The mallification of Michigan Avenue-You call this magnificent?

Many of the country's finest shopping districts are personable places, with sidewalk cafes adjacent to exclusive boutiques which are next to markets and locally-owned businesses. Boston's Newbury Street comes to mind, so too does SoHo in New York City. Michigan Avenue once may have resembled Newbury Street, but not now. In place of smaller, Parisian-style buildings are mall stores ripped directly from the mall - same storefront design and all! Instead of storefronts tailored to buildings, here are buildings tailored to storefronts. Among the worst offenders are the Pottery Barn store, which differs little from its Woodfield location, and the Disney Store, which garishly attempts to mimic Frank Lloyd Wright.

The terrible thing too about the Pottery Barn store is that it, the Polo Store, and Tiffany are merely a fake front for the larger Mandarin Hotel, which while prestigious, has a mall at its most prominent spot. It would have been so much better for the ground level space to resemble that of the Drake or the Westin further down Michigan Avenue. Escada has tried for years to sublet its prominent storefront on the Avenue. I can see why, for the design looks cheap.

I have included the Crate & Barrel store here because it is everything the other stores are not. The building is wondrous, and still remains up-to-date all these years later. Most importantly, it is a unique design, tailored well to Michigan Avenue. Timeless, and of a human scale, this building stands the test of time. The other buildings will not last their tenants' demise - nor should they.