Macy's launches Story for narrative-driven retailing

“The discovery-led, narrative experience of Story gives new customers a fresh reason to visit our stores and gives the current Macy’s customer even more reason to come back again and again throughout the year,” said Jeff Gennette, Macy’s, Inc. chairman and chief executive officer. “We’re excited about the potential for Story and are happy to be launching Color Story in 36 stores today.”

Customers will find hundreds of curated products and enjoy engaging community events from more than 70 small business partners of Macy's including Levi's Kids. Manufactured and distributed by Haddad Brands, Levi's Kids will preview a selection of pieces from its exclusive Levi’s x Crayola collaboration debuting at Macy’s for back-to-school. A few select pieces from the collaboration will be available before the full line officially launches mid-June at select Macy’s stores nationwide. “We have a successful history with Macy’s and, when we heard that STORY was launching, we knew it was the right channel to build buzz around our future collaboration,” explained Sam Haddad, principal, Haddad Brands.

With themes changing every few months, Story at Macy’s will deliver new concepts through its signature blend of unique collaborations, narrative-driven merchandising and dynamic event programming. “The simultaneous launch of Story at Macy’s in 36 stores across 15 states is the successful outcome of a re-imagined approach to cross-functional collaboration and the work of more than 300 Macy’s colleagues who contributed to creating this new, scalable business model nationwide,” said Rachel Shechtman, founder of Story and Macy’s brand experience officer. “I’m so proud of the work this team did and look forward to continuing the Story journey at Macy’s.”

In the lead up to launch, more than 270 dedicated Story managers and Storytellers were hired and participated in 'Know + Tell', a new experiential retail training program that immerses staff with integrated roles on everything from building fixtures to customer engagement and event production. To bring the Color theme to the forefront, the team assembled a creative collective of industry leaders to design an unforgettable in-store experience. Award-winning NYC designer David Stark was given a blank canvas to envision a way to introduce the Story brand at scale through a vibrant experience. Longtime Story partner Flor enlivens the space with a custom pixelated patterned carpet, creating an organizing principle to help navigate guests across a spectrum of color and cross-category merchandise. And to provide a versatile and easily adaptable canvas for its merchandise assortment, Story leaned on its partnership with Italian fixture company Alu, which customized one of its signature fixture systems to serve Story at Macy’s ever-changing model while offering a fresh look for the Macy’s shopper.

Fibre2Fashion News Desk – India