In this undated artist rendering by studiorendering.com and provided by Macy’s shows the expected design for the women’s shoe department once renovations are completed. Macy’s New York flagship store is being transformed from old-fashioned, warm and fuzzy to a sleek, white 21st century style. The transformation will cost $400 million and is expected to take four years. (AP Photo/Macy’s)VERENA DOBNIK
NEW YORK (AP) – A $400 million makeover is giving New York’s iconic Macy’s store a sleek, new 21st-century style.
And some preservationists aren’t happy about it. They see the overhaul of America’s biggest department store as scrapping classic Beaux Arts and Art Deco touches in favor of the latest trend in retail design – something like an Apple computer store.
“Macy’s has Apple fever,” said Theodore Grunewald, a New York preservation activist. “Everyone is jealous of Apple, and thinks the secret to the company’s success is this beautiful, elegant minimalist design vocabulary they have. But this is about protection of our heritage.”
Macy’s reconstruction, to be completed in 2015, will add 100,000 square feet to the 1.1 million square feet of existing retail space. Floor-to-ceiling fabric shrouds areas under renovation. But some sections already have been finished, including the world’s largest women’s shoe department, which offers 280,000 pairs of shoes – several thousand displayed in white settings.