I learned late yesterday that the name of the Sears Tower, which is among the world’s tallest buildings and is on Route 66 in Chicago, would be changed to the Willis Tower after the British-based Willis Group Holdings acquired naming rights.
The first thing I thought was: “Chicagoans aren’t going to cotton to this.”
Apparently a report in the Chicago Tribune agrees:
What’s far less certain is whether loyal Chicagoans, as well as tourists, will allow the “Willis Tower” name to stick. […]
Many people, including hundreds chiming in online, appeared dead-set against embracing Sears Tower as anything different, despite the fact that the retailer it was named for left for the suburbs 17 years ago.
“I think it’s terrible,” said Jen King, 20, of Bartlett. “It’s been the Sears Tower forever.”
“It’s just wrong,” said her friend Audrey Joseph, 22, of St. Louis, shaking her head.
The chairman and CEO for the Willis Group expressed shock and then whined that the renaming has been received so poorly. Which made me incredulously exclaim “Duh!” at his cluelessness.
The Trib does a good job explaining why folks in the Windy City are resisting the renaming:
But in Chicago, say consumers and branding experts, it’s just not that simple, because the city’s attachment to the building is far more complex than recognizing its economic contribution. This is a city with a deep appreciation of tradition and a healthy ego, where some Chicagoans still mourn the switch from Marshall Field‘s to Macy’s.
“It’s our strong Midwestern values,” said D. Joel Whalen, an assistant professor of marketing at DePaul University. “We know one of the hallmarks of quality is constancy, and change is not always good. We’re friendly to everyone but we don’t make friends quickly. It takes years to make a friend. You’re from out of town and we don’t know who you are.”
I don’t have a big problem with naming rights for under-construction buildings that essentially don’t even have an identity yet. But anyone who thinks he or she can simply rename a bona fide icon — one that’s been a source of pride for more than 35 years in a town described as the “City of Big Shoulders” — isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
Here’s my prediction: The vast majority of Chicagoans are going to still call it the Sears Tower. And others, if they call it the Willis Tower, will put a place a profane word or two in front of it.
And, after a few years, the building will be half-apologetically reverted back to its original name.
Just got some photos last weekend of the Route 66 begin and end signs in Chicago with the Sears Tower soon-to-be-Willis Tower in the background (posted on my blog at https://savingroute66.com/blog/). Probably be a long time before people start calling the building by another name. With the current economy, it will probably be a much shorter time before the company that now owns the ‘Willis Tower’ goes out of business and they try to rename the building something else. In the end, it will probably go full circle and once again become the Sears Tower.
What I found truly surprising is that many people, including many shop owners located right on Route 66, don’t even realize that the Mother Road, the most famous highway in the world, runs right in front of their businesses.
Having lived near the Windy City for years, I’m not surprised by Chicagoans’ ignorance or disinterest in the Mother Road.
I find that the larger the city and the subsequent more numerous attractions, the more that Route 66 gets the short end of the stick. There are a few exceptions, such as Albuquerque. But, in general, this rule applies. That’s why the heart of Route 66 beats strongest in small towns.
Ha ha! I just saw this story this morning, and had the same reaction as you. “No one in Chicago is going to call it Willis Tower.” Heck, I don’t think I’LL call it the Willis Tower. Not after this many years of being the Sears Tower. That is its identity.
Let’s see, now. What could have been done to make the change go over better?
I know! How about renaming it the “Sears-Willis Tower!” Ya know, sorta like the “Skirvin-Hilton” here in Oklahoma City!
I am working hard here in Chicago to change that “disinterest” in Route 66. However, I do not believe that the change in name of the Sears Tower will end up being all that big of a deal. (This coming from someone who lives about 1/4 mile west of the building, living right here on Route 66). A little-known fact is that the name of a commercial building in Chicago is usually a function of the wishes of the building’s anchor tenant. This has been true since 1873, at least. Examples include the building at the southwest corner of Jackson and Michigan (original starting point of 66). It has been named the S.W. Straus Building, the Continental Insurance Company Building, the CNA Building, the Brittanica Center, and now Metropolitan Tower. The old Amoco Building is now known as the AON Center.
I have no problem with this re-name, since Sears moved out of the building in large part in the 1980s, and completely in the 1990s. They built it, then abandoned it. Due to their abandonment, if was less than 50 percent occupied for many years. Sears has had nothing to do with this building for at least 15 years.
Call the Sears Tower whatever you want … but God help anybody who messes with Wrigley Field.