Behind the scenes of the famous Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which reportedly costs millions to produce each year

Sarah Jacobs

• Macy's has hosted its famous parade on Thanksgiving Day since 1924.
• A majority of the floats, balloons, and costumes are constructed inside their Moonachie, New Jersey warehouse.
• Business Insider got a tour of the warehouse to see the process behind the parade that's watched by millions.

Inside a warehouse in Moonachie, New Jersey, where gingerbread men and nutcrackers line the walls, live two massive turkeys, a larger-than-life robot, a dragon, Pikachu, and Spongebob Squarepants.

While this isn't Santa's North Pole workshop, it might be the closest thing in the world to it. The Macy's Parade Studio, where a group of workers build the floats, balloons, and costumes that are on display during the Thanksgiving Day Parade, devotes itself to the holiday season 365 days a year. The famed parade, which happens in New York City every year, was started in 1924 by Macy's store employees and is now a Thanksgiving tradition that millions of Americans tune in to NBC to watch.

Macy's does not disclose any of the costs associated with putting on the parade each year. Some sites like Ebates.com have estimated it could be several million dollars, taking into account the presumed cost of float construction, costumes, and studio rent. A representative for Macy's declined to confirm that estimate with Business Insider, however.

We took a tour of the studio at the height of 2015's Thanksgiving parade prep. John Piper, VP of the Macy's Parade Studio, showed us how their team helps put the magic together.