Why you’ve never heard of the first woman retail executive

Chances are you’ve never heard of Margaret Getchell LaForge, but she was—by many accounts—the first woman ever hired as a retail executive when Rowland Hussey Macy promoted her, in 1866, to the superintendent of his then eight-year-old dry-goods store in Lower Manhattan, R.H. Macy.

Business journalist Stephanie Forshee had never heard of LaForge herself, until early in the pandemic, when she was reading Robert Grippo’s 2008 history of the retailer, Macy’s: The Store, The Star, The Story. Grippo was laudatory, quoting an employee at the time who called LaForge “the brains of the establishment,” but devoted just three pages to her life and contributions.

Forshee, who previously covered finance for Morning Brew, wanted more, and thus began a three-year journey learning about LaForge. While initially researching with the intention of writing a historical novel with LaForge at the center, she put that project on the back burner to write a biography for children, Hidden Gems: Margaret Getchell LaForge.

We asked Forshee how LaForge shaped Macy’s in its infancy, why women CEOs are still underrepresented in retail, and why she took to Kickstarter to fund the book.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.

You initially were researching Margaret Getchell LaForge to write a historical novel about her, which you’re still working on, but during your research decided to write this book for 7- to 12-year-olds first. Why?

This is the woman who suggested the red star logo for the company. That really surprised the people I was speaking to. It made me think I wanted to document it for children first because she was just inspiring me so much in my research that I thought that young readers really should have a chance to see a role model like Margaret and see that they could be an executive at a company, or a CEO, or founder—whatever their little hearts desire.

Speaking of CEOs, among the National Retail Federation’s list of biggest companies revenue-wise, there are only three women CEOs in the top 25. So women are half of the population but only 12% of the CEOs for top retail brands. As a business journalist, does that statistic bum you out?

Yeah, it definitely bums me out, especially since retailers—they’re the low-hanging fruit. Their entire companies are made up of mostly female employees, and if anyone is going to promote within and give women opportunities in the C-suite—and especially that top seat—it’s them. So it is a little disheartening to see that there are so few female CEOs in the retail space.

Rowland Hussey Macy first hired Margaret Getchell LaForge, who was a distant cousin, in 1860 as a bookkeeper, and she rose in the company and, in 1866, was named superintendent. That’s not a corporate title we see anymore; what would she be called on her LinkedIn profile today?

Executive vice president or maybe COO, or CFO. She was the store manager because, at that time, there was only one location. She and Rowland…were the main decision-makers on really any and everything that happened at the store.

So she was really the No. 2?

Yes.

You mentioned the red star Macy’s logo—that was Margaret Getchell LaForge’s idea?

[Rowland] had a red star tattoo—it was something that reminded him of his sailing days—on his wrist. Margaret, as she said, liked to “put a bug in his ear.” He had used a star in a newspaper ad, but it was her idea to make it the logo for the store and actually put it on the price tags of every item.

You write that when LaForge started, Macy’s was a basic dry-goods store that sold fabric, hats, and gloves, but that so many departments they added were suggested and instigated by her.

Toys, books, picnic supplies, fresh flowers, soaps, and perfumes—those all specifically have been attributed to her.

You write in the book that the departments and selection grew so fast under her watch that at one point a customer asked her if there was anything Macy’s wouldn’t carry. What was her response?

“Yes,” she said. “Coffins.”

In 1872, Rowland Macy was getting older and, Succession-style, let it be known that he was going to name his successor. Although Margaret at this point had stepped away from the second-in-command spot temporarily since she’d gotten married and had children, she was still working at Macy’s part-time. So, was she in the running?

There is an account that says there were rumors that Margaret would be named partner in the company. It’s unclear what her expectations were for that, but Macy does decide to name his nephew Robert Valentine and Margaret’s husband, Abiel LaForge, as partners in the company.

And then there’s the matter of what happens to Margaret’s pay when Macy names her husband as a partner and he gets an ownership stake.

Margaret’s pay is taken away. Rowland [Macy] gives his reason [that] the money is still going to the same pot of money. And…she continued to work even though she was technically not paid for her individual labor.

Do you think she was snubbed?

Yeah.

And then they said, “Just keep on working. Do what you’re doing and we’re not going to pay you.”

Right.

And how do you reconcile that? Rowland Macy seems like he was ahead of his time by promoting her to be the first female retail executive but then he does this, which sounds appalling.

It’s hard to judge because, yes, of course, when you read that now, it sounds awful, but…in those years, once a woman was married…the employer didn’t want her to be working. So there might have been something that came into play like that…It’s confusing, but it’s easy to look at now and kind of be outraged.

You did a successful Kickstarter campaign for the book. Can you talk about why you self-published?

I actually pitched the idea of Margaret Getchell LaForge first to a children’s publisher—I don’t want to name names, but they publish a lot of children’s biographies. And they responded to me right away to give me a rejection letter. They didn’t even read the proposal because they said, “We don’t publish books about unknown people—we’re more interested in household names.” …That’s what got me thinking that I was gonna have to do this myself.

It really sounds like a catch-22, because you’re saying, “I want to write this book because nobody’s heard of her.” And they said, “We wouldn’t publish a book about somebody that nobody’s heard of.”

Yeah, I just felt really compelled to share her story with people.

How do you feel about how Macy’s has honored Margaret Getchell LaForge and burnished her legacy?

I wish that they had done a lot more to honor her and bring her story to life because they are the ones who have the ability to do that. However much Macy’s is struggling like other retailers right now, they are a brand that people care about what they have to say, and if they were to share Margaret’s story more widely, I think people would listen and be interested.—AAN