What a cold and callous headline in the Dec. 29 Chicago Tribune’s Business section: “Parent throws in towel on retailer: Wards’ end brings little grief to area business, civic leaders.”
It’s a shame when a leading Chicago newspaper can be so cold about one of Chicago’s venerable business institutions. It’s easy to say, yes, other stores will come in and fill in the vacancies, and cities will still get their revenues. But it isn’t easy for thousands of employees at Wards’ national headquarters to find new jobs.
The closing of Wards ends 128 years, not only of service to customers but of service through civic affairs. Even your newspaper had an article on Dec. 29 on Aaron Montgomery Ward and his contributions to the City of Chicago. The article talked about his contributions to the lakefront, and about Wards’ creation of “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”
What the article failed to mention were the hundreds of tutors Wards and its employees supplied to Cabrini-Green residents for more than 30 years, or the tens of thousands of coats that Wards supplied to your less-fortunate readers. In addition, Montgomery Wards’ charitable foundation provided millions of dollars over the years to Chicago-area charities.
It’s a shame we have become so sedate about the loss of corporate headquarters in Chicago. Over the years, Chicago has lost dozens of corporate headquarters as well as leadership in the corporate communities of both the city and the state. The City of Chicago and the State of Illinois have been the losers in the battle for corporate leadership among states around the country. Chicago has even seen an exodus of corporate leadership to its suburban areas.
It is our fervent wish for the new year that your newspaper will once again become concerned about the loss of corporate leadership, the loss of Illinois jobs and about the number of companies that decided, for whatever circumstances, to no longer call Chicago and Illinois their home.
Finally, Montgomery Ward, on its deathbed, now should be saluted for the contribution it has provided Chicago, Illinois, and its customers throughout the United States during its tenure. It is a sad day when we stand at the “wake” of a homegrown corporate giant and suggest there is little grief in its demise.
