Horton Hears a Who

I know with the flurry of Michael Jackson coverage that many other news stories are getting short shrift, including the recent invasion of the United States by Canada. You scoff? CNN neglected to cover it, but it’s true. Over the weekend, nine former Dunkin' Donuts were converted into Tim Horton’s Coffee and Bakery Shops in New York City. Plans call for several more Tim Horton’s location to to take up occupancy in former Cold Stone Creamerys (as part of a co-branded concept being developed between the brands) before summer’s end, all of which are part of the megalomaniacal Riese Organization of fast foods, which also includes, Pizza Hut, KFC and Wendy’s. Well we all know that Dunkin', in its thirst for world domination, over-expanded, but we didn’t see those sneaky Canadians coming.

Holy Celine Dion! The name of Tim Horton may not ring a bell to most U.S. citizens, but it is as familiar and beloved in Saskatchewan as Starbucks is here. Tim Horton is one of the largest and most successful coffee shop franchises in the world. The coffee is supposed to be legendary. Well, that’s what Canadians say. Canadians love their Tim Horton’s, whose chain of coffee and doughnut shops appeal to the budget-conscious with some discriminating taste. Tim Horton was a successful Toronto Maple Leaf Hall of Fame hockey player who later died in a car accident, but came to epitomize the quintessential guy-next-door who made good. Eh?

Okay, so this is how it went down...on last Friday, it was business as usual at Dunkin' Donuts, pink and orange interiors, Tropicana Coolatas and wildberry doughnuts. On Saturday and Sunday, quicker than you fry Canadian bacon, the stores were shuttered, repainted in brown and orange, and the signage changed accordingly. It was as if squatters moved in, moped the floors and called it a day. There was no hoopla, but lots of balloons, bunting and free coffee coupons on Monday morning. The floorplans were not altered; the seating was not swapped out for new. In fact, in my neighborhood, the same naugehyde banquettes have the same duct tape covering a nasty tear. If not for the signage, as little effort as possible was made to distinguish one retailer from another. Yuck!

I don’t drink coffee, I drink tea, but in reported taste tests Tim Horton’s fared better than Dunkin' Donuts with customers by a 6-to-5 margin. Speaking of “cruller” intentions, as for the baked goods, one comparison concluded that both products were virtually indistinguishable, lamenting how "mass-produced doughnuts are achieving total global mediocrity." Due to the diminutive size of the stores, Horton’s best-loved products like its signature Maple Crunch doughnuts and Dutchie are not even available here. What a rip off.

So Tim Horton and Riese might take some advice from Dr. Seuss: ‘‘Even though you can’t see or hear them at all, (a customer is a customer) a person’s a person, no matter how small.’’ Please give us a pleasant place to shop in, that looks different from the tried and true, with a fuller more reflective menu, including your best products--not just more bland blueberry muffins and bagels with cream cheese.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Fly Me Away

What could be more appropriate than a travel-themed store in an airport (except for maybe a mini-spa or massage retreat)? Well Travel + Leisure magazine is capitalizing off this idea, and has teamed up with airport retailer Hudson Group to launch a new travel retail concept of the same name. (I love the magazine, so I’m hoping the store is just as great!)

The first store debuted at Vancouver International Airport on June 18, soon to be followed by additional locations in Halifax International Airport and JFK International Airport. New Hudson retail Galleries in Sanford Orlando and San Francisco International airports will feature the Travel + Leisure store as a shop-in-shop.

Hope Remoundos, EVP of Marketing for Hudson Group, had this to say: "The Travel + Leisure concept grew out of Hudson's relationship with the magazine publishing industry through our newsstand Hudson News, which sells millions of books and magazines each year. Hudson has successfully partnered with TV networks in the past, in our CNN Newsstand and CMT Loot stores. But this marks our first partnership with a magazine.”

Travel + Leisure stores will offer products aimed at enhancing the travel experience, such as luggage and travel accessories, along with local maps and travel guides, as well as current editions of Travel + Leisure magazine and its sister publication, Food & Wine (That’s right, Food & Wine…did you just have the same great idea I did?).

Have you seen the new Travel + Leisure store in your travels? Tell us about it here!

--Jessie Bove

And a Bicycle Built for Two

The welcome wagon was not wheeled out when British retailer Topshop opened in SoHo (New York) just a stone’s throw from Bloomingdale’s, Urban Outfitters, H&M and Prada. With British sensibility, Topshop broke out the celebrities, held 12 star-studded fashion galas, where guests could schmooze with Jennifer Lopez, Lindsay Lohan and Kylie Minouge. Topshop had a groovy jitney that cruised throughout the city corralling customers with free trips downtown, and offered them goody bags with discount coupons from $5 to $500, but that so yesterday.

Starting last week, Topshop began an inventive program offering free or low-cost bicycle rentals. When it’s not raining, which is often, a bicycle rental may be a welcome diversion to New Yorkers who are trying to enjoy their recession staycation.

To help launch the green event, once your shopping was complete, Topshop offered free photographs by legendary nightlife photographer Nicky Digital. Street Style backdrops were on hand in the store, as well as stylists to help you get your style just right. Now anyone can download their own Topshop fashion shoots on www.chictopia.com, where a fashion competition will run over a month, and each week there will be five winners, four chosen by Chictopia.com users and one chosen by Topshop. Each winner will receive a free bicycle. Even if you don’t win, your photographs can be uploaded onto Flickr and Topshop's Facebook page, allowing people to tag themselves and comment on their favorite images. Here’s a retailer who really knows the power of social networking.

If self promotion and fashion photography is not your thing, a small fleet of 30 blue beach cruisers accessorized with baskets and cupcake stickers are parked outside the store and available for free daily rental (11 hours) to passersby. There’s even a dedicated bike valet. Just leave a credit card and sign a liability waiver to receive a customized helmet, a U-lock and a map of Topshop-endorsed destinations throughout 31 suggested attractions in Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens. Bicycle rentals in NYC usually run you about $35. Therefore, this is a win-win. For the exercise buffs, you can burn 1,200 calories biking 60 of the 61 miles that the free Topshop map identifies for you. The route will encompass sweet treats at (British-owned) “Tea & Sympathy" (love their cranberry scones and English Breakfast tea), a visit to “DIY” (a trendy clothing emporium), “Home Ec” from the owners of boutique clothing shop “Flirt," and a trip to the “Pixie Market” to browse the up-and-coming designer offerings. The map also includes hidden gems, such as the fabulous nail bar, “Hello, Beautiful" in Williamsburg, and luxury Italian apothecary “Santa Maria Novella” in SoHo.

I don’t know what Bloomingdale's, Urban Outfitters, H&M and Prada are doing for their customers, but praises from on high to Topshop. For more on the fabulous promotion, visit their Web site by clicking here.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Photo: Andrew Townsend, Dalziel & Pow Design Consultants Ltd., London

Fixture This!

I am one to often take note and observe my surroundings, especially in a retail environment. How product is shelved, where signage is hung and how mannequins are poised--all are as relevant to a retail design eye as where the deals and steals are. (Diva is quite the mystery shopper.) Fixturing, oftentimes, goes unnoticed to the untrained shopper's eye, as a successful fixturing unit often does what it is supposed to do best--showcase the product. Some do it exceptionally well and some (as I'm sure we have all noticed from time to time) do not.

My observations and opinions on the fixturing front are one thing, but observing others’ opinions--especially the opinion of those whose careers have followed the fixture industry's ever-changing trends and goings on--are particularly of interest to me. Which is why I've taken interest of late to a new fixture tell-all blog that has entered onto my radar screen. This blog has more of my attention than any of the latest star-tracker TMZ wannabes.

From analyzing shopping carts with coffee-cup holders to weighing the value of dollar stores displaying mops “guerila marketing” style, readers of the pictorial “Fixtures Close Up” blog don’t have to like snarky, in-the-moment gossip. They don’t have to like the fixturing examples they see--in fact, many of the entries inspire thought-provoking questions about the validity and effectiveness (or ineffectiveness) of particular merchandising situations. They don’t have to like much of anything to still be informed and entertained--they just have to like fixtures.

Viva racks, bars, hooks and merchandising!

--Diva

Enforcing The Six Cupcake Rule

Once upon a time in New York City, there was a little hole-in-the-wall shop on Bleeker Street called “The Magnolia Bakery.” Upon entering its doors, the intoxicating aroma of hot melted butter, confectioner’s sugar and flour are mixed in a concoction so potent that it arouses childhood memories of the kind of cupcakes your Mom used to make when you were in the fourth grade for your birthday party at school. I can see the tin-foiled cookie sheet now. The lines for the Magnolia Bakery were always out the door. I’m not a cupcake aficionado, but Magnolia does make a pretty good cupcake.

Then came the deluge...Magnolia Bakery was featured on “Sex & The City,“ supposedly the cupcakes conjure a kind of erogenous response greater than Samantha’s...you get the point. Leaving well enough not alone, Magnolia Bakery was featured in “Martha Stewart," “Vogue” fashion shoots and even “Gossip Girl." Cupcakes became sexy comfort food. Magnolia hit the big time, and demand outweighed production, hence several satellite shops. Each equally cute, right down to the pink gingham and staff wearing vintage aprons. It’s a shabby retro-chic, with Formica tables, aged wainscoting and oil clothed shelving with ruffles. These shops are fussier than Donna Reed could decorate them.

Well, the other day I was asked to pick up 36 cupcakes for a friend whose little girl was having a 12th birthday party. Not a problem, I thought, what are two dozen and a half cupcakes these days? Magnolia opened a branch right in my neighborhood (the Upper West Side). Magnolia was fully stocked with rows and rows of Willie Wonka-ed cupcakes, chocolate, pistachio, hummingbird (my favorite), vanilla, German chocolate, red velvet, carrot coconut, Oreo, strawberry shortcake, sprinkles, peanut butter, mocha, mint, even a pineapple upside down cupcake. Warning: do not try it at home! Not only were there cases upon cases of artery-clogging cupcakes, but staff was hastily frosting for the afternoon rush. (FYI: Magnolia uses a classic plop and swirl frosting technique.)

The best laid plans…As I placed my order with the lead froster, sans hair net, a silent pall came over the bakery. Was Smith Barney around? Miss Frostette did not even address me; she placed her hand on her hip and pointed to the sign above the cash register: “No more than six cupcakes to a customer.” Clearly, I thought that was just meant to be humorous, after all, if I can polish off a pizza, I can certainly inhale six cupcakes faster than you can say Pillsbury Dough Boy. But no, Frosty told me the policy was rigidly enforced, and she wasn’t about to lose her job for selling me seven, let alone 36 cupcakes. (She said 36 like it was a curse word.) I reluctantly purchased the six allotted to me, while pleading my case--I flirted, cajoled and even threatened to call the Better Business Bureau, but I saw it was a losing battle right away. I even played the sympathy card and lied through my teeth, telling the froster that this little girl was hospitalized at Mount Sinai, and that this will probably be her last birthday. Unfortunately, that line is frequently used at Magnolia. Drat the luck! I hastily gave up the idea of coming back six more times in costume to order more. Besides, I don’t have a fake moustache at home.

Holy Duncan Heines, I knew I could call a few friends and ask them to meet me and pick up half a dozen each, but really? I even offered a stranger a few bucks if he'd secretly pick me up six, but he scowled at me as if I was an underage teen asking him to buy me a six-pack of Heineken and cigarettes. I reasoned that there were three Magnolia shops in NYC, including Rockefeller Center, but even Betty Crocker on her best day would not take that much mass transit. Okay, I had the Magnolia box and bag, and figured that I could get cupcakes at any nearby bakery--and I would have to try and pass them off as “Magnolia’s.” Good Luck!

Now I know that Nordstrom placed a three-handbag limit on customers who were depleting stock from the stores, but cupcakes are readily replaceable. I understand the bakery’s dilemma, but give me back the good old day where rules were tempered with common sense. The customer is right; a sale is a sale, and what harm comes from letting go of a few cupcakes for a kid’s birthday?

I do not bear grudges, you can visit Magnolia on the Web at www.magnoliacupcakes.com and judge for yourself if they are what they're cracked up to be. Unfortunately they are.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Photo: Zeva Oelbaum Cookbook Heaven at Recipelink.com.

A Retail Facelift

Duane Reade is virtually indistinguishable from it competitors, Rite Aide, Walgreens and CVS. Product, and the overall visual elements, color palette (red, white and a little bit of blue), are so similar that they’re sort of the Huey, Dewey and Louis of the pharmacy set.

In New York City, due to favorable (albeit unfair to other businesses) tax advantages and abatements, pharmacies and banks appear on every other corner in our city. In my neighborhood, within a three-block range, there are three Duane Reades, two Rite Aides, and two CVS stores--don’t get me started on banks.

It was with great surprise that I saw that Duane Reade is giving itself a totally glam-over facelift, not seen since Joan Rivers or Jocelyn Wildenstein last went under the knife. The facelift caught me off guard. Duane Reade was so overbuilt that they’re closing stores. Like most facelifts, you get what you pay for, and Duane Reade seems to be pouring a lot of dollars into this one. Still, I’m happy to see some progressive visual changes.

Gone is the old medicinal and patriotic color palette, which has been traded in for fashionable and chic black, with a rich lavender and bright apple green. It’s so sophisticated that it looks like it was borrowed from the Jason Wu runway show. The black is an interesting choice--it reads as grounded, smart and serious. I like the new color combo. It’s distinctive and adventurous.

Almost gone is the classic interlocking DR and lower-case myriad Duane Reade font in place of a bolder DR that looks more like the font on a prescription pad, and reinforces the association that the store has more to do with doctors than discount Q-Tips, Gold Bond Anti-Itch Cream and snack aisles. It’s an attempt to update its font, but for me, it just doesn’t quite make it. I’m not crazy about the different fonts, or its alignment within the bulleted circle. It just looks clunky. I know that with the aging of America, that pharmaceuticals have become big business. So to further reinforce the new concept, the pharmacy has been moved to the front of the store, which for me lacks privacy. I don’t want my neighbors to see me picking up my scripts.

On a more positive note, it’s interesting that the retailer, in an attempt to bring its message to the street and communicate directly with its customers, is now asking simple perfunctory questions like “Do I have everything I need?” and “How do I look?” and even “How do I feel?“ (Answers: yes, fabulous and I‘ve been better! Thank for asking.) Anyway, I do think the questions are well chosen, and do get passers by to engage with the store. Big thumbs up!

Gone from the old template are slat walled drop-in windows full of boxes of Tide, Cheerios and Wella-Balsam. Now we can see directly into the refurbished interiors, which look good. It truth, it’s better lit and better signed, but as Gertrude Stein would say, a gondola is a gondola is a gondola. Inside fabric banners running vertically are a refreshing change from the old-fashioned horizontal signage with the snap-in lettering, letting you know you were in the eye care/cold & flu/laxative section. Now it’s simplified, “Beauty” or “Pharmacy.” Yes, the check-out counter still has candy, gum and People Magazine heavily merchandised, but there isn’t the load of cheap crap filling up the counter we are accustomed to. The cash wraps are a soft weathered pine in a cool blue gray reminiscent of Cape Cod or Martha’s Vineyard. I’m not certain if it was Duane Reade’s intention, but the overall image borrows heavily from Sephora and Ulta, with a touch of Target.

One thing for certain--given the choice to shop in Duane Reade or one of its competitors, I have to admit Duane Reade wins hands down.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Kiss My Asphalt

New York City, with its concrete skyscrapers, might on first glance seem over populated, over built and over mechanized. In truth, New York City is one of America’s “greenest” cities in the world today. Buildings are green, New Yorkers tend to walk to work and the grocery store or take mass transit, and New Yorkers are great recyclers. The average New Yorker produces the equivalent of 7.5 tons of carbon emissions to the 25.5 produced by other Americans. Crimmany, that still seems appallingly high, I don’t even have a driver’s license or smoke.

In a novel experiment, Broadway/Times Square, one of the densest populated portions of the city (which is visited by more than 350,000 people who throng the area daily to gawk at the LED billboards, pick up discount tickets for Broadway and shop at Toys R Us, the M&M Candy Store, and Planet Hollywood), is being given a reprieve--there’s no more traffic. It’s gone! Mayor Bloomberg has closed off the street to all traffic, as in not a cab in sight. Automobiles are “compass non-gratis," strictly not welcome. The traffic has all been diverted to other avenues and streets. The sidewalks, which are usually crammed with humanity, as cabs, cars, buses and trucks clamored for space on the most famous thoroughfare in the world, are now so wide open you could do a waltz, and not bump into a pick-pocket. You can stroll on the street and not even have to look both ways before crossing.

Exhausted tourists and natives in need of a place to unwind can linger and contemplate the barrage of billboards, advertising Good Morning America and Mamma Mia. A boon to street performers, you might even be serenaded by the infamous Naked Cowboy, (he’s not really naked, he wears a thong and cowboy boots). Office workers can brown bag it at lunchtime and catch some rays. Replacing all the gridlock are outdoor lawn chairs, creating a vacuous backyard--America’s backyard? Well the closest thing to a backyard we get here in New York City.

Granted, there are no fountains, no sculpture, no planters, just asphalt and lawn chairs. It’s sort of like relaxing in a “huge” (Paris Hilton’s new favorite word) parking lot. Presumably, if this urban Valhalla experiment works, those things will come. In the interim, it is a lawn chair only policy. Actually, these particular chairs are temporary and were purchased for $10.74 each, at a local hardware store (stock up!). Many of the original 350 are already starting to sag and show signs of overuse. In a strange, unexplained twist of urban planning, people all seem to sit in the same direction, looking uptown, like they're waiting for a movie to begin--or the mothership to land. It’s a little freaky.

This green experiment is meeting mixed reviews, but I’m all for anything that promotes eco-consciousness. I look forward to the day when traffic is completely passé, and the streets become one great park, marrying retail and business to the outdoors. Trees and flowers are always prettier than a Buick or diesel truck.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Max Factor Hits the Powder Dust

Max Factor cosmetics, a brand founded more than 100 years ago by a Polish-Jewish makeup artist for the Russian royal ballet, will no longer be sold in the United States. It’s going fast, so load up while supplies last.

Mac Factor was up until recently one of America’s best known, best made, cosmetics brand. Yeah well, looked what happened to GM and Chrysler, too.

Procter & Gamble, who has owned the brand since 1991, is dropping the glamorous Hollywood-associated Max Factor to focus its efforts elsewhere, primarily on its more successful Cover Girl brand. (P&G bought the brand in 1991 from Revlon for $1.5 billion.)

The brand will continue to be sold in other countries around the world, but will cease distribution to U.S. drugstores and Wal-Mart stores, where P&G has been concentrating its efforts. The brand is reportedly  sold in only an estimated 8,000 U.S. stores, compared to Cover Girl, which is sold in more than 50,000 stores.

I just don’t get it. How is it possible that P&G can’t sell a tube of mascara?

Max Factor (the founder of the company) coined the term "make-up," based on the verb "to make up" (one's face) and worked with the likes of Jean Harlow, Bette Davis, Joan Crawford and Judy Garland out of the Factor beauty salon near Hollywood Boulevard. The man and his company were behind a number of innovations including lip gloss in 1930, Pan-Cake Makeup, forerunner of all modern cake makeup’s in 1937, and the first "waterproof" makeup in 1971.

If I were Max Factor, I’d call up Adam Lambert’s people and broker a deal so fast that Cover Girl wouldn’t know what hit them. And it wouldn’t be a powder puff!

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Hey Wal-Mart...It's Miley!

Holy Hannah Montana! “Pop-Ka-Ching.” That is the sound of a pop star running off with a boatload of cash from a Wal-Mart merchandising deal. (Why can’t I get a “deal?”)  Ideally, customers will believe that Ms. Cyrus has designed and presumably wears the clothing line that will don her name. You realize, of course, this is a teenager who can’t walk the red carpet in heels and chew gum at the same time. Oh my achy-breaky heart.

Wal-Mart has teamed up with teen pop sensation Miley Cyrus and BIB designer, Max Azria (no comment necessary) for a new back-to-school fashion line, with most of the collection of knit tops, pants and graphic T-shirts selling for under $12. It’s unlikely that Cyrus will be wearing a $12 tee to the Grammy awards. By the way, Cyrus was home-schooled, I doubt she ever needed to worry about what to wear going “back–to-school.”

The Miley Cyrus and Max Azria clothing will be sold along with a CD Cyrus made exclusively for the retailer. Big Surprise! Wal-Mart is also the sole sponsor of the teen pop princess's upcoming U.S. and European tour. Big Surprise too! Cyrus promoted her new line with a performance at a Wal-Mart shareholders meeting at the Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark., on June 5. The collection will debut in stores in August.

I’m disgusted with celebrities that promote themselves as designers. Can you imagine Donna Karan doing Cabaret? Karl Lagerfeld on Broadway? Ralph Lauren releasing a “Best Of” album? Or Tommy Hilfiger mixing it up with Ludicrous? …Okay that I could imagine.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

A Different Kind Of Label

Usually when we talk about labels, we think of the epitimous fashion labels  of Chanel, Dior and Calvin Klein. Well, a lawsuit is erupting over a label of an all together different kind....read on for the drama!

Are you jacked up on you Starbucks Grande pike roast? If so, I must ask you to think about instant coffee. You know those magical coffee crystals. Ah, the wonders of science meet tap water.

Move over Betty Crocker, in 1986, model Russell Christoff posed for a Taster's Choice coffee photo shoot in Canada. No biggie, he thought. He gave permission for the photo to be used in Canada. Little did he know that Taster's Choice had other diabolical plans for the photo, and that his image would end up in I don’t know how many TV commercials, print ads and plastered on coffee cans in 21 countries, including the Latin regions where they darkened his pallid complexion and added macho sideburns so the Latino customers would better relate to his love for the delicious Taster's Choice brew. In-exofficio, Christoff wound up becoming the company’s trademark.

You see, it seems that the photo was tucked away into Taster's Choice archives after that first shoot in Canada, but was reintroduced in 1998, for wide release, when a Nestle employee was searching the archives for just the right "Taster" to portray the brand. Apparently, without consulting the model release, Nestle began using the image without Christoff's permission. After all, he was just a model, but Christoff looked like he really was digging the air brushed aroma waves emanating from the cup. It was money in the bank!

That being said, the issue ended up in court. Christoff initially won $15.6 million in damages (that’s a lot of coffee, almost as much as my companion Jimmy drinks each year),  but that claim was overturned as being “excessive,” and that it exceeded the two-year statute of limitations. Now, Christoff is back in court, arguing the verdict’s reversal should be reversed. It is a complicated legal matter, but one that could have been solved so simply, back when that employee found that image, by simply asking the model for a new release.

I’m sticking to tea.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

The Very, Very Right and The Very, Very Wrong.

Ever have one of those weeks where you are simultaneously reminded of what is good design and what is not?

I just had one of those weeks. It started when a friend turned me on to this company, Heath ceramics.   As an industrial design pal of mine once told me, “a cup is an object meant to stop your tea from falling all over the floor.” I marveled at Heath’s sense of purposefulness and form, and felt it was something of an ultimate expression of the art of things done well. Things crafted to simply satisfy need.

Yes, it's more expensive than your average tableware, but that’s because it's hand-made in small batches by people who actually care about what they are doing. And yet despite the price, as I placed a mug on my birthday wish list, I couldn’t help thinking that this would be a satisfying way to stop my tea from falling all over the floor each and every time I have a cup of char.

The same week I found Heath, I went to Seattle and while I was there, I went to their fancy public library. Since it opened, I have formed my own thoughts and opinions of the place, as one does. For example, I’ve always hated the building itself. It looks exactly like the Lego buildings my son makes on weekend mornings-- nd while its kind of cute when a 4-year-old does this, it’s a little less cute when a city spends gazillions of dollars to plonk this lumpen slab in the midst of its downtown.

But more than that, when I was actually in the place, I was struck by the fact that it seemed a truly miserable place to read a book. And isn’t that at least part of the point? I decided to research this further and came across this jaw-dropping speech by the architect.

It’s a jaw-dropping speech to me, for the most part, because it shows how we can use this thing called design process to talk ourselves into almost anything. And while I agreed with almost every premise of his lecture--about trying to reinvent the way we think about these spaces--the end result, to my mind, falls spectacularly at the first fence. For all of its rationale, nifty programmatic diagrams and well…waffle…I didn’t want to hang out in this building, much less curl up and expand my mind with a good read. In fact I couldn’t wait to leave.

Perhaps I’m just not getting the point. Perhaps Seattle’s library is the future and Heath is the past. But I kept thinking to myself something was horribly out of whack here.

To quote Jeremy Northam in the movie "The Winslow Boy": “Let right be done.” I wonder if we are doing right when the process we are following results in design that doesn’t satisfy the most basic of needs.

If you happen to love the Seattle Public Library I’d love to hear what I was missing. Until then, I’m off to have a cuppa.

--Christian Davies, Guest Blogger

Affordable Advertising

In today’s market, “affordable luxury” is an overly hyped watchword, but I’d like to throw out a potentially new phrase that might benefit some retailers: “affordable advertising.”

The GM and Chrysler bankruptcies have put Madison Avenue in a tailspin. No longer will too many automotive companies be hording all that prime time advertising space on TV. Their advertising budgets are gone. I predict, with the reliability of my Magic 8 Ball, that this will pressure network TV to substantially reduce their ad rates. One thing’s for certain, it is highly likely that advertising agencies will use the sudden availability of inventory left by the lack of auto spending to get better pricing. That means for you.

GM alone spends about $300 million in a typical upfront media-buying season, but this year's ad expenditures will be determined in bankruptcy court, and TV networks will have to cut deals to cover the difference. This year's “upfront is going to be incredibly difficult," Jessica Reif Cohen, an analyst with Merrill Lynch says. The GM filing, and the recession "will put pressure on everything," she says. She points out that the courts recently slashed Chrysler's request to spend $134 million on ads over the next nine weeks by half.

For those of you “Mad Men” fans, not much has changed since the '50s. For those unfamiliar with the "upfronts," it is a specific selling season, when television networks sell as much as 80 percent of their ad inventory for the coming season. Even before GM's filing, Wall Street had a bearish outlook on this year's rite of spring. Cohen, is forecasting that the five major TV networks will see their upfront take plunge 13 percent to $6.87 billion.

Who will fill the void? Retailers, carpe diem, cozy up with your favorite network executives. I’d much rather see a cute ad with attractive models than see a MB whizzing by the desert or alpine S-curves. What used to be out of reach, is now in sight. Retailers, place your ads on “Ugly Betty,” “Project Runway” and "Gossip Girl"--this isn’t gambling, this is economics and the free market adjusting itself.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Heaven on Ocean Drive

Let's face it...hotels in Miami's South Beach (SoBe) district are all over the place. In terms of quality, it’s got it all—ranging from well known, big-name chains like the Loews and the newly opened W South Beach, to the infamous (and uber-expensive) Delano to the dozens of boutique hotels and a handful of cheap (and dirty) holes in the wall.

Any SoBe hotel search on TripAdvisor will return results that would shock—and likely terrify—even the most seasoned of travelers. With nearly every hotel in SoBe boasting a “great location” (perched atop a nightclub that parties till 7 a.m.) and  “excellent amenities” (cockroaches with your turn-down service and a used bar of soap with a few stray hairs), choosing a hotel in SoBe is quite the daunting task. Who do you trust—the hotels, the reviewers or both?

With all these factors in mind, you can imagine my stress at booking a recent trip to SoBe for a three-day weekend. But somehow, the stars aligned, and my hotel dreams came true.

Envision a place where the perfectly decorated, chic hotel rooms look exactly like the photos online. Scratch that—they look BETTER. Now picture a spot where the people at the front desk actually smile (and I promise you this is a rarity in SoBe!). Some even, dare I say it, seem genuinely happy. The place I’m talking about is...The Betsy Hotel, of course.

With a contemporary tropical/colonial design, The Betsy is a true standout in Miami’s hotel scene. I cannot begin to say enough great things about this place, what with its nicest housekeeping staff on earth and impeccable safari-esque décor. The daylight-filled rooms are highlighted with features like plantation shutters, rich wood floors and vibrant accent colors that pop from the clean white palette.

The hotel occupies a primo spot at the tail-end of Ocean Drive—making it extremely close to all the restaurants, nightclubs and shopping, but still quiet enough to get a good night’s sleep once the fun is done. The hotel sits right across the street from the beach (hello chair/umbrella service!), boasts a delicious restaurant called BLT Steak, and features an amazing porch out front to people watch, grab a bite to eat or hide out from summer showers while sipping a cocktail. The Betsy has even incorporated sustainability into its design, with various green elements, including low-flow fixtures and Energy Star A/C systems, among other things.

The Betsy is a bit of Old World charm (after all, the hotel originally debuted in 1942 and played host to many U.S. troops during WWII before being completely renovated recently) mixed with modern luxury. It’s sophisticated without being stuffy. Luxurious without being over-the-top. And, most importantly, it’s the kind of place you can kick back, relax, be pampered and think, “I could get used to this.”

--Jessie Bove

Just Say No to Counterfeiting

Fakes are tempting for the average consumer--I’m just being honest. The lure of buying a little slice of fashion ecstasy, an homage really, is a reasonable offer in hard economic times, and it can be rationalized as a “deal” you didn’t “realize” was a Frada or a Louis Freeton. The sympathy meter is running short for high-ticket brands. Unfortunately, this is exactly what highly organized, global brand extortionists are banking on.

The reality of both online and offline crimes-against-our-brands is that it isn’t limited to the labels of luxury. Everything from computer components, batteries, car parts, prescription medications, baby formula and the can of soda you could be drinking right now have fallen prey to counterfeiting. Brand crime also comes in the form of cyber-criminals lifting a trusted bank’s logo to perpetrate a phishing scam to gain access to private accounts and personal information.

Criminals are also getting smarter. Counterfeit products and online scams are getting harder to detect. While most of us know that there isn’t actually a Nigerian prince who is in need of immediate wire transfers to gain freedom from prison to free his people, we can’t all tell if a product purchased in a trusted retailer is real or fake. So just think how the average consumer walking down Canal Street in New York might feel!

Here are a couple more facts to consider: counterfeiting costs the U.S. economy more than $200 billion each year; the toy industry alone estimates close to 80,000 jobs lost due to counterfeiting and fraud; and between 5 percent to 7 percent of global trade is lost due to counterfeiting. Let’s also consider that the weakened economy has created an environment where every dollar and every job counts.

This is why the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council embarked on a six-month study to benchmark what marketers were doing to protect the consumer’s brand and customer experience. What we found was that marketers are very aware of the threats, both online and off. The greatest encroachments are coming from cybersquatters and brand-jackers who illegally use brand names online and in URLs. Copyright infringement and theft of digital media is also a growing problem.

Marketers also agree that there’s a distinct cost to the brand at the hands of brand trespassers. Dilution of brand value and consumer counterfeit confusion are key issues. And, the majority of marketers estimate losses in sales between 5 percent and 15 percent.

What can be done: we can get smarter, faster. Marketers must monitor and protect their brands. If marketers truly step into their role as architects and owners of the customer experience, brand confidence will take a priority position in the mandate line. This is no longer a problem that can be relegated to legal or to industry watch-dog and lobbying organizations. This is a raging bull that must be taken by the horns.

To see what else marketers are saying about this issue, download the report by visiting http://www.cmocouncil.org/resources/form_protection.asp.

—Liz Miller, Guest Blogger
Liz Miller is vice president of programs & operations, CMO Council

The Retail Reality Show

America loves reality TV, especially when it’s not really real. Retail has not made into the reality genre as yet, but hand to God, I pray someday it might. It could be great for the industry.

Granted, reality TV has long embraced, swarthy semi-clad men doing a flawless passé double, blonde cougars on the prowl, weary-eyed bachelors and teary-eyed bachelorettes handing out red roses, guy lined singers, tyrannical chefs with bad hair cuts, Christian Siriano, Joan Rivers--and even enjoyed the occasional survivor being force-fed a tasty treat of scorpions and maggots. It’s a pretty broad landscape, but one bereft of the world of retail.

Here is my proposal--some enterprising TV producer should create a series called “The Great American Storey” (Get it? Storey instead of Story!). Ten stores would compete for sales by having to complete some sort of a retail obstacle each week. There would be an open casting call, and each store (instead of singing off key) would have to describe their store (without naming it) and why they think it’s the best store in America, and therefore has the best "storey." Hence, the clever title of the show. Week one: the CEOs of Macy’s, Saks and Wal-Mart would have to work on the sales floors of their stores, in the towel department, (historically the lowest rung in retail hierarchy of departments) and actually speak to customers and sales associates. Oh, by the way, they’d work the same cruddy hours, have to wear polo shirts and name badges, and only get minimum wage. Week two: similar stores like Banana Republic and Club Monaco, or Uniqulo and The Gap, would need to swap all their merchandise with each other to see how long it would take for customers to even realize they were in the wrong store. The first customer that realizes, “Hey, I’m in Abercrombie & Fitch, not a Hollister,” wins that week’s immunity. In another week’s episode, stores would need to create a window display that epitomized the company’s core message. Here’s the catch, a customer chosen at random will tell them what they think the company’s core message is (laughter ensues). America would vote each week by going to the company’s Web site and clicking a link. During the show, I see product placement, celebrity guests, great advertising in prime time, and a renewed interest in America to check out these retailers. Naturally, there’d be a panel of three judges, respected names in the industry, reading the competitors to filth or cheering them on-- Simon Doonan, Sam Walton and Andrea Jung are my nominees.

The possibilities are endless. What retail challenges would you like to see? Do tell!

(This is not a copyrighted idea so I promise not to sue when Bravo places it on their schedule next year.)

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Save a Donut for Me

Does June 5th ring a bell? No, it’s not your wife’s birthday or your anniversary, but it’s a big day. While it may not be as romantic as Valentine’s Day or as patriotic as Washington’s Birthday, today is National Doughnut Day (insert Homer Simpson happy dance). In celebration, Dunkin' Donuts and Krispy Kreme plan to commemorate the day with FREE giveaways.

It’s not a new marketing ploy by the makers of Alli or Activia. National Doughnut Day was established in 1917, when female officers in the Salvation Army passed out fresh doughnuts to the homesick soldiers that served in France during World War I. Welcome home boys! Now gobble up! In 1938, the Chicago branch of the Salvation Army sold doughnuts to raise money during the Great Depression. Hence, a holiday was born.

There is a little catch, (there’s always a little catch)--Dunkin' Donuts is celebrating by giving away a free doughnut with the purchase of any beverage, while supplies last.

Not to be out-dunked, Krispy Kreme is also giving away one doughnut per customer on Friday, but no purchase is required. I know where I’m going. Save me a chocolate glazed please!

And, lesser-known LaMar’s Donuts will be giving a complimentary Ray’s Original Glazed doughnut to customers. (I never heard of them, and we don’t have one in my neighborhood anyway.)

As per Dunkin’s Web site, the average glazed doughnut has 220 calories, 80 of which are from fat, 9 grams fat, 4 of which are from saturated fat, 12 grams sugar, and 320 milligrams of sodium (salt)--translation: two hours on the treadmill.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Desperately Seeking Susan

There are certain injustices in life I cannot tolerate, including, but not limited to, Susan Boyle being beaten out by a dance group called “Diversity,” Mummenchantz coming back to Broadway, Forever 21’s sales floor, and Abercrombie & Fitch’s sales staff.

Forget Stark Trek, beam me up so I can insert the Dilithium crystals and move at warp speed, the retail federation needs to be saved.

Forever 21 is located on 42nd Street here in New York City. It has two robust floors of ballet bars packed with so much designer copycat merchandise that it looks like a Chinese Santa Claus exploded. I saw the top I wanted (a gift)--a sheer ruffled black and red tartan blouse, just $14, seeming perfect, except it was a large, and I needed a small. Now other retailers might merchandise their floors in some mundane fashion, like by product category or size, but no, this is Forever 21, which merchandises their floor based on a complicated system algorithmics and astrological signs. I’m a Scorpio, but the blouse must have been a Taurus. Despite what my instincts told me (to flee), I trusted a sales associate who reported that she had seen some of those tops around somewhere. She was right; one was being used to jam under a fixture so that it wouldn’t wobble over. (“Weebles wooble, but they don’t fall down!”) You know it was the size I was looking for. I hate buying things that are used as rags for birthday gifts. Please do not tell my niece. I was ready to Susan “Boil” over.

Partly because I am a masochist, and partly because I needed to return a pair of socks (re-gifted), I found myself inside Abercrombie & Fitch on Fifth Avenue. It’s the NY flagship. Sort of the Enterprise of its star fleet. The shirtless model and cologne spritzer at the front door held promise, except for the fact that I was old enough to be his father. (All right, truth be told, I could be his father’s older brother.) To get a job at Abercrombie & Fitch you must be a vampire, because they do not want you to see what they sell, because all the lights are turned off--it’s as dark as Lastat’s tomb, which really doesn’t matter because the Pet Shop Boys Live soundtrack will assuredly drive you outside into the daylight. Here is the lesson I learned today: it's difficult to take a teenager seriously in flip-flops telling you that the socks you are returning are “hot.”

I’m desperately seeking Susan; I’m going home to YouTube “I Dreamed A Dream” from Les Mis, because after Forever 21 and Abercrombie & Fitch, I am miserable.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Look, Up In the Skies!

In order for me to fix the economy, I would need to have the power of Superman, and be able to reverse time by stopping Earth's orbit and making it go backwards. Unfortunately, I can only bench-press about 150 lbs., so I’ll have to rely on other methods.

I’m not going say this is representative of the whole economy, and that everything is fine, but there are encouraging notes in the adventuresome world of retailing that do not seem to get the press that stores going under get.

For example, Apple plans to open 25 stores this year, and remodel 100 existing stores. Apple’s stores are beautifully designed, and their TV commercials are brilliantly executed. (Yes, I’m a PC and ashamed Justin.)

Wal-Mart is opening its first mega-store in India, where pesky things like labor unions shouldn’t plague them. The prognosis for investing in the global (emerging) market is excellent, and being among the first there makes the rest of the discount retailers look like wanna-be's.

Syms, “Where an educated consumer is our best customer!” (Their words not mine) is looking to purchase ailing Filene’s Basement.

Forever 21 wants to purchase 21 Gottschalk’s. You might recall that Forever 21 already purchased all 150 Mervyn’s department stores last year. In other news, a mis-trial was just declared in the copywriting case with Trovata. That lone juror should be forced to wear nothing but counterfeit.

Casual wear retailer Aeropostale is reporting very health sales again; they seem to have stumbled upon some magic potion. They are in good company, Buckle is also doing well--very well! This raises the question that everyone has failed to ask, how are they doing it?

Specialty stores have been hard hit by the economy, but Zalo, American Eagle Outfitters, Chico’s Charming Shoppes and Coldwater Creek are in the black.

Macy’s is considering opening outlet stores all over the country to expand its reach. They already secured a lucrative contract to be the primary vendor in all the PXs (government lingo for Post Exchange) so that military families in the United States and abroad will always have access to Macy’s merchandise on every base in the world.

7-Eleven plans on opening 200 stores this year--giant Slushees and blue tongues for everybody. Homer Simpson is rejoicing.

And last, but not least, Burberry is opening two new stores in New York, along with new superdy-duperty corporate headquarters. Now I’ll only have to walk four blocks instead of 12.

Just like Superman, retail is truth, justice and the American way!

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Let's Not Talk About It

There’s a cartoon circulating, it’s in syndication, and it perfectly captures this moment in time: Two women are walking down the street past shop windows where there are all these percentage-off signs prominently hung. They’re stopped in front of a dress shop where there’s a big graphic that says, “Everything 80% to 90% off.” The bubble over the one woman’s head says to the other woman, “I don’t know, I think I’ll wait till it goes down some more.”

Stock is being reduced everywhere, granted, at times so low that it’s an incentive for even the stingiest of us to reach into our pockets...but rest assured, the market has pretty much bottomed out. Consumers, like trained chimps, have quickly learned that paying full price for anything is ridiculous. Maybe Macy’s will start offering bananas with purchase to lure us back in.

Retailers don’t want to talk about the economy. We know you are bleeding. Yet, they invariably send out these rosy statement letters that indicate everything is okay, or will be, from your mouth to God's ear. Retailers are trying their best. I’m certain they are, but at times, it seems like retailers are talking about everything except the problem. They talk about eco-consciousness, reducing the carbon footprint, transparency, branding, pandering, bloggers slandering, importance of design, being kind, being green, being lean, and catering to teens, smart design, store design, and even de-signing the signs, the country of origin, their margins, affordable luxury, customer service, shopping as an experience, shopping as a destination, visual merchandising, catering to demographics, social awareness, social consciousness, Internet presence, the global market, giving back to the community, relevance of product, regionalization of product, establishing a unique voice, and can I ask you your zip code for our records? It’s all smoke and mirrors. It belies that the economy has changed us, changed our behavior and altered the way we shop and what our expectations are--but let’s not talk about it.

Retailers are running around like Iccarus with his wings on fire. Calm down and take a deep breath. We applaud you for your valiant efforts. Give yourself a big pat on the back. We’re still shopping, just not so much. Our closest are full from years of wreckless spending. Our credits cards are maxed out. While the national economy is perilous, there are no breadlines; (yet he says cautiously) by the way, Macy’s did very well during the Great Depression, as did many of the great American department stores, but let's not talk about that.

America is getting by on less. The pendulum has swung the other way. Internet sales on shopping sites appear not to have dropped dramatically. eBay is selling second-hand clothes as “gently worn” and “recently loved.” Sales are re-sellers (vintage and second hand) are doing very well. The home sewing community is gathering steam; people are learning how to make things for themselves. In fact, I’m one of those people. I made a winter overcoat out of an old ivory colored Pendleton blanket. It’s a dream. Those who are not “crafty” are buying small run items on sites like www.etsy.com.

Some retailers like Martin + Osa encourage customers to bring in their old clothes for donation to the Good Will and Salvation Army. Other retailers are willing to buy back clothing for a store credit, so that discount shoppers can buy last season’s jeans and tops at a fraction of their original price.

So let’s talk about it, let’s look at the economy. Let’s be real. Let’s be candid.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Call Yourself a Creative?

 It was with much interest that I delved into this month’s latest list of lists in Fast Company Magazine. Billed as a round up of the 100 Most Creative People in Business, I was looking forward to our retail community being healthily represented.

Alas…not so much.

As I began scrolling down the list I went into a cold sweat. Nobody from this wonderful, wide world of retail on the list? Say it ain’t so!

Sure there were people who create the products that sit in the stores. Jonathan Ive for example, perhaps (OK completely) predictably topping the list. There was even someone who helps select the products that grace the floor among the luminaries; although Trish Adams’ legacy at Target goes so very far beyond her title of Senior VP of merchandising. Thanks to her vision, we now have a constantly rotating parade of designer endorsements flooding our high streets and I for one think the world is one heck of a lot more fun because of it.

But still no one you’d say was primarily involved in the design of the store. There were a few architects on the list and I’m not one to knock architects--after all I married one and I work with more than a few--darn fine, brilliant folks one and all. But the architects on the FC list are a breed apart. Described as everything from gurus to gods and not living in the real world that most of us ply our trade in. When these guys design stores, we know the product is not exactly going to end up king, or queen, or even an illegitimate heir for that matter. Stores designed by big name architects are about one thing: big name architects. Of this bunch, Thom Mayne was highest on the list at No. 15. I went into a store he did once, not only was the product playing second fiddle, the architecture actually seemed to be conspiring to keep me from buying anything. Lord Foster followed a few places further back, but he’s another case in point.  I recall shopping in a “store” he did for Joseph in London in the '90s ,and it was like browsing for clothes in a freshly scrubbed submarine--cramped, badly lit and depressingly antiseptic.

This got me to No. 38 and the panic was starting to set in. Surely someone would make the cut? Someone should call the editor. Doesn’t Simon Doonan know about this list? Still no luck as I rounded 50, no one who actually designs stores, or even designs bits of stores, or even knows someone who designs stores, made the cut. It seemed the editors of Fast Company were about to give this unbelievably vibrant business we all work in a slap in the face.

And maybe it’s our own fault. For the longest time, I’ve marveled at how much our discipline dwells in the shadows of its own humility. Ours is an industry bigger than Hollywood serving an engine which by everyone’s admission essentially IS the economy these days. Consumer spending is the oxygen by which Wall Street survives, and if you don’t believe me just look at the past few months.

Yet we, the people who craft the environments wherein the very sales take place, have no Oscars, no true red carpet, no real public presence. We don’t even have a reality show. That Kate what’s-her-face can get a show just by having eight kids. How come there isn’t something taking a peek behind the scenes of this fascinating, drama-ridden insane world of retail?

And even worse than all of this, we couldn’t even make it to the FC list…

Imagine then, my relief, surprise and delight to finally see our sole entry there at No. 54. Masamichi Katayama, principle at Wonderwall and designer of--among other things--Uniqlo’s New York Store from last year! I’m not one to gush, but I believe a small “yay!” did make it past my lips.

Sure its only one entry, and it didn’t make the top 50. But the light hasn’t completely gone out. Any thoughts on who might be that next designer out there already sharpening their pencils for next year’s list? And more to the point, who’s planning their reality show?

--Christian Davies, Guest Blogger

Photo: Masamichi Katayama

Gone, But Not Forgotten

The other day, I was la-de-dolling on Fifth Avenue, and just happened to stroll into Henri Bendel, the famed fashion retailer. To what did my wandering eyes appear… (no, not a miniature sleigh and eight tiny reindeer), but a heavy preponderance of cosmetics and accessories. For a moment I thought I had accidentally walked into Ulta. Someone, I don’t know who, must have stolen all the retailer’s clothing the night before. It had mysteriously been removed…or not.

Like a detective in some old Dr. Thorndike’s mystery novels, I began to collect the forensic evidence of the crime scene.

Henri Bendel, which was founded in 1895, and has long been long a Manhattan icon and anchor, housed in the drop dead gorgeous old Rene Lalique showrooms, is planning to stop selling clothes this summer, and focusing instead on accessories and beauty products.

For more than a century, Bendel’s has distinguished itself for its “store of shops” concept, and has set the standard for the image of high fashion, but now, it appears that its current owner, The Limited Brands, wants to branch out to malls, and limit Bendel’s breadth of inventory. Great, another retailer who for over a century has been know for fashion, is rethinking its core constituency to become a Sephora hybrid? Where will the “Gossip Girls” shop, Loehmann’s? 

Abigail Wexner, wife of Limited Brands CEO, Les Wexner, can I coerce you to intervene? Please!!!

In a news release, the company positioned the changes as an effort to expand the Henri Bendel brand, with six accessories only stores to open in shopping centers nationwide. The New York Times reports that Bendel’s flagship store at 712 Fifth Avenue will stay open, but give up one of its three floors. It’s already history like the reservoir on Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street.

As for convoluted thinking, several employees briefed on the plans said that they were told that Bendel had decided to eliminate the fashion departments because there was no sign of a turnaround in the sale of high-ticket items, but that beauty and gift products were selling well, and typically with much higher margins. If that is true, then why not just sell hot dogs--the mark on them is high too?

About 8 percent of the employees will be laid off, including sales clerks and executives in its buying office. They will be replaced with vile perfume spritzers, the lowest form of retail humanity. In the “Planet of The Fashion Apes” world, they would be the gorillas.

Oh, my darlin’ Clementines everywhere, fashion is no longer reliant on high-ticket items, if you are using that old paradigm, then you will assuredly make asinine choices for your business. Show some backbone, there are great designers who are affordable and can reinforce and reinvigorate your brand, until times turn around. If Bendel's becomes one big glamorous Duane Reade, I’m packing it in. I want to see overpriced dresses, extravagant frocks and ludicrous price tags.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Do You Want to Know a Secret?

The CIA and FBI are not the only game in town that understands the allure of a secret for the American public. Covert activities aside, McDonald's Big Mac has long boasted about its “special sauce” (which takes suspiciously like mayonnaise and ketchup), whereas KFC has promoted its “secret recipe of herbs and spices,” and now, after years or speculation, we know the origins of the secret formula for Dr. Pepper. It’s true!

Dr. Pepper, like olives and oysters, is an acquired taste. (Think Tony Curtis and Laurence Olivier bathing in Quo Vadis.) Well, the next best thing, a local Oklahoma man has just discovered a book in an old antique store from the very Waco, Texas, drugstore where Dr. Pepper was invented, which includes a recipe entitled "D. Peppers Pepsin Bitters." The book where the formula was found is filled with everything from piano polish formula to a hair-restorer, to a cough syrup. The original "D. Peppers Pepsin Bitters" formula includes mandrake root, sweet flag root and syrup. It is most likely an early recipe for Dr. Pepper, but not the current formulation. Still pundits may note that piano polish tastes eerily like Dr. Pepper; alas, it does not restore hair. I am the living proof.

Dr Pepper was first served in 1885 and is said to have been invented at the W.B. Morrison & Co. Old Corner Drug Store in Waco, Texas, by a pharmacist named Charles Alderton. “It isn't a recipe for a soft drink,” says Greg Artkop, a representative for the Plano, Texas-based Dr. Pepper/Snapple Group. He insists, “It’s likely instead a recipe for a bitter digestive that bears the Dr. Pepper name.” He further reports the recipe bears no resemblance to the modern day Dr. Pepper recipe, as the drink's 23-flavor blend is a closely guarded secret, only known by three Dr. Pepper employees.

So, Mr. Alderton since it is such a closely guarded secret, how do I know for certain that the modern day formula doesn't include mandrake root, sweet flag root and syrup?

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

The Lost Arts of Just About Everything

A strange thing happened the other day, and it’s a signifier I think in some ways of this world we find ourselves in.

As a part of my job, I am a documenter and cataloger of the concept of change. It’s a big part of the work of anyone who claims to be a watcher of trends and in many ways represents the essence of such things. And when you do this day in and day out, you develop this sort of heightened sense of it--a kind of change radar --which leads to you spotting shifts in paradigms in all manner of things.

Case in point, just the other day, I came to do something which a few years ago would have been so very pedestrian of a task, but which today gave pause for thought.

I had to handwrite a letter.

Not an e-mail, not an article, not even a piece for a blog. A letter. And I realized I had completely forgotten how to do it.

It was a long(ish) letter to a client. A business correspondence sure and so laced with a certain convention, with certain rules to follow. And yet so very different from the electronic means of communicating we have all fallen into.

A few things immediately came to mind. For one, it’s very different to begin a written conversation without a subject line. Not to mention how out of place typical e-mail salutations seem on headed paper.  The word “yo” followed by an exclamation point, for example, is simply not going to cut it. And perhaps most of all I was struck by how the simultaneously informal and impersonal tone we strike on the screens of our laptops leave a written sheet of paper feeling odd and lost.

I had to buy a new pen (from Manufactum of course) as the fiber-tip plastic pencils we now call pens are clearly engineered for scrawling meaningless drivel onto post-it notes rather than crafting something that takes time and contains nuance and inflection. And then I had to read a book on how to write letters.Vanderbilt’s Complete Book of Etiquette is the perfect place to start. (And you can find it here.)

All of this made me think--if we are evolving past this most basic human form of interaction, is that partly the reason why it's hard to establish those connections elsewhere in our daily lives? Why I never seem to be able to check in to a hotel without the person at the front desk simultaneously being on the phone. Why that venerable institution known as the American bar (the drinking kind, not the legal kind), once the beating heart of a community and a place filled with conversation between strangers, has morphed into a shoulder-to-shoulder row of slack-jawed patrons, staring up at an all too ubiquitous TV.

Of course this has also found its way into retail. It's why an associate in a store the other day saw satisfying my desire for the perfect shirt as nothing more than a time filler while he waited for a reply to his latest text. And why our annual Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa et al gift buying has moved from frenzied days walking snowy streets arms laden with presents, to a thoroughly sanitized couple of evenings tapping at a keyboard. Where maintaining the sense of the season’s spirit is now defined as hastily ripping the senders information off UPS boxes on the front porch and deleting order confirmations from the family mailbox.

It's not all bad. E-mail, voicemail, SMS and next-day shipping means our world hums along with an efficiency and expediency our near ancestors couldn’t even fathom. And perhaps you don’t miss the old days as much as I do? Feel free to respond and let me know if I’m being overly sentimental, or if there are others out there feeling this Brave New World might be missing something?

--Christian Davie, Guest Blogger

Photo: © Luckyrobj | Dreamstime.com

A New Shade of Green

Earth Day (April 22) has come and gone, but not without some impact. In a belated celebration, I'm still thinking about "green."

Pantone, the international color authority, forecasts a new shade called “Apple Green,” as a predominate color in fashion and home furnishings. "Green has been the symbolic color for the past few years, and will stay that way; it reflects the usage of the moment. The mother color to green is blue, in homage to water, the most precious commodity we have," said Laurice Eisman, Pantone color expert.

The word “green” creeps like the swine flu into almost all our daily conversations these days, partly as a result of our interest in environmentalism, and in past of its association with the economy, as in “greenbacks,” i.e., dollar bills, our other preoccupation.

Like it or not, the ownership of our planet is exchanging hands. The “younger generation” is not pleased with the condition they are finding their inheritance. Retailers either get it or scratch their heads. Many retailers are so out of the loop, they aren’t even aware of Bill H.R. 6049, which would provide tax benefits and abatements for stores to remodel, this includes incentives for retailers to use solar energy in their stores and warehouses (See www.retaildesigndiva.com “Congress Rocks, June 16, 2008).

Here’s what we are seeing--same old thinking, slashed budgets, reducing expenditures and more heads lopped off than at the Queen of Hearts tea party. (Oh! Mighty Isis!)

Retailers order the same way they always do, always have, without any recognition to the new global weather/season patterns. They go from their air-conditioned stores, to their air-conditioned cars, to their air-conditioned homes, not aware of what the real temperature is (physically or emotionally). Many designers still design four collections, yet we live in a two-season climate, which arrives later every year. Can you tell a spring wrap-around, from a summer wrap-around? Designers still release a Cruise/pre-spring line (when was the last time you took a leisurely cruise aboard the QE2 to the Mediterranean?). Clothing is produced overseas (China) with a minimum 12-14 week delivery, it always runs late, so retailers order early, which is why winter coats arrive in store in June. By August, amid 90 degree temperatures, retailers are already taking their third markdown and seem angry at customers who still aren’t buying wool coats. Christmas comes in October and is down by November. What planet are we living on? Retailers, you’d better start listening to your customers, they are fed up--which is why consumers are making their purchases online, in season.

Retailers refuse to consider the notion of blending Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter--it isn’t factored into the shopping equation. Stores are not set up to accommodate the realities around us. The dictates of designers insisting that retailers have to buy full cruise lines for a customer base that no longer exists is wasteful. Many designers refuse to make a size 14 or larger, even though the average America starts at that size. The average designer doesn’t even wear a size 8 (the tail is wagging the store). The notion of purchasing locally, to support American jobs, reduce shipping costs, and reduce the carbon footprint is dismissed as not fiscally responsible, despite the fact that nearly every study demonstrates that consumers will dig more deeply into their pockets if the benefits of being “green” are identified.

But it’s just not about buying “green,” it’s about spending “green”--the days of wasteful acquisition are long over. Replacing last year's coat for this year's model is passé. Consumers want items of quality (not luxury). They shop differently. They insist on bang for their buck. “Buzz” (hype and slick marketing) is not bang.

There’s a new shade of green in town. It’s bright, familiar, enticing, healthy and optimistic.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

A Little Retail 101 Goes a Long Way…

After so much hand-wringing on the state of our industry and the sputtering attempts to spur consumers to part with their hard-earned dosh, I had the most delightful experience recently which reminded me of everything great retail is supposed to be about. And it happened in the most unexpected of places.

I was in the market for a new lawnmower and had decided after much internal debate to go with one you “push.” I’d like to tell you this was just the latest step on a greening-of-my-life type strategy, but in reality the timing was set when the kid down the street doing my lawn went to college in the fall and his mom didn’t think his 7-year-old sibling was up to the task. Although, admittedly, I did ask.

Having taken the plunge to do the job myself, I went the way of “push” during my research (read: stalling) for the upcoming endeavor. Apparently its better for the lawn, you get a better result and when I decide to do something, no matter how reluctantly, it’s at least partially important to me to try and get it right.

So, I find what’s considered to be the world’s best push mower according to all the online lawn geeks (a group I now am proudly a part of) and then set about what I anticipated would be a long, arduous journey to get one into my hands. Here’s the steps I went through.

1. Went to the manufacturer’s wonderful, beautifully designed, informative Web site to discover (surprise, surprise) the best push lawnmower in the world is made not hours from my house. Wow! My initial joy at buying a true heartland, American-made classic was then wholly deflated when I discovered they make them there but don’t actually sell them there. Arse.

2. Go to the Supplier Finder and, low and behold, there’s one in the next neighborhood--a big, national hardware store chain even. But still, I steeled myself that they wouldn’t have the one I wanted as I picked up the phone.

3. Called them. They had one in stock. What were their opening hours? Again ready for the inevitable “We close at 6,” only to find “We close at 10.”  10? Really? Wow again. Loving these guys.

4. Drove over after work. It’s a measure of how hit and miss things have been these past months (or perhaps just a measure of my rampant paranoia) that I spent the drive convinced when I got there they wouldn’t have it or would in fact be closed. But the sun was out and it was a beautiful evening drive--so what the hell.

5. Arrived at the store and wandered around a bit looking for my lawnmower. Well-lit, well-signed and there it was--perhaps surprisingly--in the lawnmower section.

6. And it was on sale.

7. Then of course I wondered, how does one actually buy a lawnmower? Does it come in a box? Do you need tools? As if by magic, at that very moment a chap shows up. “Can I help you?” “Um yes, I’d like to buy that.” He paused, and smiled. Here it comes, I thought, the inevitable up-sell, the admission that it wasn’t actually in stock. “Oh man, excellent choice, you are going to LOVE this!” he exclaimed. Imagine my surprise; someone who not only knows the product--he uses it himself. Someone who was just given the easiest sell in creation and yet took the time to share his enthusiasm regardless.

8. Still, I didn’t know how exactly to buy it. “Oh…I’ll just give you this one,” the associate says. “Isn’t that your floor model?” “Yeah, but you don’t want to worry about assembly, and it’s a beautiful day so you are going to want to use this tonight. I’ll just put another one together in the morning.” And with that, he picked it up and carried it to the front desk.”

9. As I was paying--still somewhat in shock at how easy this all was--he came over and gave me a free sharpening kit. Then he gave me his card and told me to call if I had any questions or problems. Then he carried it out to my car. Then he shook my hand and wished me luck.

I drove home slack jawed. It couldn’t have gone smoother. I couldn’t have been happier.  And the mower was a simple delight. What did I pay for this experience? $79. Where did I have it? Ace Hardware. What was it worth to me? To borrow the slogan from Mastercard--it was priceless.

--Christian Davies, Guest Blogger