We'll miss you, Oprah

06/01/2011 10:00 PM

Editorial

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We bid farewell to two West Loop staples this month. One’s gone for a few months and one’s gone probably gone forever.

We’re speaking, of course, of the Bulls and the Blackhawks’ summer vacation and Oprah Winfrey’s departure to California.

The United Center’s main tenants are gone for a few months, much to the chagrin of Near West Side bar owners. It could be even longer for the Bulls, as a possible lockout looms in the NBA that could kill basketball next season.

That would be unfortunate for businesses. A lot of money and a lot of people come through Madison Street on game days.

But it’s not much compared to the impact that Oprah’s departure will have.

Harpo Studios, Oprah’s home base for so many years, employed hundreds of people for her own show and the other spinoff programs that began under her name.

Oprah’s departure for California will take away many people who came through every week to her show, dressed to the nines, and brought their classiness to those great restaurants on Randolph Street.

Would the West Loop’s restaurant row have been there without Oprah? It’s possible. But the Oprah attendees who patronized them probably spent more than your average customer.

A piece in the paper this week says that the United Center and Harpo probably didn’t spur the real estate boom in the West Loop, or so community leaders say. That might be true, but good restaurants and other businesses tend to attract homeowners to a neighborhood.

Rosie O’Donnell, who’s taking over Oprah’s main studio at Harpo, will be an OK substitute for now, keeping some people employed and some traffic coming back through. But we’re sorry, Rosie just doesn’t have the same clout as Oprah did.

Can you picture folks dressing in their Sunday best for the Rosie Show? Will people want to act like high rollers to go see the woman who starred in the Flintstones?

She’s funny, but she just doesn’t have the same sort of pull. Hopefully, she’ll get a following and stick around for a while, but it just won’t be the same.

We hope we’re wrong, though. Harpo’s a West Loop staple that needs to thrive.


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