Ten Design Details: The Sullivan Center And Its Famous Cast-Iron Façade
Most Target stores are boxy ho-hum affairs alongside similar boring suburban buildings. Not so the store at 1 South State Street in the Loop. This is a building with character, history and unique design elements. But then, you’d expect no less from a structure designed by Adler and Sullivan, and touch-ups by John Vinci. During the Chicago Architecture Biennial opening weekend, Preservation Chicago offered a unique look at the former...
A Not-So-Brief History of a Chicago Landmark: The Sullivan Center
In the late 1890s, Louis H. Sullivan received a commission that would prove to be the culmination of all he had done, the last large commission of his life, and a building like none other he had created. Passing by today’s bright CityTarget store (1 South State Street), all that this building is and was and its significance is not immediately obvious. Sullivan succeeded in creating a dramatically animated structure that merged...
Slice of Life: Train Target
One of the new Pink Line trains rumbles down South Wabash Avenue past the second-floor display windows of the new CityTarget (1 South State Street) at the Sullivan...
CityTarget Chicago Now Open In The Loop – Four Days Early!
For months now, Target has been promising us that the new CityTarget Chicago in the Loop would open on Sunday, July 29th. The Minneapolis company even plastered it on billboards and signs all around downtown. But as if to say “Pysch!” to the entire downtown community, Target opened its doors at the Sullivan Center (33 South State Street) this morning. And there was much rejoicing. Target did a great job of sliding a...
Countdown to CityTarget
For close to a year, people have been wondering what impact the stuffing of a miniature Target store into a portion of the venerable Sullivan Center (33 South State Street) would have on the building. As the store’s opening date approaches, we can see that it’s not that bad. There was a lot of concern in the neighborhood about Target’s renovation of the former Carson Pierie Scott space. Some of it justified, like...
CityTarget’s Holey Panels
There’s just a little under two months to go until the new CityTarget opens at the Sullivan Center (33 South State Street) in the Loop. When we first brought you the details of this retail installation in the former Carson Pirie Scott space we mentioned that there woulod be red decorative panels in some of the windows. The interesting thing about these panels is that they aren’t merely wood or plastic with a pattern on...
Status Update: Loop Target/CityTarget
One of our Loop spies e-mailed us pictures last night of progress on the new CityTarget at the Sullivan Center (33 South State Street). The downtown outlet of big box retailer Target will be the opposite of the downtown outlet of big box retailer Wal-Mart, which focuses almost entirely on food at its Wal-Mart Neighborhood Market at Presidential Towers (555 West Madison Street). Instead, CityTarget will carry mostly a selection of...
There’s Now a Wal-Mart Center in the West Loop
If you’ve been wondering about the status of the new Wal-Mart Express in Chicago’s West Loop, it looks like things are progressing. We’d originally heard that it would open in August, and with the month half way over, we’re starting to have our doubts. Peeks inside the construction zone show there’s a lot of work still to do. But there are also hopeful signs. Literally. Paper signs have been placed on...
Five Things to Know About the New Loop CityTarget
Following the announcement that Target is going to open a CityTarget (Not to be confused with SuperTarget, or Target Greatland, or any other Targets), here are some interesting details about the project: This is the first Target store inside a National Historic Landmark. Only about half of the 124,000 square foot store will be retail floor space. The rest will be stock rooms, offices, and such. It will be the first new CityTarget in...
Back on Target in Downtown Chicago
After months and months of speculation, rumor, and the occasional Sun-Times report, the good news is finally official: Target is going to open a store in the Sullivan Center (33 South State Street), and it will be called CityTarget. It was in August of 2006 that panicked Carson Pirie Scott workers started phoning Chicago media outlets with word that Carson’s was pulling its flagship store out of the Loop (it would retain a store...
