• by Sarah Mahoney  @mahoney_sarah, August 10, 2011

Amid posting its best quarterly results in more than a decade, Macy's is unleashing 10,000 wayward elves in locations around the country, with a contest meant to build excitement for the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade.

The idea is that the retailer's Elf balloons, which have been floating down Broadway since 1947, are in desperate need of a makeover. Called Macy's Great American Elf Adventure, shoppers who locate one of the missing elves can give it an update. The winning entry will be transformed into a Macy's parade balloon on the big day. (The Cincinnati-based retailer says the parade is expected to be seen by 3.5 million live spectators, and 50 million-plus TV viewers.)

Macy's is posting daily elf-finding clues and passwords via Facebook and Twitter. (Clues are also available by text.) Once elf hunters have guessed the location, they tell a department sales associate, and get their elf, which they are then allowed to decorate. In addition to elves stashed in stores, 10 cities will host Macy's Elf-Apolooza events, including New York City, Jackson, Miss.; Los Angeles; Detroit; Greenville, S.C.; Des Moines; El Paso, Tex., and Anchorage, Alaska.