Record crowd shops Macy's Herald Square store

NEW YORK – An enormous, seemingly never-ending crowd streamed throughout Macy's Herald Square Thursday night in what was likely a record shopping night for the store.

CEO Terry Lundgren estimated more than 15,000 people showed up at Macy's historic flagship store for what has become one of the most popular shopping days of the holiday season – Thanksgiving – which is more than the store has ever seen.

Shoppers crowded around designer handbag displays, where in some cases bags were chaotically thrown into piles as customers picked through them. They flooded the escalators and covered practically every square foot of the store, not a single floor tile wasted.

The store, the largest department store in the world, is a harbinger of the holiday season as it serves as the main backdrop to the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and the setting of the Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street.

Cashmere sweaters were on sale for $39.99 – "I think I'm losing money on that," Lundgren joked – and shoe department discounts made it one of the busiest sections of the store, with employees walking around with shoe boxes piled three to five high. Some customers were trying boots on standing up for lack of seating.

Many shoppers were visiting from out of town or overseas, curious about the hype behind what's become an American tradition or wanting to take part in a quintessentially New York event.

Standing outside the doors before the store opened, Ashley Ritchie said she'd been waiting for two hours. "I don't know what I'm here for, I'm just here," said Ritchie, who is visiting New York from Australia. She said she's never participated in Black Friday sales and was told to come check out the scene by family.

Fabienne Schmid, 36, from Lucerne, Switzerland, stopped in with her boyfriend while in town for the weekend.

"It's part of Thanksgiving, it's part of New York," said Schmid, who used to live in the city.

She said she needed new winter boots but wasn't sure she'd have the patience to bear the crowd much longer.

"I probably won't stick around that long," she said. "It's pure craziness."

Macy's opened at 6 p.m. this year, a decision Lundgren says he was unsure about making at first but says quickly proved a success as a steady stream of thousands coming through the main entrance still hadn't dissipated 45 minutes into the night.

"This year it's definitely taking people much longer to get through the front doors," he said. "Obviously the customers wanted us to open at six-o-clock based on the incredible traffic we're having in this store."

By 7 p.m., many customers had already taken refuge on the couches and chairs located throughout the store. The Starbucks on the mezzanine level was packed with shoppers resting and charging their phones.

Brenda Rickenbacker, from Akron, Ohio, was browsing ornaments and other holiday decor on the 9th floor, where fewer people had ventured. She attended the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade earlier Thursday and wanted to come out shopping, "to kind of enjoy the festivities with everyone."

"I've never done this before," she said. "Usually, I'm home cooking. I think it's a lot of fun."

At this store in particular, customers are likely drawn for the discounts just as much as the experience.

"Thanksgiving and Macy's are just kind of synonymous with one another," Lundgren said. "(There's) extraordinary diversity among our customers here tonight. I think that's part of what New York City is all about but Macy's is certainly where people come when they come to New York City."