Hidden Gems: Margaret Getchell LaForge

By Stephanie Forshee

Margaret Getchell LaForge was a female business pioneer who took New York by storm. In 1860, the smart and sassy nineteen year old was hired for a low-level position at R.H. Macy’s. Only six years later, she became the first female executive in retail history! In Hidden Gems, Margaret gets the credit she deserves for steering the iconic New York department store to its lasting success.

“Be everywhere. Do everything. And never fail to astonish the customer.”
—Margaret Getchell LaForge

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archway Publishing
• Release date: Jul 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9781665745000

Stephanie Forshee

Stephanie Forshee is the creator and author of the Hidden Gems for Kids series. She is a writer of fiction and nonfiction, and is a singer and songwriter. Her children’s book series about fierce females in the business world, Hidden Gems for Kids, was successfully funded on Kickstarter in May 2022. Stephanie co-authored In Other News: Reporters on Reporting with Rosie Downey. She is the finance editor at LinkedIn. Her byline has appeared in The Wall Street Journal, Morning Brew, Forbes.com, The Financial Times, Newsday, Backstage, and other top media outlets. Stephanie is a graduate of New School University, which happens to be located at the site of the original Macy’s store that was founded in 1858. She lives in Brooklyn, New York with her cat Tabitha. Follow Stephanie on Instagram @ bystephanieforshee and visit www.stephanieforshee.com.

Book preview

Copyright © 2023 Stephanie Forshee.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by

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without the written permission of the author except in the case

of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author

and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of

the information contained in this book and in some cases, names

of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

Archway Publishing

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publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are

models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Interior Image Credit: Karine Makartichan for all

illustrations, Andrea Nyberg for author photo

ISBN: 978-1-6657-4501-7 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6657-4500-0 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2023909886

Archway Publishing rev. date: 7/3/2023

Contents

A Note from the Author

Foreword

Chapter 1   Nantucket

Chapter 2   Taking on New York

Chapter 3   Innovation at Macy’s

Chapter 4   Family Ties

Chapter 5   Resilience

Chapter 6   Tough Times

Glossary

Gem Time

References

Acknowledgments

Author

A Note from the Author

Hey, gems!

I can’t wait for y’all to read Margaret’s story. She was such a priceless gem—and so are you, my precious reader! I’m delighted that you picked up a copy of Hidden Gems. It means the world to me that you chose to embark on this journey with the