City-wide Panic: Oprah Store is Closing and Things Are on Sale

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Chicago is in despair today after the news broke that The Oprah Stores are closing. There is one Oprah Store flagship in the West Loop which will close in mid-June, one kiosk in Water Tower Place that will close in May, several vendors in O'Hare Airport that have no more orders placed while the Oprah Store kiosks at the O'Hare and Midway are already gone, and the Oprah Store Online will close May 26th.

Spokesman Don Halcombe said the Oprah stores "?had met its goal: to allow "Oprah Winfrey Show" attendees to "take home a piece of that experience" and to serve as a destination for fans who were unable to secure show tickets."

The Oprah Stores have started marking sale merchandise already and will continue to mark things on sale as time goes on. When we were at the Oprah Store kiosk at Water Tower Place today we noticed that t-shirts are now on sale for $10, Oprah hoodies are $22, baby bibs are $8, and make-up bags with crystal "O"s on them are $6.

This is a sad day for all Oprah fans, but we really got choked up when we saw the Sizwe Umoya and Zenzulu hand made bowls from Africa priced at $40. They were originally over a hundred dollars including City of Chicago sales tax. All proceeds from the sales of these bowls go to the craftspeople who made them.
· The Oprah Store [Official Site]
· All Oprah Coverage [Racked Chicago]