Shopping - Chicago 2005 - page 221

Resting at Crate & Barrel
Need a quick break during your shopping spree? The overstuffed couches
on the third and fourth floors of Crate & Barrel practically beg to be
tested out—and there are always as least a few weary shoppers slumped
against the piles of pillows. Go ahead and rest awhile; the store's staff
won't bug you. Make sure you stop by the terrace on the fourth floor for
a bird's-eye view of bustling Michigan Avenue and enjoy a moment of
contemplation before rejoining the hordes below.

Moments

clock, jewels, and tabletop accessories (if you want to get your hands on one of
the distinctive robin's-egg blue shopping bags without spending a fortune, the
$70 sterling-silver key chains are the least expensive items in the store).
A few doors south are Neiman Marcus, 737 N. Michigan Ave. ( & 312/
642-5900 ), and at 669 N. Michigan Ave. ( & 312/642-6363 ), the hugely pop-
ular Niketown, a multilevel complex that helped pioneer the concept of retail as
entertainment. Across the street, you'll probably see a line of people trailing out
from the Garrett Popcorn Shop, 670 N. Michigan Ave. ( & 312/944-2630 ), a
50-year-old landmark. Join the locals in line and pick up some caramel corn for
a quick sugar rush.
At the intersection of Michigan Avenue and Erie Street is the appropriately
barrel-shaped Crate & Barrel, 646 N. Michigan Ave. ( & 312/787-5900 ).
Crate & Barrel was started in Chicago, so this is the company's flagship location.
Countless varieties of glassware, dishes, cookware, and kitchen gadgets for every-
day use line the shelves. The top two floors are devoted to furniture.
Sharing the same address, at 645 N. Michigan Ave., are two big names in Ital-
ian fashion: shoemaker Salvatore Ferragamo ( & 312/397-0464 ), which also
sells men's and women's clothing; and Ermenegildo Zegna ( & 312/587-9660 ),
designer of finely tailored menswear. Continuing south, you'll find Burberry,
633 N. Michigan Ave. ( & 312/787-2500 ), where the classic beige plaid has
moved beyond trench coats to show up on chic purses, shoes, and bathing suits
(if you're looking for luxury souvenirs, check out the collection of baby clothes
and dog accessories).
Two shops are pulling younger, hipper shoppers into the renovated ground-
floor retail wing of the Chicago Marriott: the Virgin Megastore ( & 312/645-
9300 ), which, true to its name, has stockpiled a megacollection of CDs, videos,
DVDs, books, and interactive games; and Kenneth Cole New York ( & 312/
644-1163 ), offering a line of contemporary shoes for women and men, along with
men's sportswear and suits. Across the street, at 535 N. Michigan Ave., is La Perla
( & 312/494-0400 ), home of very trendy and very expensive Italian lingerie.
THE MAGNIFICENT MALLS
WATER TOWER PLACE Chicago's first—and still busiest—vertical mall is
Water Tower Place, a block-size, marble-sheathed building at 835 N. Michigan
Ave. ( & 312/440-3165 ), between East Pearson and East Chestnut streets. The
mall's seven floors contain about 100 stores that reportedly account for roughly
half of all the retail trade transacted along the Magnificent Mile. The mall also
houses a dozen different cafes and restaurants.
Water Tower was the first big indoor mall to open downtown (in 1975), and
20 years ago its glass elevators and shiny gold trim gave the place a glamorous