When Marshall Field's Is No More

For more than 150 years Marshall Field's has been a must-visit shopping destination in Chicago. But some very big changes are coming for the landmark department store. And many residents of the Windy City are not happy about it.

"Ask any Chicagoan. Ask Mayor Daley. Marshall Field's is Chicago," one man told The Early Show co-anchor Harry Smith.

Chicagoans have been shopping in Marshall Field's since 1852. But starting next year, Field's parent company is changing the names of all of the Field's stores across the Midwest to Macy's.

"Macy's is so East Coast, but Marshall Field's is Chicago," said one disappointed woman.

However, the name change would not stop two shoppers from coming back. "We do like to shop!" one of them said.

It's a little difficult to fathom Chicago without Marshall Field's. It's like changing the name of the Cubs or the Bears. Would you change the name of the world champion White Sox? Would you?

"People from all over the world have Marshall Field on State Street. Not Macy's," said one woman. "Macy's stays in New York."

So it is with some sadness that folks will come for lunch under the giant Christmas tree in the fabled Walnut Room. They'll buy the famous Frango mints for Aunt Betty in Bloomington. So are they going to change Frango? Are they going to change the name? Will it all be the same when Marshall Field's is Macy's?

Mayor Richard M. Daley believes the concept of Marshall Field's and what it means to Chicago will be respected.

"I think Macy's is a great store, a great business like anything else," he said. "Macy's is well known in New York and San Francisco and throughout the country. So we welcome them there. They've recommitted themselves to the improvement of the store and the quality of the products."

It's all about business in Chicago. This a city that works, thanks in large part to Mayor Daley's tenure — 16 years in office. Asked what he thinks is his most important accomplishment, he said: "When you're a mayor this long, you have issues dealing with corruption, waste or anything else. You face those issues, you deal with those issues, and you move on. Education is the key. What we've done is the restoration of public housing, rebuilding the souls of people. You see what's happening outside of Paris. Those high rises are not for people to live in and basically raise a family.

"We tore down the high rises. Rebuilding the souls of people means they need alcohol, drug abuse, early childhood education, job training, jobs. But the key in America, of any American city, is education. Most people move out of American cities because of the lack of public schools. That's why we restored confidence in every school in Chicago."

As for his legacy, he said: "You don't look at legacies. People who start looking at legacies forget to make decisions. They don't think like the American public wants, like the citizens want."

And he noted what the public wants is "a city well managed, dealing with education and housing and economic development and fairness. People start thinking of legacies, they should retire."