Editing Willis Tower (section)

==== Opening and early years ====
The first Sears employees began moving into the tower during the weekend of September 9, 1973.<ref name="n109411769" /><ref name="p1627236636">{{cite magazine |date=September 11, 1973 |title=In brief...: Weekend moving day to Sears Tower |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |volume=127 |issue=50 |pages=14 |id={{ProQuest|1627236636}}}}</ref> Flashing [[beacon]]s on the building's roof, the first to be installed at any building in Chicago, were activated the same month.<ref name="n109411685">{{Cite news |date=September 15, 1973 |title=Big beacons to flash atop Sears Tower |pages=9 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109411685/big-beacons-to-flash-atop-sears-tower/ |access-date=September 12, 2022}}</ref> Upon the tower's opening, broadcasters at the [[John Hancock Center]], Chicago's second-tallest building, had to decide whether to relocate to the Sears Tower.<ref name="p963306761">{{cite magazine |date=September 19, 1973 |title=Local TV-Radio & Syndication: Sears Tower Gives Ultimatum To Stations On Hancock Switch |magazine=Variety |volume=272 |issue=6 |pages=26 |id={{ProQuest|963306761}}}}</ref> Two television stations decided to relocate.<ref name="n109412135">{{Cite news |date=October 24, 1973 |title=Two television stations to move to Sears Tower |pages=14 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109412135/two-television-stations-to-move-to/ |access-date=September 12, 2022}}</ref> Six other stations remained at the John Hancock Center, citing a study which showed that relocating to the Sears Tower would provide only minimal benefits.<ref name="n109412135" /><ref name="p1032471721">{{cite magazine |date=December 5, 1973 |title=Radio-Television: Tall Tower A Searing Issue As Chi TV Stations Plot Moves |magazine=Variety |volume=273 |issue=4 |pages=36, 42 |id={{ProQuest|1032471721}}}}</ref> Documents released in late 1973 indicated that the Sears Tower would cause much more interference than either Sears or the television stations had disclosed.<ref name="p1032471721" /> WLS-TV moved to the Sears Tower in February 1974,<ref name="p494041980">{{Cite news|title=WLS-TV has clearer reception from Sears Tower |work=Chicago Defender|date=February 4, 1974|page=14|id={{proQuest|494041980}}}}</ref> followed by WTTW the next month.<ref>{{Cite news |date=March 27, 1974 |title=WTTW to begin beaming from Sears Tower |pages=14 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109413166/wttw-to-begin-beaming-from-sears-tower/ |access-date=September 12, 2022}}</ref>

By March 1974, three-fourths of the space in the building was occupied; Sears had leased the upper stories to tenants such as [[Goldman Sachs]], [[Northwest Industries]], and [[Schiff Hardin]].<ref name="n109413042">{{Cite news |date=March 18, 1974 |title=New Sears Tower leases listed |pages=67 |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109413042/new-sears-tower-leases-listed/ |access-date=September 12, 2022}}</ref> A [[Mobile (sculpture)|mobile]] sculpture by [[Alexander Calder]] was dedicated in the lobby in October 1974.<ref name="n109412727">{{Cite news |last=Oppenheim |first=Carol |date=October 26, 1974 |title=A whatchama-Calder sculpture conquers the city |pages=1, [https://www.newspapers.com/clip/47364806/ 4] |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/109412727/a-whatchama-calder-sculpture-conquers/ |access-date=September 12, 2022}}</ref><ref name="Drexler Menges 2009 p.">{{cite book |last1=Drexler |first1=Arthur |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=N6JNEAAAQBAJ |title=SOM: Architecture of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, 1963-1973 |last2=Menges |first2=Axel |publisher=Monacelli Press |year=2009 |isbn=978-1-58093-221-9 |page=170}}</ref> Sears' optimistic growth projections were not realized; instead, in late 1974, the company fired 500 workers, about seven percent of the 7,000 Sears employees that worked in the tower.<ref name="p1627541851">{{cite magazine |last=Osbon |first=John |date=October 30, 1974 |title=Sears in process of firing 500 at Tower in Chicago |magazine=Women's Wear Daily |volume=129 |issue=87 |pages=1, 22 |id={{ProQuest|1627541851}}}}</ref> Competition beyond its traditional rivals such as [[Montgomery Ward]] arose from emerging retail giants including [[Kmart (United States)|Kmart]], [[Kohl's]], and [[Walmart]]. As a result of a surplus of office space that emerged in the 1980s, the tower did not draw as many tenants as projected and so stood half-vacant for a decade.