Macy’s is drawing on events like the Thanksgiving Day Parade to grow its creator program

The goal of Macy’s Style Crew, as the department store sees it, is to leverage its members’ strengths — whether that’s recommending products, spotlighting deals, or filming and editing engaging videos — as a way of embedding influencers directly into Macy’s broader marketing efforts. On its own, Macy’s Style Crew is not the main driver of “demand sales,” Port said. However, it does bring traffic to Macy’s.com, and its creator storefronts have seen a 478% year-over-year spike in sales. Now, Macy’s is looking to build Style Crew even more, particularly through unique programming, to deepen engagement with its brand.

“Aligning IP events with in-real-life influencer programming is going to be really important for us this year,” Port said. “We have a really big year ahead of us. We have our 100th Thanksgiving Day Parade and our 50th Fourth of July Fireworks. Influencer is one of those tactics that will help drive that conversation for us.”

Macy’s is also expanding its influencer program at a crucial time for its parent company. Macy’s, Inc. is two years into its “Bold New Chapter” strategy, which aims “to return Macy’s, Inc. to enterprise growth.” That plan, when announced in February 2024, involved closing 150 underperforming Macy’s stores, while expanding Bloomingdale’s and Bluemercury. In December, Macy’s Inc. reported its strongest comparable sales growth in 13 quarters.

It’s been a tricky time for department stores like Macy’s, which find themselves competing with online retailers and specialty retailers. Creators, though, can get these companies in front of more people — one reason why Macy’s originally expanded Style Crew. Opening the program to external creators, Port said, “helped drive the reach and impressions that we were looking for, especially with new customers.”

From experimentation to expansion

2025 was largely an “experimental year” for Style Crew, in which Macy’s brainstormed ways to better serve external creators and internal employees, Port explained. It began doing more “IRL” creator activations, and it opened up virtual storefronts to all Style Crew members. (It first piloted a version of the program with employees in 2024.) It also began featuring Style Crew members in direct mail, like holiday catalogs.

In 2026, Port said, “We’ll double down on some of the things that we saw work really well.”

One big focus, going forward for Macy’s, will be in-person programming. Last year, Macy’s held influencer meet-and-greets and “sip and shops” in three cities: Dallas, Miami and New York City. Each event focused on one category (family, fashion or beauty), with a top creator bringing their online storefront to life. Also, last year, Macy’s held its first-ever influencer Black Friday event. There, creators who focus on deals shopped for products early in the Macy’s Herald Square store. Last spring, Macy’s treated Style Crew moms to a preview of the Macy’s Flower Show and to “Mother’s Day pampering,” Port said. It’s looking to repeat that program in New York City and Chicago in May.

“We want to bring the community into real life, more and more,” Port said.

Macy’s also wants to more deeply involve its creators in larger marketing efforts in 2026. In 2025, it began featuring creators in direct-mail campaigns, like catalogs, during the holidays. “We saw early great results, with people using QR codes and coming to storefront pages,” Port said. The retailer has expanded this approach to multimedia, too. In December, one of its Style Crew members, Lilliana Vazquez, appeared on Jennifer Hudson’s TV show to talk about gifting. (Hudson is also a member of the 2026 Style Crew.) For Macy’s upcoming March fashion campaign, a Style Crew member interviewed the editorial content director about trends.

Outside of events and marketing shoots, Macy’s is taking steps to engage more with Style Crew. Its members tend to focus on certain platforms — like Facebook or TikTok — so Macy’s holds virtual meetings with each group to walk through the next month’s sales or programming. And, if there’s a new collection launching, “We try to get the designer on a Zoom with [the creators],” Port said. Those two efforts are recently new, but they will remain throughout 2026. “We’ve heard from our influencers that they want more of that face time,” Port said.

Macy’s hopes these briefings and trainings will put its creators in a prime position to create even better content. That’s important because the trust creators get from their audience is paramount, said Quynh Mai, founder of creative strategy and cultural intelligence agency Qulture. Compared to years ago, consumers today “don’t really believe brand advertising in the same way,” she told Modern Retail. “So, what brands are calling advocacy — somebody talking about you on their behalf — becomes really important.”

Niche creator communities

Because Macy’s is a multi-category retailer, the company is also trying to appeal to areas its creators care most about. Last year, beauty influencers requested beauty-specific communications, so Macy’s started an offshoot of Style Crew just for beauty creators. It held community events just around beauty, and it started curating newsletters for influencers on the topic.

“That way, [creators] could get a first look at sales or new products or gifting that was beauty-specific,” Port said. “We’re trying to be able to foster those communities.” In 2026, Macy’s will debut “Celebrate Boxes” for influencers having a birthday or a wedding, as another example of more tailored content.

The retailer is encouraging members to curate storefronts specific to their expertise, too. Creators often tailor their storefronts to particular occasions, like the holidays and Valentine’s Day. They can earn gift cards for partaking in monthly challenges, like making a Valentine’s Day post and tagging the Macy’s account. Macy’s operates on an affiliate model; its average commission is 12%.

Focusing on particular creator subgroups is paying off for Macy’s. “Since we started taking this community approach, we’ve seen engagement with the program go really high, and that’s something that we totally pride ourselves on,” Port said. “Just in the past year, our posts grew 9,000%. We have almost every member posting almost every month.”

Qulture’s Mai, who works with clients like Ferrari, expects more brands and retailers to join Macy’s in starting a creator program. “Every single brand we work with has a strong creator program or is thinking about building one, because they’re seeing the power of user-generated content,” she said. “That is probably one of the biggest spends this year, when it comes to social media for brands.”

Mai also expects creator programs to change in 2026, especially as competition tightens and customer acquisition costs soar. “We’re seeing a move from creator programs for a launch or a new product to always-on [programs],” Mai said. “We now have brands running programs 24/7, all throughout the year and globally. It’s not just occasion-based — it’s constantly promoting the brand.”

Macy’s is trying to do just that, Port said, especially when it comes to day-to-day sales, events and drops. “We want to make sure that we have expertise in different pockets and people who are going to constantly talk about our brand,” she said.

Still, as Macy’s moves forward in 2026, it isn’t trying to “blow this program up, in terms of numbers,” Port said. Rather than bring on 10,000 people to Style Crew, she said, “We’re looking at how we can manage a community and have meaningful discussions and relationships.”