SAN ANTONIO – The Joske’s Department Store, so long a beloved presence in Texas, yet another example of a revived department store location that is a mall and downtown anchor. This follows a recent trend of refitting large downtown department stores. In the case of Joske’s, the project promotes theMORE HERE
MINNEAPOLIS – It was always inane and wasteful that Macy’s could not figure out what to do with its downtown store that was the former Dayton’s. Finally, they shuttered it, the property taken over for redevelopment. Thankfully, the store name will be revived as The Dayton’s Project. Dayton’s, of courseMORE HERE
CHICAGO – Seven years ago, I proposed on Seeking Alpha that BP, formerly British Persia and British Petroleum and now just BP, bring back the Amoco brand as an option for franchisees. This was during the BP oil spill fiasco, which was, at the time, a big mess. They justMORE HERE
ASTORIA, QUEENS – After the bankruptcy of the Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company, yearly customers of the company’s Jane Parker fruitcakes were left bereft of their favorite holiday treat. However, two Long Island food entrepreneurs, brothers Alex and Chris Ronacher, have revived the historic brand, which was nearly asMORE HERE
The inventiveness of the 20th century left us with many viable, yet sometimes overlooked, genius brands. One such brand is the Heatilator, a fireplace heating system that gets more efficiency and safety out of the fireplace. Heatilator was the idea of making a cast iron wood stove look like aMORE HERE
PITTSBURGH – Because many downtown department stores have failed under the current model of Macy’s, there is a misunderstanding of what a department store is, and whether a department store is a valid idea. Currently, the idea of a department store is a massive, massive clothing and accessories store, withMORE HERE
PLEASANTON, Calif – House brands seem to be all the rage these days. They go in and out of favor at grocers; these days national brands seem to be the brands that are on the outs. Apparently, part of the acquisition value of Whole Foods for Amazon was their experience withMORE HERE
Perhaps this sounds a bit churlish to see cultural downfall in a child’s lunch. And to churlish, you might generously say inconsistent, as the vile concoction of items in a current Lunchables was something that was purchased by me in a fit of hurry and laziness. After I had purchasedMORE HERE
ROCKLEDGE, FL – It seems that the historic Sea & Ski suntan lotion is coming back. Sea & Ski now has a new website, and promises to be on the shelves for the 2017 summer season. The manufacturer is Cross-Bands Manufacturing, LLC, 1938 Murrell Road, Rockledge, FL 32955. Smart geographicMORE HERE
Perhap’s we should be writing about Bell’s Seasoning around Thanksgiving time, but the brand, founded in 1867, is a useful product all year round. At one time there were dozens of such regionally popular brands; one by one they have been shut down, repackaged, reformulated or forgotten. Bell’s, which isMORE HERE