An emotional, musical end to Center City Macy’s concluded with patrons confused over locked exits

As far as farewells to department stores go, the daylong musical tribute to Center City Macy’s truly was in another category, drawing by at least one estimate more than 10,000 people to hear the historic Wanamaker Grand Court Organ for the last time in who knows when.

Applause was plentiful, as were tears.

Then came what left some attendees unsettled, if not slightly alarmed.

After the last piece by organist Peter Richard Conte was played Saturday night and the applause died down just before 7 p.m., crowds made their way to the store’s exits.

But the first groups to reach the Market and Chestnut Streets doors discovered they were locked.

Only then did a woman announce on the store’s public address system that the Market and Chestnut exits were closed, and that visitors would have to leave via the Juniper Street doors.

“It was a hairy scene trying to leave,” said one concertgoer who asked not to be identified.

Noting the iconic 435,000-square-foot portion of the Wanamaker Building that contains the Macy’s store, which was closing for good Sunday, was in disarray with fixtures, furniture, rugs, sales racks, mannequins, and display cases scattered around, the concert attendee, who was with her husband who uses a cane, added: “We had to shuffle along to get out. I remember feeling a little bit anxious. There were trip hazards.”

John Wallace, 33, who drove in from Trappe, Montgomery County, said the event was a real gift to the people of Philadelphia, but that leaving was a circus. “I work in architecture, so I was a bit shocked at the way clearing the building was handled,” he said.

“They had locked the north and south entrances, and had everyone exiting from the west entrance. This was announced by someone on the PA system who spoke with a very strong accent and I couldn’t discern more than 30% of what they were saying.”

He said he decided to loiter inside on the Grand Court until the crowd dispersed.

Another concert-goer, Sadie, 73, who did not want to give her last name for privacy reasons, said she, too, was surprised to see the doors on the store’s Market and Chestnut Streets sides closed at the conclusion of Saturday’s concert.

“I didn’t expect it,” Sadie said, but described exiting with hundreds through the Juniper Street doors as “smooth sailing.”

Fire Department spokesperson Rachel Cunningham said Sunday she could not say if the shuttering of the store’s primary entrances and exits while so many people were still inside had constituted a fire violation. The department’s Fire Code Unit does want to look into any possible noncompliance, Cunningham said.

“What I can say is that if you do have a place where there are exits labeled, they should remain open while people are there because it could create a dangerous situation,” Cunningham said. “If they had these places marked as exits and then they were locked once people were in there, that could be a fire code violation.”

In response to a request for comment, a Macy’s spokesperson who did not identify themselves said in an email Sunday: “At Macy’s, the safety of our customers and colleagues is always our top priority. The store was in compliance with regulation.”

If a violation is found to have occurred, it will be up to the city’s Department of Licenses and Inspection to issue penalties and enforce any fine, Cunningham said. A spokesperson for L&I could not be reached Sunday.

Cunningham used the opportunity to issue a safety reminder.

“We want to make sure that people know that if they are having an event, leave your exits open, because it would really ruin the event if people couldn’t get out if there were an emergency,” she said.