Attraction 21 / 34
Quick Info
Location
222 Merchandise Mart Plaza
Subway
Merchandise Mart (brown, purple)
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Merchandise Mart

Merchandise Mart, an imposing building at the north bank of the Chicago river between Wells and Orleans street, was built in 1931.
Merchandise Mart, Chicago
Merchandise Mart
Largest Building in the World
At that time, when it was constructed by Marshall Field and Company to replace H.H. Ricardson's Marshall Field Wholesale store, it was the building with the largest floor area in the world.
That title was taken in 1941 by the Pentagon in Washington, DC, but the Merchandise Mart is still an immense office building with 13.6 km of corridors; it is still the largest commercial building in the world with 25 floors high and two city blocks long.

Merchant's Hall of Fame
Merchant's Hall of Fame near the Merchandise Mart in Chicago
Merchant's Hall of Fame
Just outside the Merchandise, along the riverside, stand a series of eight pillars with large busts on top, resembling a series of Pez dispensers. This is the Merchant's Hall of fame and each of the bronze busts represent a famous retailer such as Frank Woolworth and Marshall Field.

The Hall of Fame was created in 1953 by Joseph P. Kennedy, at the time the owner of the Merchandise Mart. His goal was to "immortalize outstanding American merchants".

Renovation
Merchandise Mart
The complex was renovated between 1986 and 1991 and now contains a shopping mall on the first two floors. The rest of the building contains showrooms where design professionals choose home and office furnishings.

Guided tours of the Merchandise Mart are available; for info see their website.

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