The Mart Division owns and operates important design centers in Chicago, Washington DC, New York and Los Angeles, and this year extended its franchise with the acquisition of the Boston Design Center.

 

Chris Kennedy, President—Merchandise Mart Division, runs this business as if it were his own family's (which it was until 1998), producing first class EBITDA increases, same store increases and high, high occupancies. Here’s the history:





The Mart Division consistently achieves mid-90's percent occupancies in Chicago (and all over, for that matter), a full 10–15 percentage points better than the market. Kudos to Chris.