OPRAH STORE OPENS IN CHICAGO -- FIRST IN NATION

Earlier this month Oprah Winfrey mentioned on her show about an O store opening-- but it wasn't clear to me that it was a REAL store-- I thought she meant some kind of small store that was near the studio where people could buy souvenirs, blogged by Joyce Schwarz, JCOM, www.joycecom.com, marketing & new biz for emerging entertainment & media.

Turns out it's a real store that opened in Chicago -- the first in the nation! No word in any info that we've seen about whether it's the first of many O stores!

photos from Sun-Times/Harpo-George Burns..... for a full photo gallery go to that story at: http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/783714,CST-NWS-oprah08.article

The Oprah Store opened on N. Carpenter in Chicago Thursday.
(Sun-Times/Harpo-George Burns)

For some reason some of the reporters are having a field day descibing the store -- here's an excerpt from the CHICAGO SUN TIMES --feel stress-free in an Oprah nightgown and baby-soft socks," according to the Chicago Sun-Times, "writing in my 'Passion' journal while sipping hot tea from a mug emblazoned with one of Oprah's favorite quotes, 'Live Your Own Dreams.

Or did you know it's also a resale shop? According to the ChicagoTribune.com column we caught it says --Just like your best girlfriend, Oprah is sharing her wardrobe, making her slightly worn designer clothing available for sale at her new West Loop store at 37 N. Carpenter St. Tucked in a corner of the first Oprah Store, which opened last week, is a makeshift closet restocked weekly with about a dozen items that the media diva has worn on her TV show or in a photo shoot: Manolo Blahnik red velvet mules for $300, black leather jacket for $750, an Yves Saint Laurent skirt for $200, to name a few. Proceeds, of course, go to Oprah's Angel Network charity

The CHICAGOIST-- ran a cute story called What Does Oprah Have in Store?? Click here to read that full story: Oprah store. In their description of the 5000 sq ft store they explain that: The setting ranges from subtle messages -- small O's hardly visible on the pockets of workout shirts and pants -- to out-and-out Oprah worship, with photos of Oprah and her favorite causes on the walls, and a TV mounted on a wall rerunning "The Oprah Winfrey Show's" 20th anniversary special.

Hollywood2020.blogs.com finally found info on the architect by going to Google images where we spotted: www.bermanarchitecture.com. Joyce Schwarz put a call into Joel Berman to ask more about the project and hopefully we'll do a podcast with this guru. Meanwhile here's what they say on their website (link above in blue) : Joel Berman Architecture & Design, Ltd. is a dedicated, client-focused full service architectural firm based in Chicago. We use freehand 3-D sketches as a creative tool for innovative design. Our projects include: retail stores, restaurants, houses, house additions, institutional master plans, and capital studies .
Click on JPEG to see Oprah's new store on the website of www.bermanarchitecture.com.