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For the past 99 years at Macys annual Thanksgiving Day Parade, spectators have craned their necks to watch giant balloons and larger-than-life floats pass through the streets of New York City. But a word to the wise this year: Dont forget to look down. You might just catch a glimpse of the tiniest float in the parades history. The floatwhich is 49 times smaller than the average displaycomes courtesy of Goldfish, which is returning to the parade for the first time in more than a decade. The floats design features a wintery snowscape covered with frolicking Goldfish crackers towed by an equally tiny Ram truck. According to Brendan Kennedy, director of creative production at Macys Studios, the float measures less than 8 inches tall and 14 inches long. Throughout the parade, it will be circling Herald Square, just outside Macys department store. [Photo: Goldfish] Kennedy, who stepped into his role at the helm of the parade in April 2024, says hes been spending quite a bit of time digging through the events history for its upcoming centennial anniversary. In all that research, hes never come across another float quite like this one. I don’t think this has ever come close to happening, Kennedy says. [Photo: Goldfish] Inside Goldfishs return to the parade Every year, Kennedy says the team at Macys is working around 18 months ahead of time to prepare for the next Thanksgiving parade: ensuring the event will have enough street space, selecting brand partners, and ironing out the production schedule. The floats themselves take anywhere from three to six months to fully plan and design. When Goldfish reached out to Macys with the idea to build what the company is calling the Littlest Float in early September, Kennedy says the team was already in the home stretch of building this years six new floats. Despite the quick turnaround, he knew they had to make it happen. I got a call from our partnership team, and they said Goldfish has this idea, what do you think? Kennedy says. I was like, Absolutely. I’m in. Designing a new float always starts with nailing down a solid story, Kennedy says. In this case, the Goldfish and Macys teams pulled inspiration from Snow Day, a Goldfish ad originally released in 2015 that shows a crew of three hat-wearing Goldfish crackers sledding, playing hockey, building snowmen, and warming up by the fire. The floats mock-up included a team of Goldfish enjoying wintery activities in a snowy landscape, topped off by a Goldfish-shaped mound of snow. The last time Goldfish was in the parade was back in 2012, when the brand debuted a somewhat meta float of Goldfish crackers putting on their own parade. “After more than a decade, returning with the Littlest Float allowed us to show up in a way that feels both true to the brand and meaningful to fans, says Mike Fanelli, the brand’s senior director of marketing. [Photo: Goldfish] Bringing the tiniest Thanksgiving float ever to life Bringing the design to life was an entirely new challenge for the Macys team. Typically, Kennedy explains, theyre contending with the massive scale of the floats, which need to be simultaneously spectacular but also street-safe and foldable in order to pack up for transport. Designing a tiny float invited its own host of unique considerations: namely, how to make the wintery scene durable at such a small size. Kennedys team addressed that concern by building a custom base, which is hidden by a lining of orange fringe around the float. Its an aluminum structure, made in the shape of a Goldfish cracker, that was hand-cut in-house. Kennedy describes it as essentially a thick skateboard. Most important for the floats longevity, its wheels are omnidirectional, meaning it wont easily be tripped up on uneven surfaces. [The wheels] kind of look like a Ping-Pong ball inside of a metal scoop, Kennedy says. They’re used in robotics a lot of the time. We found that these worked best because of their omnidirectional ability. A traditional float bed just has to roll straight and then turn, and it’s just these big old tires. But for this, it could basically go in any direction at any point. [Photo: Goldfish] On top of the aluminum base, the part of the Littlest Float thats actually visible is a 3D-printed landscape thats been sanded down and hand-painted to achieve a detailed look up close. As a finishing touch, the whole contraption is pulled by a tiny Ram truck with workable blinkers and side mirrors, manufactured by a company called Primal RC that makes an officially licensed miniature of the vehicle. Kennedy says this element was important for continuity, since Ram is a sponsor of the parade, and its trucks will be pulling all the standard-size floats. To get the right shot of the diminutive float, the Macys team worked with NBC, the parades broadcast partner, to set up a dedicated steady rig camera that sits just 6 inches off the ground. On the day of the event, a team of actorspurposefully selected to be above-average height in order to play up the conceitwill follow the Littlest Float around the square and keep an eye on it. I think it’s really fun and silly, and it’s such a good way of showing how the Macy’s Studios team can come together and reinvent what it means to parade, Kennedy says. It’s clowns, and performances, and magicto make everybody look up, see some balloons, forget about their day or week or year, and just have some fun. We really just like coming up with new ways to do that for all the folks on the street and at home.
Category:
E-Commerce
Thanksgiving is a beautiful day filled with family, loved ones, and good food. All that merriment takes copious amounts of labor and planning ahead. It is almost inevitable that something will fall between the cracks and a last-minute store run will be necessary. But is that even possible? Heres a quick breakdown of what is open and closed on Thanksgiving 2025 to help you out in a pinch should you have a missing cranberry sauce crisis. But first lets take a look at everyday services: Is Thanksgiving a federal holiday? Yes, Thanksgiving is a federal holiday celebrated annually in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. This makes November 27 the big day in 2025. Federal workers get a day off to observe the holiday. Will mail be delivered on Thanksgiving? No, there will be no letter or bills delivered on Thanksgiving. The only exception is Priority Mail Express. The United States Postal Service (USPS) will keep post offices closed, but some self-service kiosks will still be open. UPS will also be closed and not delivering on turkey day. The only exception is UPS Express Critical service. Similarly, FedEx locations will be closed. The only deliveries being made on Thanksgiving day are FedEx Custom Critical. Are banks open on Thanksgiving? No, banks are not open on Thanksgiving day. If you need some cash, though, ATMs outside of locations are generally open. Online banking is also an option. Is the stock market trading on Thanksgiving? No. Both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq exchange will be closed for business. No opening bells will ring out. What stores are open on Thanksgiving? Its time to get into the cranberry sauce of it all. The following stores are open. Grocery stores Whole Foods: Open with limited hours. Hours vary by location Sprouts: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. H Mart: Hours vary by location. Kroger: Some stores open with limited hours and a 5 p.m. closing time. Some pharmacies will be closed. Meijer: 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Save A Lot: Hours vary by location Retailers Starbucks: Hours vary by location Dollar General: Hours vary by location Family Dollar: Hours vary by location Bass Pro Shops: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Big Lots: Most open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. but hours vary by location. Cabelas: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. What stores are closed on Thanksgiving? Do not try your luck at the following stores, as they will all be closed: Trader Joes Publix Costco Walmart My kid is sick. Are any 24-hour pharmacies open? Many regular Walgreens stores will be closed on Thanksgiving, but its another story for their 24-pharmacy locations. Most of these will be open for business and emergency medicine runs. CVS, meanwhile, is open but with limited holiday hours. If you need medication, be sure to check your local store hours before making a trip.
Category:
E-Commerce
Thanksgiving is a beautiful day filled with family, loved ones, and good food. All that merriment takes copious amounts of labor and planning ahead. It is almost inevitable that something will fall between the cracks and a last-minute store run will be necessary. But is that even possible? Heres a quick breakdown of what is open and closed on Thanksgiving 2025 to help you out in a pinch should you have a missing cranberry sauce crisis. But first lets take a look at everyday services: Is Thanksgiving a federal holiday? Yes, Thanksgiving is a federal holiday celebrated annually in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. This makes November 27 the big day in 2025. Federal workers get a day off to observe the holiday. Will mail be delivered on Thanksgiving? No, there will be no letter or bills delivered on Thanksgiving. The only exception is Priority Mail Express. The United States Postal Service (USPS) will keep post offices closed, but some self-service kiosks will still be open. UPS will also be closed and not delivering on turkey day. The only exception is UPS Express Critical service. Similarly, FedEx locations will be closed. The only deliveries being made on Thanksgiving day are FedEx Custom Critical. Are banks open on Thanksgiving? No, banks are not open on Thanksgiving day. If you need some cash, though, ATMs outside of locations are generally open. Online banking is also an option. Is the stock market trading on Thanksgiving? No. Both the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) and the Nasdaq exchange will be closed for business. No opening bells will ring out. What stores are open on Thanksgiving? Its time to get into the cranberry sauce of it all. The following stores are open. Grocery stores Whole Foods: Open with limited hours. Hours vary by location Sprouts: 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. H Mart: Hours vary by location. Kroger: Some stores open with limited hours and a 5 p.m. closing time. Some pharmacies will be closed. Meijer: 6 a.m. to 5 p.m. Save A Lot: Hours vary by location Retailers Starbucks: Hours vary by location Dollar General: Hours vary by location Family Dollar: Hours vary by location Bass Pro Shops: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Big Lots: Most open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. but hours vary by location. Cabelas: 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. What stores are closed on Thanksgiving? Do not try your luck at the following stores, as they will all be closed: Trader Joes Publix Costco Walmart My kid is sick. Are any 24-hour pharmacies open? Many regular Walgreens stores will be closed on Thanksgiving, but its another story for their 24-pharmacy locations. Most of these will be open for business and emergency medicine runs. CVS, meanwhile, is open but with limited holiday hours. If you need medication, be sure to check your local store hours before making a trip.
Category:
E-Commerce
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