Has Chicago Creative Partnership become the latest casualty of the sharp downturn in fortunes among many Chicago ad agencies? The central phone line was answered by a recording on Monday, and a message left for CCP CEO Anne Cox was not returned. Creative Director Don Nelson was no longer recognized by the automated office directory.

Sources say the agency had decided to close its doors after recently losing its flagship account, the Bob Evans restaurant chain. Sources also had told us a while ago that the Bob Evans account was quietly being put in review. As soon as we heard the news, we knew it didn't bode well for CCP, which had not been aggressively pulling in new business in recent times.

According to a brief history at CCP's Web site (which was still up Monday), the agency opened around 20 years ago, and its offices at 314 W. Superior were "down the street from Vince Vaughn's condo and around the corner from Senior Presidential Advisor David Axelrod's office, which makes for some pretty crazy block parties."

Perhaps more tellingly, the agency history went on to note that CCP is/was an independently-owned shop and that "if someone thinks we should get a pool table for the office or this Monday will be Pajama Day at work, that's gonna happen, too." Not sure what any of that has to do with establishing CCP's creative capabilities, but maybe that's why the shop could be calling it quits.