Macy's unveils pop-up experience in 36 locations, including Ridgedale

Story, a trendy store in New York's Chelsea neighborhood that frequently changes products and theme, is about to make its stamp on Macy's.

Macy's bought the company, also a retail consultant, a year ago and on Wednesday announced that 36 stores, including the one at Ridgedale Center in Minnetonka, would launch pop-up areas with the inaugural theme "Color." The theme will change in late June.

Story's founder Rachel Shechtman, now Macy's brand experience officer, has curated partnerships for the pop-ups like she does with the Chelsea store.

MAC Cosmetics will have a "make your own" palette station at the pop-ups, a service now only available in the brand's own retail stores. MAC also will offer beauty classes.

Crayola's "Create it Yourself," which creates crafting videos, will produce a series of hands-on workshops like "Melted Crayon Canvas" and creating custom patches for denim jackets.

And those denim jackets? Levi's Kids and distributor Haddad Brands will preview a selection of its "Levi's x Crayola" line in the pop-ups before launching them widely in mid-June.

Macy's CEO Jeff Gennette told the Associated Press he hopes the Story concept will get existing customers to shop more frequently while also attracting younger customers.

Gennette declined to estimate sales for Story concept, but he believes it can be just as successful as Shechtman's store in Chelsea, which is closing with the opening of the shop in Macy's Herald Square location.

Gennette has been trying to change the Macy's shopping experience, acknowledging the brand hasn't done enough to drive traffic into stores. Other retailers, like Best Buy and Nordstrom, have had success with the "store within a store" concept.

The Story pop-up shops inside Macy's will carry about 400 items with an average price of about $20. Most of the items are impulse-purchase items, such as a pizza cutter shaped like a bike.

Macy's hired more than 270 managers and "Story" tellers and trained them in a different approach to retail sales. Everything from how you build fixtures to planning events was included.

"The Story at Macy's experience feels a lot like a real-life version of scrolling through Instagram," Shechtman said. "You discover things you weren't looking for but are inspired by all the fun finds — the second you see it, you need it."

The Associated Press contributed to this report. Catherine Roberts • 612-673-4292