The social theorist and urban planner Andres Duany a few years ago gave a talk on “male” space in the American household. Male space has pretty much disappeared; the den, once male, became a family room, and then became housebroken. Homeowners associations will fine you for leaving the garage door open in some subdivisions. In [...]

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It’s an old idea, and it is often forgotten in the rampant cost cutting in retail. It’s the clothing retailer name tag. Only a generation ago, it was a common practice, as it served as a permanent advertisement for the retailer after the piece of clothing was sold. Every sort of clothing retailer would do [...]

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Happy Easter from that wonderful Brooklyn emporium Abraham and Straus. By the way they have a hat sale going on.

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CHARLOTTE – The department store chain Belk has a new logo being slowly rolled out across the South. The sans serif, lower case Belk replaces a 196os scripty logo that was familiar across the South in various incarnations including Belk, Parks-Belk, Hudson-Belk and Leggett. The old logo design was a fixture of many downtowns across [...]

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The folks in Chicago are still missing Marshall Field’s. We just encountered this BBC report on the issue, and are grateful that the FieldsFansChicago are still at it. There is a great discussion of the issue of international retail brands and retail. The folks are calling it “corporate imperialism.” Amazon.com Widgets

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One of the great 1960s men’s fashion brands is Rooster, the tie company. Rooster ties were a cultural item, and one of the rare brands of American ties that are so interesting that they can exist on their own without being part of a full line of menswear. Illustrator Steven Guarnaccia has a collection of [...]

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DESTIN – One of the newest plans at Sears (besides closing Sears and Kmart stores and licensing the DieHard brand) is to sell Craftsman tools at Ace Hardware stores. (Look here for report by Sandra Jones.) The pilot program involves 100 stores.  It immediately appears a winner for Ace as it gives them a line [...]

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HOFFMAN ESTATES – As the most iconic and historic retailer in the U.S. and owner of some of America’s greatest brands, Sears, Roebuck & Co. made a major jump into social media with the launch of MySears.com last spring. It now has 1.9 million monthly unique visits; (the Sears.com site has about 19 million). Thin-skinned [...]

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In the UK, companies are fighting over the legacy of Woolworth’s, which was thought to be dead. Not only has the name brand Woolworth’s been purchased by the British online retailer Shop Direct, but a number of companies have purchased individual stores and redone the Woolworth’s concept, with a slightly modified name. In Dorchester England [...]

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A few weeks ago, Peggy Noonan wrote in her weekly Wall Street Journal column about the importance of seeing Bergdorf Goodman, and how it cheered her. We should definitely thank ourselves for making it through the year.  And we should be thankful that Bergdorf’s is still there. (Above, an old Office of War Information photo [...]

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