The Shops of Field's

Marshall Field's, the department store division of Target Corp. (Minneapolis), has announced that upscale men's clothier Thomas Pink has opened a shop inside Field's State Street location. This marks the latest addition to a growing collection of independent boutiques operating within the department store's flagship.

Thomas Pink, a British designer known for luxury shirts and ties for men, occupies some 1400 square feet of Field's first floor men's department, selling traditional apparel, boxers and accessories like cufflinks. It's Thomas Pink's ninth location in the U.S. and its first in the Midwest.

Field's is in the process of adding several vendor shops to its State Street store this year. In the spring, toy-seller Creative Kidstuff and maternity clothing retailer Mothers Work announced they would open shops in the department store chain. In September, Chicago restaurateur Charlie Trotter opened a gourmet foods boutique at the State Street store.

A Field's spokesperson said the revamp will be a gradual process that also involves changes to the store's current departments. For instance, Field's renovated cosmetics department, unveiled in September, features a Chanel concept store; it also has two vendor boutiques new to Field's — a makeup line called Nars and the Qiora skin care line, both operated by Shiseido Cosmetics Ltd. of Japan.

“Field's has a great opportunity to be really creative and try out new ideas,” a Chicago retail consultant told Crain's Chicago Business. “This could be a terrific concept to attract the customers who don't shop at Field's anymore.”

Sales at Marshall Field's fell 6 percent in 2001, after a 4 percent drop the previous year. Earlier this year, second-quarter sales were down 2.5 percent.