[3] Marshall Field's established numerous important business "firsts" in this building and in the series of previous elaborate decorative structures on this site for the last century and a half,[4] and it is regarded as one of the three most influential establishments in the nationwide development of the department store and in the commercial business economic history of the United States.

[5] After 1950, with the booming post-World War II economic/social climate with increasing suburban residential and commercial development, saw the construction of first "strip" shopping centers, followed by regional enclosed shopping malls along major thoroughfares and interstate highways such as the "Magnificent Mile" reduced the role of the "Loop"'s daily significance to many Chicagoans as downtown retail sales slipped and gradually additional business moved outward following first the streetcar lines and then the automobile.

[14] Eventually, there was an influx of stores from other parts of the country as the pace of commercial retailing merged, consolidating, and spreading first regionally then nationwide.

[15] On September 9, 2006, at the time of the stores merger and conversion, the name of the building was officially changed to "Macy's at State Street".

[16] Around this time of the conversion of Marshall Field's to Macy's the building was also the location of vociferous and outraged picketing and protesting by opponents of the merger/conversion and the growth in general of massive business mergers and economic consolidation across the country.

[5] In the early 1900s, annual sales topped $60 million,[23] and buying branches were located in New York City, London, Paris, Tokyo, Stockholm and Berlin.

[7] Marshall Field took over the operations of the store in 1881 and became the first merchant to post the price of the goods in plain sight, which eliminated the common practice of haggling and charging whatever the buyer would pay.

[4] On top of that, Field stood behind his product with his famous slogan that symbolized his willingness to refund the full price of all merchandise (a policy inherited from early mentor and partner Potter Palmer)[24] purchased in his store: Give the lady what she wants.

[10] Crafted by a group of 50 artisans over 18 months, the Tiffany ceiling is over 6,000 square feet (560 m2) and made up of 1.6 million pieces of iridescent glass.

The clock was installed after the southwest corner of the store had become a popular meeting place and people began leaving notes for one another on the Marshall Field's windows.

[3] An underground public concourse connects the basement to 25 East Washington Street, which formerly housed the Marshall Field's Men's Store.

[10] In an effort to quell opposition to the merger/ conversion, Macy's made a formal statement of its intent to continue the traditions of a 45-foot (13.716 m) Christmas tree, a seventh floor "Frango" viewing kitchen, and animated holiday window displays.

[4] The Rockwell painting shows a man perched atop a ladder and adjusting one of the Marshall Field's clock to correspond with his own pocket watch.