MACY'S helps us BELIEVE this Holiday Season.

Herald Square in New York City is home to Macy's flagship store that they proudly advertise as "The Worlds Largest Store". The store is an institution. Having existed in some form since 1858, it is a part of NY Heritage. The store was immortalized by the film Miracle on 34th Street starring a very young Natalie Wood in 1947. To this day, the store pays homage to the movie with holiday dedicated windows recreating scenes from the film. My favorite is when thousands of letters to Santa are dumped on the judges desk in court!  Many of you have gotten to know Macy's in the last few years as their massive expansion and consolidation plan saw several other stores become Macy's doors.

Growing up I definitely felt the "Magic of Macy's". We lived north of Manhattan near West Point Military Academy and Bear Mountain State Park. The nearest mall in Nanuet, NY had a Macy's and I spent countless hours there shopping for Christmas gifts and birthday presents. I always visited the electronics department to see the big screen TV's. There was no Best Buy in those days! I still remember buying dark chocolate covered pretzels from the candy counter - just one or two because they were expensive.

Over the past 15 years, I must admit that I have not spent a great deal of time in Macy's Herald Square store.  In fact many jaded NY'ers like myself avoid the area due to the throng of tourists. NY'ers think of tourists as a blessing and a curse. We love that you enjoy being in NYC, but we hate that you are in our way...

I recently went to Macy's to get Euros for my Madrid trip at the American Express office that is housed inside. The store really is like a big city unto itself with restaurants, Starbucks, etc. I have to say, from the moment I walked in and saw the Christmas decorations that had just gone up - I couldn't help but smile. That feeling of a bustling store at Christmas that excited me so as a kid came right back. As much as I like Barneys or Bergdorf's - I don't get this feeling when I go there.

I walked down the center aisle and was surrounded by thousands of Christmas lights and hundreds and hundreds of shoppers. I know we are in an economic downturn - but shoppers are still out there looking for holiday gifts. Right in front of me was the Macy's BELIEVE meter that is celebrating the stores program to deliver letters to Santa Claus at the North Pole. I had to snap a pic with my cell phone as I was really taken off guard. I learned about the Believe program. Simply bring a letter to Santa from the little shoppers in your life addressed to Santa Claus - North Pole - and drop it in the big red mailbox. Macy's will donate $1 for every letter to the Make-a-Wish foundation for children with a max of 1 Million Dollars. The company has also added an excellent web page that is exciting for kids and adults to visit -Macy's Believe. What a great way to help out a terrific charity and help your little guys and girls keep a tradition alive. MERRY CHRISTMAS!!