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Entries : Jewelers' Row
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Jewelers' Row

Matson & Co. Jewelry Store, 1873
Jewelers' Row is centered at Madison and Wabash Streets in the Loop. In 1912 the Mallers Building at 5 S. Wabash began to house jewelry manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. By World War II, the most important Chicago firms, like Sherman Tucker and M. Y. Finkelman, had located there. Finkelman's son Marshall brought international fame to the Chicago jewelry trade in international gem markets and opened the Jewelers' Mall in the late 1980s at 21 N. Wabash. In the last two decades of the twentieth century, jewelers from Mexico, South America, and Southeast Asia brought new ethnic trends to Jewelers' Row. In 2002, plans to convert the 5 S. Wabash building into condominiums forced many jewelers to find new locations away from Jewelers' Row.

Eli Rubin

Bibliography
“All That Glitters Is at 5 South.” Chicago Tribune, October 16, 1995.
“Jewelers' Row.” Chicago Tribune, October 14, 1990.
“Mayor Leads Diamond Hunt.” Chicago Tribune, October 30, 1985.

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