Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
company name	Macy's Department Stores, Inc.
company logo
company type	Subsidiary
foundation	New York City, 1858
location	New York City, United States
locations	805
slogan	The Magic of Macy's
industry	Retailing
products	Clothing, footwear, bedding, furniture, jewelry, cosmetics, housewares
parent	Macy's, Inc.
revenue	$24.892 billion (''FY2009'')
operating income	US$ 1.863 billion(''FY2007'')
net income	US$ 893 million (''FY2007'')
num employees	167,000 (''2009'')
homepage	Macys.com
corporate site	}}

Macy's is a U.S. chain of mid-to-high range department stores. In addition to its New York flagship store, the company has designated additional regional flagships in several other major urban centers and operates over 800 stores in the United States. In addition, Macy's operates eSpot ZoomShops kiosks in over 300 store locations, selling consumer electronics.

The company produces the annual Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, a noted parade which has been held in New York City annually since 1924. The company also sponsors the city's annual Fourth of July fireworks display, beginning in 1976.

Despite being advertised as the largest in the world, it is no longer the biggest store in the world. Currently the biggest store in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the flagship store of Shinsegae in Centum City, South Korea with an area of , almost twice that of Macy's.

The chain competes with Belk, The Bon-Ton Stores, Dillard's, Nordstrom, Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue.

History

Founding and early history

Macy's was founded by Rowland Hussey Macy, who between 1843 and 1855 opened four retail dry goods stores, including the original Macy's store in downtown Haverhill, Massachusetts, established in 1851 to serve the mill industry employees of the area. They all failed, but he learned from his mistakes. Macy moved to New York City in 1858 and established a new store named "R.H Macy Dry Goods" on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, which was far north of where other dry goods stores were at the time. On the company's first day of business on October 28, 1858 sales totaled US$11.08, equal to $}} today. From the very beginning, Macy's logo has included a star in one form or another, which comes from a tattoo that Macy got as a teenager when he worked on a Nantucket whaling ship.

As the business grew, Macy's expanded into neighboring buildings, opening more and more departments, and used publicity devices such as a store Santa Claus, themed exhibits, and illuminated window displays to draw in customers. It also offered a money back guarantee, although it only accepted cash into the 1950s. The store also produced its own made-to-measure clothing for both men and women, assembled in an on-site factory. The store later moved to 18th Street and Broadway, on the "Ladies' Mile", the elite shopping district of the time, where it remained for nearly forty years.

In 1875, Macy took on two partners, Robert M. Valentine (1850–1879), a nephew; and Abiel T. La Forge (1842–1878) of Wisconsin, who was the husband of a cousin. Macy died just two years later in 1877 from Bright's disease, The following year La Forge died, and Valentine died in 1879. Ownership of the company was passed down through the Macy family until 1895, when the company, now called "R. H. Macy & Co.", was acquired by Isidor Straus and his brother Nathan Straus, who had previously held a license to sell china and other goods in the Macy's store.

In 1902, the flagship store moved uptown to Herald Square at 34th Street and Broadway, so far north of the other main dry goods emporia that it had to offer a steam wagonette to transport customers from 14th Street to 34th Street. Although the Herald Square store initially consisted of just one building, it expanded through new construction, eventually occupying almost the entire block bounded by Seventh Avenue on the west, Broadway on the east, 34th Street on the south and 35th Street on the north, with the exception of a small pre-existing building on the corner of 35th Street and Seventh Avenue and another on the corner of 34th Street and Broadway. This latter 5-story building was purchased by Robert H. Smith in 1900 for $375,000 – an incredible sum at the time – with the idea of getting in the way of Macy's becoming the largest store in the world: it is largely supposed that Smith, who was a neighbor of the Macy's store on 14th Street, was acting on behalf of Siegel-Cooper, which had built what they thought was the world's largest store on Sixth Avenue in 1896. Macy's ignored the tactic, and simply built around the building, which now carries Macy's "shopping bag" sign by lease arrangement.

The original Broadway store, designed by architects De Lemos & Cordes and built in 1901–02 by the Fuller Company. It has a Palladian facade, but has been updated in many details. Other additions to the west were added in 1924 and 1928, and the Seventh Avenue building in 1931, all designed by architect Robert D. Kohn, the newer buildings becoming increasingly Art Deco in style.

The building was added to the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark in 1978. The store has several wooden escalators still in operation.

Expansion

The problem of pre-existing buildings also presented itself when Macy's built a store on Queens Boulevard in Elmhurst, Queens, New York. This resulted in an architecturally unique round department store on 90 percent of the lot, with a small privately owned house on the corner. Macy's no longer has a store at this building, which now contains the Queens Place Mall; instead it currently has a location at the nearby Queens Center.

Acquisitions were also made outside of the New York City region. Department stores in Toledo (Lasalle & Koch 1924), Atlanta (Davison-Paxon-Stokes 1929), Newark (L. Bamberger & Co.) 1929, San Francisco (O'Connor Moffat & Company 1945), and Kansas City (John Taylor Dry Goods Co. 1947) were purchased during this time. O'Connor Moffat was renamed Macy's San Francisco in 1947, later becoming Macy's California, and John Taylor was renamed Macy's Missouri-Kansas in 1949. Stores in Toledo retained the Lasalle's name until 1984, becoming part of Macy's Midwest. These stores were sold to Elder-Beermen in 1986.

Macy's New York began opening stores outside of its historic New York City–Long Island trade area in 1983 with a location at Aventura Mall in Aventura, Florida (a suburb of Miami), followed by several locations in Plantation, Florida (now relocated from the Fashion Mall to the Broward Mall since the Burdine's acquisition), Houston, New Orleans, and Dallas. Davison's in Atlanta was renamed Macy's Atlanta in early 1985 with the consolidation of an early incarnation of Macy's Midwest (former Taylor and LaSalle's stores in Kansas City and Toledo, respectively), but late in 1985, Macy's turned around and sold the former Midwest locations. Bamberger's, which had aggressively expanded throughout New Jersey, into the Greater Philadelphia Metropolitan area in the 1960s and 1970s as well as into Nanuet, New York(southern Rockland County), and into the Baltimore Metropolitan area in the early 1980s, was renamed Macy's New Jersey in 1986.

Management buyout

In 1986 Edward Finkelstein, Chairman & CEO of R. H. Macy & Co., Inc., led a leveraged buy-out of the company and subsequently engaged in a takeover battle for Federated Department Stores, Inc., in 1988 that he lost to Canada's Campeau Corporation. As part of its settlement with Campeau, Macy's purchased Federated's California-based, fashion-oriented Bullock's and its high-end Bullocks Wilshire and I. Magnin divisions. It followed with a reorganization of its divisions into Macy's Northeast (former Macy's New York and Macy's New Jersey), Macy's South/Bullock's (Macy's Atlanta stores plus Macy's New York's operations in Texas, Florida and Louisiana), and Macy's California, the latter including a semi-autonomous I. Magnin/Bullocks Wilshire organization. The Bullocks Wilshire stores were renamed I. Magnin in 1989.

Subsequently, R. H. Macy & Co., Inc., filed for bankruptcy on January 27, 1992, after which point its banks brought in a new management team, which shut several underperforming stores, jettisoned two-thirds of the luxury I. Magnin chain, and reduced Macy's to two divisions; Macy's East and Macy's West.

Federated Department Stores merger

At the start of 1994, Federated began pursuing a merger with Macy's. After a long and difficult courtship, R. H. Macy & Co. finally merged with Federated Department Stores on December 19, 1994. Following the merger the reorganized Macy’s moved its headquarters to Cincinnati, Ohio under the name Federated Department Stores. Federated promptly shut down the remainder of the I. Magnin chain, converting several to Macy's or Bullock's and selling four in Carmel, Beverly Hills, San Diego and Phoenix to Saks Fifth Avenue. Federated also merged its Abraham & Straus/Jordan Marsh division with the new "Macy's East" organization based in New York, renaming the Abraham & Straus stores in metropolitan New York with the Macy's nameplate in 1995, and then erasing the Jordan Marsh moniker in New England in early 1996.

Federated followed that by leading a bid in mid-1995 to acquire the bankrupt Woodward & Lothrop/John Wanamaker organization in the mid-Atlantic region, a bid it lost to rival group led by long-time rival and future acquisition target The May Department Stores Company. Instead Federated soon agreed to purchase Broadway Stores, Inc. (owner of The Broadway, Emporium and Weinstock's stores in California, Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico), from its majority shareholder, Sam Zell, thereby gaining a leading position in Southern California and a dominant one in the Northern California marketplace. In early 1996 Federated dissolved Broadway Stores, incorporating the majority of its locations into Macy's West, rebadging them as Macy's and using the opportunity to retire the Bullock's name. Several of the redundant Broadway locations were used to establish Bloomingdale's on the West Coast, while many other were sold to Sears.

In 2001 Federated dissolved its Stern's division in the New York metropolitan area, with the bulk of the stores being absorbed into Macy's East. Additionally, in July 2001 it acquired the Liberty House chain with department and specialty stores in Hawaii and Guam, consolidating it with Macy's West.

In early 2003 Federated closed the majority of its historic Davison's franchise in Atlanta (operating as Macy's since 1985), rebranding its other Atlanta division Rich's with the unwieldy name, Rich's–Macy's. The downtown location—formerly the Davison's flagship store at 180 Peachtree Street – was shuttered at this time as well. The original Macy's Lenox Square and Perimeter Mall locations were extensively remodeled and opened in October 2003 as the first Bloomingdale's stores in Atlanta. The company rapidly followed suit in May 2003 with similar rebranding announcements for its other nameplates, Burdines in Florida, Goldsmith's in Memphis, Lazarus in the lower Midwest, and The Bon Marché in the Pacific Northwest.

On March 6, 2005, the Bon-Macy's, Burdines-Macy's, Goldsmith's-Macy's, Lazarus-Macy's, and Rich's-Macy's stores were renamed as simply "Macy's", the first two as the new Macy's West and Macy's Florida divisions respectively and the later three as part of the Macy's Central division. As of July 2005, Macy's had 424 stores throughout the U.S.

Merger with May Department Stores

On February 28, 2005, Federated agreed to terms of a deal to acquire The May Department Stores Company for $11 billion in stock, creating the nation's second largest department store chain with $30 billion in annual sales and more than 1,000 stores.

On July 28, 2005, Federated announced, based on the success of converting its own regional brands to the Macy's name, its plans to similarly convert 330 regional department stores owned by the May Company (as May Department Stores was generally referred to) to the Macy's nameplate. This included May's Marshall Field's (purchased by the May Company from Target just 8 months prior to Federated's purchase of the May Company), Kaufmann's, Famous-Barr, Filene's, Foley's, Hecht's, The Jones Store, L. S. Ayres, Meier & Frank, Robinsons-May, and Strawbridge & Clothier chains, pending approval of the merger by federal regulators.

The conversion of the May brands was met with negative reaction in many of the regions surrounding those department stores because they were widely considered to be beloved local institutions. The strongest reactions occurred with the loss of Filene's, Marshall Field's, and Kaufmann's, which were all well known for their flagship downtown stores and local traditions. For example, Kaufmann's operated the Kaufmann's Celebrate the Season Parade which was traditionally broadcast live throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania on television. Many customers publicly vowed to never again shop at the May stores that were converted and to permanently switch their loyalty to other major department store chains beyond Federated's control. Prominent film critic Roger Ebert voiced the grief of many Chicagoans at the loss of Field's when he wrote in his column on September 21, 2005:

A "Rally for Field's" is scheduled to take place at the Chicago State Street Macy's, at 12 noon on Saturday, September 10, 2011, under "The Great Clock" at State & Washington.

Where existing Federated stores were in close proximity to former May Company stores, some redundant stores were closed or sold off to other retailers. In a number of malls where a May Company store and a Macy's store had traditionally coexisted in the same mall, Federated occasionally instituted a pattern which Macy's West had successfully pioneered in the 1990s with earlier acquisitions (specifically, Broadway Stores and Liberty House's former U.S. mainland stores). This involved converting one store to a Macy's Men and Home store, which primarily carried men's apparel, luggage, and housewares, and the other to a Macy's Women store which primarily carried women's apparel, children's apparel, and cosmetics. Having two stores configured like this allows Macy's to offer broader inventories of all products without having to incur the expense of building a single flagship-size store. At some malls, like Fashion Show Mall, the dual-store system proved to be unsuccessful, so Macy's closed one of the stores and converted the other back to a general Macy's store.

On January 12, 2006, Federated announced its plans to divest May Company's Lord & Taylor division by the end of 2006 after concluding that chain did not fit with their strategic focus for building the Macy's and Bloomingdale's national brands. On June 22, 2006, Macy's announced that NDRC Equity Partners, LLC would purchase Lord & Taylor for US$1.2 billion, and completed the sale in October 2006.

Macy's becomes a national brand

On February 21, 2006, Macy's appointed a new chief marketing officer, Anne MacDonald, to oversee the transformation of Macy's into a "national department store". By September 9, 2006, and after renaming the former May Company locations, Macy's operated approximately 850 stores in the United States. To promote its largest and most recent expansion, Macy's used a version of the Martha and the Vandellas hit song, "Dancing in the Street", in its advertising. Also, the company took props from its annual Thanksgiving Day parade to various re-labeled stores throughout the nation, in what the company marketed as its "Parade on Parade."

Macy's significantly increased its use of television advertising and product placement in 2006 and 2007, using branding spots that featured the new Macy's star logo. During the February 11, 2007, episode of the popular ABC television series ''Desperate Housewives'', a Macy's (under the fictional name McMay's) location in the fictional city of Fairview was featured, a rare instance of product placement promoting a department store chain in a scripted series. Nearly two years earlier, one of the first national commercials for Macy's had aired during ''Desperate Housewives'', shortly after the conversion of Rich's, Lazarus, Goldsmith's, The Bon Marché and Burdines.

On February 27, 2007, Federated Department Stores announced plans to change its corporate name from Federated Department Stores, Inc., to Macy's Group, Inc. By March 28, the company further announced plans to convert its stock ticker symbol from "FD" to "M", and revised its earlier proposed name change, instead opting to change to Macy's, Inc. The change in corporate names was approved by shareholders on May 18, 2007, and took effect on June 1, 2007. The company will continue to operate stores under both the Macy's and Bloomingdale's nameplates.

Macy's turns 150

In 2008, Macy's celebrated its 150th birthday. The store launched a commercial including old Macy's commercials, and actors and actresses mentioning Macy's on shows. It also featured clips of past Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parades. The commercial aired around when the annual Primetime Emmy Awards aired live on ABC on September 2008. The commercial has aired on different channels also throughout the whole September, October, and November months.

Lifestyle Center Stores

In March 2009, Macy's opened a one-level, concept store in Gilbert, Arizona, a Phoenix suburb, that was designed to better fit open air lifestyle malls. Additional stores with the new format have opened in Fairview, Texas; Lee’s Summit, Missouri; and Nampa, Idaho. The stores are designed to be compact and meet current demands for more convenient shopping similar to Kohl’s and newer J. C. Penney stores. Lifestyle stores feature Starbucks Coffee Cafés with wireless web and fitting rooms designed to feel like lounges with sofas and Plasma TVs. Ceilings in the center areas are higher to be reminiscent of older department stores. The format was the culmination of 18 months of research to create stores for the "My Macy's" initiative that allows stores to be merchandised differently in markets across the country to meet local demands.

eSpot ZoomShops

In October 2006, Federated Department Stores entered into an agreement with Zoom Systems to test more than 100 stores within retail giant Macy’s. Terry Lundgren, CEO of Federated, raved about the ability to provide consumers with a convenient means to purchase iPods and other consumer electronics. “This is exciting because it brings most-wanted merchandise into stores in a unique new way.... How cool is that?”. Today Macy’s has turned over their entire Electronics section, in every store, to over 400 eSpot ZoomShops.

Store divisions

Prior to the merger of Federated and May, Macy's had been organized into five divisions. Incorporation of properties from six former regional May Company divisions began in February 2006, when existing Macy's stores and properties yet to be converted were then organized into seven divisions with store locations in 45 states, Washington, D.C., Puerto Rico and Guam. As of January 2011, the only states without a Macy's store were Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Mississippi and Nebraska.

On February 6, 2008, Macy's Inc. announced consolidation of its Macy's store locations into four primary geographic divisions. From that date, three of the divisions each had approximately 250 locations each as a result of the reorganization, while its Florida-based division remained unaffected, as did its Bloomingdale's division.

Macy's East, was headquartered in New York City, with locations ranging from the eastern to north-central United States. Prior to the consolidation of May Company properties into the division in February 2006, the division contained 216 stores/29,100 employees in Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, portions of Virginia, and the city of Washington, D.C.. In addition to Macy's, this division formerly operated Filene's stores in New England, the majority of Kaufmann's stores in upstate New York, and Strawbridge's and Hecht's stores in the mid-Atlantic region. After announced divestitures/store closures were completed by late 2006, this division contained 185 locations until consolidation with Macy's North.

: ''Macy's North'', headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota from February 2006 until February 2008, was consolidated into Macy's East. Prior to its consolidation, the division included 65 stores in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. Formerly, most locations had operated as Marshall Field's, which in turn included many former Dayton's and Hudson's locations. Additionally, the former L. S. Ayres location in Merrillville, Indiana, and Macy's at Mall of America in Bloomington, Minnesota, were included in the Macy's North division. The division's successor, in effect, was a corporate region within Macy's East, with regional offices moved from Minneapolis to Chicago.

Macy's Central, which was headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, was the second incarnation of the division name within what is currently Macy's Inc., with stores throughout the midwestern and southeastern United States. The current Macy's Central consolidates the following locations:

: ''Macy's South'', which was also headquartered in Atlanta, operated from February 2006 until February 2008. The Federated/Macy's Inc. division itself was a consolidation of May Company properties with the first incarnation of Macy's Central – a renaming of Federated's RLG division, which had included Rich's, Lazarus, and Goldsmith's. As of March 2007, the division contained 136 stores/22,500 employees in Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas & Virginia. Macy's South as operated by Federated/Macy's Inc. was created by consolidating former Rich's and Goldsmith's locations with several stores from the Foley's chain. (Lazarus stores were transferred to Macy's Midwest.)

:From 1988 to 1992, R. H. Macy & Co., Inc.'s Macy's South division was also headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, with stores in Alabama, Georgia, Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana and Texas operating as Macy's, while stores in California, Arizona and Nevada operated as Bullock's. The former South division was formed following Macy's acquisition of Bullock's, incorporating Macy's Atlanta (the former Davison's stores renamed in 1985) with the Florida, Louisiana and Texas locations of Macy's New York and Bullock's. It was dissolved in 1992 and its stores consolidated into Macy's East and Macy's West. : ''Macy's Midwest'', headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, from February 2006 until February 2008, was consolidated with Macy's South to form the more recent Macy's Central division. Prior to its consolidation, this Macy's Midwest division included 95 stores throughout the midwestern United States. There was a prior division of R. H. Macy & Co., Inc. named Macy's Midwest that was headquartered in Kansas City formed from a consolidation of two Macy's divisions, LaSalle's and Macy's Missouri-Kansas, in 1981. It was merged with Davison's to form Macy's Atlanta on February 1, 1985. Its former LaSalle's stores were sold to Elder-Beerman later that year and its former Kansas and Missouri stores were sold to Dillard's in 1986. Macy's Midwest incorporated several historic department store franchises owned by the former Federated Department Stores, Inc. and by May Company. The franchises represented by Macy's Midwest include The F&R; Lazarus & Co., Shillito's, Rike Kumler Co., William H. Block Co., Horne's, Famous-Barr, L. S. Ayres, The Jones Store, Kaufmann's, May Company Ohio, O'Neil's and Strouss. St. Louis will remain as a regional headquarters location for a corporate region within Macy's Central. Another corporate regional headquarters within the division will be based in Cincinnati. In 2009 Macy's announced that they would downsize the former Famous-Barr flagship store in Downtown St. Louis from seven stories to three.

Macy's West, was headquartered in San Francisco, with locations throughout the western United States, building on the foundation of store locations that first operated as O'Connor, Moffat & Company in San Francisco's Union Square and other sites. Prior to the February 2006 inclusion of May Company properties, the division included 232 stores/31,100 employees throughout Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Texas and Guam. In addition to Macy's stores, the division operated former Foley's locations in Colorado, New Mexico, and El Paso, Texas, as well as Robinson's-May stores. After announced divestitures/store closures were completed by late 2006, this division operated approximately 190 stores, until consolidation with Macy's Northwest.

:''Macy's Northwest'', headquartered in Seattle, Washington from February 2006 until February 2008, was consolidated into Macy's West. Many of the locations were formerly locations of The Bon Marché, and the division included 71 stores/7,200 employees prior to the February 2006 inclusion of May Company properties. Store locations in the division were located throughout Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming. In addition to former Bon Marché stores, the division added stores formerly operating as Meier & Frank, which in turn had included former ZCMI locations. Seattle will remain as a regional headquarters location for a corporate region within Macy's West.

Macy's Florida, which was headquartered in Miami, Florida, included 61 stores/9,800 employees in Florida and Puerto Rico. The majority of the stores were formerly Burdines; the San Juan, Puerto Rico, store was transferred from Macy's East in August 2007.

In conjunction with these geographic divisions, the New York-based Macy's Home Store division was responsible for buying, planning and marketing home-related merchandise sold in all Macy's stores.

All store divisions nationwide were also served by two administrative divisions, prior to February 2009:

Macy's Corporate Marketing headquartered in New York, responsible for overall activity on initiatives implemented to support the company's focus on Marketing.

Macy's Merchandising Group, headquartered in New York, responsible for conceptualizing, designing, sourcing, and marketing private label and private branded goods sold at Macy's and managing core vendor relationships in the domestic branded market.

Unified consolidation

On February 2, 2009, Macy's announced that their four divisions will be consolidated into one division based in New York City to be called as Macy*s Enterprise. The restructuring will result in job cuts of 7,000 positions, or 4% of its workforce, although also creating 1,200 new positions.

Environmental record

A few of the effects of the textile industry are water deficit, pollution, fossil fuel and raw material consumption. In addition today’s mechanical textile plants use large amounts of energy, while also producing a throw-away mindset due to trends founded upon fast fashion and cheap clothing. Despite the common consequences related to the textile industry, Macy’s has begun to evaluate their environmental effects to lessen their negative impact by promoting important environmental causes. One way Macy’s recently supported the environment was during Earth Week and National Park Week 2008 by raising money with their “Turn over a New Leaf” project. This campaign helps to promote environmental awareness relating to shopping bags and their detrimental effect on the environment. Most plastic shopping bags are made using petroleum, and it takes more than 1000 years to break them down in landfills. Because Macy’s uses approximately 43 million shopping bags each year, this can drastically alter the environment. Because of this, many Macy’s stores now sell reusable cotton tote bags. In addition to the company’s bag transition, Macy’s is also replacing their synthetic, nonbiodegradable packing peanuts that accounts for of in-box material per year with loosefill material created from corn and potato starch. This new material will break down within 9 minutes with water in the landfills.

Controversy

In July 2003, then-New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer launched an investigation of the private policing system Macy's has used to deal with suspected shoplifters. The investigation was prompted by a civil rights lawsuit and an article in ''The New York Times'', which reported on many of Macy's tactics, including private jails and interrogations. Spitzer's investigation found many of Macy's actions, from ethnic profiling to handcuffing detainees, to be unlawful. Macy's settled the civil rights complaint for US$600,000, claiming to have put the illegal tactics to an end while maintaining the security system itself.

The Macy's East downtown Boston store (formerly the Jordan Marsh flagship) touched off a local public relations firestorm with the June 6, 2006, removal of two mannequins and the Web address of the AIDS Action Committee from a window display promoting Boston's annual gay pride celebration. The removal was apparently in response to pressure from MassResistance, a local group opposed to same-sex marriage, whose members complained the mannequins were "homosexual". The removal of the mannequins was widely condemned by residents and officials, including Boston mayor Thomas Menino, who was quoted as saying:

Macy's response to the debacle was to publish an apology by the Macy's East chairman, Ron Klein, in ''In Newsweekly'', a Boston-area weekly with a large gay readership. Klein's description of the incident as "an internal breakdown in communication," further stated it was regrettable some would doubt Macy's commitment to diversity as a result. The Web address was later restored—the mannequins, however never made a reappearance.

Macy's Boston was also a target of Animal Rights protesters, who held signs and handed out pamphlets throughout the 1990s regarding Macy's participation in the fur trade industry. Macy's West had at the time stopped carrying their line of fur coats and apparel, and although the demonstrations have since quieted, Macy's East continues to sell fur coats and apparel, as does a portion of Macy's South stores.

Conversion of Marshall Field's

In Chicago, Macy's move into the Marshall Field's Marshall Field and Company Building on State Street upset many residents. Dozens of protesters gathered under Marshall Field's famous clock the day the name change was implemented and several more gathered once again to mark the one year anniversary of Marshall Field's loss. Macy's reported in December 2006 slowed sales in stores that once were Marshall Field's. This decline continued into 2007, with Macy's acknowledging that while many former Marshall Field's stores have seen sales fall 7–10% the original State Street store has continued to struggle even more. There was talk that the Marshall Field's name would be sold or reopened. In November 2007, Macy's announced that it would no longer try to lure angry and upset former Marshall Field's shoppers to their stores and instead would now be trying to lure new customers into the State Street store. Macy's hoped but failed to do this by adding an FAO Schwarz floor, a wine bar to the Walnut Room, and by having Martha Stewart decorate the Christmas Tree in the Walnut Room. The Macy's Wine Bar has been seamlessly integrated into the Walnut Room and is the site of many notable events at the store.

In Puerto Rico

Macy's in Puerto Rico opened its doors in 2000, the first Macy's outside of the continental United States. It is located in the Plaza Las Américas mall in San Juan.

In popular culture

The phrase "Does Macy's tell Gimbels?" was a phrase once used in the U.S. as a put-off to inquiring people, the implication being that a company does not give information out to its competitors. Gimbels was the other large department a block away on 33rd Street from Macy's. It has since folded.

The classic Christmas film ''Miracle on 34th Street'' (1947) is set in Macy's 34th Street flagship store. Subsequent remakes of the film for television (1955, 1959, and 1973) are also set in Macy's. However, a 1994 remake of the film was set in the fictional "Cole's" department store after Macy's refused to have its name used in the remake of the original film.

A less sentimental view of Macy's department store Santas can be found in the essay "SantaLand Diaries" by David Sedaris, which is frequently played on National Public Radio around Christmas, and has also been adapted for the stage.

Isidor Straus, the longtime co-owner of Macy's, was one of the most well-known casualties on the infamous sinking of the ''Titanic'' in 1912. Although Straus and his wife Ida had a chance to get on one of the lifeboats, Isidor refused, saying that he wouldn't go ahead of the younger men, and Ida, not wanting to leave her husband behind, stayed with him on the ship. The moment was immortalized in the 1958 film ''A Night to Remember'', and was later used in both the 1997 film and the Broadway musical.

In the Latin American literary classic ''Empire of Dreams'' by Giannina Braschi the heroine Mariquita Samper is a makeup artist who works at Macy's on 34th Street.

The U.S. version of the music video "Heard 'Em Say" by Kanye West and Adam Levine (lead singer of Maroon 5) was filmed inside Macy's Herald Square. The video features West and homeless children playing inside a closed Macy's at night, when Levine, as a store manager, lets them in.

The pop punk band, Green Day has a song called "Macy's Day Parade" on their album, ''Warning''.

In the song "Tangerine," reference is made to the girl's clothes having labels that read "Macy's Mezzanine."

In the 1976 musical drama ''Bugsy Malone'', Bugsy, talking about his boxing past says, "This jaw has more glass in it than Macys."

The name of this store is mentioned by a female kid named Patty on Christmas Eve on Sesame Street.

References

;Notes

External links

Category:Department stores of the United States Category:Clothing retailers of the United States Category:Landmarks in Manhattan Category:Companies established in 1858 Category:Shops in New York City Category:Companies based in Ohio

da:Macy's de:Macy’s es:Macy's fr:Macy's ko:메이시스 id:Macy's nl:Macy's ja:メイシーズ pt:Macy's ru:Macy's fi:Macy's sv:Macy's zh:梅西百货公司

Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
name	Justin Bieber
background	solo_singer
birth name	Justin Drew Bieber
birth date	March 01, 1994
birth place	London, Ontario, Canada
origin	Stratford, Ontario, Canada
instrument	Vocals, guitar, piano, percussion, trumpet
genre	Pop, R&B;, teen pop
occupation	Singer, musician, actor
years active	2009–present
label	Island, RBMG
associated acts	Usher
website	justinbiebermusic.com }}

Justin Drew Bieber ( , born March 1, 1994) is a Canadian pop/R&B; singer, songwriter and actor. Bieber was discovered in 2008 by Scooter Braun, who came across Bieber's videos on YouTube and later became his manager. Braun arranged for him to meet with Usher in Atlanta, Georgia, and Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher, and then to a recording contract with Island Records offered by L.A. Reid. Bieber's debut single, "One Time", was released in 2009 and peaked in the top ten in Canada and charted in the top thirty in several international markets. His debut album, the seven-track EP ''My World'', followed in November 2009, and was soon certified platinum in the United States (it was later reissued with two bonus tracks). He became the first artist to have seven songs from a debut album chart on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100.

Bieber's first full-length studio album, ''My World 2.0'', was released in March 2010. It debuted at number one or within the top ten in several countries and was certified platinum in the United States. It was preceded by the worldwide top-ten single, "Baby". The music video of "Baby" is currently ranked as the most viewed and most discussed YouTube video. Bieber followed-up the release of his debut album with his first headlining tour, the My World Tour, the remix albums ''My Worlds Acoustic'' and ''Never Say Never – The Remixes'', and the 3D biopic-concert film ''Justin Bieber: Never Say Never'' – which had an opening weekend gross that nearly matched the record for the biggest opening weekend for a concert-film. Bieber released his second studio album, ''Under the Mistletoe'' in November 2011, which debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200. Bieber has received numerous awards, including Artist of the Year at the 2010 American Music Awards — and has been nominated for numerous awards, including Best New Artist and Best Pop Vocal Album at the 53rd Grammy Awards.

Life and career

1994–2007: Childhood and youth

Bieber was born on March 1, 1994, in London, Ontario, and was raised in Stratford, Ontario. Bieber's mother, Patricia Lynn "Pattie" Mallette, was 18 years old when she became pregnant with her son. Mallette, originally from Stratford, raised her son with the help of her parents, Bruce and Diane. Mallette worked a series of low-paying office jobs, raising Bieber as a single mother in low-income housing. Bieber has maintained contact with his father, Jeremy Jack Bieber, who married another woman and had two children. Bieber's paternal great-grandfather was a German immigrant to Canada. His mother's ancestry is French Canadian. Bieber attended French immersion school at Stratford school Jean Sauve.

During his childhood, Bieber was interested in hockey, soccer, and chess; he often kept his musical aspirations to himself. As he grew up, Bieber taught himself to play the piano, drums, guitar, and trumpet. In early 2007, when he was twelve, Bieber sang Ne-Yo's "So Sick" for a local singing competition in Stratford and placed second. Mallette posted a video of the performance on YouTube for their family and friends to see. She continued to upload videos of Bieber singing covers of various R&B; songs, and Bieber's popularity on the site grew. Chris Hicks, Bieber's A&R; at Island/Def Jam, explained the young artist's huge online following to HitQuarters by saying:

"He was doing something different. He was an attractive white kid singing very soulful R&B; hits. That set him apart immediately from anyone in his range because no one was covering or singing these kind of records. But equally important was that you believed in these songs – it was real. And you wanted to hear more."

2008–10: Discovery, ''My Worlds'', and subsequent releases

While searching for videos of a different singer, Scooter Braun, a former marketing executive of So So Def, clicked on one of Bieber's 2007 videos by accident. Impressed, Braun tracked down the theater Bieber was performing in, located Bieber's school, and finally contacted Mallette. Mallette was reluctant because of Braun's Jewish religion; she remembered praying, "God, I gave him to you. You could send me a Christian man, a Christian label! ... you don’t want this Jewish kid to be Justin’s man, do you?" However, after praying with her church elders and receiving their encouragement, she permitted Braun to fly Bieber, then 13, to Atlanta, Georgia, to record demo tapes. A week after arriving, Bieber sang for R&B; singer/songwriter Usher. Bieber was soon signed to Raymond Braun Media Group (RBMG), a joint venture between Braun and Usher. Justin Timberlake was also reportedly in the running to sign Bieber, but lost the bidding war to Usher. Usher then sought assistance in finding a label home for the artist from then manager Chris Hicks, who helped engineer an audition with his contact Antonio L.A. Reid of Island Def Jam Music Group. Reid signed Bieber to Island Records in October 2008 (resulting in a joint venture between RBMG and Island Records) and appointed Hicks as executive Vice-President of Def Jam where he would be able manage Bieber's career at the label. At that point, Bieber and his mother moved to Atlanta temporarily, also the home of Usher and Braun, to record and get counseling from Braun. Braun became Bieber's manager.

Bieber's first single, "One Time", was released to radio while Bieber was still recording his debut album. The song reached number 12 on the Canadian Hot 100 during its first week of release in July 2009, and later peaked at number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100. During fall 2009 it had success in international markets. The song was certified Platinum in Canada and the US and Gold in Australia and New Zealand. Bieber's first release, an extended play entitled ''My World'', was released on November 17, 2009. The album's second single, "One Less Lonely Girl", and two promo singles, "Love Me", and "Favorite Girl", were released exclusively on the iTunes store and charted within the top forty of the Billboard Hot 100. "One Less Lonely Girl" was later also released to radio and peaked within the top fifteen in Canada and the US, being certified Gold in the latter. ''My World'' was eventually certified Platinum in the US and Double Platinum in both Canada and the UK. To promote the album, Bieber performed on several live shows such as mtvU's VMA 09 Tour, European program ''The Dome'', YTV's ''The Next Star'', ''The Today Show'', ''The Wendy Williams Show'', ''Lopez Tonight'', ''The Ellen DeGeneres Show'', ''It's On with Alexa Chung'', ''Good Morning America'', ''Chelsea Lately'', and BET's ''106 & Park'' with Rihanna. Bieber also guest starred in an episode of ''True Jackson, VP'' in late 2009.

Bieber performed Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas" for U.S. President Barack Obama and first lady Michelle Obama at the White House for ''Christmas in Washington'', which was broadcast on December 20, 2009, on U.S. television broadcaster TNT. Bieber was also one of the performers at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest on December 31, 2009. Bieber was a presenter at the 52nd Grammy Awards on January 31, 2010. He was invited to be a vocalist for the remake of We Are The World (a song written by Michael Jackson and Lionel Richie) for its 25th anniversary to benefit Haiti after the earthquake. Bieber sings the opening line, which was sung by Lionel Richie in the original version. On March 12, 2010, a version of K'naan's "Wavin' Flag" recorded by a collective of Canadian musicians known as Young Artists for Haiti was released. Bieber is featured in the song, performing the closing lines.

"Baby", the lead single from his debut album, ''My World 2.0'', which features Ludacris, was released in January 2010 and became his biggest hit thus far, charting at number five in the U.S. and reaching the top ten in seven other countries. Two promo singles "Never Let You Go", and "U Smile" were top thirty hits on the U.S. Hot 100, and top twenty hits in Canada. According to review aggregator Metacritic, the album has received "generally favorable reviews". It debuted at number one on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200, making Bieber the youngest solo male act to top the chart since Stevie Wonder in 1963. ''My World 2.0'' also debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart, Irish Albums Chart, and Australian Albums Chart, and the New Zealand Albums Chart and reached the top ten of fifteen other countries. To promote the album, Bieber appeared on several live programs including ''The View'', the 2010 Kids Choice Awards, ''Nightline'', ''The Late Show with David Letterman'', ''The Dome'' and ''106 and Park''. Bieber collaborated with Sean Kingston on his single "Eenie Meenie" which also appeared on Bieber's debut album. The song reached the top ten in the United Kingdom and Australia, and the top-twenty of most other markets. thumb|left|Bieber performing at the Conseco Fieldhouse, in August 2010 On April 10, 2010, Bieber was the musical guest on ''Saturday Night Live''. On July 4, 2010, Bieber performed at the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks Spectacular in New York City. The second single from ''My World 2.0'', "Somebody to Love", was released in April 2010, and a remix was released featuring Bieber's mentor Usher. The single reached number ten in Canada, number fifteen in the United States, and the top twenty in multiple international countries.

On June 23, 2010, Bieber went on his first official headlining tour, the My World Tour, starting in Hartford, Connecticut, to promote ''My World'' and ''My World 2.0''. In July 2010, it was reported that Bieber was the most searched for celebrity on the Internet. That same month his music video, "Baby", surpassed Lady Gaga's "Bad Romance" to become the most viewed, and most disliked YouTube video ever. In September 2010, it was reported that Bieber accounted for three percent of all traffic on Twitter, according to an employee of the social-networking site.

Bieber began recording his second album in July 2010 in New York City. At this point, because of puberty, his voice was deeper than it was when he recorded his first album. In April 2010, the singer discussing his vocals remarked, "It cracks. Like every teenage boy, I'm dealing with it and I have the best vocal coach in the world. [...] Some of the notes I hit on "Baby" I can't hit anymore. We have to lower the key when I sing live." British singer/songwriter Taio Cruz confirmed in July 2010 that he is writing songs for Bieber's next album. Hip hop producer Dr. Dre produced two songs with Bieber in July 2010 but it is unknown if they were made for the album, which is currently due for a 2011 release. Bieber guest-starred in the season premiere of the CBS crime drama ''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation'', aired on September 23, 2010. He played a "troubled teen who is faced with a difficult decision regarding his only brother". Bieber was also in a subsequent episode which aired on February 17, 2011, in which his character is killed. Bieber performed a medley of "U Smile", "Baby", and "Somebody to Love" and briefly played the drums at the 2010 MTV Video Music Awards on September 12, 2010. Bieber announced in October 2010 that he would release an acoustic album, called ''My Worlds Acoustic''. It was released on Black Friday in the United States and featured acoustic versions of songs from his previous albums, and accompanied the release of a completely new song titled "Pray".

2011–present: ''Never Say Never'' film, ''Under the Mistletoe'' and ''Believe''

A 3-D part-biopic, part-concert film starring Bieber entitled ''Justin Bieber: Never Say Never'', was released February 11, 2011, directed by ''Step Up 3D'' director Jon Chu. It topped the box office with an estimated grossing of $12.4 million on its opening day from 3,105 theaters. It grossed $30.3 million for the weekend and was narrowly beaten by the romantic comedy ''Just Go With It'', which grossed $31 million. ''Never Say Never'' is said to have exceeded industry expectations, nearly matching the $31.1 million grossed by Miley Cyrus's 2008 3-D concert film, Hannah Montana & Miley Cyrus: Best of Both Worlds Concert, which holds the record for the top debut for a music-documentary. The film is accompanied by his second remix album, ''Never Say Never – The Remixes'', released February 14, 2011, and features remixes of songs from his debut album, with guest appearances from Miley Cyrus, Chris Brown, and Kanye West, among others.

On February 27, 2011, Bieber attended the 2011 Vanity Fair Oscar Party with American actress and singer Selena Gomez, confirming several months of media speculation about a romantic relationship between the pair. The relationship has since continued to garner significant media attention.

In June 2011, Bieber was ranked number 2 on the Forbes list of Best-Paid Celebrities under 30. He is the youngest star and 1 of 7 musicians on the list raking in with $53 million earned in a 12 month period. On November 1, 2011, Bieber released ''Under the Mistletoe'', his second studio album. It debuted at number one on the ''Billboard'' 200, selling 210,000 copies in its first week of release. Bieber is currently recording his third studio album entitled ''Believe''. Kanye West and Drake are confirmed to be featured on the album.

Image

''The Observer'' newspaper in the UK published a report indicating that Justin Bieber is more influential in the social networking sphere than Barack Obama or The Dalai Lama. According to Jan Hoffman of ''The New York Times'', part of Bieber's appeal stems from his YouTube channel. Long before he released his EP, ''My World'', in mid-November, the YouTube videos attracted millions of views. Braun recognized the appeal. Prior to flying him to Atlanta, Braun wanted to "build him up more on YouTube first" and had Bieber record more home videos for the channel. "I said: 'Justin, sing like there’s no one in the room. But let's not use expensive cameras.' We'll give it to kids, let them do the work, so that they feel like it's theirs", recalled Braun. Bieber continues to upload videos to the same channel and has opened a Twitter account, from which he interacts with fans regularly; his account was reported in November 2010 to have over 6 million followers. Since then he has been consistently gaining followers at an average of 24,000 per day. The accounts also serve marketing purposes; for example, Bieber's music video for "One Time" only began selling quickly after it was uploaded to YouTube. Usher comments that while he and Bieber were both signed at the same age, "I had the chance to ramp up my success, where this has happened to Bieber abruptly." As a result, Usher, Braun, Bieber's bodyguard Kenny, and other adults surrounding Bieber constantly coach him on handling fame and his public image. After signing Bieber, Usher appointed one of his former assistants, Ryan Good, to be Bieber's road manager and stylist. Good, once nicknamed Bieber's "swagger coach", created a "streetwise look" for the singer which consisted of baseball caps, hoodies, dog chains and flashy sneakers. Amy Kaufman of ''The Los Angeles Times'' comments, "Though a product of a middle-class suburban upbringing in Stratford, Ontario, Bieber's manner of dress and speech ("Wassup man, how you doin'?" or "It's like, you know, whateva' ") suggest he's mimicking his favorite rappers."

Bieber is often featured in teen magazines such as ''Tiger Beat'', and has been labeled as a "teen hearthrob". Bieber has released a collection of nail varnishes to raise awareness for charity. Wax statues of Bieber are on display at Madame Tussauds wax museums in New York, Amsterdam and London. His change of hairstyle in 2010, and the consequent alterations to Bieber products, led to it being called 'the most expensive musical haircut of all time; one company spent $100,000 to fix its dolls for the 2011 Christmas season.

Personal views

Bieber is a Christian, and said he has a relationship with Jesus, talks to him and that "he's the reason I'm here".

Bieber's comments in a February 2011 profile in ''Rolling Stone'' sparked controversy. Asked whether a person should wait until marriage to have sex, Bieber responded, "I don't think you should have sex with anyone unless you love them." Asked about his opinion on abortion, Bieber said he does not "believe in abortion" and that it is "like killing a baby". When asked about abortion in cases of rape, he said, "Well, I think that's really sad, but everything happens for a reason. I don't know how that would be a reason. I guess I haven't been in that position, so I wouldn't be able to judge that." In the same interview, Bieber talked about homosexuality, stating that "It's everyone's own decision to do that. It doesn’t affect me and shouldn't affect anyone else", and ''Rolling Stone'' commented, "It is not clear whether he intended to label homosexuality as a lifestyle choice." However, Bieber has also contributed to the It Gets Better Project, a project started in response to the suicide of Billy Lucas, a teenager who was the target of anti-gay bullying.

Bieber has said he is not interested in obtaining United States citizenship, praising Canada as being "the best country in the world", citing its health care system as an example.

Criticism

Bieber has been criticized for looking and sounding younger than his age, his teen-pop music, image, and frequent media attention. He has been a frequent target of Internet bloggers and message board posters, notably by users of Internet message board 4chan and users of YouTube. Nick Collins of ''The Daily Telegraph'' speculated that "Bieber's character also appears to strike a particularly sour note with his Internet critics, with many remarks commenting on his youthful appearance, his teen-pop songs, his image as a heart-throb to young teenage girls and his manner of speech".

Discography

''My World 2.0'' (2010)

''Under the Mistletoe'' (2011)

''Believe'' (2012)

Tour

2009: Urban Behavior Tour

2010–2011: My World Tour

Filmography

rowspan="4" ''Extreme Makeover: Home Edition'' Himself

Year !! Title !! Role !! Notes
rowspan="2"	2009	''True Jackson, VP''	>rowspan="3"| Guest star
''My Date With...''
	Silent Library (MTV series)>Silent Library''
''School Gyrls (film)	School Gyrls''	Cameo
''Saturday Night Live''
''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''	Jason McCann
''Hubworld''	Guest star
''The X Factor (UK)''	Performer
rowspan="9"	2011	|	Guest star
''CSI: Crime Scene Investigation''	Jason McCann
''Khloé & Lamar''	|Episode:The Father In Law (uncredited) Himself playing the NBA Celebrity All Star Game
''Saturday Night Live''
''Justin Bieber: Never Say Never''	Himself
''Dancing With The Stars''	Guest star
''So Random!''	Himself
''Disney Parks Christmas Day Parade''	Guest star
''The X Factor (UK)''	Performer

Awards and nominations

References

Further reading

External links

Category:1994 births Category:Canadian child singers Category:Canadian Christians Category:Canadian dance musicians Category:Canadian expatriate musicians in the United States Category:Canadian Internet personalities Category:Canadian male singers Category:Canadian people of French descent Category:Canadian people of German descent Category:Canadian pop singers Category:Canadian rhythm and blues singers Category:Child pop musicians Category:Hip hop singers Category:Island Records artists Category:Musicians from Ontario Category:People from Stratford, Ontario Category:Living people

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Coordinates	40°42′15.0″N73°55′4.0″N
Name	Soulja Boy
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	DeAndre Cortez Way
Alias	Soulja Boy Tell 'Em
Born	July 28, 1990 Chicago, Illinois
Origin	Atlanta, Georgia, United States
Occupation	Rapper
Genre	Hip hop
Years active	2007–present
Label	Stacks on Deck/Interscope
Associated acts	Arab, Mr. Collipark
Website	}}

DeAndre Cortez Way (born July 28, 1990), better known by his stage name Soulja Boy Tell 'Em, or simply Soulja Boy, is an American rapper, record producer, actor, entrepreneur, and internet personality.

In September 2007, his single "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" reached number one on the Billboard Hot 100. The single was initially self-published on the internet, and it later became a number-one hit in the United States for seven non-consecutive weeks starting in September 2007.On August 17 Way was listed at #18 on the Forbes list of Hip-Hop Cash Kings of 2010 earning $7 million for that year.

Way has currently released three studio albums and one independent album: his debut studio album ''Souljaboytellem.com'' (2007) was certified platinum by the RIAA. However, his next two albums, ''iSouljaBoyTellem'' (2008) and ''The DeAndre Way'' (2010) did not match the commercial success of his debut, the latter only selling 80,000 copies, despite the success of several singles across both albums, such as "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" and "Turn My Swag On" (''iSouljaBoyTellem'') and "Pretty Boy Swag" (''The DeAndre Way''), the latter later being certified gold by the RIAA.

Early life

DeAndre Way was born in Chicago and moved to Atlanta at age six, where he became interested in rap music.

Career beginnings

At age 14, he moved to Batesville, Mississippi, with his father, who provided a recording studio for Way to explore his musical ambitions. Way founded his record label "Stacks on Deck Entertainment" in 2004. While Way was signed under Interscope and Collipark Music, he claimed that his label had distribution deals with Interscope, Universal Records, and Koch. In November 2005, Way posted his songs on the website SoundClick. Following positive reviews on the site, he then established his own web pages on YouTube and MySpace. In March 2007, he recorded "Crank That" and released his first independent album ''Unsigned & Still Major: Da Album Before da Album'', followed by a low-budget video filmed demonstrating the "Crank That" dance. By the end of May 2007, "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" received its first airplay and Way met with Mr. Collipark to sign a deal with Interscope Records.

Music career

2007-08: souljaboytellem.com

On August 12, 2007, the song appeared on the Emmy-award winning HBO series ''Entourage'', and by September 1, it topped the Billboard Hot 100 and Hot RingMasters charts. Way's major label debut album ''Souljaboytellem.com'', which was reportedly recorded using just the demo version of FL Studio, was released in the United States on October 2, peaking at #4 on both the Billboard 200 and Top R&B;/Hip-Hop Albums charts.

For the 50th Grammy Awards, Way was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Rap Song with "Crank That (Soulja Boy)". He lost to Kanye West's and T-Pain's "Good Life".

''Souljaboytellem.com'' received a favorable review from Allmusic, but received mainly negative reviews from other sources such as ''Entertainment Weekly''. Several reviewers credited Soulja Boy with spearheading a new trend in hip-hop, while speculating he will likely be a one-hit wonder.

2008-09: iSouljaBoyTellem

The follow-up to ''souljaboytellem.com'', ''iSouljaBoyTellem'', was released on December 16, 2008, to negative critical reception. The first single from the album, "Bird Walk", peaked at number 40 on the ''Billboard'' Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart and the top 20 on the Hot Rap Tracks chart it was performed on the first ''YouTube Live'' on November 22, 2008, with an introduction from MC Hammer. "Kiss Me Thru the Phone", with Sammie, followed, peaking at #3 on the Hot 100 and #1 on the Hot Rap Tracks charts. Chris Brown was originally Way's first choice to sing the hook, but respectfully turned down the offer. Way then tried to do it on his own with Auto-Tune but he found it unacceptable. It sold over 2,000,000 digital copies in the United States, becoming his second song to reach the two million mark in downloads.

On January 26, 2009 Way released his third single "Turn My Swag On". it topped the US Rap Charts and peaked at #19 on the Hot 100. it has so far sold over 1,000,000 digital downloads in the US. It became Soulja Boy's third song to sell 1 million or more downloads.

2009-2010: The DeAndre Way

''The DeAndre Way'' is Way's third studio album, Way has stated that the album is intended to be his most personal and successful album thus far. When speaking on possible collaborations, he stated he wished to work with artists such as Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Kanye West, Eminem, among others. The lead single from the album, "POW", was released in January 2009 but failed to garner success and was dubbed a promo single. On October 30, 2009 Way released three mixtapes ''Paranormal Activity'', ''Dat Piff'' & ''Cortez''. Then it was announced on February 18, 2010 that the first single from the album was gone be "All Black Everything" but it was cancelled & was just put on his promotional mixtape ''Legendary''. The album was titled "The DeAndre Way" but was changed in early 2010 to ''Dre'' with a commercial video snippet for "Do It Big" as the first single but it was cancelled as well. However it was reverted back to ''The DeAndre Way'' in July 2010.

But on June 8, 2010, the official lead single from the album was "Pretty Boy Swag". The single has reached number thirty-four on the Billboard Hot 100, number six on the Billboard Hot R&B;/Hip-Hop Songs chart and number five on the Billboard Rap Songs chart. The album's second single was due to be "Digital" but it was just used on his promotional mixtape ''Best Rapper''. Then it was announced that "Speakers Going Hammer" was gone be the second single, but "Blowing Me Kisses" was released on August 31, 2010 as the second single instead. On October 13 Soulja Boy performed "Pretty Boy Swag" & a snippet of his third single "Speakers Going Hammer". On October 19, 2010 Way finally released "Speakers Going Hammer" on iTunes the single peaked at #48 on the ''Hot R&B; & Hip Hop tracks'' Billboard. ''The DeAndre Way'' was released on November 30, 2010 it has so far has only sold 70,000 copies making this Way's lowest selling album. Soulja Boy was to be part of the Summerbeatz tour held in Australia alongside Flo Rida, Jay Sean and Travie McCoy in November 2010, but in lieu of his current album release date Soulja Boy had declined the offer & just embarked on his Who They Want tour.

2011-present: Mixtapes and Respect My Hustle

On January 22, Way released his first mixtape of 2011 ''Smooky'' which cover featured a cartoon version of Way on a bicycle doing a 360. Then On March 17, 2011 Way released the mixtape ''1up'' which cover was based on the Naruto anime Way stated "If I was in a video game, this mixtape would advance me to the next level with an extra life. Power up with the new offering". On April 20, 2011 Way released his mixtape ''Juice'' which cover was based on the ''Juice'' the movie Way stated he would also released a mini movie of his own to go along with the mixtape Way stated that he was headed to greatness with the mixtape. In September 2011, Way confirmed he is working on a new album, called ''Respect My Hustle'', which will be released in October.

Personal life

Legal issues

On December 9, 2007, Way was sued by William Lyons (a.k.a. Souljah Boy of Mo Thugs Family) who created the stage name "Souljah Boy" in 1996.

On October 7, 2009, Way was arrested on one count of obstruction, a misdemeanor, for running from police when he'd been ordered to stop. The rapper was released on $550 bond.

In May 2011, Way and his labels were sued by a local Pennsylvania promoter for failing to make promised payments in connection with a rescheduled concert.

Victim of robbery and assault

On December 30, 2008, Way was robbed and assaulted in his home. Initial reports indicated that the robbers were six masked men with AK-47s and pistols but on December 31, 2008, video clips surfaced on the Internet of two masked men claiming sole credit for the crime. Soulja Boy described the incident to MTV News a month later: He had come home very late at night after attending an album release party and was recording songs with friends when the robbers came in pointing their guns.

Family tragedies

On March 22, 2011, Way's little brother Deion Jenkins was killed in a car crash on Sunday night. Then on March 24, 2011 Way's older brother threatened to committ suicide.

Controversies

Way's music has been banned from some school dances for sexual and violent content or innuendo. However, he has denied these claims. In the original YouTube video for "Shootout", Soulja Boy demonstrates his dance while holding a handgun in each hand and pretending to shoot into the audience.

Nas

On February 25, 2008, Way said in an interview that "Nas killed hip hop and his own career". Way later apologized for his comments.

Ice-T

In June 2008, on DJ Cisco's ''Urban Legend'' mixtape, Ice-T told Way to "eat a dick" and criticized Way for "killing hip-hop" and his song "Crank That" for being "garbage" compared to the works of other hip-hop artists such as Rakim, Das EFX, Big Daddy Kane and Ice Cube. The two then traded videos back and forth over the Internet. Rapper Kanye West defended Way by arguing that the younger artist created a new, original work for hip-hop, thus keeping the authentic meaning of the music. The feud was parodied in a 2010 episode of The Boondocks.

Charles Hamilton

On December 9, 2008, Charles Hamilton commented in a interview by saying that Way was making it harder for new artists to be signed. Way responded by saying "X out the Sonic and fuck with Mario, you might want to got damn eat a mushroom." Charles Hamilton responded with the diss song "Im You Last Year With Talent". Then the diss song "Word Aight".

Bow Wow

On February 2, 2009, Way challenged Bow Wow to a race in their Lamborghinis and claimed Bow Wow's Lamborghini was a rental. On February 4, 2009 Bow Wow proved that he owned his Lamborghini and said "its halloween in Bankhead for you everyday nigga..you scared..you all nervous and shit". Way responded on twitter by saying "HE FUCKED UP!!!! IM BOUT TO SHITTTT ON THIS NIGGA!! LOL!!!!!". On February 7, 2009 both artist sent diss songs to each other such as Way's "Fuck Bow Wow" & Bow Wow's "What I Think About You". Later that day during a phone conversation both rappers settled their differences.

Fabolous

On December 28, 2010, Fabolous during a radio interview commented on the claim that Way does cocaine, saying "pretty boy swag but never coke my nose though", a reference to Way's song "Pretty Boy Swag. "Soulja Boy went on a tirade on Twitter in response, saying "I ignore dis foo like 5x before this. fuck that. If you send some niggaz to spray me @myfabolouslife at least I die I real nigga fuck you boy." 50 Cent also took to Twitter to say, "leave him the f*** alone before somebody get hurt." Way and Fabolous ended their beef on a radio interview.

"Let's Be Real"

In September 2011, Soulja Boy released the song "Let's Be Real". One of the lines of the song went: ''"Fuck the FBI and the army troops ... fighting for what? Be your own man ... I'll be flying through the clouds with green like I'm Peter Pan."'' After the song was released, Soulja Boy was highly criticized by the military members and their families, especially in regards to the timing relative to the 10th anniversary of the September 11 Attacks. Soulja Boy apologized, "When I expressed my frustration with the US Army, not only did my words come out wrong, I was wrong to even speak them." He adds, "So, I write this to give my sincerest apology to all members of the United States military services, as well as their families that were offended by my most recent lyrics." Representatives for Soulja Boy have indicated that the song has been pulled from his upcoming album, ''Respect My Hustle,'' and will not be available for sale. They are also attempting to remove the video from the internet.

Discography

;Studio albums

''Souljaboytellem.com'' (2007)

''iSouljaBoyTellem'' (2008)

''The DeAndre Way'' (2010)

''Respect My Hustle'' (2011)

Tours

''Americas Most Wanted'' (2009)

''Who They Want'' (2011)

Filmography

Film
! Year	! Film	! Role	! Notes
2007	''YouTube Live''	Himself	Small Role
2008	''What's at Stake?'''	Himself	Small Role
2009	''School Gyrls''	Himself	Cameo
2010	''Malice N Wonderland''	Soulja	Small Role
2011	''TBA''	''TBA''
Television
! Year	! Title	! Role	! Notes
	''The Ellen DeGeneres Show''	Himself
''Last Call with Carson Daly''	Himself
	''Live with Regis''	Himself	Minor appearance
''Access Granted''	Himself	For his music video for "Bird Walk"
	''When I Was 17''	Himself
''The Mo'Nique Show''	Himself
''Late Night with Jimmy Fallon''	Himself
''Lopez Tonight''	Himself
''The Tonight Show with Jay Leno''	Himself

Awards and nominations

BET Awards

*2007: Best New Artist (Nominated)

*2008: Viewer's Choice Award: "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (Nominated)

*2009: Viewer's Choice Award: "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" (Nominated)

BET Hip-Hop Awards

*'2007: Best Hip-Hop Dance (Won)'

Grammy Awards

*2008: Best Rap Song: "Crank That (Soulja Boy)" (Nominated)

Ozone Awards

*'2007: Patiently Waiting: Mississippi (Won)'

*2008: Best Breakthrough Artist (Nominated)

*2008: TJ's DJ's Tastemaker Award (Nominated)

Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards

*2007: Favorite Male Singer (Nominated)

Teen Choice Awards

*2009: Choice Music: Rap Artist (Nominated)

*2009: Choice Music: R&B; Track for "Kiss Me Thru the Phone" (Nominated)

*2009: Choice Music: Hook Up for "Kiss Me Thru the Phone"

*2009: Choice Music: Artist (Nominated)

See also

List of artists who reached number one in the United States

References

External links

Official website

Category:1990 births Category:Living people Category:Actors from Mississippi Category:African American actors Category:African American rappers Category:African-American businesspeople Category:African American film actors Category:American film actors Category:American film producers Category:American hip hop record producers Category:American Internet personalities Category:American music industry executives Category:American music video directors Category:American pop musicians Category:American record producers Category:Businesspeople from Mississippi Category:Hip hop musicians Category:Hip hop singers Category:Interscope Records artists Category:People from Panola County, Mississippi Category:Rappers from Atlanta, Georgia Category:Rappers from Chicago, Illinois Category:Rappers from Mississippi

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