Sharon Otterman, CMO at Macy’s Joins NYSE TV Live

So nice to be here. So excited that we're about to have a parade tomorrow. The 98th annual. So every year it's always bigger, it's always better.

Oh my god, well we have 17 balloons and 27 floats and 700 clowns and a bit of nostalgia and a whole bunch of new. And then Santa Claus.

We have marching bands coming from all across the country. We have star-studded performances. We have something for everyone to really get everyone excited and ready for the holiday season.

Well, it starts 18 months prior. There is such a talented group of people that put this together all year round. It's their full-time job. Plus we have 5,000 volunteers that help us to make all of this come to life. So it's really a lot of planning, a lot of preparation, a lot of rehearsals to lead us to this day.

We like to say we're more than a store, we're a story. And we kick off the beginning of every season, whether it's the summer season with the fireworks or the holiday season with the parade. This is how we get everyone excited for the holidays and realize that we have customers that have needs during the holidays and we get to serve them. It's been a tradition in my house my entire life and it's just a great way to be able to kick off the season.

Well, I think every seat is the best seat. I started out as a kid on the Upper West Side and love the beginning of the parade. There's so much excitement down by Columbus Circle when the parade makes the turn. It's like nothing else you've seen. And then you get down to 34th Street and there's all these amazing performances. But then you can also be cozy in your pajamas on the couch on Thanksgiving morning and enjoy it on NBC. And that would be the only place. NBC and Peacock, it's the only place that you can watch the parade.

Yeah, so I started going to the parade when I was very little. It was a tradition for my family. My dad has always gone to the parade when he was a little boy and it was important that he took my sister and I. So we'd get up very early in the morning and we would go down to the city and sit on the cold sidewalk and wait for hours and hours. And the minute the first balloon and the turkey came around the corner, it was just like magic to me and worth all the wait. And I continued to go every year as a kid. And then as an adult, my sister and I continued the tradition and really honored my parents' memory from being able to go and hang out together there. And then when we had kids, we brought our kids as well too. And so this is the first year we're not all sitting together because our kids are even in the parade. So it's just full circle and so exciting. I can't wait for tomorrow.