Editing Merchandise Mart

{{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>

==History==

===Construction and context===

[[Image:Merchandise mart construction 1929.jpg|thumb|Merchandise Mart under construction, 1929]]
[[File:Photography by Victor Albert Grigas (1919-2017) 00389 Chicago Loop Christmas time - developed March 1970 (37458766170).jpg|thumb|Merchandise Mart in late 1969]]

In 1926, a westward extension of double-deck [[Wacker Drive]] increased development on the south [[Bank (geography)|riverbank]]. In 1927, Marshall Field & Co. announced its plans to build on the north bank opposite Wacker Drive. The site, bordered by Orleans Street, [[Wells Street (Chicago)|Wells Street]], Kinzie Street, and the [[Chicago River]], was formerly a [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] trading post and the site of [[Chicago and North Western Railway]]'s former [[Wells Street Station]], abandoned in 1911 in favor of the [[Ogilvie Transportation Center|Chicago and North Western Passenger Terminal]].<ref name="Marchitecture"/> With the railroad's [[air rights]], the site was large enough to accommodate "the largest building in the world".<ref name="History">{{cite web| url=http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/history.html| access-date=2007-07-10| title=History of the Mart| publisher=merchandisemart.com| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070602052539/http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/history.html |archive-date=2007-06-02}}</ref> Removing the train yard supported the [[Chicago Plan Commission]]'s desire to develop and beautify the riverfront.

James Simpson, president of Marshall Field & Co. from 1923 to 1930 and chairman of the Chicago Plan Commission from 1926 to 1935, turned the first shovels of dirt at [[groundbreaking]] on August 16, 1928, along with architect Ernest Graham. [[General contractor]] John W. Griffiths & Sons brought building construction into the [[Machine Age]] through the use of techniques "ordinarily used in the construction of big dams."<ref name="Building"/>

Cement arriving by boat was lifted by [[Pneumatics|compressed air]] to bins {{convert|75|ft|m|-1}} above the ground, with gravel and sand delivered by railroad cars to conveyor belts and transfer elevators. Giant mixers provided wet concrete 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 Depression]].<ref name="Marchitecture"/><ref name="OfficeRetail"/>

With a foundation footprint of nearly two square city blocks, the building required 29 million bricks, {{convert|40|mi|km|0}} of plumbing, {{convert|380|mi|km|-1}} of wiring, nearly {{convert|4|e6cuyd|m3}} of concrete, {{convert|200000|cuft|m3}} of stone, and 4,000 windows.<ref name="Marchitecture"/><ref name="OfficeRetail"/> [[Bethlehem Steel]] fabricated much of the 60,000 tons of [[steel]].<ref name="Bethlehem">{{cite web|url=http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=945 |access-date=2007-07-22 |title=Bethlehem Steel: The Rise and Fall of an Industrial Giant |publisher=The Historical Society of Pennsylvania |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080127192659/http://www.hsp.org/default.aspx?id=945 |archive-date=2008-01-27 }}</ref> An estimated {{convert|7.5|mi|km|-1}} of corridors and over 30 elevators were included in the construction.<ref name="Marchitecture"/><ref name="Lot">{{cite news| title=A lot of Merchandise Series: 20TH CENTURY CHICAGO| url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4518645.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505114903/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-4518645.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=May 5, 2016| date=October 22, 1999| last=Kennedy| first=Christopher G.| work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]|url-access=subscription }}</ref> The total cost was estimated at $26 million.<ref name = Langton>James Langton, "End of the house that Joe built".  ''[[The Sunday Telegraph]]'' via the ''[[Ottawa Citizen]]'', March 22, 1998: A10.</ref>

===Ownership===
The Merchandise Mart opened on May 5, 1930, just east of Chicago's original [[trading post]], [[Wolf Point, Chicago|Wolf Point]].<ref name="OfficeRetail">{{cite web| url=http://www.merchandisemart.com/officeretail/about.html| access-date=2007-07-19| title=Merchandise Mart Office Retail| publisher=merchandisemart.com| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061025004147/http://www.merchandisemart.com/officeretail/about.html| archive-date=2006-10-25}}</ref>

The building realized Marshall Field’s dream of a single wholesale center for the nation and consolidated 13 different warehouses. It was purchased in 1945 or 1946<ref name="NPNLFtO">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/06/16/garden/new-pieces-new-looks-for-the-office.html?|title=New Pieces, New Looks For the Office|access-date=July 13, 2010|date=June 16, 1998|author=Giovannini, Joseph|work=[[The New York Times]]}}</ref><ref name=CKCTPTWOTOFB>{{cite news|author=Feuerstein, Phyllis|title=Christopher Kennedy Chicago's The Place To Work On The Other Family Business|date=August 22, 1993|page=8|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> by the [[Kennedy family]] through Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. (MMPI), and managed by [[Sargent Shriver]]. Kennedy's purchase price was reported to be either $12.5 or $13 million,<ref>{{Cite news|title=CHICAGO MART GETS LOAN; $12,500,000 Mortgage Is Placed With Equitable Assurance| work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/08/06/113127328.html?pageNumber=25|access-date=2020-10-08|language=en}}</ref> and it is said that his initial capital was $1 million, though records say his original mortgage was $12.5 million, roughly half of what it had cost to construct the complex.<ref name=Langton/>

E. Stanley Klein, a good friend of Marshall Field and Joseph Kennedy, brokered the building's sale. At the time Klein was a partner of Field and together they started Fieldcrest Mills.<ref>{{Cite news|title=BIG 'MART' BOUGHT BY JOSEPH KENNEDY; Chicago's Merchandise Block Is Purchased From Marshall Field's| work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1945/07/22/94857614.html?pageNumber=32|access-date=2020-10-08|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=E. STANLEY KLEIN, 82, OF J.P. MAGUIRE & CO.| work=The New York Times |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1976/02/09/75573815.html?pageNumber=30|access-date=2020-10-08|language=en}}</ref> Klein maintained that Kennedy's bargain price was predicated on an oral agreement between Field and Kennedy that after the sale the building would be donated to the University of Chicago and that Kennedy would take the tax deduction.{{fact|date=March 2021}} No documentary evidence of this agreement exists.

The building revenues became a principal source of Kennedy family wealth, often used for political campaign funding.<ref name=Langton/>

In 1998 the Kennedys sold the property to [[Vornado Realty Trust]] as part of a larger $625&nbsp;million (${{formatnum:{{Inflation|US|.625|1998|r=1}}}} billion in current dollars) transaction.<ref name=kennedysale>{{cite news|title=Kennedy Family Selling Merchandise Mart To Vornado Realty|date=January 26, 1998|work=[[Chicago Tribune]]|page=3}}</ref> When it was sold, the Merchandise Mart was also the Kennedy family's last remaining operating business.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB885768544663024500|title=The Kennedy Clan Decides To Cash In Last Big Business|first1=Mitchell|last1=Pacelle|first2=David D.|last2=Kirkpatrick|first3=Calmetta Y.|last3=Coleman|publisher=Wall Street Journal|date=January 26, 1998|accessdate=May 4, 2021}}</ref> That year, Vornado acquired MMPI for $450 million cash and a $100 million-plus stake in Vornado.<ref>{{cite web| date=January 26, 1998| url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1998/01/26/kennedy-family-selling-merchandise-mart-to-vornado-realty/| title=Kennedy Family Selling Merchandise Mart To Vornado Realty| work=[[Chicago Tribune]]| agency=[[Bloomberg News]]}}</ref><ref name="Emporis">{{cite web| url=http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=merchandisemart-chicago-il-usa| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061209162216/http://www.emporis.com/en/wm/bu/?id=merchandisemart-chicago-il-usa| url-status=usurped| archive-date=December 9, 2006| access-date=2007-07-19| title=Merchandise Mart, Chicago| publisher=[[Emporis]]}}</ref> As of 2007, the building was valued at $917 million.<ref name="crains1">{{cite web| first=Thomas A.| last=Corfman| date=February 21, 2007|  url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/20070221/NEWS12/200023946/merchandise-marts-value-soars-in-9-years| access-date=2016-02-17| title=Merchandise Mart's value soars in 9 years| work=[[Crain Communications|Crain's Chicago Business]]}}</ref>

===Expansions and renovations===
[[File:Chicago River from Lake Street bridge.jpg|thumb|A night view of the building's surroundings along the [[Chicago River]]: Among the buildings and structures shown are (left to right) Left Bank at K Station (300 North Canal), 333 North Canal, [[Kinzie Street railroad bridge]], [[350 West Mart Center]], Merchandise Mart, [[300 North LaSalle]], [[Franklin Street Bridge]] and part of [[333 Wacker Drive]].]]

The Merchandise Mart was modernized in the late 1950s and 1960s. In 1961 the Indian chiefs were removed and replaced with concrete plates, of minimal note to onlookers as skyscrapers did not rise on the north side of the river as predicted. In 2014, some of the carvings were found in a suburban backyard and auctioned.<ref>{{cite web| title=Lost Pieces of Merchandise Mart Found in a Suburban Garden| url=http://www.chicagoarchitecture.org/2014/05/22/lost-pieces-of-merchandise-mart-found-in-a-suburban-garden/| publisher=Chicago Architecture| date=May 22, 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| title=Suburban Woman Selling Indian Heads That Once Adorned Merchandise Mart| url=http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2014/05/26/for-sale-two-indian-heads-which-used-to-adorned-merchandise-mart/| work=[[WBBM-TV|WBBM News]]| date=May 26, 2014}}</ref> In 1962, an entrance [[canopy (building)|canopy]] was constructed over the south for vehicle use.

In 1977, [[Skidmore, Owings & Merrill]] designed the [[350 West Mart Center|Chicago Apparel Center]], on the west side of Orleans Street, which increased the Merchandise Mart’s total floor space to {{convert|6.2|e6sqft|m2}}. Plazas, [[esplanade]]s, and overlooks employed the waterfront location for pedestrian use. In 1988, [[Helmut Jahn]] designed an enclosed pedestrian walking bridge over Orleans Street connecting the Mart and the Apparel Center.<ref name="History"/>

After a 10-year, $100 million modernization in the late 1980s that included [[public utility]] upgrades, [[Beyer Blinder Belle]]'s commission in 1989 was to create additional perimeter entrances and restore the display windows, main entrance, and lobby.<ref name="Beyer"/><ref name="ChicagoL">{{cite web| url=http://www.chicago-l.org/stations/merchandise_mart.html| title=Merchandise Mart| date=May 15, 2006|publisher=chicago-l.org}}</ref> On the south facade, the drive-through canopy was removed and two smaller doorways aside the main entrance added. Display windows, painted over during the earlier modernization campaign, were restored with clear glass to showcase merchants' wares.<ref name="Building"/><ref name="Beyer"/>

New main and corner entrances were added to the rear facade, and the loading dock 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 wall (architecture)|curtain wall]] over the entrance, shop fronts, and reception desk using terrazzo floors and wall sconces influenced by the original design.<ref name="Building"/><ref name="Beyer"/> The project was completed in 1991.

In 2007, the building received [[Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design|LEED]] for Existing Buildings Silver recognition.<ref>[http://www.greenprogress.com/green_building_article.php?id=1408 The Merchandise Mart Chicago Receives LEED Silver Certification] greenprogress.com.</ref>

==Building==
[[File:2007-09-13 2400x1800 chicago merchandise mart.jpg|thumb|right|From the [[Chicago River]], looking west]]
[[File:The Merchandise Mart Photo Walk Chicago September 2, 2013-4874.jpg|thumb|right|The sign on the building]]

The Merchandise Mart was designed by the Chicago architectural firm of [[Graham, Anderson, Probst and White]] to be a "city within a city".<ref name="Emporis"/>  Second only to [[Holabird & Roche|Holabird & Root]] 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 deco]] style as the [[Chicago Board of Trade Building]], 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 [[The Pentagon|Pentagon]] in 1943,<ref name="MarshallField">{{cite web| url=http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/marshall_field.html| access-date=2007-07-19| title=Marchitecture Marshall Field| publisher=merchandisemart.com| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070816020544/http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/marshall_field.html| archive-date=2007-08-16| url-status=dead}}</ref>  and now stands forty-fourth on the [[list of largest buildings in the world]].  Once the largest commercial space in the world, [[New Century Global Center]] in China is now recognized by [[Guinness World Records]] as holding the record.<ref name="AmericanWay">{{cite web|url=http://americanwaymag.com/aw/travel/feature.asp?archive_date=4/15/2005 |author=Pope, Elizabeth |date=2005-04-15 |access-date=2007-08-16 |title=Wall Street of Flowers |publisher=American Airlines |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927043449/http://americanwaymag.com/aw/travel/feature.asp?archive_date=4%2F15%2F2005 |archive-date=2007-09-27 }}</ref>

===Architecture===
Designer Alfred Shaw integrated art deco stylings with influences from three building types—the [[warehouse]], the [[department store]] and the [[skyscraper]].<ref name="Building"/> A warehouse block stands as the 18-story bulk of the building. Ribbon [[Pier (architecture)|piers]] define the windows, and the building's chamfered corners, minimal setbacks, and corner [[pavilions]] disguise the edges of the mass and visually reduce bulk.<ref name="Building"/>

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 window]]s, typical of a department store, 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 [[Portal (architecture)|portals]] occur between raised panels, and are adorned with [[Medallion (architecture)|medallion]]s featuring the interlocked initials of the Merchandise Mart. The same [[logo]] occurs throughout the building. Fifty-six [[Native Americans in the United States|American Indian]] [[tribal chief|chiefs]] 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 cotta]] figures were barely visible from the street, meant to be viewed from the upper floors of the skyscrapers planned to rise along the riverbank.<ref name="Building"/>

The lobby of The Merchandise Mart is defined by eight square [[marble]] piers, with storefronts in side aisles framed in embossed [[bronze]] trim.  The green and orange [[terrazzo]] floor was conceived as a [[carpet]]: a pattern of squares and stripes bordered by overscaled chevrons inlaid with The Mart's [[initials]]. The [[Chevron (insignia)|chevron]] theme is continued in the column [[Sconce (light fixture)|sconce]]s lighting an ornamented [[cornice]] overhead.<ref name="Building"/>

Referred to as "business boulevards", two wide {{convert|650|ft|m}} long corridors with [[terrazzo]] 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 floor space. Excepting the corridors, elevator halls, and exhibition space on the fourth floor, the {{convert|5|acre|m2}} of each upper floor was "raw space" with concrete floors.<ref name="Building"/>

===Artwork===
[[Jules Guerin]]'s [[frieze]] of 17 [[murals]] is the primary feature of the lobby and graphically illustrate [[commerce]] throughout the world, including the countries of origin for items sold in the building.<ref name="Emporis"/> 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 [[Italy]], [[Venice, Italy|Venetian]] [[glassware]] 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.<ref name="Mural">{{cite web| url=http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/mural.html| access-date=2007-07-19| title=Marchitecture Murals| publisher=merchandisemart.com| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071022100533/http://www.merchandisemart.com/marchitecture/mural.html| archive-date=2007-10-22| url-status=dead}}</ref>

"To immortalize outstanding American merchants", Joseph Kennedy in 1953 commissioned eight bronze [[Bust (sculpture)|busts]], four times life size, which would come to be known as the Merchandise Mart Hall of Fame:<ref name="OfficeRetail"/><ref name="Lot"/>
* retail magnates [[Frank Winfield Woolworth]], [[Marshall Field]] and [[Aaron Montgomery Ward]]
* [[Julius Rosenwald]] and [[Robert Elkington Wood]] of [[Sears, Roebuck and Company]] fame
* advertiser [[John Wanamaker]], merchandiser [[Edward Albert Filene]], and [[The Great Atlantic and Pacific Tea Company|A&P]] grocery chain founder [[George Huntington Hartford]].
All of the busts rest on white pedestals lining the Chicago River and face north toward the gold front door of the building.

===="Art on theMART"====
"Art on theMART" is a digital art display begun in 2018.   It provides a 2.5 acre "canvas" (2 football fields) for digital artwork projected on the Chicago River facing facade of the Merchandise Mart. It featured works from the nonprofit organization [[Arts of Life]]. The project is intended to be the largest digital art projection in the world and is scheduled to occur over thirty years with annual showings initially between March and December.  In 2019 it was expanded from five nights a week to every night.  Displays begin 15 minutes after sunset and loop for two hours.  Obscura Digital studio initially installed 34 projectors to allow the rotating roster of artists to display their work.<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-art-mart-chicago-spring-0222-story.html |title=Art on theMart announces new videos for spring — part of Year of Chicago Theatre |last=Johnson |first=Steve |date=February 22, 2019 |access-date=2019-04-22 |publisher=Chicago Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/museums/ct-ent-art-on-themart-launch-1001-story.html |title=Art on theMart kicks off with a really big-screen question: Is Chicago ready for video art? |last=Johnson |first=Steve |date=October 1, 2018 |access-date=2019-04-22 |publisher=Chicago Tribune}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |url=https://www.broadwayworld.com/chicago/article/Art-On-TheMart-To-Project-Seven-Nights-A-Week-Starting-May-13-20190417 |title=Art On TheMart To Project Seven Nights A Week Starting May 13 |last=BWW News Desk |date=April 17, 2019 |access-date=2019-04-22 |publisher=Broadway World}}</ref>

===Surroundings===
[[Image:Behind the Merch Mart.jpg|thumb|Plaza in front of the Merchandise Mart|alt=]]

Dominating the skyline in the south end of the [[Near North Side, Chicago|Near North Side]], the Mart lies just south of the gallery district on the southern terminus of Franklin Street.  Eateries and nightclubs abound on [[Hubbard Street]] one block to the north.  The Kinzie Chophouse, popular with [[politicians]] and celebrities, stands on the northwest corner of Wells and Kinzie, across from the Merchandise Mart. The [[Chicago Varnish Company Building]], listed on the [[National Register of Historic Places]] and now housing [[Harry Caray]]'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 Psychology]] and DIRTT Environmental Solutions.

The Mart is not rectangular in shape, having been constructed after the [[bascule bridge]]s over the Chicago River were completed. The control house for the double decked [[Wells Street Bridge (Chicago)|Wells Street Bridge]] stands between the lower level and the southeast corner of the building.  The [[Franklin 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.

===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. [[Tradition]] dictates annual changes to green in mid-March for [[St. Patrick's Day]] and orange during the fall months around [[Halloween]] and [[Thanksgiving]].  Prominent events have found the [[behemoth]] lit in pink for [[Cancer]] Awareness Month.  To note the [[2006 Chicago Bears season]], highlighted by reaching [[Super Bowl XLI]], the building was lit with team colors, orange floodlights for the setbacks and blue floodlights for the towers.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://urbanmatter.com/merchandise-mart-projection-screen/|title=A Giant Projection Screen Will Light Up the Merchandise Mart {{!}} UrbanMatter|date=2017-03-13|work=UrbanMatter|access-date=2017-03-16|language=en-US}}</ref>

Red and green lights are used during the [[Christmas]] season. During the [[Art Chicago]] 2008 the American artist [[Jenny Holzer]] illuminated the facade of the building with a poem by the Polish winner of the [[Nobel Prize]] in Literature [[Wisława Szymborska]]. In 2018, a large projection screen began displaying images and videos across the structure's riverfront side.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://urbanmatter.com/merchandise-mart-projection-screen/|title=A Giant Projection Screen Will Light Up the Merchandise Mart {{!}} UrbanMatter|date=2017-03-13|work=UrbanMatter|access-date=2017-03-16|language=en-US}}</ref>

Nighttime lighting on the Mart typically matches the colors of [[Antenna (radio)|antenna]] lighting on the [[Sears Tower]] and [[John Hancock Center]], as well as the colors used on the top floors of the [[Aon Center (Chicago)|Aon Center]].

===Green building practices===
Under [[Christopher G. Kennedy|Chris Kennedy]]'s leadership of the Mart, it was the largest building in the world to be awarded LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Certification in 2007<ref name="greenprogress.com">[http://www.greenprogress.com/green_building_article.php?id=1408/ World's Largest LEED-EB Certified Building<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> from the [[United States Green Building Council]] (USGBC). The Mart has long been implementing sustainable practices. The Mart Center began operating a thermal storage facility in 1986, capable of building {{convert|2000000|lb}} of ice per night, cooling 71 buildings in the surrounding neighborhood, and saving $200,000 in electricity costs in the first year.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}

In 1990, the Mart Center began using [[Green Seal]]-approved green cleaning products and the next year implemented a recycling program, which today includes all forms of paper products, glass, light bulbs, batteries, aluminum and construction materials. In 1996, the Mart Center became one of the first major property owners in downtown Chicago to enter into an agreement with the district cooling system now known as Thermal Chicago, thus contributing to the national effort to reduce the discharge of ozone-damaging [[Chlorofluorocarbon|CFC]]s.

In 2006, MMPI joined Clean Air Counts, a voluntary initiative to reduce smog forming pollutants and energy consumption in the Chicago area. Part of the campaign strategies included utilizing only low VOC cleaning products, paints and building materials, as well as energy efficient lighting and alternative workplace transportation options. To date, the Mart Center has reduced pollution by {{convert|264018|lb}}, the largest reduction by a commercial building.{{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}

In 2006, the Mart Center recycling program saved over 13,000 trees and recycled nearly 11 million pounds of waste, while water conservation efforts saved {{convert|5.5|e6USgal|m3}} of water. More than eight percent of the estimated 10,000 people working at the Mart walk, bike or take public transportation; to encourage greener methods of transportation, the Mart expanded bicycle storage capacity to more than 200.  In 2009, MMPI converted all stationery to a one hundred percent post-consumer recycled product. {{Citation needed|date=July 2009}}

The Mart has nine LEED-certified showrooms, with five others on their way to LEED certification.

==Uses==

===Commerce===
[[Image:A Display inside the Merchandise Mart.jpg|thumb|right|A display inside the Merchandise Mart]]
Wholesale showrooms occupied 50% of the usable floor space as of 2007.<ref name="Marchitecture"/> In 1983, 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.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Keates |first=Nancy |date=2007-06-23 |title=Shopping Like the Sultan of Brunei For Countertops and Home Decor |language=en-US |work=Wall Street Journal |url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB121336701778971787 |access-date=2023-09-04 |issn=0099-9660}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last1=Sneed |first1=Michael |author-link=Michael Sneed |last2=Lavin |first2=Cheryl |date=19 December 1983 |title=It's just too, too... |volume=Section 1 |page=28 |work=[[Chicago Tribune]]}}</ref> 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 Architects]]. Catering to suppliers, on-site firms specialize in providing professional services for market research projects.

In 1931, Marshall Field and Company lost $5 million, followed by $8 million in 1932.<ref name="MarshallField"/>  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, [[Skaggs family|L. L. Skaggs]] formed a partnership with three other men and named the partnership the Owners Service Company, hence [[Osco Drug|Osco]]. The headquarters moved from Waterloo, Iowa, to the Merchandise Mart.

A retail shopping area, named The Shops at the Mart, opened in 1991 and includes apparel shops, beauty services, bookstores and [[newsagent|newsstands]], financial services, telecommunication services, travel services, specialty food and [[wine]] stores, photo services, a [[dry cleaning|dry cleaner]], [[shoe polish|shoe shine]] stand, and a [[food court]].  A [[United States Postal Service|U.S. Post Office]] is located on the first floor and a [[FedEx]] location is on the second floor.<ref name="Metromix"/>

The Apparel Center houses the 521-room Holiday Inn Chicago Mart Plaza River North hotel, the offices of the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' and the Chicago campus of the [[Illinois Institute of Art – Chicago]], as well as the Chicago office of the [[Ogilvy & Mather]] advertising agency. [[GoHealth]] occupies {{convert|93000|sqft|m2|-2}} on the 5th floor of Merchandise Mart, the [[Potbelly Sandwich Works]]' corporate offices are located in the tower.<ref name="newsletter">{{cite web|url=http://www.mmart.com/officeretail/tenant_newsletter.html |title=Tenant Newsletter |date=2007-08-08 |publisher=Merchandise Mart Properties, Inc. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814015036/http://www.mmart.com/officeretail/tenant_newsletter.html |archive-date=2007-08-14 }}</ref> [[Motorola Mobility]] moved its headquarters to the Merchandise Mart in 2014.<ref>{{cite news| work=[[The Wall Street Journal]]| url=https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304281004579222442197428538| title=Companies Say Goodbye to the 'Burbs| last=Weber| first=Lauren| date=December 3, 2013| access-date=February 17, 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

===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.<ref name="NeoCon">{{cite web| title=Show Info| url=http://www.neocon.com/about/show-info| publisher=NeoCon| access-date=February 17, 2016}}</ref>

Since 2006 the Merchandise Mart has hosted the [[Art Chicago]] international art fair.<ref>{{cite news| first=Misha| last=Davenport| title=On With the Art Show -- At the Mart| work=[[Chicago Sun-Times]]| date=April 27, 2006| page=8| url=https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1625480.html| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505054624/https://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1625480.html| url-status=dead| archive-date=May 5, 2016|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>CC</ref>

===Mass media===

====Radio====
Before the location even opened, [[NBC]] announced plans to build studios in the Mart. When opened on October 20, 1930, the nineteenth-floor location covered {{convert|65000|sqft|m2|-2}} and supported a variety of live broadcasts including those requiring orchestras. [[WENR (Chicago)|WENR]] and [[WMAQ (AM)|WMAQ]] broadcast from the location.  Expanded in 1935, with office space in the previously unoccupied tower, the additional {{convert|11500|sqft|m2|-1}} provided room for an [[Organ (music)|organ]] 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' Andy]]''.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/studiof.html |title=WMAQ Studio F| publisher=Samuels| access-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref><ref name="Tour">{{cite web| url=http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/trguide.html |title=A Tour of the 1930 NBC Studios|publisher=Samuels| access-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.richsamuels.com/nbcmm/birdseye.html| title=Birdseye, cut-away view of the NBC studios| publisher=Samuels| access-date=25 April 2010}}</ref>

[[Hugh Downs]] contributed to the [[Burr Tillstrom]] children's show ''[[Kukla, Fran and Ollie]]'' from the NBC studios after the network picked up the program from [[WBBM-TV|WBKB]]. The ''[[Captain Midnight]]'' radio program was broadcast from the Mart from 1942 until 1945.

WMAQ and WMAQ-TV moved to the [[NBC Tower]] in 1989, though NBC sold WMAQ radio to [[Westinghouse Broadcasting]] two years earlier). WMAQ's former sister FM station, now [[WKQX]], stayed at the Merchandise Mart until 2016, when it moved to NBC Tower itself.<ref name="newhome">"[http://www.101wkqx.com/2016/08/04/tour-of-our-new-home/ Tour Of Our New Home!]", WKQX. August 4, 2016. Retrieved February 10, 2019.</ref><ref name="CumulusMoving">[[Robert Feder|Feder, Robert]]. "[http://www.robertfeder.com/2015/11/18/cumulus-media-moving-to-nbc-tower/ Cumulus Media moving to NBC Tower]", RobertFeder.com. November 18, 2015. Retrieved February 10, 2019.</ref> The nineteenth floor is currently vacant.

====Television====
On January 7, 1949, [[NBC]] station WNBQ commercially debuted its [[television]] 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-TV]], and was described by Broadcasting-Telecasting magazine as "a daring breakthrough the black-and-white curtain."  With Mayor [[Richard J. Daley]] looking on, NBC President [[David Sarnoff]] operated the controls as Channel 5 became the world's first [[Color television|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 $1.25 million with advertising costing $175,000. On "C-Day", three [[skywriting]] planes flew over the city, trailing streams of red, green and blue smoke.

WMAQ-TV first installed color equipment in late 1953, with the [[Tournament of Roses Parade]] of 1954 as the first major broadcast.  Introduced in March 1955, the first local color program was [[John Ott]]'s "How Does Your Garden Grow?", featuring the use of [[time-lapse]] 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.

Local [[regional sports network]] [[NBC Sports Chicago]] has their control room, and broadcasts their live studio programming from the Apparel Center expansion; the studios had been home to previous RSNs [[FSN Chicago]] and [[SportsChannel|SportsChannel Chicago]].<ref name="newsletter"/>

==Chicago 'L'==
{{See|Merchandise Mart station}}

[[Image:Merchandise Mart CTA 060805.jpg|right|thumb|The [[Merchandise Mart (CTA station)|Merchandise Mart 'L' station]]]]
Built in under four months and opened on December 5, 1930, the [[Merchandise Mart station|Merchandise Mart]] elevated train station served the [[North Side Main Line (CTA)|Main Line of the North Side Division]].<ref name="ChicagoL"/>  The station is now noted for being one of two commercial locations to have its own station on the [[Chicago Transit Authority]]'s (CTA) [[Chicago 'L'|'L' system]].<ref name="Marchitecture"/> The station is now served by the [[Brown Line (Chicago Transit Authority)|Brown]] and [[Purple Line (Chicago Transit Authority)|Purple Lines]].<ref name="ChicagoL"/>

The station complies with the [[Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990]]. The [[turnstile]]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.<ref name="Emporis"/><ref name="ChicagoL"/>

==Cultural involvement==
{{Prose|section|date=August 2016}}
* Owing to the expanding postwar economy and family, the owners began offering tours in 1948. Architecture and design interest groups continue to offer scheduled tours.<ref name="Metromix">{{cite news|url=http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/events/31950,0,6253745.location?Merchandise%20Mart|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070713073919/http://metromix.chicagotribune.com/events/31950,0,6253745.location?Merchandise+Mart|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 13, 2007|title=Merchandise Mart in Chicago|date=2007-07-20|publisher=chicagotribune.com}}</ref>
* The Mart hosts the annual Art Chicago activities.<ref name="ArtChicago">{{cite web| url=http://www.merchandisemart.com/artchicago/showInfo.html| title=Art Chicago 2007| date=2007-07-19| publisher=merchandisemart.com| access-date=2007-07-20| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071026021440/http://www.merchandisemart.com/artchicago/showInfo.html| archive-date=2007-10-26| url-status=dead}}</ref>
* [[Chicago Marathon]] routes have taken runners past the structure, typically on Wells Street.

===In popular culture===
* The 1948 film ''[[Call Northside 777]]'' was made in Illinois and the Mart is seen from newspaper offices on Wacker Drive.<ref name="MoviePoster">{{cite web |url=http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/NewSite/INDEX/COUNTRIES/US/Illinois-movies.asp |title=Movies Made in Illinois |date=2007-07-10 |publisher=learnaboutmovieposters.com |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070512215536/http://www.learnaboutmovieposters.com/NewSite/INDEX/COUNTRIES/US/Illinois-movies.asp |archive-date=2007-05-12 }}</ref>
* The lobby appeared in the movie ''[[The Hudsucker Proxy]]'' as the interior of the Hudsucker Company headquarters.<ref name="Emporis"/><ref name="ChicagoBusinessNews">{{cite web| url=http://www.chicagobusiness.com/cgi-bin/mag/article.pl?article_id=23984| title=Filming at the intersection of culture and commerce| date=July 9, 2005| publisher=Crain's Chicago Business| first=Mark| last=Scheffler}}</ref>
* In 1956, the eight-minute short subject film ''The Merchandise Mart'' used the Mart's name and covered in detail the building's interior and operations.<ref name="MoviePoster"/>
* When his [[Late Night with David Letterman|late-night NBC talk show]] was performed in Chicago during the first week of May 1989, [[David Letterman]] called the Merchandise Mart Hall of Fame "the [[Pez]] Hall of Fame" because the combination of busts atop the tall vertical pedestals resembled the candy's dispensers.<ref>[https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1989-05-08-8904100863-story.html Kogan, Rick. "Letterman, City Hit It Off," ''Chicago Tribune'', Monday, May 8, 1989.] Retrieved August 26, 2020</ref>
* In the 1993 film ''[[The Fugitive (1993 film)|The Fugitive]]'', U.S. Marshals pinpoint the location of Dr. Richard Kimble when they hear a [[Chicago Transit Authority|CTA]] train conductor announce, "Next stop, Merchandise Mart" in the background of a recorded phone call.<ref name="ScriptORama">{{cite web| url=http://www.pages.drexel.edu/~ina22/splaylib/Screenplay-Fugitive.pdf| title=Script: The Fugitive - Dialogue Transcript| publisher=Script-o-rama| date=May 10, 1993}}</ref>
* In the 2012 novel [[Insurgent (novel)|''Insurgent'']] by Veronica Roth, the Mart was depicted as the headquarters of the Candor faction, where it is named the ‘Merciless Mart’ due to Candor’s proclivity for interrogation.

== See also ==
* [[Art Deco]]
* [[Chicago architecture]]
* [[Fulton House, Chicago]]
* [[Interior design]]
* [[List of largest buildings in the world]]
* [[New York Merchandise Mart]]

== References ==
{{Reflist|30em}}

== Further reading ==
* Chappell, Sally A. Kitt, ''Architecture and Planning of Graham, Anderson, Probst and White, 1912–1936:Transforming Tradition'', The University of Chicago Press, Chicago, 1992
* Roth, Veronica, ''Insurgent'', HarperCollins, New York, NY 2012

== External links ==
{{commons category|Merchandise Mart}}
* {{official website|http://www.themart.com}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20111017035527/http://articles.chicagotribune.com/keyword/merchandise-mart archive] at the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''
* [http://vimeo.com/album/169802 Video Merchandise Mart Properties Tenant Profiles]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070211063524/http://www.designtrade.net/publications_r.php?pubID=MM&pubName=Merchandise_Mart The Merchandise Mart Buyers Guide]

{{Kennedy family}}

[[Category:1930 establishments in Illinois]]
[[Category:Art Deco architecture in Illinois]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in 1930]]
[[Category:Kennedy family|*]]
[[Category:Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design basic silver certified buildings]]
[[Category:Skyscrapers in Chicago]]
[[Category:Wholesale markets]]