Marshall Field's
Marshall Field & Company traces its antecedents to a dry goods store opened at 137 Lake Street in Chicago, Illinois in 1852 by Potter Palmer, (1826–1902), eponymously named P. Palmer & Company. In 1856, 21-year-old Marshall Field (1834–1906) moved to the booming midwestern city of Chicago on the southwest shores of Lake Michigan from Pittsfield, Massachusetts and found work at the city's then-largest dry goods firm – Cooley, Wadsworth & Company. Just prior to the American Civil War, in 1860, Field and bookkeeper Levi Z. Leiter, (1834–1904), became junior partners in the firm, then known as Cooley, Farwell & Company. In 1864, the firm, then led by senior partner John V. Farwell, Sr., (1825–1908), was renamed Farwell, Field & Company. only for Field and Leiter to soon withdraw from the partnership with Farwell when presented with the opportunity of a lifetime.
Meridian Mall
On August 27, 1998, CBL & Associates Properties (now known as CBL Properties) acquired Meridian Mall. Immediately afterward, several new tenants joined the mall, including The Children's Place, Mrs. Fields, Braun's Fashions (now known as Christopher & Banks), and the first Ann Taylor and Old Navy stores in the Lansing area. Service Merchandise closed its Meridian Mall store in early 1999. A $20 million mall renovation began in 2000, which added new floor tiles, skylights, seating areas, and restrooms, along with a large number of new stores. One of the key tenants in this renovation plan was a two-story Jacobson's department store, which opened in early 2000 on the former site of the Service Merchandise store, and replaced an existing Jacobson's in downtown East Lansing. In addition, Bed Bath & Beyond built a store in the same wing, the food court was relocated to center court, and the Hudson's was expanded by . Shortly after receiving the expansion, Hudson's was renamed to Marshall Field's when parent company Target Corporation began consolidating the names of its department stores. The new food court opened in November 2000, with restaurants including A&W, Sbarro, Olga's Kitchen, Panda Express, and Arby's. The remaining restaurants from the old food court stayed until year's end, when that space was removed for Schuler Books & Music, replacing their previous location across the street. Galyan's, a sporting goods store based out of Indiana, opened next to the new food court in 2002. Coinciding with the addition of these stores, the mall also added Suncoast Motion Picture Company, Steve & Barry's, Hollister Co., and an AT&T Wireless store, while Bailey Banks & Biddle, MC Sports, and several locally-owned stores closed. The site occupied by Galyan's was originally to have been occupied by a new multiplex theater, but this was canceled due to concerns that major theater chains were overbuilding. Prior to the renovation, both of the existing theaters in the mall had closed: Meridian East 4 in December 1999, and Meridian West 4 in July 2000.