August 9, 2021

Today, our Top 100 Projects countdown shines a spotlight on the N. Shure & Co. Headquarters and Distribution Center, a 225,000-square-foot facility located at 500 N. Pulaski in Chicago.

In the late 50s, N. Shure was a leader in the catalog mail order trade. Their business was booming, so much so that Epstein was contracted to design and engineer a larger operations center. The warehouse and distribution program is housed on the first floor of this 2-story facility and featured economical, mechanized flow from receiving and storage to order assembly and shipping. The second floor housed N. Shure’s large office and sales staff as well as related operations.

This building also featured a product showroom, displaying a majority of the 25,000 items N. Shure carried in its vast catalog.

Additionally, N. Shure’s lobby was even more of a showroom, featuring walnut paneled and travertine marble walls combined with terrazzo flooring and stainless steel columns that gave off a rich but austere atmosphere. The lobby also had striated acoustic ceiling, combined incandescent and fluorescent lighting as well as a teak wood and marble screen.

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The facility was completed in 1956.

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N. Shure Co. opening day program

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