“We have this international business,” Mr. Lundgren recalled thinking. “It was only going to grow.”

To entice those customers, he decided, Macy’s Herald Square would have to best not just other American retailers but also leading retailers around the globe.

So he embarked upon a world tour to check out the goods and furnishings at international competitors. He visited Harrods, Selfridges and Harvey Nichols in London; Isetan and Takashimaya in Tokyo; Galeries Lafayette in Paris; and El Corte Inglés in Madrid.

“Then we came back and said, ‘We’ve seen the standard,’ ” he said. “How do we go beyond that and create the next places that retailers are going to want to emulate?”

He concluded that it would need an extreme makeover. “I certainly hope I don’t have to spend another $400 million in a decade,” he said. “But to do the transformation required a major overhaul.”

Mr. Lundgren personally started calling the chief executives of international luxury brands with whom he was friendly, asking each to install their own shops as anchors on a soon-to-be revamped Macy’s main floor. First, Louis Vuitton agreed to build a three-floor, in-store concession, Mr. Lundgren recounted. Then Burberry signed on to do the same, followed by Gucci.

But customers for that kind of high-priced merchandise wouldn’t be content to rest their well-heeled feet at the McDonald’s on Macy’s children’s floor or at the tiny Starbucks counter near the linen department. So the company installed the Herald Square Cafe, operated by Starbucks. It serves Starbucks Reserve, an upscale coffee line, and brews individual cups for each customer.

Standing in the women’s shoe department in a three-piece gray suit, Mr. Lundgren pointed out the amenities that Macy’s has added to entice exacting world travelers. To his left, the gleaming facade of Gucci faced a spacious Burberry boutique to his right. In between, young women with shopping bags at their feet were parked on banquettes at the cafe.