Macy’s has debuted its second experiential STORY concept in select stores, teaming up with DICK’S Sporting Goods and Miracle-Gro to offer customers an outdoor-inspired playground designed to “bring the outside indoors” with curated merchandise from 70 brands.
“Outdoor STORY” will operate in 36 locations until September, carrying a mix of apparel and hard goods from DICK’S private brands, Alpine Design and Field & Stream. Additionally, the stores will host community-focused event programming such as indoor gardening workshops, barbecue cooking classes, terrarium-making classes and even outdoor activities such as kayaking on the Hudson River. In total, STORY at Macy’s will program more than 250 events.
The foliage-heavy stores will feature the Miracle-Gro Twelve Indoor Growing System, a hydroponic unit specifically designed to blend with existing home décor that enables shoppers to grow a wide variety of foods like lettuce, kale, basil and mint indoors. Shoppers will be able to purchase a range of live plants within the store.
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The experience, like all STORY concepts, is designed to further support Macy’s “test and learn” approach, seeing how consumers react to different products and events within a store and whether they are compelled to return. Macy’s operated its first STORY concept, “Color STORY,” from April through June, partnering with MAC Cosmetics, Crayola and Levi’s Kids, as well as more than 70 small businesses, to deliver a curated assortment of more than 400 products.
The collaboration of Macy’s, DICK’S and Miracle-Gro appears to be unconventional on the surface, especially since the Macy’s brand isn’t typically geared toward outdoor consumers. Rachel Shechtman, Macy’s Brand Experience Officer and Founder of STORY, acknowledged this in a statement.
“I think people may be surprised and intrigued by our partnerships, and that is exactly what we wanted,” Shechtman said. “We want to show both consumers, as well as businesses, that collaboration is the new competition; bringing together brands as storytellers to add authority and authenticity to a subject matter, like we are doing with DICK’S and Miracle-Gro, benefits both the customer and the business.”
