Marshall Field’s announces significant renovation of downtown Minneapolis store visualstore.com
Marshall Field’s, the Minneapolis-based division of The May Department Stores Co. (St. Louis), has announced plans to remodel its flagship store in downtown Minneapolis. The plans include a transformation of the interior throughout the store and a complete remodel on the first floor, including an expanded Louis Vuitton boutique.
The renovation is underway now and is expected to be complete by fall of 2006. It has started with the relocation of Marshall Field’s Optical from the fifth floor to a more visible and modern space on the first floor.
In the fall, the existing Louis Vuitton boutique will relocate from its current space on the first floor to a new, contemporary boutique more than four times its original size. The new 1700-square-foot boutique will be one of the largest Louis Vuitton boutiques in the Midwest and will feature an expanded assortment of leather goods, luggage and accessories. It is scheduled to open in late October 2005.
In addition, Barbara’s Bookstore, the largest independent purveyor of books in the Chicago market, will open at the Minneapolis store in the fall, occupying approximately 1500 square feet on the lower level. And Signoria di Firenze, maker of hand-embroidered Italian luxury linens, will expand its exiting space on the lower level to 350 square feet.
The company says the remodel is part of its overall strategy “to establish a clear point of differentiation by injecting newness into its assortments, creating excitement in its stores and making the shopping experience more convenient for its guests. Marshall Field’s continues to raise the bar in retail beginning with the dramatic reinvention of its State Street store in Chicago, and continuing with Marshall Field’s recently announced plans to open a new store in Bolingbrook, Ill., and significantly remodel and expand its store at the Twelve Oaks Mall in Novi, Mich.”
Maybe we can take this as a sign that Federated won't drop the Field's name...at least not for a few years...
ReplyDeleteI hope they won't drop the name, though the renovation could just as easily get a Macy's nameplate as Marshall Field's.
ReplyDeleteI don't know how to describe it, but Marshall Field's is truly something different than most department store chains. I hope that somebody at Federated sees this before they let it go away.
Aaacchh. Don't hold your breath. They left the Bon's giant moniker on the downtown store for exactly one year, as some sort of 'gesture of good will,' and then ceremoniously took it down right after christmas. I guess the Bon's traditional 7-story Christmas star was their reason for keeping the original namesake through the holidays. I think they auctioned off the letters. That Marshall Field logo is quite a lovely piece of history, though. It's really impressive that this store has lasted as long as it has.......
ReplyDeleteI would have loved a letter from The Bon.
ReplyDeleteDowntown department stores stuck around in the larger cities longer than they did in small towns, especially in the Midewst and Northeast.
Field's (and before that, Dayton's and Hudson's) picked great locations from the start and really kept the community involvement up. They earned their place in the lives of their customers.
I do believe I have that exact same shot of the store front in my camera phone from my last business trip to Minneapolis, as I was walking down the street attempting to hail a cab back to the airport. (I work REALLY close to that building...like across the street) I was shopping there on my lunch hour on another business trip and asked the Louis Vuitton salesgirl if I could see the LV pet carrier. It was so adorable I almost bought it, but realized it would not make it back on the plane as a carry-on and it was not worth the money to just have my cats get carsick in it (and they do that quite well!) That's cool they are remodeling the LV boutique...right now it is in kind of a darkened corner of the purse section. Louis will now have the opportunity to shine in his full glory!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to drop by on my next trip in September and check out the renovation progress....if I remember I'll even take some pictures.
Carrie: In the pre-May Company days, Marshall Field's would ship merchandise direct to your home for a small fee. I had it done a couple of times. I think they still do under May.
ReplyDeleteMaybe if you get back to the Field's in Minneapolis in September and are still jonesin' for the LV pet carrier (with a towel inside to catch your cats' little accidents of course) you'd be able to have them ship it for you.
I'd love to see more pictures of that store, pre- and post-remodel. The one I have is from Mitch's collection.