advertising purposes, but never bought that last parcel on 34th street, currently home to Sunglass Hut.
The big update:
The owner of the building now is planning to lease that space to another retailer, and recently got permission from the city to replace the Macy's signage with new digital billboards.
Before we get to the new photos, a brief retrospective:
1906: The brand new Macy's building dominates the corner holdout.
1940: The building is largely covered by ads.
1964: Color postcard
2015: My wallet card photo. By this time Macy's had settled into the "red shopping bag" design.
2026: Today! 34th street side. These top three stories had been blocked for public view since the 1920s. They were unoccupied for the past century as there was no means for dual exit with the windows blocked.
Broadway side: It's such a spooky feeling seeing these newly revealed unused floors. Kind of like digging up a grave site.
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