Dying Is Easy. Retail Is Hard. (Update)

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🗓️ 28 November 2025

⏱️ 62 minutes

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Summary

Macy’s wants to recapture its glorious past. The author of the Wimpy Kid books wants to rebuild his dilapidated hometown. We just want to listen in. (Part two of a two-part series, first published in 2024)

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey there, Stephen Dubner. Today, we are playing the second and final part of our series on the economics of the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, which we first published in 2024. We have updated facts and figures where needed. As always, thanks for listening.
0:23.1	On Thanksgiving morning, roughly 30 million people watch at least some of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV.
0:30.6	For a lot of them, it wouldn't feel like Thanksgiving without the parade.
0:34.5	In the first episode of the series, we spoke with the parade's executive producer
0:38.2	Will Koss. I asked him why it is so popular. His answer was pure tevia. I'd say tradition.
0:48.2	Tradition, tradition. Tradition is at the core. It's really about having this thing, this giant thing that shows up for you.
0:57.6	Everything's giving morning and it's going to be a little bit of spectacle, a little bit of kitsch,
1:02.2	a little bit of art. It's become a moment in time for all of us to drive back to.
1:08.3	But even our favorite traditions are not guaranteed their place in the future.
1:13.5	The Macy's department store has been around for 167 years, and they've put on a parade for the past 101.
1:20.1	In our previous episode, we tried to figure out how much money Macy spends to make the parade
1:24.7	and how much they earn from sponsorships and TV ad sales.
1:30.0	That was one part of this story that interested us.
1:32.6	The other part is the future of retail itself, or at least the kind of retailing represented
1:38.2	by Macy's.
1:39.7	They like to call the parade their annual gift to the nation, which is a nice sentiment. But there are two things you should know about that.
1:48.0	This gift is likely quite profitable for the giver, which is unusual. Also, the Macy's Parade may be one of the most valuable assets that Macy's still has.
2:00.0	For most of the 20th century, Macy's was
2:03.9	a retailing giant, but it's been in trouble for years. And if it were to disappear the way that
2:10.7	Sears and Montgomery Ward and Lord and Taylor and many other department stores have disappeared,
2:16.6	the parade would likely disappear as well.
2:20.0	How likely is it that Macy's disappears?
	...

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