When opened in 1930, the
Merchandise Mart or
the Mart, located in Chicago, Illinois, was the
largest building in the world with of floor space. Previously owned by the Marshall Field family, the Mart centralized Chicago's
wholesaleWholesaling, jobbing, or distributing the sale of goods or merchandise to retailers, to industrial, commercial, institutional, or other professional business users, or to other wholesalers and related subordinated services....
goods business by consolidating vendors and trade under a single roof. Massive in its construction, and serving as a monument to early 20th century merchandising and architecture, the
art decoArt Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film...
landmark anchors the daytime skyline at the junction of the
Chicago RiverThe Chicago River is a river that runs 156 miles and flows through Chicago, including the downtown. Though not especially long, the river is notable for the 19th century civil engineering feats that directed its flow south, away from Lake Michigan, into which it previously emptied, and towards...
branches. With upper levels bathed in colored floodlight, the structure stands out against darker downtown buildings in night views. The building continues to be a leading
retailingRetailing consists of the sale of goods or merchandise from a fixed location, such as a department store, boutique or kiosk, or by mail, in small or individual lots for direct consumption by the purchaser. Retailing may include subordinated services, such as delivery. Purchasers may be individuals...
and wholesale destination, hosting 20,000 visitors and tenants per day.
History
In 1926, a westward extension of double-deck
Wacker DriveWacker Drive is a major street in Chicago, Illinois, United States, running along the south side of the main branch and the east side of the south branch of the Chicago River...
increased development on the south
riverbankRiverbank may refer to:*Riverbank, California*Riverbank, former name of Bryte, California*The RiverBank...
. In 1927, Marshall Field and Company announced its plans to build on the north bank opposite Wacker Drive. Owned by Marshall Field & Co., the Merchandise Mart opened on May 5, 1930, just east of Chicago's original
trading postA trading post is a place where the trading of goods takes place. The preferred travel route to a trading post or between trading posts, is known as a trade route....
, Wolf Point. Bordered by Orleans, Wells and Kinzie Streets, the site was a former
Native AmericanNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
trading post and the site of
Chicago and North Western RailwayThe Chicago and North Western Transportation Company was a Class I railroad in the Midwest United States. It was also known as the North Western. The railroad operated more than of track as of the turn of the 20th century, and over of track in seven states before retrenchment in the late 1970s...
's former
Wells Street StationWells Street Station was a former passenger terminal of the Chicago and North Western Railway, located at the southwest corner of Wells Street and Kinzie Avenue in Chicago, Illinois. It was replaced in 1911 by the Chicago and North Western Terminal on the other side of the North Branch of the...
, abandoned in 1911 in favor of the Chicago and North Western Passenger Terminal. With the railroad's
air rightsAir rights are a type of development right in real estate, referring to the empty space above a property. Generally speaking, owning or renting land or a building gives one the right to use and develop the air rights...
, the site was large enough to accommodate "the largest building in the world". Removing the train yard supported the
Chicago Plan CommissionThe Chicago Plan Commission is a commission implemented to promote the Plan of Chicago, often called the Burnham Plan. After official presentation of the Plan to the city on July 6, 1909, the City Council of Chicago authorized Mayor Fred A. Busse to appoint the members of the Chicago Plan Commission...
's desire to develop and beautify the riverfront. The building realized Marshall Field’s dream of a single wholesale center for the entire nation and consolidated 13 different warehouses. In 1945, the Merchandise Mart was purchased for $12.5 million by former
AmbassadorAn ambassador is the highest ranking diplomat who represents their country. They are usually accredited to a foreign sovereign or government, or to an international organization, to serve as the official representative of their country....
to
Great BritainGreat Britain is an island lying to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island. With a population of about 59.6 million people, it is the third most populated island on Earth. Great Britain is surrounded by over 1000 smaller...
Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr.Joseph Patrick "Joe" Kennedy, Sr. was a prominent American businessman and political figure, and the father of U.S. President John F. Kennedy, United States Senator and Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy, United States Senator Edward Kennedy, Special Olympics founder Eunice Kennedy Shriver, U.S...
, the father of future U.S. President
John F. KennedyJohn Fitzgerald "Jack" Kennedy , often referred to by his initials JFK, was the 35th President of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963....
. Later managed by
Sargent ShriverRobert Sargent Shriver, Jr. is an American Democratic politician and activist. Known as "Sargent", Shriver is best known as part of the Kennedy family, the driving force behind the creation of the Peace Corps, and the Democratic Party's replacement candidate for U.S...
, the building was owned for more than 50 years by the
Kennedy familyIn the United States, the phrase Kennedy family commonly refers to the family descending from the marriage of the Irish-Americans Joseph P. Kennedy, Sr. and Rose Elizabeth Fitzgerald that is prominent in American politics and government. Their political involvement has revolved around the...
through Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. until 1998, when MMPI was acquired by
Vornado Realty TrustVornado Realty Trust is a New York based real estate investment trust. It is the inheritor of real estate formerly controlled by companies including Two Guys and Alexander's.- History :...
for $450 million in cash and a $100-million-plus stake in Vornado. In early 2007, the building was valued at $917 million.
Building
The Merchandise Mart was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White to be a "city within a city". Second only to
Holabird & RootThe architectural firm of Holabird & Roche was founded in Chicago in 1880. The firm rose to prominence under the leadership of William Holabird and Martin Roche. Both men had worked in the office of William LeBaron Jenney before striking out on their own...
in Chicago art deco architecture, the firm had a long-standing relationship with the Field family. Started in 1928, completed in 1931, and built in the same
art decoArt Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film...
style as the
Chicago Board of Trade BuildingThe Chicago Board of Trade Building is a skyscraper located in Chicago, Illinois, United States. It stands at 141 W. Jackson Boulevard at the foot of the LaSalle Street canyon, in the Loop community area in Cook County. Built in 1930 and first designated a Chicago Landmark on May 4, 1977, the...
, its cost was reported as both $32 million and $38 million. The building was the largest in the world in terms of floorspace, but was surpassed by
The PentagonThe Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself....
in 1943, and now stands twenty-fifth on the
list of largest buildings in the world. Once the largest commercial space in the world, the
Aalsmeer Flower AuctionAalsmeer Flower Auction is a flower auction, located in Aalsmeer, the Netherlands.It is the largest flower auction in the world. The auction building of the flower auction in Aalsmeer is the second largest building in the world, in terms of floorspace, covering 990,000 m²...
is now recognized by
Guinness World RecordsGuinness World Records, known until 2000 as The Guinness Book of Records , is a reference book published annually, containing an internationally recognised...
as holding the record.
Construction
James Simpson, president of Marshall Field and Company from 1923 to 1930 and chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission from 1926 to 1935, along with architect Ernest Graham turned the first shovels of dirt at
groundbreakingGroundbreaking is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are often attended by dignitaries such as politicians and businessmen. The actual shovel used during the actual groundbreaking is often a...
on August 16 1928.
General contractorA general contractor is a group or individual that contracts with another organization or individual for the construction, renovation or demolition of a building, road or other structure...
John W. Griffiths & Sons brought building construction into the
machine ageMachine Age is a term associated with the early 20th Century. Considered to be at a peak in the time between the first and second World Wars it forms a late part of the Industrial Age...
through the use of techniques "ordinarily used in the construction of big
damA dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions...
s."
CementIn the most general sense of the word, a cement is a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. The word "cement" traces to the Romans, who used the term "opus caementicium" to describe masonry which resembled concrete and was made from crushed...
arriving by boat was lifted by
compressed airPneumatics is the use of pressurized gas to effect mechanical motion.Pneumatics is that branch of technology,which deals with the study and application of use of pressurised gas to affect mechanical motion....
to bins above the ground, with
gravelGravel is rock that is of a specific particle size range. Specifically, it is any loose rock that is larger than two millimeters in its smallest dimension and no more than . The next smaller size class in geology is sand, which is > in size. The next larger size is cobble, which is >. Gravel can...
and
sandSand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.As the term is used by geologists, sand particles range in diameter from 0.0625 to 2 millimeters. An individual particle in this range size is termed a sand grain...
delivered by railroad cars to
conveyor beltA belt conveyor consists of two or more pulleys, with a continuous loop of material - the conveyor belt - that rotates about them. One or both of the pulleys are powered, moving the belt and the material on the belt forward. The powered pulley is called the drive pulley while the unpowered pulley...
s and transfer elevators. Giant
mixersA concrete mixer is a device that homogeneously combines cement, aggregate such as sand or gravel, and water to form concrete. A typical concrete mixer uses a revolving drum to mix the components...
provided wet
concreteConcrete is a construction material composed of cement as well as other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate , water, and chemical admixtures...
to skip hoists in vertical towers that were extended as the building rose. Continuously employing 2,500 men and as many as 5,700 men altogether, the construction project lasted a year and a half into the early months of the
Great DepressionThe Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. With a foundation
footprintSurface area is the measure of how much exposed area a solid object has, expressed in square units. Mathematical description of the surface area is considerably more involved then the definition of arc length of a curve. For polyhedra the surface area is the sum of the areas of its faces...
of nearly two square
city blockA city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
s, the building required 29 million
bricksBricks may refer to:* Brick, an artificial stone made by forming clay into rectangular blocks* Brick , a slang term for a device that cannot function due to internal failure...
, of
plumbingPlumbing is the skilled trade of working with pipes, tubing and plumbing fixtures for drinking water systems and the drainage of waste. A plumber is someone who installs or repairs piping systems, plumbing fixtures and equipment such as water heaters...
, of wiring, nearly of concrete, of stone, and 4,000
windowA window is a transparent opening in a wall that allows the passage of light and, if not closed or sealed, air and sound. Windows are usually glazed or covered in some other transparent or translucent material...
s.
Bethlehem SteelThe Bethlehem Steel Corporation , based in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, was once the second-largest steel producer in the United States, after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based U.S. Steel. After a decline in the U.S...
fabricated much of the 60,000 tons of
steelSteel is an alloy consisting mostly of iron, with a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most cost-effective alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
. An estimated miles of corridors and over 30 elevators were included in the construction.
Architecture
Designer Alfred Shaw integrated art deco stylings with influences from three building types - the
warehouseA warehouse is a commercial building for storage of goods. Warehouses are used by manufacturers, importers, exporters, wholesalers, transport businesses, customs, etc. They are usually large plain buildings in industrial areas of cities and towns. They usually have loading docks to load and...
, the
department storeA department store is a retail establishment which specializes in satisfying a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
and the
skyscraperA skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building. There is no official definition or height above which a building may clearly be classified as a skyscraper...
. A warehouse block stands as the 18-story bulk of the building. Ribbon
piersIn architecture, a pier is an upright support for a superstructure, such as an arch or bridge. Sections of wall between openings function as piers. The simplest cross section of the pier is square, or rectangular, although other shapes are also common, such as the richly articulated piers of Donato...
define the windows, and the building's chamfered corners, minimal setbacks, and corner
pavilionsIn architecture a pavilion has two main meanings.-Free-standing structure:Pavilion may refer to a free-standing structure sited a short distance from a main residence, whose architecture makes it an object of pleasure. Large or small, there is usually a connection with relaxation and pleasure in...
disguise the edges of the mass and visually reduce bulk. The south corner pavilions are of greater height than the north corner pavilions. The building is open at the pedestrian level with bronzed framed
display windowA display window is a window in a shop displaying items for sale or otherwise designed to attract customers to the store. Usually, the term refers to larger windows in the front façade of the shop. Display windows at boutiques usually have dressed-up mannequins in them...
s, typical of a
department storeA department store is a retail establishment which specializes in satisfying a wide range of the consumer's personal and residential durable goods product needs; and at the same time offering the consumer a choice multiple merchandise lines, at variable price points, in all product categories...
, on the south, west and east boundaries. The 25-story central tower ascends with a peak in the form of a skyscraper, and rests in the southern half of the building. Deeply recessed
portalsPortal is a general term describing an opening in the walls of a building, gate or fortification, and especially a grand entrance to an important structure. Doors, metal gates or portcullis in the opening can be used to control entry or exit. The surface surrounding the opening may be made of...
occur between raised panels, and are adorned with medallions featuring the interlocked initials of the Merchandise Mart. The same
logoA logo is a graphical element that, together with its logotype form a trademark or commercial brand. Typically, a logo's design is for immediate recognition...
occurs throughout the building. Fifty six
American IndianNative Americans in the United States is the phrase that describes indigenous peoples from North America now encompassed by the continental United States, including parts of Alaska and the island state of Hawaii. They comprise a large number of distinct tribes, states, and ethnic groups, many of...
chiefsA traditional tribal chief is the leader of a tribe, or the head of a tribal form of self-government.The notion of a "tribal chief" is rather vague and arbitrary; neither chief nor tribe is clearly defined, so in many cases other designations are used for the same institution, such as petty ruler...
circled the tower's crown, a reference to the site's history and Chicago's early trade activities. Three and a half feet wide by seven feet tall, the
terra cottaTerracotta, Terra cotta or Terra-cotta is a clay-based unglazed ceramic. Its uses include vessels, water and waste water pipes and surface embellishment in building construction, along with sculpture such as the Terracotta Army and Greek terracotta figurines...
figures were barely visible from the street, meant to be viewed from the upper floors of the skyscrapers planned to rise along the riverbank.
Interior
The lobby of The Merchandise Mart is defined by eight square
marbleMarble is a non foliated metamorphic rock resulting from the metamorphism of limestone, composed mostly of calcite . It is extensively used for sculpture, as a building material, and in many other applications...
piers, with storefronts in side aisles framed in embossed
bronzeBronze is a metal alloy consisting primarily of copper, usually with tin as the main additive, but sometimes with other elements such as phosphorus, manganese, aluminium, or silicon. It was particularly significant in antiquity, giving its name to the Bronze Age...
trim. The green and orange
terrazzoTerrazzo is a faux-marble flooring or countertopping material.-Production:Terrazzo workers create walkways, floors, patios, and panels by exposing marble chips and other fine aggregates on the surface of finished concrete or epoxy-resin. Much of the preliminary work of terrazzo workers is similar...
floor was conceived as a
carpetA carpet is a textile floor covering consisting of an upper layer of "pile" attached to a backing. The pile is generally either made from wool or a manmade fibre such as polypropylene, and usually consists of twisted tufts which are often heat-treated to maintain their structure.- Etymology :The...
: a pattern of squares and stripes bordered by overscaled chevrons inlaid with The Mart's initials. The chevron theme is continued in the column
sconceSconce may refer to any of the following:* Sconce , a military fortification* Sconce * Sconcing, imposing a penalty in the form of drink* SCoNCe, , University of California, Irvine...
s lighting an ornamented
corniceA cornice is horizontal molded projection that completes a building or wall; or the upper slanting part of an entablature located above the frieze...
overhead. Referred to as "business boulevards", two wide long corridors with
terrazzoTerrazzo is a faux-marble flooring or countertopping material.-Production:Terrazzo workers create walkways, floors, patios, and panels by exposing marble chips and other fine aggregates on the surface of finished concrete or epoxy-resin. Much of the preliminary work of terrazzo workers is similar...
floors in the upper levels featured six and one-half miles of display windows. Building regulations specified identical entrances along corridors but tenants could personalize the individual floorspace. Excepting the corridors, elevator halls, and exhibition space on the fourth floor, the of each upper floor was "raw space" with concrete floors.
Expansions and renovations
After years of being used by hundreds of government offices moving to The Pentagon, the purchase was followed by a renovation creating office space on the lower floors and promoting use of the upper floors for home furnishing and apparel showrooms. The Merchandise Mart was modernized in the late 1950s and 1960s. The Indian chiefs were removed, destroyed and replaced with concrete plates in 1961, of minimal note to onlookers as skyscrapers did not rise on the north side of the river as predicted. In 1962, an entrance
canopyA canopy is an overhead roof or structure that is able to provide shade or shelter. A canopy can also be a tent, generally without a floor.A canopy is an architectural projection that provides weather protection, identity or decoration, and is supported by the building to which it is attached and...
was constructed over the south for vehicle use.
In 1977,
Skidmore, Owings and MerrillSkidmore, Owings and Merrill LLP is a Chicago-based architectural and engineering firm that was formed in 1936 by Louis Skidmore and Nathaniel Owings; in 1939 they were joined by John O. Merrill. They opened their first branch in New York City, New York in 1937. SOM is one of the largest...
designed the Chicago Apparel Center, located on the west side of Orleans Street, which increased the Merchandise Mart’s total floor space to . Making use of plazas,
esplanadeAn esplanade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. This allows people to promenade along the sea front, usually for recreational purposes, whatever the state of the tide, without having to walk on the beach...
s and overlooks employed the waterfront location for pedestrian pleasure. In 1988,
Helmut JahnHelmut Jahn is a German-American architect, designer of dozens of major buildings throughout the world.Some of the better known among his creations are the US$800 million Sony Center on the Potsdamer Platz, Berlin, the Messeturm in Frankfurt and the One Liberty Place, formerly the tallest building...
designed an enclosed pedestrian walking bridge over Orleans Street connecting the Mart and the Apparel Center.
After a 10 year, $100 million modernization in the late 1980s that included
public utilityA public utility is an organization that maintains the infrastructure for a public service . Public utilities are subject to forms of public control and regulation ranging from local community-based groups to state-wide government monopolies...
upgrades,
Beyer Blinder BelleBeyer Blinder Belle Architects & Planners LLP is an international architecture firm. It is based in New York City and had has additional offices in Washington, D.C...
's commission in 1989 was to create additional perimeter entrances and restore the display windows, main entrance and lobby. On the south facade, the drive-through canopy was removed and two smaller doorways aside the main entrance were added. Display windows,
paintPaint is any liquid, liquifiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film.-History:...
ed over during the earlier modernization campaign, were restored with clear glass to showcase merchant's wares. New main and corner entrances were added to the rear
facadeA facade or façade is generally one side of the exterior of a building, especially the front, but also sometimes the sides and rear. The word comes from the French language, literally meaning "frontage" or "face"....
, and the
loading dockA loading dock is a recessed bay in a building or facility where trucks are loaded and unloaded. They are commonly found on commercial and industrial buildings, and warehouses in particular....
that occupied the north portion of the first floor of the river level was removed in order to use the bottom deck of North Bank Drive. Improvements to the lobby included restoration of the original glass
curtain wallA curtain wall is a building façade that does not carry any dead load from the building other than its own dead load, and one that transfers the horizontal loads that are incident upon it. These loads are transferred to the main building structure through connections at floors or columns of the...
over the entrance, shop fronts and reception desk using terrazzo floors and wall sconces influenced by the original design. The project was completed in 1991.
In November 2007, the building received
LEEDThe Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System, developed by the U.S. Green Building Council , provides a suite of standards for environmentally sustainable construction...
for Existing Buildings Silver recognition.
Artwork
Jules GuerinJules Guerin , American muralist, painter and illustrator.-Biography:Guerin was born in St Louis, Missouri on November 18, 1866 and moved to Chicago to study art in 1880...
's
friezethumb|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain or—in the Ionic or Corinthian order—decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
of 17 murals is the primary feature of the lobby and graphically illustrate
commerceCommerce is a division of trade or production which deals with the exchange of goods and services from producer to final consumer. It comprises the trading of something of economic value such as goods, services, information, or money between two or more entities...
throughout the world, including the countries of origin for items sold in the building. The murals depict the industries and products, the primary mode of transportation and the architecture of 14 countries. Drawing on years as a stage set designer, Guerin executed the murals in red with gold leaf using techniques producing distinct image layers in successive planes. In a panel representing
ItalyItaly , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia. Italy shares its northern, Alpine boundary with France, Switzerland, Austria and Slovenia...
, Venetian
glasswareGlassware usually refers to glass items used as tableware, such as dishes, cutlery, flatware, and drinkware used to set a table for eating a meal. The term usually refers to the drinking vessels, unless the dinnerware is also made of glass...
appears in the foreground with fishing boats moored on the Grand Canal and the facade of the Palazzo Ducale rises above the towers of the Piazza San Marco.
"To immortalize outstanding
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
merchants", Joseph Kennedy in 1953 commissioned eight bronze
bustsA bust is a sculpted or cast representation of the upper part of the human figure, depicting a person's head and neck, as well as a variable portion of the chest and shoulders. The piece is normally supported by a plinth. These forms recreate the likeness of an individual...
, four times life size, which would come to be known as the Merchandise Mart Hall of Fame:
- retail magnates Frank Winfield Woolworth, Marshall Field
Marshall Field was founder of Marshall Field and Company, the Chicago-based department stores.-Biography:...
and Aaron Montgomery WardAaron Montgomery Ward was an American businessman notable for the invention of mail order.The mail-order industry was started by Aaron Montgomery Ward in 1872 in Chicago...
- Julius Rosenwald
Julius Rosenwald was a U.S. clothier, manufacturer, business executive, and philanthropist. He is best known as a part-owner and leader of Sears, Roebuck and Company, and for the Rosenwald Fund which donated millions to support the education of African American children in the rural South, as well...
and Robert Elkington Wood of Sears, Roebuck and CompanySears, officially named Sears, Roebuck and Co., is an American mid-range chain of international department stores which was founded by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Roebuck in the late 19th century...
fame
- advertiser John Wanamaker
John Wanamaker was a much respected and admired United States merchant, religious leader, civic and political figure, considered the father of modern advertising...
, merchandiser Edward Albert Filene, and A&PThe Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, better known as A&P, is a 447-store supermarket chain with locations in Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and the District of Columbia under several banners. Its corporate and U.S. headquarters are located in Montvale, New...
grocery chain founder George Huntington HartfordGeorge Huntington Hartford founded The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company in 1859 with George Gilman in Elmira, New York....
.
All of the busts rest on white pedestals lining the Chicago River and face north toward the gold front door of the building.
Surroundings
Dominating the skyline in the south end of the
Near North SideThe Near North Side is one of 77 well defined community areas of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is located north of the Chicago River and the downtown central business district . With the exception of Cabrini-Green, the Near North Side is known for its extreme...
, the Mart lies just south of the gallery district on the southern terminus of Franklin Street. Eateries and nightclubs abound on
Hubbard StreetHubbard Street is a road in Chicago, Illinois named for early settler Gurdon Saltonstall Hubbard. Where Hubbard Street passes over the Kennedy Expressway, the Expressway enters a tunnel made up of surface streets known as colloquially as "Hubbard's Cave." Hubbard Street has three distinct sections....
one block to the north. The Kinzie Chop House, popular with politicians and celebrities, stands on the northwest corner of Wells and Kinzie, across from the Merchandise Mart. The
Chicago Varnish Company BuildingThe Chicago Varnish Company Building, at 33 West Kinzie Street, was built in 1895 as the headquarters of one of the leading varnish manufacturers in the United States, the Chicago Varnish Company...
, listed on the
National Register of Historic PlacesThe National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and now housing
Harry CarayHarry Caray Harry Caray Harry Caray (born Harry Christopher Carabina, (March 1, 1914 – February 18, 1998) was an American baseball broadcaster on radio and television. He covered four Major League Baseball teams, beginning with a long tenure calling the games of the St...
's restaurant, is located east on Kinzie Street. Across the street to the east is 325 N. Wells Street, home to
The Chicago School of Professional PsychologyThe Chicago School of Professional Psychology, known as "The Chicago School," is a graduate university specializing in psychology. With nearly 2,000 students and 1,400 graduates, it is the nation’s largest nonprofit graduate school dedicated to the education and training of professional psychologists...
.
The Mart is not rectangular in shape due to being constructed after the
bascule bridgeA bascule bridge is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or "leaf," throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic. Bascule is a French term for seesaw and balance, and bascule bridges operate along the same principle...
s over the Chicago River. The control house for the double decked
Wells Street BridgeThe Wells Street Bridge over the Chicago River was built in 1922. Standing east of the Franklin Street Bridge and southeast of the Merchandise Mart, the bascule bridge connects the Near North Side with "The Loop." The bridge is double decked, the lower deck carrying 3 lanes of traffic south over...
stands between the lower level and the southeast corner of the building. The
Franklin Street BridgeThe Franklin–Orleans Street Bridge over the Chicago River was built in October 1920, directly southwest of the Merchandise Mart. Connecting the Near North Side with "The Loop," is at the junction of the branches of the river, lying directly west of the Wells Street Bridge...
stands at the southwest corner of the building, at the junction of Orleans Street and Franklin Street. The building slants at the same angle as Franklin Street, from southeast to northwest along Orleans Street.
One block east on
LaSalle StreetLaSalle Street is a major north-south street in Chicago named for Sieur de La Salle, an early explorer of Illinois. The portion that runs through the Loop is considered to be Chicago's financial district. For most of its length, the street has the address 140 West...
, the 60 story
300 North LaSalle300 North LaSalle is a 60 story mixed-use building located on the north bank of the Chicago River on the Near North Side community area of Chicago, Illinois. The building will contain 1.3 million square feet of space to include offices, retail shops, restaurants, and public spaces as well as three...
, completed in 2009.
Exterior lighting
A heritage of lighting the structure finds the central and corner towers, along with the columns between each window on the setbacks, bathed nightly in an upwardly focused white light.
TraditionThe word tradition comes from the Latin traditionem, acc. of traditio which means "handing over, passing on", and is used in a number of ways in the English language:...
dictates annual changes to green in mid-March for St. Patrick's Day and orange during the fall months around
HalloweenHalloween is an annual holiday celebrated on October 31. It has roots in the Gaelic pagan festival of Samhain and the Christian holy day of All Saints. It is largely a secular celebration but some have expressed strong feelings about perceived religious overtones...
and
ThanksgivingThanksgiving may refer to:*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the fourth Thursday in November.*Thanksgiving , the holiday on the second Monday in October.*Thanksgiving...
. Prominent events have found the
behemothBehemoth , , is a biblical creature mentioned in the Book of Job, 40:15-24. The word is most likely a plural form of , meaning beast or large animal...
lit in pink for
CancerCancer is a class of diseases in which a group of cells display uncontrolled growth , invasion , and sometimes metastasis...
Awareness Month. To note the
2006 Chicago Bears seasonThe 2006 Chicago Bears season was their 87th regular season and 25th post-season completed in the National Football League. The club posted a 13-3 regular season record, the best in the NFC, improving on their previous year’s record of 11-5...
, highlighted by reaching
Super Bowl XLISuper Bowl XLI was an American football game that featured the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League champion for the 2006 season...
, the building was lit with team colors, orange floodlights for the setbacks and blue floodlights for the towers. Red and green lights are used during the
ChristmasChristmas , also referred to as Christmas Day, is an annual holiday celebrated on December 25 that commemorates the birth of Jesus of Nazareth. The day marks the beginning of the larger season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days. The nativity of Jesus, which is the basis for the anno Domini...
season. Nighttime lighting on the Mart typically matches the colors of
antennaAn antenna is a transducer designed to transmit or receive electromagnetic waves. In other words, antennas convert electromagnetic waves into electrical currents and vice versa. Antennas are used in systems such as radio and television broadcasting, point-to-point radio communication, wireless...
lighting on the
Sears TowerWillis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower, is a 108-story skyscraper in Chicago, Illinois. At the time of its completion in 1973 it was the tallest building in the world, surpassing the World Trade Center towers in New York...
and
John Hancock CenterJohn Hancock Center at 875 North Michigan Avenue in the Gold Coast area of Chicago, Illinois, is a 100-story, 1,127-foot tall skyscraper, constructed under the supervision of Skidmore, Owings and Merrill, with chief designer Bruce Graham and structural engineer Fazlur Khan. When completed in...
, as well as the colors used on the top floors of the
Aon CenterThe Aon Center is a modern skyscraper in Chicago designed by architect firms Edward Durell Stone and The Perkins and Will partnership, and completed in 1973 as the Standard Oil Building...
.
Commerce
Wholesale showrooms occupy 50% of the usable floor space, and the Sultan of Brunei once spent $1.6 million at the Mart to furnish his entire palace, claiming the location was the only place where the task could be completed in one week. Select showrooms are open only to wholesalers, with others accessible to the general public. Unlike stores with traditional shelf and rack displays, entire usable rooms are created, providing consumers an opportunity to compare form and function between applications and manufacturers. A portion of the stores offer items for purchase singly or as a collection, while others offer design services, preservation, renovation, or installation. In addition to being a resource for architects and decorators, the Mart also has featured award winning designs as selected by the
American Institute of ArchitectsThe American Institute of Architects is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to support the architecture profession and improve its public image...
. Catering to suppliers, on-site firms specialize in providing professional services for market research projects.
In 1931, Marshall Field and Company lost five million dollars, followed by eight million in 1932. The wholesale division was greatly reduced and Field's reduced its space in the Mart from four floors to one and half. The Mart continued to display the latest trends in home furnishings within the showrooms and trade shows. The company recovered late in the decade, but did not return to all previously occupied space.
In 1942,
L.L. Skaggs]The Skaggs Family, starting from a small frontier town in southern Idaho, came to have an important impact on merchandising across much of the United States. During most of the 20th century, the Skaggs name became prominent on hundreds of store fronts throughout the West...
formed a partnership with three other men and named the partnership the Owners Service Company, hence
OscoOsco Drug is a chain of pharmacy stores which today operate as in-store pharmacies under Supervalu Pharmacies. Osco Pharmacies are found in Jewel and Shaw’s supermarkets. Since 2006, Osco is a wholly owned subsidiary of Supervalu Pharmacies of Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based SuperValu...
. The headquarters was moved from Waterloo, Iowa to the Merchandise Mart.
A retail shopping area, opened in 1991 and named The Shops at the Mart, includes apparel shops, beauty services, bookstores and
newsstandsA newsagent is a person who a operates a newsagent's shop , newsagency or newsstand , often a small business that sells newspapers, magazines, stationery, snacks and often items of local interest such as postcards and clothing emblazoned with sports team mascots...
, financial services, telecommunication services, travel services, specialty food and
wineWine is an alcoholic beverage typically made of fermented grape juice. The natural chemical balance of grapes is such that they can ferment without the addition of sugars, acids, enzymes or other nutrients. Wine is produced by fermenting crushed grapes using various types of yeast. Yeast consumes...
stores, photo services, a
dry cleanerDry cleaning is any cleaning process for clothing and textiles using an organic solvent rather than water. The solvent used is typically tetrachloroethylene , abbreviated "perc" in the industry and "dry-cleaning fluid" by the public. Dry cleaning is necessary for cleaning items that would...
,
shoe shineShoe polish , usually a waxy paste or a cream, is a consumer product used to polish,shine, waterproof, and restore the appearance of leather shoes or boots, thereby extending the footwear's life...
stand, and a
food courtA food court is a plaza or common area within a facility that is contiguous with the counters of multiple food vendors and provides a common area for self-serve dining...
. A
United States Postal ServiceThe United States Postal Service is an independent agency of the United States government responsible for providing postal service in the United States. It is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the United States Constitution. Within the United States, it is commonly...
office is located on the first floor and a
FedExFedEx Corporation , originally known as FDX Corporation, is a logistics services company, based in the United States. The name "FedEx" is a syllabic abbreviation of the name of the company's original air division, Federal Express, which was used from 1978 until 2000.-History:FedEx Corporation was...
location is located on the second floor.
The Apparel Center houses the 530 room Chicago Mart Plaza Hotel, the offices of the Chicago Sun-Times and the Chicago campus of the
Illinois Institute of ArtThe Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago is part of The Art Institutes, a system of proprietary colleges focusing on creative industries.The Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago offers bachelor's degree or associates degree for several programs including: fashion, interior design, visual...
, as well as the Chicago office of the
Ogilvy & MatherOgilvy & Mather is an international advertising, marketing, and public relations agency based in New York City and owned by the WPP Group. The company operates 497 offices in 125 countries around the world and employs approximately 16,000 professionals....
advertising agency. American Intercontinental University occupies on the 5th floor of Merchandise Mart, the
Potbelly Sandwich WorksPotbelly Sandwich Works is a privately held restaurant chain that sells submarine sandwiches in the United States. Its name is derived from potbelly stoves common in the late 19th century. The company is headquartered in the tower of Chicago's Merchandise Mart.-History:Potbelly Sandwich Works was...
' corporate offices are located in the tower.
Trade Fairs
Since 1969, the Merchandise Mart has been home to the annual National Exposition of Contract Furnishings, known as
NeoCon. With over 1,000 exhibitors of contract and commercial furnishings, and 50,000 attendees, it is the largest trade show of its kind in North America.
Since 2006 the Merchandise Mart has played host to the
Art ChicagoArt Chicago is an international contemporary art exhibition held each year in Chicago, Illinois. It is Chicago's longest-running and only remaining major contemporary art exposition.-History:...
international art fair.
Radio
Before the location even opened,
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
announced plans to build studios in the Mart. When opened on October 20 1930, the twentieth floor location covered and supported a variety of live broadcasts including those requiring orchestras.
WENRWLS-TV channel 7 is a television station in Chicago, Illinois. The station is owned and operated by Walt Disney Company-owned American Broadcasting Company. WLS-TV produces its broadcasts at 190 North State Street in The Loop and transmits its signal from the Willis Tower...
and WMAQ broadcast from the location. Expanded in 1935, with office space in the previously unoccupied tower, the additional provided room for an
organThe organ is a keyboard instrument of one or more divisions, each played with its own keyboard operated either with the hands or with the feet...
chamber, two echo rooms, and a total of 11 studios. A staff of more than 300 produced up to 1,700 programs each month including
Amos 'n' AndyAmos 'n' Andy is a situation comedy based on stock sketch comedy characters but set in the African-American community, and popular in the United States from the 1920s through the 1950s. The show began as one of the first radio comedy serials, written and voiced by Freeman Gosden and Charles Correll...
.
Hugh DownsHugh Malcolm Downs is a retired American broadcaster, television host, producer, and author. He served as anchor of 20/20, host of The Today Show, announcer for the Tonight Show with Jack Paar, host of the Concentration game show, host of the PBS talk show Over Easy and co-host of the syndicated...
contributed to the
Burr TillstromFranklin Burr Tillstrom was a puppeteer and the creator of "Kukla, Fran and Ollie."...
children's show
Kukla, Fran and OllieKukla, Fran and Ollie was an early American television show using puppets, originally created for children but soon watched by more adults than children...
from the NBC studios after the network picked up the program from
WBKBWBBM-TV digital channel 12 is the CBS owned and operated television station in Chicago, Illinois. WBBM-TV's main studios and offices are located within the CBS 2 Broadcast Center located in The Loop at 22 W Washington Street. The facilities are part of the development at 108 North State Street...
. The
Captain MidnightCaptain Midnight is a U.S. radio adventure serial broadcast from 1938 to 1949. Sponsored by the Skelly Oil Company, the program was the creation of radio scripters Wilfred G. Moore and Robert M...
radio program was broadcast from the Mart from 1942 until 1945.
Alternative rockAlternative rock is a genre of rock music that emerged in the 1980s and became widely popular in the 1990s...
music radio station
WKQXWKQX is an alternative rock radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan area. They are owned by Emmis Communications.-The NBC years:...
currently occupies space on the west side of the second floor, and was home to DJ
Mancow MullerMatthew Erich "Mancow" Muller is an American radio and television personality. He is best known for Mancow's Morning Madhouse, formerly on Rock 103.5 and WKQX-FM , both Chicago-based radio shows that have been nationally syndicated mostly in small markets by Talk Radio Network...
for 8 years.
WLUPWLUP-FM is a mainstream rock FM radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan area. It is owned by Emmis Communications. WLUP transmits its signal from an antenna located the top of the Willis Tower in Downtown Chicago at a height of 1,390 feet with an effective radiated power of 4,000 watts...
broadcasts classic hard rock music from the location.
Television
On January 7, 1949,
NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
station WNBQ commercially debuted its
televisionTelevision is a widely used telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images, either monochromatic or color, usually accompanied by sound. "Television" may also refer specifically to a television set, television programming or television transmission...
broadcast schedule on channel 5, with a minimum of two hours of programming per day. April 15, 1956, is remembered as "C-Day" at
WMAQ-TVWMAQ-TV is an owned-and-operated television station of the NBC Television Network, located in Chicago, Illinois. WMAQ-TV's main studios and offices are located within the NBC Tower in the Streeterville neighborhood, with an auxiliary street-level studio on the Magnificent Mile at 401 N. Michigan...
, and was described by Broadcasting-Telecasting magazine as "a daring breakthrough the black-and-white curtain." With Mayor
Richard J. DaleyRichard Joseph Daley served for 21 years as the undisputed Democratic boss of Chicago and is considered by historians to be the "last of the big city bosses." He played a major role in the history of the Democratic Party, especially with his support of John F...
looking on, NBC President Robert Sarnoff operated the controls as Channel 5 became the world's first all-color TV station as "Wide, Wide World" was broadcast to 110 NBC-TV affiliated stations across the country. The color conversion project cost more than $1,250,000 with advertising costing $175,000. On "C-Day", three
skywritingSkywriting is the process of using a small aircraft, able to expel special smoke during flight, to fly in certain patterns to create writing readable by someone on the ground...
planes flew over the city, trailing streams of red, green and blue smoke.
WMAQ-TV first installed color equipment in late 1953, with the
Rose Bowl paradeThe Tournament of Roses Parade, better known as the Rose Parade, is the "America's New Year Celebration", a festival of flowers, music and equestrians and a college football game on New Year's Day, produced by the non-profit Pasadena Tournament of Roses Association.The annual parade was first held...
of 1954 as the first major broadcast. Introduced in March 1955, the first local color program was
John Ott-Time-Lapse Photographer:‘Dr. John Nash Ott’’’ began his career as a banker, but he soon became interested in photography. His interest in time-lapse photography led to a well-known career in cinematography and, as a result, Dr...
's "How Does Your Garden Grow?", featuring the use of
time-lapseTime-lapse photography is a cinematography technique whereby each film frame is captured at a rate much slower than it will be played back. When replayed at normal speed, time appears to be moving faster and thus lapsing...
color film.
Although WMAQ-TV has since moved to NBC Tower about a mile away, and for the most part the 19th floor of the Mart has been turned into office space, one former tenant (Bankers Life and Trust Company) maintained a remnant of the original studios as their video and multimedia department. The former WMAQ space is currently being redeveloped by Flashpoint Academy as a full modern soundstage facility as well as a screening room, backlot, and classroom space over the 19th and 20th floors.
Local
regional sports networkIn the United States of America and Canada, a regional sports network, or RSN, is a cable television station that presents sports programming to a local market. The most important programming on an RSN consists of live broadcasts of professional and college sporting events, as those games generate...
Comcast SportsNet ChicagoComcast SportsNet Chicago is a member of the Comcast SportsNet network of regional sports networks that covers local sports teams in the Chicago area....
has their control room, and broadcasts their live studio programming from the Apparel Center expansion; the studios had been home to previous RSNs
FSN ChicagoFox Sports Net Chicago was a regional sports network based in Chicago, Illinois. The network carried the Chicago Cubs, the Chicago White Sox, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Chicago Bulls, the Chicago Fire, the Arena Football League's Chicago Rush, local and national collegiate sports, including those...
and SportsChannel Chicago.
Public transit
Built in under four months and opened on December 1 1930, the Merchandise Mart elevated train station served the Main Line of the North Side Division. The station is now noted for being one of two commercial locations to have its own station on the
Chicago Transit AuthorityChicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of the suburbs. It is the second largest transit system in the United States and fourth largest in North America...
's
'L' systemThe
'L' is a rapid transit system that serves the city of Chicago in the United States...
. The
Merchandise Mart stationMerchandise Mart is a station on the Chicago Transit Authority's 'L' system, located in the Near North Side at 350 North Wells Street in Chicago, Illinois . The original station was opened in 1930, and rebuilt in 1988. Prior to 1963 the station also served interurban trains of the North Shore Line...
is served by the
BrownThe Brown Line of the Chicago 'L' rapid transit system, is an route with 19 stations between Albany Park on the north and downtown Chicago. It runs completely above ground and is CTA's third busiest rail line, serving approximately 90,000 passengers each weekday...
and
Purple LinesThe Purple Line of the Chicago Transit Authority is a branch line on the northernmost section of the Chicago 'L' rapid transit network. Normally, it extends south from the Wilmette terminal at Linden Avenue, passing through Evanston to Howard Street, on Chicago's northern city limits.The Purple...
. An ADA accessible station, the
turnstileA turnstile, also called a baffle gate, is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. It can also be made so as to enforce one-way traffic of people, and in addition, it can restrict passage only to people who insert a coin, a ticket, a pass, or similar...
s are located within the building on the second floor, while the platforms are connected to the east side of the building. The northbound platform is accessed by an overhead bridge or elevator. It was rebuilt in 1988, prior to the Wells Street Bridge reconstruction in 1989.
The Merchandise Mart housed the CTA's headquarters on the 7th floor from 1947 to 2004.
In popular culture
- Owing to the expanding postwar economy and family, ownership began offering tours in 1948. Architecture and design interest groups continue to offered scheduled tours.
- Movies and TV shows frequently are filmed on the Wells Street Bridge and underneath the elevated tracks on Franklin.
- Chicago Marathon
The Bank of America Chicago Marathon is a major marathon held yearly in Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States. Alongside the Boston, New York, London and Berlin Marathons, it is one of the five World Marathon Majors. The October 11, 2009 running will be the 32nd Anniversary running of...
routes have taken runners past the structure, typically on Wells Street.
- The Mart hosts the annual Art Chicago activities.
- In the opening credits of the 1970s television sitcom Good Times
Good Times is an American sitcom that originally aired from February 8, 1974, until August 1, 1979, on the CBS television network. It was created by Eric Monte and Michael Evans and produced by Norman Lear...
, the building is depicted prior to renovation and revitalization.
- The 1948 film Call Northside 777
Call Northside 777 is a documentary-style film noir directed by Henry Hathaway. It is based on the true story of a Chicago reporter who proved that a man who has been in prison for murder, was wrongly convicted 11 years before. James Stewart stars as the persistent journalist...
, was made in Illinois and the Mart is seen from newspaper offices on Wacker Drive.
- The lobby appeared in the movie "Hudsucker Proxy" as the interior of the Hudsucker Company headquarters.
- In 1956, the film "The Merchandise Mart" used the Mart's name and was filmed throughout Illinois.
- In the 1993 film The Fugitive
The Fugitive is a American film based on the television series of the same name. The film was directed by Andrew Davis and stars Harrison Ford as Dr. Richard Kimble, and Tommy Lee Jones as Deputy United States Marshal Samuel Gerard. Jones won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his...
, the location of Harrison Ford's character is pinpointed by police when they hear a CTAChicago Transit Authority, also known as CTA, is the operator of mass transit within the City of Chicago, Illinois and some of the suburbs. It is the second largest transit system in the United States and fourth largest in North America...
train operator announce, "Next stop, Merchandise Mart" in the background of a recorded phone call.
See also
- Art Deco
Art Deco was a popular international art design movement from 1925 until the 1940s, affecting the decorative arts such as architecture, interior design, and industrial design, as well as the visual arts such as fashion, painting, the graphic arts, and film...
- Chicago architecture
The architecture of Chicago has influenced and reflected the history of American architecture. The city of Chicago, Illinois features prominent buildings in a variety of styles by many important architects...
- List of largest buildings in the world
- Interior Design
Interior design is a multi-faceted profession in which creative and technical solutions are applied within a structure to achieve a built interior environment. These solutions are functional, enhance the quality of life and culture of the occupants, and are aesthetically attractive...
External links