McCormick Sans Tribune

It's a sign of the times.  The area in front of the Art Institute's new Modern Wing is called "Brooks McCormick Court."

In the six short years I've been in and blogging about Chicago, it's become habit to always write "McCormick" followed by "Tribune."  But with Tribune as a brand teetering on the edge of extinction, it's not surprising to see other alliances made.

Skating at Millennium Park is still in the "McCormick Tribune" rink, but who knows for how long.  The McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum is gone.  And although the web address is still http://www.McCormickTribune.org/, I can't help but notice that the official name of the charity is now the "McCormick Foundation" with no trace of Tribunicity.

Whether the Chicago Tribune survives as a newspaper or not, it appears that Tribune, as a brand, is going the way of Marshall Field's, Sears, Frangos, and other Chicago labels that have either disappeared, or been co-opted by bigger organizations.

Full disclosure: I am a former Tribune employee.