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The imposing building of Marshall Field & Company
was not only the second-largest department store in
the world, it was a Chicago landmark
and tourist attraction par excellence. |
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By 1912, Marshall Field & Company
covered the whole block bounded by
State Street, Randolph Street, Wabash Avenue,
and Washington Street. |
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The Tiffany Dome
First Floor, South State |
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| First Floor, North Wabash |
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The Fine Jewelry and Silver sections
First Floor, South Wabash |
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A panorama of Marshall Field & Company
along Wabash Avenue -
Buildings (l to r) of 1914, 1893, and 1912 |
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The 28 Shop -
Sixth Floor, South Wabash |
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The Walnut Room -
Seventh Floor, South State |
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The Narcissus Room
Seventh Floor, North Wabash |
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The 1914 Store for Men
on the southwest corner of
Wabash and Washington Streets |
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First Floor,
Store for Men |
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The Annex Grill -
Sixth Floor, Store for Men |
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| "There's Nothing Like It Back Home" |
Marshall Field & Company
111 N. State Street
Chicago, Illinois (1852)
STate 1-1000
BUDGET FLOOR
Budget Floor North State
Women's Shoes • Casual Shoes • Daytime Dresses • Moderately Priced Dresses • Sportswear
Budget Floor Middle State
Belts • Cosmetics and Toiletries • Costume Jewelry • Hosiery • Handbags • Millinery • Notions • Watches
Budget Floor SouthlState
Small Leather Goods • Gloves • Umbrellas • Blouses • Scarves • Linens • Curtains and Draperies • Sewing Accessories • Snack Shop • Candy • Stationery
Budget Floor North Holden Court
Miss Tempo • Junior Tempo Sportswear
Budget Floor Middle Bridge
Decorative Accessories • Cutlery • Dinnerware • Glassware • Lamps • Luggage
Budget Floor North Wabash
Junior Tempo Dresses • Junior TEmpo Coats & Suits • Coats & Suits • All-Weather Coats
Budget Floor Middle Wabash
Nighttime Lingerie • Daytime Lingerie • Foundations • Lounging Apparel • Junior Tempo Intimate Apparel • Woman's Choice • The Flower Basket
Budget Floor South Wabash
Boys' Shop • Children's Apparel • Infants' Shop • Kindergarten Shop • Girls' Shop
Budget Floor South Holden Court
Closet Coordiantes • Pictures • Children's Underwear
Passageway
Home Accessories
Budget Floor Store For Men
The Clothes Circuit • Hosiery • Cosmetics and Toiletries • Jewelry • Underwear • Pajamas • Slippers • Shoes • Hats • Shirts • Ties • Sportswear • Suits • Outerwear
FIRST FLOOR
First Floor North State
Our Wonderful World of Cosmetics • Drugs • Notions • Prescriptions • Tourneur Salon
First Floor Middle State
Blouses • Sweaters • The First Place • Boutique
First Floor South State
Sunglasses • Belts • Fashion Jewelry • Gloves • Handbags • The Flower Market • The Hat Bar • Hosiery • Scarves • Umbrellas
First Floor North Wabash
Candy • Greeting Cards • Stationery
First Floor Middle Wabash
Luggage • The Wine Shop • Small Leather Goods • Smoking Accessories • Stainless Tableware • Adult Games • Bar Accessories • Cameras • Cutlery • The Electronic Age • Field’s Afar • Pewter Shop • Antique Pewter • Repair Service Desk
First Floor South Wabash
Watches • Clocks • Diamonds • Fine Jewelry • Silver • Silver Jewelry
The Georgian Room Antique Jewelry • Antique Silver
SECOND FLOOR
Second Floor North State
The Bath Shop • Linens
Second Floor Middle State
TableLinens • Fine Linens • Bridal Gift Registry
Second Floor South State
Fashion Fabrics • Singer Sewing Center • Sewing Accessories
Second Floor North Holden Court
Lamps
Second Floor Middle Bridge
Lamps
Second Floor North Wabash
China • Casual Dinnerware
Second Floor Middle Wabash
Glassware • Casual Living Accessories • The Crystal Room • The Steuben Room
Second Floor South Wabash
Picture Galleries • Fine Paintings • Oriental Room • Artwares • Collector’s Room • Antiques • Family Album Corner
Second Floor South Holden Court
Events Center
THIRD FLOOR
Third Floor North State
Personal Service • Gift Wrapping • American Express Travel Services • The Juice Bowl • The Crystal Palace
Third Floor Middle State
Lounging Apparel • Nighttime Lingerie • Contempo Intimate Apparel
Third Floor South State
Bare Necessities • Foundations • Daytime Lingerie • Young Chicago Intimate Apparel
Third Floor North Holden Court
Optical
Third Floor Middle Bridge
Paperback Book Shop
Third Floor North Wabash
Books • Collectors Coins & Stamps • Old Map and Print Room • Antiquarian Books & Fine Bindings • Literary Guild
Third Floor Middle Wabash
The Candle Shop • The Williamsburg Shop • Closet Coordinates • The Gazebo Shop • Decorative Accessories • Decorative Flower Center • The Christmas Court
Third Floor South Wabash
Creative Stitchery
Third Floor South Holden Court
Uniforms • Maternity Shop
FOURTH FLOOR
Fourth Floor North State
Young Peoples Shoes • Teen Shoes • Infant’s Shop • Infant’s Furniture • Nursery Accessories
Fourth Floor Middle State
Kindergarten Shop • Tiny Finery • Toddler’s Shop
Fourth Floor South State
The Boy’s Shop • The Prep Shop • Student Shop
Fourth Floor North Holden Court
Girls Accessories
Fourth Floor Middle Bridge
Children’s Lingerie
Fourth Floor North Wabash
Schoolgirls Shop • Teen Scene • Tween Teen Shop • Teen Accessories • Scouting Accessories
Fourth Floor Middle Wabash
The Toy Center
Fourth Floor South Wabash
The Toy Center • Pet Accessories
South Holden Court
The Toy Center
FIFTH FLOOR
Fifth Floor North State
Young Chicago Coast & Suits • Junior Scene • French Room Millinery • Young Millinery • Wig Salon
Fifth Floor Middle State
Young Chicago Sportswear
Fifth Floor South State
Misses' Dresses • After-Five Dresses • Young Chicago Dresses • Hairways
Fifth Floor North Holden Court
Beauty Salon • Elizabeth Arden Boutique
Fifth Floor Middle Bridge
Shoe Salon
Fifth Floor North Wabash
Fashion Classics Shoes • Young Chicago Shoes
Fifth Floor Middle Wabash
Leisure Square • Etienne Aigner Boutique • The Shop for Pappagallo • Contemporary Shoes • The Wig Boutique
Fifth Floor South Wabash
Town and Casual Dresses • Woman's Way
Fifth Floor South Holden Court
Misses' Sports Dresses
SIXTH FLOOR
Sixth Floor North State
The Coat Room • The Suit Room • Leather Bound • All Weather Coats • Pacesetter
Sixth Floor Middle State
Sweaters, Skirts • Sportswear
Sixth Floor South State
Contempo • Active and Spectator Sportswear • The Country Shop
Sixth Floor North Holden Court
Sunningdale Shop
Sixth Floor Middle Bridge
Sunningdale Shop
Sixth Floor North Wabash
The Fur Salon • Fur Storage • French Room Millinery Salon • Globetrotter
Sixth Floor Middle Wabash
The Chicago Room • The Showcase • The Dress Room • The Sundown Shop • Alterations and Monogramming Service Desk
Sixth Floor South Wabash
The 28 Shop • Zandra Rhodes Boutique • Gifts for Her
Sixth Floor South Holden Court
The 28 Boutique
SEVENTH FLOOR
Seventh Floor North State
The English Room • The Verandah
Seventh Floor Middle State
Gourmet Foods • Cold Foods • Frozen Foods • Candy
Seventh Floor South State
The Walnut Room
Seventh Floor North Holden Court
Main Kitchen
Seventh Floor Middle Bridge
The Wine Shop
Seventh Floor South Holden Court
The Wedgwood Room
Seventh Floor North Wabash
The Narcissus Room • Party Bureau
Seventh Floor Middle Wabash
The Bakery • The Crystal Buffet
Seventh Floor South Wabash
Bowl and Basket • Dry Cleaning
EIGHTH FLOOR
Eighth Floor North State
The Decorating Galleries • American Antiques
Eighth Floor Middle State
Occasional Furniture
Eighth Floor South State
Pool & Patio Furniture • Modern Furniture
Eighth Floor North Holden Court
Crossroads Market
Eighth Floor Middle Bridge
Dining Room Furniture
Eighth Floor South Holden Court
Scientific Sleep Equipment
Eighth Floor North Wabash
Upholstered Furniture • Trend House • Antique Reproductions
Eighth Floor Middle Wabash
Bedroom Furniture
Eighth Floor South Wabash
The Pilgrim Shop
NINTH FLOOR
Ninth Floor North State
The Appliance Center • Appliance Repair Service • Executive Offices
Ninth Floor Middle State
The Garden Spot • Kitchen Furniture • The Color Bar • The Tool Chest
Ninth Floor South State
Floor Coverings
Ninth Floor North Holden Court
Gourmet Galley
Ninth Floor Middle Bridge
LifeStyle
Ninth Floor North Wabash
Housewares • Household utilities
Ninth Floor Middle Wabash
Curtains and Draperies • Decorative Pillows • Drapery Hardware • Bedspread Ensembles • Drapery and Upholstery Fabrics
Ninth Floor South Wabash
Home Entertainment Center • The Music Center • Advertising Division
TENTH FLOOR
Tenth Floor North State
Adjustments • Customer Service • Central Cashiers • Credit Office
Tenth Floor Middle State
Statistical Office • Personnel Office
Tenth Floor South State
Accounting
Tenth Floor North Wabash
Tenth Floor Middle Wabash
Information Services
ELEVENTH FLOOR
Eleventh Floor North State
North Receiving & Marking Room
Eleventh Floor Middle State
Middle Receiving and Marking Room
Eleventh Floor South State
Receiving Office • Southeast Receiving and Marking Room • Southwest Receiving and Marking Room
Eleventh Floor North Wabash
Eleventh Floor Middle Wabash
Jewelry Repair Workroom
TWELFTH FLOOR
Twelfth Floor North State
Upholstery Workroom • Fur Workroom
Twelfth Floor Middle State
Personal Shopping • Mail Order Service • Import Office
Twelfth Floor South State
Accounts Receivable
Twelfth Floor North Wabash
Medical Bureau • Employee Development Center • Visual Communications
Twelfth Floor Middle Wabash
Employee Cafeteria
THIRTEENTH FLOOR
Thirteenth Floor North State
Sign Bureau • Design Division
Thirteenth Floor Middle State
Thirteenth Floor South State
Store Design • Display Division
Thirteenth Floor North Wabash
Bakery Workroom
Thirteenth Floor Middle Wabash
Carpenter and Work Shop • Candy Workroom
FOURTEENTH FLOOR
Fourteenth Floor South State
Construction & Maintenance Division
STORE FOR MEN
First Floor Store for Men
Small Leather Goods • Sport Shirts • Sweaters • Ties • Underwear • The Answer Shop • Belts • Gloves • Handkerchiefs • Hosiery • Shirts
Second Floor Store for Men
Hats • Shoes • Pajamas and Loungewear
Third Floor Store for Men
Gentlemen’s Clothing • The 27 Room • Young Chicagoan • Aquascutum of London Shop
Fourth Floor Store for Men
Sportswear • Contempo for Men •In Site • Pacesetter for Men
Fifth Floor Store for Men
The Sportsman’s Shop • The Gun Shop
Sixth Floor Annex
Corporate Executive Offices • The Annex Grill
Seventh Floor Annex
Men's & Boys Alterations
(2,225,000 s.f.)
Basement
Customer Service • Repair Service Desk • Dry Cleaning • Gift Wrapping
Budget Floor
First Floor
Fine Jewelry • Fashion Jewelry • Watches • Clocks • Our Wonderful World of Cosmetics • Sunglasses • Belts • Gloves • Handbags • Small Leather Goods • The Hat Bar • Hosiery • Scarves • Umbrellas • Blouses • Sweaters • The First Place • Candy • Greeting Cards • Stationery • Greeting Cards • Adult Games • Cameras • The Electronic Age • Luggage • Books • Paperback Book Shop
Store for Men Small Leather Goods • Sport Shirts • Sweaters • Ties • Underwear • The Answer Shop • Belts • Gloves • Handkerchiefs • Hosiery • Shirts • Hats • Shoes • Pajamas and Loungewear • Smoking Accessories • Sportswear • In Site • Gentlemen’s Clothing • Young Chicagoan
The Pantry Gourmet Foods • Cold Foods • The Bakery • Frozen Foods • Candy • The Wine Shop
• The Flower Market
Second Floor
Lounging Apparel • Nighttime Lingerie • Bare Necessities • Foundations • Daytime Lingerie • Young Chicago Intimate Apparel • Infant’s Shop • Infant’s Furniture • Nursery Accessories • Kindergarten Shop • Tiny Finery • Toddler’s Shop • Schoolgirls Shop • Girls Accessories • Children’s Lingerie • Teen Scene • Tween Teen Shop • Teen Accessories • The Boy’s Shop • The Prep Shop • Student Shop • The Toy Center • Artist's Supplies
Third Floor
Young Chicago Sportswear • Young Chicago Dresses • Young Chicago Coats and Suits • Contempo • Beauty Salon • Shoe Salon • Fashion Classics Shoes • Young Chicago Shoes • Leisure Square • Contemporary Shoes • Sportswear • Active and Spectator Sportswear • Misses' Dresses • Town and Casual Dresses • After Five Dreses • Woman's Way • The Dress Room • The Coat Room • The Suit Room • Alterations
Fourth Floor
China • Casual Dinnerware • Table Linens • Casual Living Accessories • Bar Accessories • The Candle Shop • Decorative Accessories • Silver • Cutlery • Stainless Tableware • Artwares • Housewares • Gourmet Galley • Household Utilities • The Garden Spot • The Color Bar • The Tool Chest
Fifth Floor
Linens • The Bath Shop • Creative Stitchery • Curtains and Draperies • Decorative Pillows • Drapery Hardware • Bedspread Ensembles • Floor Coverings • Lamps • Offices • Cashier • Credit Office
(115,000 s.f.)
Basement
Customer Service • Repair Service Desk • Dry Cleaning • Gift Wrapping
Budget Floor
First Floor
Fine Jewelry • Fashion Jewelry • Watches • Clocks • Our Wonderful World of Cosmetics • Sunglasses • Belts • Gloves • Handbags • Small Leather Goods • The Hat Bar • Hosiery • Scarves • Umbrellas • Blouses • Sweaters • The First Place • Candy • Greeting Cards • Stationery • Greeting Cards • Adult Games • Cameras • The Electronic Age • Luggage
Store for Men Small Leather Goods • Sport Shirts • Sweaters • Ties • Underwear • The Answer Shop • Belts • Gloves • Handkerchiefs • Hosiery • Shirts • Hats • Shoes • Pajamas and Loungewear • Smoking Accessories • Sportswear • In Site • Gentlemen’s Clothing • Young Chicagoan
The Pantry Gourmet Foods • Cold Foods • The Bakery • Frozen Foods • Candy • The Wine Shop
• The Flower Market
Second Floor
Infant’s Shop • Infant’s Furniture • Nursery Accessories • Kindergarten Shop • Tiny Finery • Toddler’s Shop • Schoolgirls Shop • Girls Accessories • Children’s Lingerie • Teen Scene • Tween Teen Shop • Teen Accessories • The Boy’s Shop • The Prep Shop • Student Shop • The Toy Center • Artist's Supplies
Third Floor
Lounging Apparel • Nighttime Lingerie • Bare Necessities • Foundations • Daytime Lingerie • Young Chicago Intimate Apparel • Young Chicago Sportswear • Young Chicago Dresses • Young Chicago Coats and Suits • Contempo • Creative Stitchery • Beauty Salon
Third Floor Annex
Books • Paperback Book Shop • Shoe Salon • Fashion Classics Shoes • Young Chicago Shoes • Leisure Square • Contemporary Shoes
3 1/2 Floor
Alterations • Personnel Office • Special Events Center
Fourth Floor
Sportswear • Active and Spectator Sportswear • Misses' Dresses • Town and Casual Dresses • After Five Dresses • Woman's Way • The Dress Room • The Coat Room • The Suit Room
4 1/2 Floor
China • Casual Dinnerware • Table Linens • Casual Living Accessories • Bar Accessories • The Candle Shop • Decorative Accessories • Silver • Cutlery • Stainless Tableware • Artwares • Housewares • Gourmet Galley • Household Utilities • The Garden Spot • The Color Bar • The Tool Chest
Fifth Floor
Linens • The Bath Shop • Curtains and Draperies • Decorative Pillows • Drapery Hardware • Bedspread Ensembles • Floor Coverings • Lamps • Scientific Sleep Equipment • Offices • Cashier • Credit Office
(124,000 s.f.)
First Floor
Fine Jewelry • Fashion Jewelry • Watches • Clocks • Our Wonderful World of Cosmetics • Sunglasses • Belts • Gloves • Handbags • Small Leather Goods • The Flower Market • Hosiery • Scarves • Umbrellas • Blouses • Sweaters • The First Place • Candy • Greeting Cards • Stationery • Greeting Cards • Adult Games • Cameras • The Electronic Age • Luggage
Store for Men Small Leather Goods • Sport Shirts • Sweaters • Ties • Underwear • The Answer Shop • Belts • Gloves • Handkerchiefs • Hosiery • Shirts • Hats • Shoes • Pajamas and Loungewear • Smoking Accessories • Young Chicagoan
Mezzanine
Store for Men Sportswear • Contempo for Men • In Site • Pacesetter for Men • Gentlemen’s Clothing • The 27 Room • Aquascutum of London Shop
Second Floor
Shoe Salon • Fashion Classics Shoes • Young Chicago Shoes • Leisure Square • The Shop for Pappagallo • Contemporary Shoes • Young Chicago Sportswear • Young Chicago Dresses • Young Chicago Coats and Suits • Contempo • Sportswear • Active and Spectator Sportswear
Third Floor
Misses' Dresses • Town and Casual Dresses • After Five Dreses • Woman's Way • The Dress Room • The Sundown Shop • The Country Shop • Sunningdale Shop • Pacesetter • The Designer Salom • Zandra Rhodes Boutique • Fur Salon • The Bride's Room • The Coat Room • The Suit Room • Millinery • Wig Salon • Beauty Salon
Fourth Floor
Lounging Apparel • Nighttime Lingerie • Bare Necessities • Foundations • Daytime Lingerie • Young Chicago Intimate Apparel • Infant’s Shop • Infant’s Furniture • Nursery Accessories • Kindergarten Shop • Tiny Finery • Toddler’s Shop • Schoolgirls Shop • Girls Accessories • Children’s Lingerie • Teen Scene • Tween Teen Shop • Teen Accessories • The Boy’s Shop • The Prep Shop • Student Shop • The Toy Center • Artist's Supplies
Fifth Floor
Linens • The Bath Shop • China • Casual Dinnerware • Table Linens • Casual Living Accessories • Bar Accessories • The Candle Shop • Decorative Accessories • The Williamsburg Shop • Silver • Cutlery • Stainless Tableware • Antique Silver • The Pewter Shop • Field's Afar • Artwares • Collector’s Room • Home Entertainment Center • Music Center
Sixth Floor
The Decorating Galleries • Furniture • Lamps • Curtains and Draperies • Decorative Pillows • Drapery Hardware • Bedspread Ensembles • Floor Coverings • Creative Stitchery • Offices • Cashier • Credit Office
Seventh Floor
Customer Service • Repair Service Desk • Dry Cleaning • Cashier • Credit Office • Gourmet Foods • Cold Foods • Frozen Foods • The Bakery • Candy • The Wine Shop • Gourmet Galley • Housewares • Books • Paperback Book Shop • Antiquarian Books and Fine Bindings • The Tower Room
(170,000 s.f.)
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Lake Forest
Market Square
1928/1931
16,000 s.f.
|
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Evanston
Church St.
November, 1928
115,000 s.f.
|
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Oak Park
1144 Lake St.
October, 1929
124,000 s.f.
|
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Park Forest
333 Plaza, Park Forest
115,000 s.f.
The Trail Room |
|
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Old Orchard
1 Old Orchard, Skokie
1956
445,000 s.f.
The Hawthorn Room
|
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Mayfair in
Wauwatosa, Wisconsin
1 Mayfair Mall North
January, 1959
290,000 s.f.
The Linden Room
|
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Oakbrook
1 Oakbrook Center Mall
March, 1962
365,000 s.f.
The Oak Room
|
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River Oaks
1 River Oaks, Calumet City
1966
264,000 s.f.
The Willow Room
|
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Woodfield
1 Woodfield
355,000 s.f.
The Seven Arches
|
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Hawthorn
1 Hawthorn Center, Vernon Hills
September, 1973
259,000 s.f.
The Fairfield Room
|
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CherryVale
1 The Mall at Cherryvale, Rockford
September, 1973
115,000 s.f.
The Fountain View Room
|
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Fox Valley
1 Fox Valley Center, Aurora
February, 1975
250,000 s.f.
The Valley Room
|
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Water Tower Place
835 N. Michigan Avenue
October, 1975
170,000 s.f.
The Tower Room
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Orland Square
1 Orland Square, Orland Park
March, 1976
200,000 s.f.
The Prairie Room
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Marshall Field & Company was the Grande Dame of Grande Dame American department Stores. Macy’s may have had the larger building, and Neiman Marcus had more exclusivity, but Field’s was the standard-bearer for the industry on account of its reputation for quality, its status as a civic institution, and because of its beautiful, iconic store building in Chicago. A slogan used by the store in national advertising was “There’s nothing like it back home,” and that was largely true. There were fine stores across the country, but Marshall Field & Company embodied all that was the best about the industry, and threw in its own cachet for good measure.
The store was described in a long-forgotten article as being “like a wonderful old Aunt who always treats you like you’re special to her” and “a place where you’d find the most expensive couture fashion but also a replacement for that rubber ring at the bottom of your blender.” It was aristocratic . . . it always (until the late 1970’s, when the store’s status began a slow decline) referred to itself as Marshall Field & Company. It officially never used the word ‘department’, referring to the store’s ‘sections’ instead. Likewise, it felt that pricing sale or clearance merchandise at values like $21.99 or $15.97 was below its stature. Instead, sale prices were marked down to $21.90 or $15.90. The store also did not refer to “regular prices” in sale ads, so as to say that regularly priced merchandise was still of good value to customers. In fact, the store didn’t have “sales,” but referred to a “special selling” in ads. These small details made Field’s just a little different from everyone else, and along with a million others, made the store seem just a cut above.
In fact, it was the personality of Marshall Field himself as founder and leader of this institution that helped make it a one-of-a-kind in the retail world, even decades after his passing. Just as Field was known as a thoughtful, deliberate caretaker of the store's reputation, it was his memory, and insistance that the store have a certain "tone" that guided most of his successors to keep its reputation as an aristocrat, albeit a loving and welcoming one, intact. When Field noticed a clerk arguing with a female customer, he quelled the discussion immediately by directing the employee to "give the lady what she wants," and that slogan became a part of the store's operating philosophy, as did the store's official creed, penned by Marshall Field himself:
To do the right thing, at the right time, in the right way;
to do some things better than they were done before;
to eliminate errors; to know both sides of the question;
to be courteous; to be an example; to love our work;
to anticipate requirements; to develop resources;
to recognize no impediments; to master circumstances;
to act from reason rather than rule;
to be satisfied with nothing short of perfection.
- The Marshall Field & Company Idea
The history of Marshall Field & Company dates, according
to company tradition, not back to the time its namesake arrived in Chicago, but
4 years earlier, in 1852, when Potter Palmer (1826-1902), a native of
Rensselaerville New York and descendant of early Quaker colonials in
Massachusetts, came to Chicago and opened a fine new dry-goods store on Lake
Street. Palmer’s store was not just
large, and perfectly oriented to cater to its female clientele, but Palmer
himself instituted policies he had learned of while out East – namely, that
anyone not satisfied with their purchases could return them for an exchange or
refund, and customers were allowed to take goods “on approval” and pay for them
only when they were certain that they were satisfactory. This made Palmer’s enterprise the largest
dry-goods house in the rapidly-growing Midwest, and from the time of its
inception, it moved to three different locations on Chicago’s Lake Street, ending
up at 112-116 Lake Street by 1858.
However, in 1850, a young man, born (18 August 1835) and
bred on his parents’ farm in Conway, Massachusetts,
left his home and made his way west to work in the dry-goods business. The young man settled for 2 years in Pittsfield,
Massachusetts, where he worked at the store of Deacon Henry Davis, and built up
a reputation as a considerate, knowledgeable and attentive salesman. Though he excelled at the store, and
customers were used to asking exclusively “to be served by Mr. Field,” he left (in spite of
his employer’s offer of a partnership) for Chicago to pursue bigger things in
1856.
He took a job at the Windy City’s Cooley, Wadsworth &
Co., where he engaged in traveling sales for the company’s wholesale
division. Eventually, Field became a
partner in the firm, and when Cooley left the business, Levi Z. Leiter came on
as the chief accountant of the newly formed Field, Farwell & Company. Yet Field & Farwell were not the most
compatible of colleagues, and the post-Civil War recession caused problems for
the partners.
At the time, Potter Palmer’s doctors suggested that he slow
his business activities for health reasons.
This occurred while Palmer himself considered getting out of the retail
trade in order to focus on real estate development in Chicago. He believed that Lake Street was not the
ideal location for the growing city’s retail hub. In reality, it developed on the south side of
the Chicago River because ships and barges could easily unload their wares there. However, the spot was rude, crowded, and certainly didn’t benefit
aesthetically from the proximity of the foul and polluted river. Palmer envisioned that State Street, parallel
to Lake Michigan, could, if widened, become a grand retail boulevard in keeping
with his vision of a great city.
In fact, Palmer had already begun construction of a great,
marble-faced retail store at the northeast corner of State an Washington
Streets. In 1868, with Marshall Field
and Levi Z. Leiter, Palmer formed a new organization, Field, Palmer &
Leiter that sought to become the greatest department store in Chicago, if not
the whole United States, to be located in Palmer’s impressive marble emporium on the
newly-developing State Street. Inasmuch
as the partners sought to offer Chicago ladies the finest goods imported from Europe,
the city’s status as a port of entry, gained in 1871, fueled the store’s
growth and status.
However, disaster struck in short order, in the name of the
Great Fire of 1871. Luckily for the
store, a heroic effort to transfer stocks out of the building preceded the moment that flames
reached its doorstep, and a healthy insurance policy meant that losses were not entirely catastrophic. Within days, the store was
operating out of a horse barn on State Street at 20th Street south of the
city’s business district. A famous photo of the
destruction shows the rubble of the once-mighty store with a signed calling on
“work boys and shop girls” to get any pay owed them at the new address.
Potter Palmer rebuilt the store at State and Washington with
capital from the Singer Sewing Machine Co.
The rent was such that, although Field, Palmer & Leiter wanted to
return to State Street, they balked at the high rent and only agreed to take the
space once it was learned that phenomenally successful merchant A. T.
Stewart wanted it for a western branch of his New York store.
In 1877, though, the building was again destroyed by a
fire. Field, Palmer and Leiter found
refuge in a disused exhibition building on Michigan Avenue, and again dismissed
the high cost of relocating to the new Singer building at their old site. By this time, Palmer was merely a financing
partner; Leiter guided the wholesale business, and Field ran the retail operation. Field was angered when it was learned that
rival Carson Pirie Scott & Co. had leased the building, as he considered it
ideal for "his" retail operation. Leiter
didn’t agree with Field because the wholesale side of the business could
operate successfully anywhere and didn't need a "popular" address to survive.
With personal conflict between the partners growing out of the aftermath of the 1877
fire, Field obtained financing, bought the new building, and paid Carson Pirie
Scott & Co. a $100,000.00 penalty for breaking the lease. By 1881, Field bought out Leiter, and the
organization became known by the name it has held ever since: Marshall Field & Company.
Many famous names came to work at Field’s business and were
promoted to responsible positions, once their merit caught the
founder's attention. One of these was John G. Shedd,
who developed the wholesale side of the business to the point where it needed
its own building. Accordingly, in 1887,
a new warehouse at Quincy, Franklin, Adams and Wells streets was built to a
design by architect Henry Hobson Richardson, in a Romanesque revival style. As a result, the newly-vacated upper floors of the State Street building allowed for further
expansion of the retail store.
Likewise, Harry Gordon Selfridge (1858-1947) joined the firm in 1879 as
a stock-boy. Within two years, the
so-called “Mile-a-Minute Harry” (presumably owing to the combination of
salesmanship and showmanship he brought to Marshall Field & Company) was
promoted to assistant manager, and then developed the basement store in 1885. The next step (in two more years) was
managing director, and by 1879 he was named a partner in the firm. Selfridge, who had married wealthy Chicago
socialite Rosalie Buckingham, persuaded Field to operate a Tea Room in the
store, and doubled the size of the building to accommodate the anticipated
crowds visiting Chicago during the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition, by means a
7-floor “annex” on the northwest corner of Wabash and Washington streets.
However, Selfridge felt slighted that Field refused to
increase his share of ownership and incorporate his name into that of the firm,
so he begrudgingly left Marshall Field & Company in 1901 and bought the business of
Schlesinger and Mayer, a few blocks south.
Within a few months’ time, however, Selfridge determined that he disliked
competing with the store he had done so much to develop, so he sold the Schlesinger
and Mayer business to Carson Pirie Scott & Co., and left Chicago for London, England where he built and developed his new Selfridge & Co. into one of the
British capital’s largest and most influential department stores.
In 1906, Field was playing golf on New Years’ day while in
New York, developed pneumonia, and died. He, a widower, was not a happy man by this
time. His only son, who failed to follow
in his father’s footsteps, was shot and killed in Chicago under suspicious
circumstances a few months earlier, and he lived a lonely life, though he had
been recently married in London to his longtime friend, the former Mrs. Arthur (Delia)
Caton (née Spencer). Upon his death, he
was lauded as “America’s greatest merchant” and as one of the wealthiest men in
America, left an estate in excess of $200,000,000.00. His will provided for his wife, his one surviving
daughter, his grandchildren, and endowed the Field Museum of Natural History in
Chicago. The bulk of the fortune, though
was kept in trust for his two grandchildren, who would not receive it until 39
years after the founder’s death.
Five years before his death, Field acquired the entire State
Street frontage of the block surrounded by State, Washington, Wabash and
Randolph streets. In 1902, a massive, granite faced retail building rose to the
north of the 1879 store, and by September of 1907, the older structure fell to the
wrecking ball and was replaced by a dignified limestone façade, designed by the firm of Daniel Burnham & Co., and rising thirteen floors
above the street. Five years later, the
Wabash building was completed north of the 1893 Annex.
The store’s architecture was magnificent; it’s atmosphere sublime in many ways. One of a handful retail buildings created by Burnham, who was also coordinating architect for the 1893 World’s Columbian Exhibition (the others were John Wanamaker in Philadelphia and Filene’s in Boston) it enclosed the great myriad of things offered in a cohesive and relatively-easily navigated way. The building program resulted in a store roughly divided in two by a north-south cross-block alley known as Holden Court. One half of the building fronted on State Street, from Washington to Randolph, and the other half, including the oldest section at Washington Street, fronted on Wabash Avenue.
These two portions were divided into three by banks of elevators (and later, escalators) that neatly divided the store into six “rooms” known as “South State,” “Middle State,” “North State,” “North Wabash,” and so on. Where the upper floors crossed over the alley, the designation of a location in these areas was known as “North Holden Court” or similar. This resulted in a building in which locations were quite easy to identify, and when Field’s ads named a section, they always indicated a floor and location so customers could find merchandise easily in the 2.25 million square foot building complex.
Further distinguishing the store were two light-wells located on the State Street side of the building. A six floor atrium in the South State building was topped by a beautiful Tiffany glass-lined vault. The North State building featured a light well which extended 13 stories up to the roof of the building. Likewise, the seventh floor Walnut Room restaurant centered on a two-story atrium directly above the Tiffany dome. This atrium allowed the installation of the famous "Great Tree" during the Christmas season and gave great character to the popular tea room, arguably one of the finest in the world.
It is no wonder then, that in an ad shortly after the store was completed, Marshall Field & Company referred to itself as a "Cathedral of all the Stores."
The final “piece” of the State Street store was built in
1914, when a 24-story office and retail building was built across Washington
Street from the old annex, now known as the South Wabash building. Field’s executives, who witnessed women
coughing in a cigar smoke-filled elevator, decided on the spot to relocate the
Marshall Field & Company Store for Men to the new building, connected to
the main store by tunnel and housing even a restaurant (known as “The Annex Grill”) for
men on one of its seven sales floors.
John G. Shedd (1850-1926) led the company after Field’s death, and upon his retirement in 1923, used part of his considerable fortune to gift the City of
Chicago with its renowned lakefront aquarium.
James Simpson (1874-1939) replaced Shedd, and led the company prior to the Great
Depression. In these years, the first
branch stores were established in 1928 and 1929, and the Merchandise Mart, one
of the world’s largest buildings, was built to house the wholesale operations
of Marshall Field & Company. It was during Simpson's presidency that the company bought Frederick & Nelson of Seattle, one of the most well-respected stores on the west coast, and the originator of the famous "Frango" mints.
The
depression made it painfully clear to the company that the wholesale division
itself was a drag on Field’s growing and popular retail store. When Simpson left his post in 1930, John
McKinley, who was from the retail side of the business, hired business analyst
James O. McKinsey to take a look at the operation to see what could be done to
restore prosperity. McKinsey proposed
shutting down the (considerable) unprofitable aspects of the wholesale
operation, and selling the Merchandise Mart to a group led by Joseph P. Kennedy. The drastic cuts caused
turmoil and resignations in the boardroom, but their implementation under
Hughston McBain brought the company back to prosperity.
Over the years, the store was remodeled and kept up-to date. Escalators were added in the 1930s, replacing several of the banks of elevators, but maintaining the basic traffic flow through the store's six great "rooms" per floor. Gradually, the store's interiors took on the style of art deco, but the grand first floor, all marble floors in grey and black, dark-stained wood and glass counters, and towering white Corinthian columns remained sacrosanct..
The seventh floor Walnut Room restaurant retained its atmosphere, and in 1941, a new couture salon called "The 28 Shop" occupied the South Wabash room of the sixth floor. The name "28 Shop" was derived from the shop's private elevator entrance at 28 East Washington Street as well as the 28 fitting rooms circling the shop, where patrons were shown the finest merchandise in private. The shop was considered a significant enough work of design to be featured in Architectural Record magazine, and the institution of the high-end “28 Shop” signaled stronger than just about anything else that Field’s was back in business again.
Marshall Field & Company gained notoriety for a number of unique promotions and features, like the Great Tree, already mentioned, which was a part of the store's Christmas celebrations. In late fall, the phrase "looking ahead to the holidays" appeared in ads, with a full Christmas promotion following after Thanksgiving. "The Store of the Christmas Spirit," "A Gift from Field's Means More," and "Christmas isn't Christmas without a day at Marshall Field & Company" were advertising lines used to promote the store during the holidays. Families lined up to eat under the Great Tree, visit "Cozy Cloud Cottage" and admire elaborate window displays, telling the story of "Uncle Mistletoe" and "Freddy Fieldmouse" which were creations of the store's promotion department. Notably, one of the store's windows displayed a beautiful crêche for Christmas, in addition to the commercial promotions that were popular along State Street.
Branch development started on September 7, 1928 when a small children's store was opened in Lake Forest, north of Chicago. One week later, a similar shop was opened in Evanston. This store quickly outgrew its small size, and plans were put in place to build both a new, 5-story branch to replace it, and a similar store in Oak Park. These were opened in 1929. By 1930, Marshall Field & Company had relocated its Lake Forest Store to the Market Square ensemble in the center of the exclusive suburb.
Park Forest, Illinois, was the site of Marshall Field & Company's first large shopping center branch in the postwar era. The store opened in 1955 in that planned suburb's downtown shopping center. At 116,000 sq. ft. in size, it was not as large as the new branches planned for the future, but it did introduce a "style" for suburban shopping that carried across most of the company's stores built in the 1950s and 1960s - white brick, honey-toned fieldstone, some weathered-copper roofs and a composition of intersecting volumes with deep, colonnaded overhangs. The branch also included a first for Marshall Field & Company's branch stores - a restaurant, named "The Trail Rom."
Under McBain, and later presidents Gerald A. Sivage and Joseph Burnham,, the company embarked upon a branch development program which would take it through the 1960s and 70s. The next store to open was in Skokie, Illinois, at the Old Orchard Shopping Center developed in part by Marshall Field & Company in 1956. The store, with its Hawthorn Room restaurant, originally opened at 315,000 sq. ft. in size, but was expanded to 445,000 sq. ft. in a few years.
A suburban store (as Field's referred to its branches in advertising) which opened in 1959 in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin brought the Marshall Field & Company name into the Milwaukee market. The two-story store included "The Linden Room" restaurant.
Next in line was a store in the western suburbs of Chicago, at Oakbrook Center. The 365,000 sq. ft. store opened in 1962, and featured, appropriately enough, "The Oak Room" restaurant.
The final element in the first wave of the branch store development program brought a Marshall Field & Company Store to the southern suburbs near the Indiana border. The River Oaks store included "The Willow Room" for dining and consisted of 264,000 sq. ft. of space. A while after (1969), Marshall Field & Company acquired the 3-store Spokane, Washington department store known as The Crescent, and went about renovating and expanding its flagship in downtown Spokane for that city's 1974 World's Fair.
At the dawn of the '70s, Marshall Field & Company acquired a Cleveland, Ohio retailer of similar character, The Halle Brothers Co. It would seem that with the purchase of this highly regarded store group, Field's was making steps to become a chain of the highest-class retailers in the country.
In the 1970s, Marshall Field & Company's branches were built in further outlying suburbs, as the population of the Chicago area grew. A new design for the stores retained the crisp white brick of the earlier ones, but emphasized entrances with a colonnade of arches, and a more classic, formal massing. The first of these, in the giant Woodfield Mall in the northwest suburbs, was the third largest branch store at 335,000 sq. ft. Its restaurant was appropriately named "The Seven Arches" as its windows looked out through one of the store's colonnades.
1973 saw the opening of two more branches. The first, a large, 259,000 sq. ft. store in Vernon Hills, Illinois at Hawthorn Center, opened on September 10th, 1973. The "Fairfield Room" restaurant looked out through one of the colonnades, as at Woodfield.
About three weeks later, a smaller, outlying store carried the Marshall Field & Company name to Rockford, Illinois at CherryVale Shopping Center. The store continued the "new look" of the 70s, and while smaller, at 115,000 sq. ft., it did include a restaurant called "The Fountain View Room."
In February of 1975, Marshall Field & Company opened its 250,000 square foot branch in Aurora, at the Fox Valley Mall. This store deviated in its appearance somewhat, by using flat arches on its colonnade as opposed to the Roman arches used previously. "The Valley Room" continued Field's culinary tradition at this store.
Then, on October 20th, 1975, Marshall Field & Company introduced its most exciting store yet - a 170,000 sq. ft., 7 floor branch on North Michigan Avenue, anchoring the Water Tower Place, a mixed use complex consisting of a shopping mall, offices, Ritz-Carlton Hotel, condominiums, cinema complex, and a legitimate theatre. During this time, the State Street Store underwent a thorough renovation, starting on the First Floor. Lighter wood, imported crystal chandeliers, and a slight emphasis on self-selection updated the faclility, and while it regrettably changed the antique feeling of the store, successfully updated its physical plant without totally destroying the character of the store that had become so familiar over the years.
Later branch stores included those at Orland Square, Louis Joliet Mall, And Stratford Square in Bloomington.
In the early 70s, the success of Marshall Field & Company seemed assured. Yet, the great traditional retailer saw its market change toward the end of the decade. It became harder and harder to retain traditions in the light of increased competition from out-of-state retailers in the Chicago market on one hand, and less-tradition bound, but lower-priced stores on the other.
A sad blow was the sudden death in October, 1977 of Marshall Field & Company's 57-year old chairman and CEO, Joseph A. Burnham. His death came at a time when the company was fighting off a hostile takeover by the (ill-fated) Carter Hawley Hale stores, and Burnham was personally training (the likewise ill-fated) the newly-hired Angelo Arena as president.
By 1979, cracks appeared in the once-lustrous veneer of the great store, when its remodeling program took on a lower-budget appearance on the flagship's upper floors, and its famous and widely-recognized logo was brutally, and most unattractively, truncated to "Marshall Field's" in what appeared to be a bizarre attempt to dumb down the famous store's traditions to attract more, or for that matter, any customers. It was during this time, too, that a number of failed Liberty House stores on the west coast came under the Frederick & Nelson banner, and Field's entered the Texas market with new, somewhat generic stores in Houston and Dallas.
Field's had a brief dalliance with the Charlotte, North Carolina-based J.B. Ivey & Co., that would have brought the company and its reputation to the southeast. However, it was sold in the 1980s and wound up in the hands of BATUS, the retail division of the British-American Tobacco Company. BATUS had also acquired Gimbel Brothers and its subsidiary, Saks Fifth Avenue. As the parent company struggled through the 80s, Field's older branches were closed, Gimbels ceased doing business (though the Milwaukee stores were [rather unsuccessfully] folded into the Chicago Stores division) and the plug was pulled on The Halle Brothers Co. in Cleveland.
One bright spot was the $15M renovation of the State Street store, which had by then been shorn of the elegant and famous Store for Men across the street. The well-received renovation closed the alley between State and Wabash streets, but confusingly introduced a further atrium into a well-ordered store layout that already had two famous and beautiful ones. Yet in spite of the changes, customers understood that Field's, ugly logo notwithstanding, was still a cut above the rest, especially as many traditional retailers declined in service, variety and style as time went on.
When BATUS left the retail industry, the stores were sold to the Dayton-Hudson Company. The merger had the effect of upgrading the company's Dayton's and (especially) Hudson's stores, which had been merged into one "DHDSC" unit even though their original signage remained in place. Though Dayton-Hudson re-branded all of their department stores as "Marshall Field's," and it appeared that the cachet of the Chicago operation enriched the market position of the owner's discount Target stores, the parent company soon renamed itself and eventually sold its legacy properties to the May Company, which was itself swallowed-up whole in late 2005 by Federated Department Stores, which was in the process of consoldating its operations into two divisions: Macy's and the more upscale Bloomingdale's.
Through all of this, Field's was able to remain a landmark in Chicago, but the changeover to the Macy's nameplate in 2006 was received with horror by longtime Field's customers and admirers in the Windy City, so much so that 10 years on, protests against the heavy-handed operation to graft the Macy name onto a store with its own illustrious history continue unabated. It is sad but true that little, aside from some physical elements (the Tiffany Dome and the Walnut Room are two outstanding examples) very little remains of the elegant and unique store Marshall Field & Company was, and remains fondly in the memories of those that knew and loved it.
