Macy's sale calendar 2026: an analysis of the best months to shop

• November dominates as Macy's strongest month, with Black Friday deals reaching 30–60% off across all departments and Cyber Monday online-only savings up to 70%
• Friends & Family sales run 3–4 times per year (April, June, October, and December), offering an extra 30% off clothing, shoes, handbags, home, and luggage — the most reliable storewide discount events on the calendar
• One Day Sales recur nearly monthly, delivering 40–60% off rotating categories and occasionally hitting 80% on select items
• Furniture and mattress shoppers should target Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day — each featuring 12–36 month financing and tiered savings up to 65%
• Beauty gets its deepest discounts during 10 Days of Glam (50% off rotating daily deals), Mother's Day, and holiday gift-set season
• Jewelry peaks at Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, and the Diamond Sale (spring and fall), with discounts reaching 70–75% off
• SimplyCodes tracked 66 Macy's promo codes in 2025 — the majority tied to wine purchases, reflecting Macy's niche but consistent promotional approach beyond its major chainwide sales

Macy's doesn't publish a single official sale calendar for the year, which makes timing your purchases harder than it should be. That's where data helps. SimplyCodes' analysis of Macy's 2026 promotional activity — drawing from official Macy's terms, observed sale events, and historical sale-tracking data — reveals a clear rhythm of recurring sales events that strategic shoppers can plan around all year long.

Whether you're shopping for fashion deals, furniture, beauty, or fine jewelry, the difference between paying full price and landing a serious discount at Macy's usually comes down to shopping during the right week. This calendar breaks down every major sale event month by month so you can shop with confidence — and know exactly when to wait for something better.

How Macy's structures its sales in 2026

Unlike retailers that rely heavily on promo codes to drive discounts, Macy's runs a layered promotional system built around recurring chainwide sale events, category-specific windows, and loyalty rewards. Understanding these layers is the key to timing your purchases well.

Macy's promotional calendar revolves around a few core sale formats that repeat throughout the year. Each format serves a different shopping need, and knowing how they work helps you decide when a deal is worth acting on — and when a better one is coming.

Friends & Family sales

Friends & Family is Macy's most valuable recurring storewide event, running roughly 3–4 times per year. The April 2026 event — confirmed by Macy's official promotional terms — offered an extra 30% off clothing, handbags, shoes, jewelry, home, and luggage, with 15% off cosmetics and fragrance, and 10% off furniture and mattresses. Future windows are expected in June, late October, and early December, following the same tiered structure.

One Day Sales

Macy's One Day Sales run on a near-monthly cadence, typically spanning a Friday through Sunday. These events deliver 40–60% off rotating categories — and occasionally hit 80% on select items. According to sale-schedule trackers, 2026 has already seen One Day Sales in January, February, and March, with additional events expected most months through December.

10 Days of Glam

Macy's 10 Days of Glam is the retailer's marquee beauty event, featuring a rotating 50% off deal on a different skincare, makeup, fragrance, or hair care product each day. It typically runs twice per year — a possible May window and a more established August window. For beauty shoppers, this event consistently delivers the deepest standalone discounts outside of Black Friday.

Holiday anchor sales

The biggest savings at Macy's cluster around five major holiday weekends: Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, Labor Day, and Black Friday. These events offer broad storewide markdowns and are especially important for furniture and mattress shoppers, since Macy's runs special financing windows (12–36 months at 0% interest) tied specifically to these holidays.

Star Rewards and Star Money

Macy's Star Rewards loyalty program runs bonus earning events throughout the year, sometimes stacking with sale events for compounding value. During the April 2026 Friends & Family Sale, for example, Macy's offered $20 in Star Money for every $100 spent on eligible non-Friends & Family items — effectively 20% back toward a future purchase. These bonus windows turn already-good sales into exceptional value if you plan your spending around them.

The "Bold New Chapter" factor

One thing worth noting in 2026: Macy's is in the middle of its "Bold New Chapter" restructuring plan, which includes closing underperforming store locations. Affected stores run location-specific liquidation sales with discounts up to 80% — but these are final-sale, local events that aren't part of the national sale calendar. If you have a closing Macy's nearby, it's worth checking in person for deep clearance, but those deals won't appear online.

SimplyCodes promo code data: What Macy's codes looked like in 2025

SimplyCodes tracked every promo code Macy's released throughout 2025, giving us a clear picture of how the retailer uses codes — and, just as importantly, how it doesn't.

Macy's promo codes by month (2025)

What this data reveals about Macy's strategy

The most striking pattern in this data is what the codes are actually for. The majority of Macy's 2025 promo codes were tied to wine purchases through Macy's Wine Shop — not the broad clothing, home, and beauty categories that drive most of the retailer's sales volume. Wine codes represented a consistent, niche slice of Macy's promotional output throughout the year, with a relatively steady monthly cadence of 3–8 codes.

For wine shoppers specifically, Macy's Wine Shop codes offer a reliable stream of deals year-round — with November and December seeing the highest activity (8 and 7 codes, respectively), likely driven by holiday gifting and entertaining season.

Macy's 2026 sale calendar: Month by month

Every month at Macy's has its own promotional rhythm. Some months stack multiple major events on top of each other, while others run lighter with a single One Day Sale or category-specific promotion. This breakdown covers every major chainwide sale event in 2026 so you can plan your purchases around the best windows — and avoid paying full price when a better deal is days away.

January: Post-holiday clearance and winter deals

Promotional strength: Strong

January opens the year with some of the deepest clearance markdowns you'll find outside of Black Friday. The After-Christmas and New Year's clearance — carrying over from late December — offers up to 60% off holiday leftovers, while dedicated winter clearance events push discounts up to 70% on cold-weather apparel. Macy's also ran a furniture Buy More, Save More event with savings up to 60%.

The January 9–11 One Day Sale delivered the month's broadest savings, with 40–60% off across women's, men's, home, beauty, and furniture. Later in the month around MLK weekend, Macy's ran additional winter weekend promotions at 20–50% off, and fine jewelry clearance reached 70–75% off — one of the best jewelry clearance windows of the entire year.

Shopping strategy: January is ideal for winter apparel you'll wear next season, fine jewelry at steep clearance prices, and deeply discounted holiday items. If you need furniture, the Buy More, Save More event also makes this a strong early-year window.

February: Valentine's, jewelry, and Presidents' Day

Promotional strength: Very strong

February packs several major events into a short stretch. The Semi-Annual Jewelry Sale around Valentine's Day drives discounts up to 70% off on fine jewelry, watches, and accessories — making it one of the two best jewelry-buying months of the year. Lingerie and underwear also see strong markdowns at 30–50% off during the Valentine's window.

The Big Home Event running from late January through February 9 offered up to 65% off furniture, bedding, and bath. Then the Presidents' Day Sale — typically running February 10 through late February — expanded discounts up to 60% off storewide, with furniture, mattresses, and rugs at 20–65% off. Macy's also ran a One Day Sale on February 20–22, delivering 40–60% off with women's shoes hitting 50–70%.

Shopping strategy: The strongest month of Q1. Presidents' Day is one of the four best furniture and mattress buying windows of the year, and the jewelry sale makes February unbeatable for Valentine's gifts or self-purchases at deep discounts.

March: Spring fashion and suit season

Promotional strength: Moderate to strong

March transitions from winter clearance into spring arrivals. The Spring Forward Sale offered 20–50% off new-season clothing, kids' items, and bedding, while leftover winter clearance ran as deep as 70–80%. Furniture and mattress closeouts from the season change also hit up to 70% off.

The standout event for men's shoppers is the Semi-Annual Suit Sale, which ran March 3–17 online (extending into late March in stores) with 50–75% off suits and blazers. A One Day Sale on March 13–15 delivered the usual 40–60% off, running alongside the suit sale for stacking opportunities. The month closed with the VIP Sale (March 19–29), offering an extra 10–25% off select departments — including beauty and fragrance at around 15% off and some bedding up to 60% off.

Shopping strategy: March is the best month of the year for men's suits and blazers. The spring clearance cycle also makes it a strong window for picking up winter items at their lowest prices. For most other categories, April's Friends & Family event will offer better storewide value — wait if you can.

April: Friends & Family and spring events

Promotional strength: Exceptional

April is one of the strongest shopping months at Macy's, anchored by two major events. The Great Shoe Sale, Spring Favorites Sale, and Diamond Sale ran April 17–20, offering 30–50% off shoes, up to 50% off spring fashion, 55–75% off diamonds and fine jewelry, and up to 65% off furniture.

Then the Friends & Family Sale — the year's first major storewide event — ran April 22 through May 3. Macy's official terms confirmed an extra 30% off clothing, handbags, shoes, accessories, jewelry, home, and luggage; 25% off select Michael Kors online; 15% off cosmetics, fragrance, watches, and designer jewelry; and 10% off small appliances, furniture, mattresses, rugs, lighting, and toys. On top of that, Macy's ran a Star Money bonus offering $20 back per $100 spent on eligible non-Friends & Family items — effectively stacking a 20% reward on top of event pricing.

Shopping strategy: One of the two best months to shop Macy's (alongside November). Plan major clothing, shoe, handbag, and home purchases around Friends & Family. If you're considering fine jewelry, the Diamond Sale earlier in the month offers even deeper category-specific discounts.

May: Mother's Day and Memorial Day

Promotional strength: Very strong

May is packed with overlapping events. The Mother's Day Sale (May 5–10) drove discounts across gift-friendly categories: 25–50% off beauty, 20–50% off women's shoes, 25–60% off home, up to 65% off jewelry, 40–60% off bed and bath, 25–50% off kitchen, and 55–65% off luggage. Macy's also ran a Star Money bonus on select petites women's clothing ($10 per $40 spent) during May 5–11.

A furniture and mattress financing window opened May 4–7, offering 12-month 0% interest on purchases of $499 or more. A One Day Sale is expected around May 15–17 based on Macy's monthly cadence. There's also a possible 10 Days of Glam beauty event in mid-to-late May — though Macy's hasn't officially confirmed the timing, so treat this as a watch window.

The Memorial Day Sale spans the back half of the month, with furniture and mattress promotions running May 15 through June 1 (including mattress rebates of $100–$300 in Macy's gift cards), and broader category discounts up to 60% off during the holiday weekend of May 22–25.

Shopping strategy: The best month for beauty gifts, Mother's Day shopping, and furniture financing. If you need a mattress, Memorial Day's combination of sale pricing, financing, and gift card rebates makes it one of the four best buying windows of the year.

June: Father's Day and a second Friends & Family

Promotional strength: Moderate to strong

June's promotional calendar centers on two events. A Friends & Family Sale is expected around June 9–15, following the same tiered structure as April — up to 30% off broad categories with lower discounts on beauty, jewelry, and furniture. This second Friends & Family window is particularly useful if you missed April's event or need to make mid-year wardrobe updates.

The Father's Day Sale is expected to run June 13–21, featuring men's clothing, watches, cologne, grooming products, and sneakers at 20–50% off. Gift-focused tiers typically organize deals under $25, $50, and $100 price points. A late-June One Day Sale or summer markdown event is possible but not guaranteed — Macy's sometimes skips the June One Day Sale when Friends & Family runs.

Shopping strategy: Solid month for men's apparel and Father's Day gifts. The second Friends & Family event makes June a good backup window for storewide savings if you missed April.

July: Independence Day and mid-summer clearance

Promotional strength: Strong

July opens with the 4th of July Sale (July 1–4), which Macy's structures with a tiered coupon: an extra 20% off select sale and clearance clothing, accessories, jewelry, and handbags; 15% off coats, dresses, suits, swimwear, shoes, watches, luggage, and home; and 10% off small appliances, furniture, mattresses, rugs, and lighting — as confirmed by Macy's promotional terms.

Mid-month brings a Semi-Annual clearance and mid-summer mega-sale with savings typically reaching 60–70% off. An All-Star Week Sale is expected July 16–23, featuring bonus Star Money earning and promotions on activewear, beauty, bed and bath, handbags, and shoes. Back-to-school shopping also kicks off in July, with deals up to 50% off on kids', juniors', and sneaker categories.

Shopping strategy: July 4th is a reliable storewide event, and the mid-summer clearance delivers some of the year's deepest markdowns on spring and summer merchandise. If you have school-age kids, this is the earliest — and often cheapest — window for back-to-school shopping.

August: Back-to-school and beauty

Promotional strength: Moderate to strong

August's biggest draw is the 10 Days of Glam beauty event, which historically lands in this month and offers rotating 50% off daily deals on skincare, makeup, fragrance, and hair care. For beauty shoppers, this is the single best coupon-free beauty event on Macy's calendar alongside the possible May window.

Back-to-school shopping continues with promotions on kids' clothing, shoes, activewear, and dorm essentials. Summer clearance runs alongside, pushing remaining warm-weather inventory out at 40–60% off or deeper. A One Day Sale is expected based on Macy's near-monthly cadence.

Shopping strategy: Circle this month for beauty purchases — 10 Days of Glam's 50% off daily deals are hard to beat. Back-to-school shoppers should also act in August before inventory thins out heading into fall.

September: Labor Day and fall kickoff

Promotional strength: Strong

The Labor Day Sale (September 4–7) is September's anchor event, delivering up to 60% off apparel, shoes, jewelry, home, bed and bath, furniture, mattresses, and handbags. As one of the five major holiday-weekend sales, Labor Day is a key furniture and mattress buying window with special financing options.

Beyond Labor Day, September kicks off the fall shopping season with promotions on denim, boots, activewear, bedding, bath, kitchen, luggage, and kids' clothing at 20–50% off. A One Day Sale is expected based on historical cadence.

Shopping strategy: Labor Day is the last major furniture and mattress buying window before Black Friday. It's also the right time to invest in fall wardrobe staples — denim, boots, and layering pieces — before the best sizes sell out.

October: Fall sale, Diamond Sale, and pre-holiday Friends & Family

Promotional strength: Strong

October stacks three distinct promotional layers. The Biggest Fall Sale drives broad markdowns of 40–60% off on outerwear, boots, home goods, beauty, fragrance, and comforters. The Diamond Sale returns with discounts up to 75% off fine jewelry — matching or exceeding the spring event.

A Friends & Family Sale is expected October 27 through November 4, bridging into the holiday shopping season and following the same tiered coupon structure as earlier events. This pre-holiday Friends & Family window is strategically timed for shoppers stocking up on gifts before Black Friday inventory pressure hits.

Shopping strategy: The Diamond Sale makes October one of the best months for jewelry purchases all year. The late-month Friends & Family event is a smart window for early holiday gift shopping — especially for categories where popular sizes and styles sell out during Black Friday.

November: Black Friday and holiday dominance

Promotional strength: Exceptional

November is the strongest shopping month at Macy's, bar none. The Veterans Day Sale (expected November 6–13) offers 30–40% off clothing, accessories, home, bedding, bath, luggage, and beauty as a warmup.

The Black Friday Sale (expected November 20–27) is the main event, delivering 30–60% off across gifts, home, coats, boots, small appliances, jewelry, beauty gift sets, bedding, and luggage. Doorbusters and category-specific deals rotate by day, with the deepest discounts typically hitting on Black Friday itself.

Cyber Monday falls on November 30, extending into a Cyber Week with online-only deals reaching up to 70% off. This is the strongest online shopping window of the year at Macy's.

Shopping strategy: Plan your biggest purchases of the year around Black Friday week. Cyber Monday is especially strong for online-exclusive deals. If you prefer to shop early, the Veterans Day Sale offers solid storewide savings with less competition for popular items.

December: Holiday gifting and After-Christmas clearance

Promotional strength: Very strong

December runs in two distinct phases. The first half focuses on holiday gifting, starting with an expected Friends & Family-style event in early December (the 2025 version ran December 2–11). One Day Sales in mid-December typically deliver 60–75% off, and a Great Gift / Last-Minute Gift Sale (expected December 18–25) pushes gift sets, fragrance, jewelry, toys, and holiday décor at up to 70% off.

The second phase begins December 26 with the After-Christmas and Winter Clearance, running through early January 2027. This is where some of the year's absolute deepest discounts land: holiday décor up to 80% off, holiday trees at similar depths, winter clothing at steep clearance, and furniture at 20–65% off. For patient shoppers, After-Christmas clearance at Macy's rivals Black Friday in raw discount depth — it just applies to a narrower, more seasonal selection.

Shopping strategy: Shop early December for holiday gifts, especially during the Friends & Family-style window. Then circle December 26 for clearance — winter apparel, holiday décor, and home goods hit their lowest prices of the year.

Know when to shop at Macy's in 2026

Macy's promotional calendar follows a clear, repeatable rhythm once you know what to look for. The retailer's biggest savings don't come from hunting for promo codes — they come from shopping during the right sale event at the right time of year.

For shoppers planning their 2026 purchases, the data points to a few high-level takeaways. November and December are the strongest months on the calendar, with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and After-Christmas clearance delivering the year's deepest and broadest discounts. Friends & Family events — running roughly four times per year in April, June, October, and December — offer the most reliable storewide savings and should anchor your shopping calendar for clothing, shoes, handbags, home, and luggage. Furniture and mattress shoppers have four dedicated holiday-weekend windows (Presidents' Day, Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day) with special financing that doesn't appear at other times of the year. And beauty shoppers should treat 10 Days of Glam as a can't-miss event, with 50% off daily deals that outperform most other beauty promotions Macy's runs.

The months in between these tentpole events aren't dead zones — One Day Sales run on a near-monthly cadence and consistently deliver 40–60% off. But the strategic shopper's advantage at Macy's comes from patience: knowing that a better event is usually just weeks away, and timing your spending to land inside the strongest windows rather than settling for whatever's running today.

How we get this data: Promo code data is sourced from SimplyCodes' monitoring of Macy's promotional activity. Sale event data is compiled from Macy's official promotional terms, sale-history trackers, and third-party retail calendars. Every code on SimplyCodes is verified through our dual AI and community testing process.