Macy’s has emerged as the winning bidder for the exclusive rights to develop Julie Satow’s best-selling book, When Women Ran Fifth Avenue: Glamour and Power at the Dawn of American Fashion. The retailer plans to develop the non-fiction book into a fictionalized television series and is already on the hunt for a showrunner and talent.
The deal was spearheaded by Macy’s Chief Marketing Officer Sharon Otterman and is seen by the company as a continuation of its long-time presence in the live entertainment space, with events like the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Paradeand Macy’s 4th of July Fireworks. Still, scripted television is a new realm for the department store, and certainly not the kind of project that most retailers would take on.
The idea isn’t entirely unprecedented, however — throughout the years a number of brands including Nike, Mountain Dew, Snickers and Office Depot have developed TV and film projects that subtly promote their brands, and content marketing across all kinds of mediums is gaining steam as brands look to cut through the advertising noise and connect with customers more deeply. Not to mention that with shoppable TV technology taking off, that particular channel is more appealing to brands than ever.
Alongside Macy’s, TV Show to Feature Leaders from Lord & Taylor, Bonwit Teller, Henri Bendel
In When Women Ran Fifth Avenue, Satow uncovers the untold stories of the women who built and shaped some of the most iconic department stores in America, from Dorothy Shaver at Lord & Taylor to Hortense Odlum at Bonwit Teller and Geraldine Stutz at Henri Bendel. Margaret Getchell, the trailblazing executive who transformed Macy’s in the 19th century, will be added to the TV adaptation.
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“These are stories of resilience, ambition and creativity — women who understood the power of storytelling and branding long before it was a business strategy,” said Otterman in a statement.
For several years now Macy’s has been working to prove its own resilience as the department store sector undergoes massive upheaval. The company’s Bold New Chapter turnaround strategy, launched in early 2024, aims to reinvent the iconic chain for a new generation, and if it’s successful, could very well become the subject of its own book or TV show 50 years hence.
