Profit and Loss

Throughout my youth, the Sears Tower was a beacon of economic prosperity and a symbol of corporate superpower; the tallest building in the world was the physical representation of the size and magnitude of its namesake corporation, Sears Roebuck and Company. The Sears Tower became an instant landmark, as iconic as Comiskey Park, Chicago-style hot dogs, and the ivy of Wrigley Field. As I grew up, Chicago changed faster than my ability to understand the greater implications of those events. The sale of the Sears Tower to The Willis Group is the first memory I have of an iconic American company succumbing to the changing nature of the worldwide economy. Sears was one of the biggest companies in the world, but with its size, it became inflexible and could not adapt to the strategies of new, growing, competitors. The piecemeal sell-off of the American economy to burgeoning foreign entities started slowly, and has continued until the present day. Today, we are lucky to find an American company with the strength and influence to become a modern icon, like Sears Roebuck and Company once was. And with this, I can’t help but notice that sometimes, in pursuit of profit, we witness the loss of the American Dream.