Department of department-store fandom

This NYT article today looks at Chicago “superfans” of the department store Marshall Field’s, who are upset over its “demise” since its corporate parent was bought by Federated Department Stores (best known as the owner of Macy’s).

The most fervent, and the most vocal, of the believers are determined to send Macy’s and its little red stars packing. The arrival of Macy’s, they say, wiped out a landmark store founded by a retail giant who was also a benefactor to many of the city’s cultural and educational institutions.

Fueled by a mix of nostalgia and civic pride, 60,000 or so people signed an online petition last year urging executives at Federated — which in 2005 bought out Marshall Field’s parent, the May Company — to keep the name Marshall Field’s for all the stores.

Some Field’s loyalists have printed T-shirts, sweatshirts, lapel stickers and bumper stickers reading “Boycott Macy’s” and “Forever Marshall Field’s.”

Cursory Googling indicates that this has been going on for a while, and I can’t quite tell whether it’s really a big deal or just a handful of noisy zealots. Either way, it’s always interesting to come across retail loyalty that extends quite this far. Clearly in this case, there’s a kind of regional issue going on, with Marshall Field apparently serving as an icon of Chicago. (And Macy’s representing the annoying New York City.) This site is pretty explicit about the landmarkiness of the store: “For over 150 years, Marshall Field’s defined Chicago as an international city.” That’s quite a claim! And remember they aren’t knocking down a building, so this isn’t about architecture. It’s about a retail brand. And about the “Chicago-style quality” the store had, according to this person, anyway.
Is there a more modern retail palace today that people will eventually feel that kind of attachment to? Will people in Minneapolis get emotional about the Mall of America some day?