Macy’s Herald Square Remodel Details (Hint: 300,000 Pairs of Shoes)

Macy's announced that its Herald Square flagship store in New York City will be getting a facelift.

A major facelift, in fact; one that will take four years to complete.

The excitement, size and scale of this remodel reinforces our conviction that Macy's Herald Square is and will remain a retail store in a class by itself. It is our company's most productive store, and experience shows that improvements in this location consistently result in higher customer traffic and sales volume. Our upcoming top-to-bottom remodel represents an investment in the future growth of our business as New York City continues to evolve as a world capital and shopping destination, said Terry J. Lundgren, Macy's, Inc. chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Construction will begin in early spring of 2012 and will continue through the fall of 2015. The remodeling will cost Macy's approximately $400 million.

The store will remain open while the touch-ups are made as the locations of departments will shift temporarily.

Herald Square is a national and international symbol of the Macy's brand. It already is one of the top tourist attractions in New York City and North America. It is the hub of the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. And generations of fashion designers and celebrities have gravitated to Macy's Herald Square as a place to launch products and showcase their newest ideas, Lundgren said.

So what can shoppers expect from the new Macy's in 2015? Well. It will be a venue some shoppers have only dreamed of.

Here are the details:

• A 100,000 square-foot expansion of the entire store
• An entire hall of dazzling two- and three-level shops complete dedicated to luxury brands, such as Louis Vutton
• The world's largest shoe department that will house 300,000 pairs of shoes (gasp!)
• In the shoe department, a coffee/wine/chocolate bar
• Cutting edge technology including: interactive store directories, live video streams of Macy's events nationwide, digital product information, shoe locator, and a mobile app to guide customers as they shop
• Dining additions: new table-service restaurant on the sixth floor, with views of the Empire State Building, an added brew pub, plus 22 other restaurants and food stations throughout the store
• A full restoration of the exterior, including a restoration of the Memorial Entrance, new windows, new sidewalks, welcome mats at every entrance, and awnings reminiscent of the original building
• Entirely new presentations of women's, men's, junior's, and home departments
• Preservation of the 42 wooden escalators in the current store
• Improved environmental sustainability, including use of LED lighting to reduce annual energy use 15 to 20 percent