Even thought Sears Tower has become Willis Tower almost 2 years ago, it seems that Chicagoans and tourists aside have a hard time coping with the new name.
Gwen Ritter, Chief-Administration Officer of Deutsche Bank in Chicago said, “It will be a log process until both city and the tourists will embrace the name.”
On July 16, 2009 Sears Tower had officially became Willis Tower. Willis Group Holdings, an England-base insurance brokerage company with no recognition in Chicago or in America for that matter, has won the rights for renaming the tower in exchange for leasing 140,000 square-feet of the famous building.
“Nobody knows who Willis is, but they know who Sears is. We are still going to call it Sears Tower. We just did today,” Robbie and Erick, residents of Chicago said.
The building has been known as the Sears Tower since its completion in 1973, named after Sears, Roebuck and Company, but even when Sears sold the building in 1994 the name remained. It is uncertain if the name will really stick. After all, some White Sox fans still refer to their team’s home as Comiskey Park, not the corporately sponsored U.S. Cellular Field.
“I don’t like the name change, it’s just corporation. I am going to call it Sears Tower forever, just as I will call it Comiskey Park, said Daniel Burke, student at DePaul University in Chicago. He is also nostalgic about the name change saying that “I grow up here and it was always Sears Tower and now is the Willis Tower and it just sounds weird to me.”
Consumers and branding experts say that in Chicago changing the name of such an landmark it’s not that simple, because the people’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.
Sears Tower hasn’t just been the tallest building in the world, or the most famous building in Chicago, but it has become a monument due to historical importance, people’s interest, age, size and functionality. Changing the name of a monument is changing its history and that of the people who it serves.
What will happen when in 2024, the name rights will be up for sale again? The possibility that the name will be changed again stands, and the skyscraper will be know as the building previously known as Willis Tower, previously known as Sears Tower. Sears