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 doorMORE HERE
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 sortMORE HERE
RICHMOND – Today, when you get a sales slip from a store, it is usually a foot of printed tape with a request for you to go online and register with them to fill out a customer survey. We don’t understand it. First, doesn’t the company get enough info whenMORE HERE
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 aMORE HERE
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.comMORE HERE
HOFFMAN ESTATES, ILL.– One of the newest plans at Sears (besides closing mulitiple Sears and Kmart stores and licensing the DieHard brand) is to sell Craftsman tools at Ace Hardware stores. The pilot program involves 100 stores. It immediately appears a winner for Ace as it gives them a lineMORE HERE
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 siteMORE HERE
NEW YORK 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,MORE HERE
QUEENS, N.Y. – We are reading the AIA history of New York City architecture and we spy a forgotten name. Russ Togs. The guide mentions the Russ Togs Manufacturing and Distribution Center at 27-09 49th Ave. at the SE corner of 27th Street. The building (more particularly its sign) wereMORE HERE
SARASOTA – From $40 in 1998 to $3.80 in 2009. That’s not good. Some see disappointment. But not everyone. The news recently was that the Italian luxury shoe maker Tod’s had purchased shares in Saks (NYSE: SKS). Apparently Diego Della Valle, Tod’s Chairman (called the Italian Ralph Lauren), purchased 8.48MORE HERE