Editing Merchandise Mart (section)

{{short description|Commercial building in Chicago, Illinois, USA}}
{{about|the building in Chicago, Illinois|other subjects|Merchandise Mart (disambiguation)}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Infobox building
| name             = Merchandise Mart
| image            = Merchandise Mart 080405.jpg
| image_size       = 275px
| location         = 222 Merchandise Mart Plaza<br>[[Chicago]], Illinois
| coordinates      = {{coord|41.8884|-87.6355|region:US-IL|display=inline,title}}
| status           = 
| start_date       = August 16, 1928
| completion_date  = 1930
| opening          = {{start date and age|1930|05|05}}
| building_type    = Mixed
| architectural_style = [[Art Deco]]
| antenna_spire    = 
| roof             = {{convert|340|ft|m|1}}
| top_floor        = 
| floor_count      = 18 base, 25 tower
| public_transit   = {{rint|chicago|l}} {{rint|chicago|brown}} {{rint|chicago|purple}} at [[Merchandise Mart station|Merchandise Mart]]
| floor_area       = {{convert|4000000|sqft|m2|-3}}
| architect        = [[Graham, Anderson, Probst and White]] with the firm's [[Alfred P. Shaw]] as chief architect
| main_contractor  = John W. Griffiths & Sons
| developer        = 
| owner            = [[Vornado Realty Trust]]
}}

The '''Merchandise Mart''' (or the '''Merch Mart''', or the '''Mart''') is a commercial building in [[Chicago Loop|downtown]] [[Chicago]], [[Illinois]]. When it opened in 1930, it was the [[List of largest buildings|world's largest building]], with {{convert|4|e6sqft|m2|-3}} of floor space.<ref name="Marchitecture">{{cite web| url=http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/| access-date=2007-07-10| title=Marchitecture| publisher=merchandisemart.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070205155045/http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/ |archive-date=February 5, 2007}}</ref><ref name="Architects">{{cite web| url=http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/architects.html|access-date=2007-07-10| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061024235006/http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/architects.html| archive-date=October 24, 2006| title=Architects| publisher=merchandisemart.com}}</ref> The [[Art Deco]] structure is at the junction of the [[Chicago River]]'s branches. The building is a leading [[retailing]] and wholesale location, hosting 20,000 visitors and tenants daily in the late 2000s.{{Update inline|date=November 2018}}<ref name="Building">{{cite web| url=http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/building.html| access-date=2007-07-10| title=Building of the Mart| publisher=merchandisemart.com| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080511210929/http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/building.html| archive-date=2008-05-11| url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="Beyer">{{cite web| url=http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/beyer.html| access-date=2007-07-10| title=Architects - Beyer| publisher=merchandisemart.com| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080410132134/http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/beyer.html| archive-date=2008-04-10| url-status=dead}}</ref>

Built by [[Marshall Field & Co.]] and later owned for over half a century by the [[Kennedy family]], the Mart centralizes Chicago's [[wholesale]] goods industry by consolidating architectural and interior design vendors and trades under a single roof.<ref name="Architects"/> It has become home to several other enterprises, including the [[Shops at the Mart]], the Chicago campus of the [[Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago|Illinois Institute of Art]], [[Motorola Mobility]], the Grainger Technology Group branch of [[W._W._Grainger|W.W. Grainger]], and the Chicago tech startup center 1871.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/inc-well/How-1871-Has-Changed-Chicagos-Startup-World-One-Year-Later-205989051.html| date=2013-05-13| access-date=2014-06-08| title=How 1871 Has Changed Chicago's Startup World One Year Later| publisher=[[WMAQ-TV]]}}</ref> It was sold in January 1998 to [[Vornado Realty Trust]].<ref name=kennedysale />

The Merchandise Mart is so large that it had its own [[ZIP Code]] (60654) until 2008, when the Postal Service assigned the ZIP Code to part of the surrounding area.<ref>{{cite book| url=https://archive.org/details/chicagocityguide00zimm| url-access=registration| quote=does Merchandise Mart have its own area code.| title=Chicago City Guide| isbn=978-1741047677| first1=Karla| last1=Zimmerman| first2=Lisa| last2=Dunford| first3=Nate| last3=Cavalieri| publisher=Lonely Planet| year=2008| page=[https://archive.org/details/chicagocityguide00zimm/page/63 63]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| title=ZIP It, ZIP It Good| url=http://chicagoist.com/2008/04/25/zip_it_zip_it_g.php| first=Margaret| last=Lyons| date=April 25, 2008| publisher=Chicagoist| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160106103104/http://chicagoist.com/2008/04/25/zip_it_zip_it_g.php| archive-date=January 6, 2016}}</ref> In 2010, the building opened its Design Center showrooms to the public.<ref>{{cite journal| title=A Guide to Shopping the Merchandise Mart| url=http://www.chicagomag.com/Chicago-Magazine/March-2011/A-Guide-to-Shopping-the-Merchandise-Mart/| first=Barri Leinier| last=Grant| journal=[[Chicago (magazine)|Chicago]]| date=March 10, 2011}}</ref>