American Furniture Mart

American Furniture Mart

Built in 1924, the American Furniture Mart was a leader in home furnishings and innovative marketing in Chicago. Providing record square footage for the display of furniture manufactured by hundreds of factories from across the nation, the American Furniture Mart facilitated connections between producers, retailers, and consumers. By offering a space dedicated to the meeting of manufacturers, distributors, and clients, the American Furniture Mart bridged the gap between offer and demand that had arisen in an economy increasingly based on mass production.

Designed by architects George C. Nimmons (1865–1947), Max Dunning (1873–1945), and Henry Raeder (d. 1943), the American Furniture Mart building reached a height of seventeen stories and was celebrated as the largest building in world at the time its completion. (Consisting of two parts, the east end of the building was constructed in 1924 and the west end in 1926.) Strategically built on a prestigious lakefront lot in downtown Chicago, the American Furniture Mart at 666 Lake Shore Drive offered two million square feet of modern exhibition spaces enclosed in a Gothic-inspired shell. The American Furniture Mart was created exclusively for members of home furnishings businesses and prohibited the public from admission. Its grandiose scale and lavish ornamentation not only expressed the prominence of Chicago in the furniture industry, but also the centrality of Chicago within a national network of design and manufacturing. The sumptuous interiors of the Furniture Club of America attracted leaders in the furniture industry, and its restaurant provided members with a convenient place to hold business meetings. The American Exposition Palace, also located at 666 Lake Shore Drive, hosted fairs and expositions organized for wholesale buyers.

Chicago gradually experienced a downturn in its dominance in the furniture industry, in part due to internal competition, such as the completion of the Chicago Merchandise Mart in 1931. Furniture production also declined during World War II, when the United States government prioritized military needs and issued restrictions on the use of lumber by civilians. The activities of the American Furniture Mart ended in 1979. Since then, the building was converted into residential condominiums and offices. In 1988, it was renamed Lake Shore Place and issued a new address, 680 North Lake Shore Drive.

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