Sears Tower
Since 1973, Chicago’s Sears Tower has set the skyline over the mid-west city, easily trumping the AON Center (ironically, which was previously known as the Standard Oil Building) and John Hancock Center in its shadow.
Today, the British insurance firm, Willis Group Holdings Ltd., started moving in after purchasing 140,000 square feet of space in the landmark earlier this year, along with its naming rights.
In the late 1960s, Sears Roebuck and Co. commissioned the construction of the 110 story tower as a way to consolidate a considerable chunk of their operations into one building. However, Sears moved out of the building in 1993, leaving the name (and empty offices) behind.
The Willis Group obtained the naming rights during their purchase as Sears’ rights had expired in 2003.
Chicagoans, will you call it the Willis Tower? Or stick to what everyone knows it as? It’s still the Sears Tower to me, so let’s hear what you have to say on this.
