When you step off the elevator onto the seventh floor of Macy’s State Street flagship, you enter a different world. Gone are the bright lights and merchandise displays of the retail floors below. Instead, you’re greeted by forest-green walls lined with sepia photographs and carefully preserved artifacts that tell the story of American retail’s most influential pioneer.
This isn’t just nostalgia for nostalgia’s sake. The Marshall Field’s heritage exhibit represents something more significant: a masterclass in how retail innovation shaped American culture, and why understanding that history matters for anyone building the future of commerce.
Finding Your Way to Retail History
The heritage exhibit lives on Macy’s seventh floor—a deliberate choice that transforms your visit into something special. You have to seek it out, riding the elevator past floors of contemporary merchandise to reach this preserved slice of retail history. It’s the same journey that Field’s executives and VIP customers once took, creating an immediate connection to the building’s prestigious past.
The moment you arrive, the shift is unmistakable. Museum-quality displays replace retail fixtures, and the atmosphere becomes contemplative rather than commercial. You’re no longer just shopping—you’re studying one of America’s greatest business success stories.
Seven Lessons in Retail Excellence
The exhibit unfolds across seven themed sections, each revealing different aspects of Marshall Field’s revolutionary approach to business:
Marshall Field: A Retail Legend traces the man behind the empire, from his humble beginnings on a Massachusetts farm to becoming Chicago’s most influential businessman. Field’s story demonstrates how vision, persistence, and customer obsession can transform entire industries.
State Street That Great Street shows how Field’s flagship didn’t just occupy Chicago’s premier shopping district—it created it. These displays reveal the symbiotic relationship between great retailers and great cities, showing how commerce shapes urban culture.
From Stockboys to Presidents documents Field’s commitment to employee development, showcasing how countless workers climbed from entry-level positions to executive leadership. This wasn’t just good business—it was social innovation that created pathways to prosperity for thousands of families.
Bon Appetit explores how Field’s pioneered retail dining through the famous Walnut Room and employee restaurants. By integrating hospitality with shopping, Field’s created destination experiences that went far beyond merchandise, establishing a template that today’s experiential retailers still follow.
Looking Good chronicles Field’s role in establishing Chicago as a fashion capital, importing European couture and setting American style trends. The displays show how thoughtful retail curation can influence entire cultures.
Field’s Firsts catalogs the innovations that define modern retail: the customer service philosophy “Give the lady what she wants,” the first bridal registry, personal shopping services, and revolutionary return policies. Every contemporary retail convenience traces back to experiments that started in this building.
Why This History Matters Today
Marshall Field’s innovations weren’t just lucky accidents—they emerged from systematic observation of customer behavior and bold responses to unmet needs. Field understood that successful retail isn’t about selling products; it’s about solving problems and creating experiences that customers value.
Consider the bridal registry, revolutionary when Field’s introduced it. By institutionalizing wedding gift-giving, Field’s created an entirely new revenue stream while solving a real social challenge. Modern retailers studying this approach can see how cultural programming generates lasting customer relationships that transcend single transactions.
The “Give the lady what she wants” philosophy represented a radical shift in merchant-customer dynamics. Instead of the traditional “take it or leave it” approach, Field’s positioned retail as service delivery. This customer-centric thinking created competitive advantages that lasted for decades and provides a framework for competing against today’s e-commerce giants through superior service.
Field’s integration of dining, entertainment, and cultural programming prefigures today’s experiential retail strategies. Long before anyone talked about “retailtainment,” Field’s understood that great stores must function as community gathering places, not just product distribution centers.
Learning from Retail’s Greatest Innovator
The seventh-floor heritage experience offers more than historical curiosity—it’s a strategic education in building businesses that matter. Field’s approach reveals how authentic customer relationships require genuine community commitment, not just marketing campaigns.
The exhibit shows how institutional excellence develops over time through consistent innovation and cultural contribution. Field’s didn’t become Chicago’s premier retailer overnight; it earned that position through decades of putting customer needs first and continuously improving the shopping experience.
For contemporary retailers facing digital disruption, Field’s story provides both inspiration and instruction. The same principles that helped Field’s survive economic depressions, fires, and changing consumer preferences can guide today’s retailers through their own transformational challenges.
A Destination Worth the Journey
The Marshall Field’s heritage exhibit transforms routine shopping into meaningful exploration. You’ll spend 15-30 minutes discovering how one man’s vision created the template for American retail excellence. The experience connects past innovation to present opportunity, showing how understanding retail history provides actionable insights for building tomorrow’s successful businesses.
This isn’t just a trip down memory lane—it’s strategic research into what makes retail truly great. Whether you’re a business owner, retail professional, or simply someone who appreciates American innovation, the seventh-floor heritage experience offers valuable perspectives on excellence, customer service, and the power of putting people first.
Visit Details: Take the elevator to the seventh floor of Macy’s State Street flagship (111 N State St, Chicago). The heritage exhibit is free and accessible during regular store hours. Plan 30 minutes to fully explore all seven themed sections and appreciate the depth of retail innovation documented throughout the installation.
