Field's Says, 'Come Set Up Shop'

Marshall Field's, the department store division of Target Corp. (Minneapolis), has reportedly offered a good deal of the real estate in its Chicago flagship store to vendors and boutique operators. And the early returns, according to Crain's Chicago Business, are unenthusiastic.

Although Field's won't provide details, a spokesperson told Crain's that the new boutiques would resemble the shops now featured in many department stores. But Field's is said to want other retailers, not more designer shops like Ralph Lauren or Calvin Klein.

But Crain's reported that local boutique operators aren't interested in occupying back corners of the large State Street store. And the prominent locations they'd prefer are likely to be reserved by Field's for its own merchandise. “I would want to make sure we had good visibility,” Gina Kulbieda, owner of the local Jolie Joli clothing store, told Crain's. “I would not want to be up in the rafters.”

Earlier this year, Field's announced concept shop agreements with a toy store, Creative Kidstuff (Minneapolis), and a maternity clothing retailer, Mothers Work (Philadelphia).

Creative Kidstuff recently opened a 1000-square-foot hard-walled shop on the fifth floor of the State Street store. At 12 other Field's stores, Creative Kidstuff has 200-to-580-square-foot shops with their own fixtures and counters.

Mothers Work, which has been operating a designer shop in the State Street store for several years, recently announced plans to open them in other Field's stores.

And Field's renovated first-floor cosmetics department, to be unveiled later this month, will feature a Chanel shop and two vendor boutiques new to Marshall Field's — a makeup line called Nars and the Qiora skin care line, both operated by Shiseido Cosmetics Ltd. of Japan.