Dawn of the Dead (Retail)

  So, it turns out my local, relatively recently deceased Circuit City is now a Halloween Store.

I noticed this driving by a couple of weeks back. At first, I put it down to some local entrepreneurial type taking advantage of what I always thought was a pretty good piece of real estate. But, as this article in the Boston Globe proves, it’s actually part of a more fiendish strategy. (Apologies in advance for any and all Halloween references throughout--'tis the season after all.) Now I was a pretty big fan of Circuit City in its later years. I liked the last few designs they put together, and thought they were truly trying to compete in the category by differentiating themselves through new store concepts. It was difficult to see them go, as it has been for a lot of retail in this latest round of economic woes. And yet, despite that seeming to be the final nail in the coffin, this latest incarnation gave me pause for thought. It's not just Circuit City--there are some great spaces out there right now. In fact, I just wandered by a Smith and Hawken the other day and thought, "Who's going to take that?" And if nobody has the need for a whole portfolio of properties, why not give them up to the opportunist? Okay, so it's not the greatest of retail designs--some of the merchandising is, frankly, a bit weird, and I have a sneaking suspicion the newly shrouded Circuit City disk isn't illuminated at night, lest the old logo shines through the pumpkin that replaced it. But that aside, for a few weeks at least there's been an event going on in my hood that feels like retail should feel-- impromptu, spontaneous and actually pretty fun. As the article puts it, Spirit--the company behind this little refit--has raised 83 of the Circuit City stores from the dead. Well, if not maybe raised them from the dead, perhaps breathed a little more life into what was starting to feel a bit like a graveyard.

Of course, every positive angle has a darker evil twin lurking in a closet just waiting to pounce. And this one is no exception, as it seems there is another side to this tale. Turns out these seasonal shops are putting a serious hurting on the year-round costume businesses that rely on Halloween for a big chunk of their annual revenue. And perhaps, justifiably, these stores can claim to be a part of their wider community for the 320 days of the year when Halloween shopping is not a big deal. In their words, the pop-ups "show up, make their money and leave." Spirit has countered these claims by citing the almost $1 million they have raised this year alone for children's hospitals in each of the communities they enter. Any thoughts on the good and evil around this particular story? Is this type of seasonal retail entering the mainstream? Or is it, as Paul Ivice wrote in the TC Palm, just another bloodsucker for mom-and-pop stores already under stress?

--Christian Davies, Guest Blogger

 

 

Hybrids

We all know that hybrids are everywhere (and I'm not just talking about the cars). You take two popular movies like “Roman Holiday” and “The Prince and the Pauper” and you get “The Princess Diaries.” Soft drink companies take two flavors--one tart and one sweet--and you get (neither tart nor sweet) pomegranate-kiwi tea. Geneticists have grown the fuzz off of peaches and (although I don’t know how they did it) even crossed a firefly and corn on the cob to create a kind of glow in the dark ear. (Double yuck!) Granted, you take two great things to create one not-so-great item, but it has the allure of a two-for-one. Anyway, while hybrids are neither feast nor famine, everyone is doing it. Clever marketers try to convince us we’re getting something new and improved…sort of.

Retailers, slow on the draw, are now catching up to Hollywood and Madison Avenue. Today’s retailers are creating hybrid concept stores. The first sector that really has caught on to the concept are supermarkets, like Whole Foods, which has a spa in select stores, where you can get a pedicure, manicure, light facial or massage. All spa products are “not tested on animals” and meet Whole Foods' stringent organic requirements. Other supermarkets have eliminated food products from their shelves to introduce movie rentals, greeting cards, and expanded their take-out areas to rival most franchised chicken joints and sushi places. Frankly, if a date asked me out to have sushi and took me to the A&P, the romance would be over. Some clever menswear shops are installing barber shops where you can get a shave and a hair cut while the hem on your new pants is being altered. They’ll even shine your shoes. Unfortunately, ever since I saw “Sweeny Todd” I’m terrified of straight-edge razors.

Borders bookstores are integrating digital centers where customers can download music and books that might not be readily on their shelves. This in essence offers the retailer access to nearly every title printed without the need to stock it. Borders, cognizant of its techno-inclined customer, also has computer kiosks to research family histories and print out family photos. The first "hybrid" store opened last year in Ann Arbor, Mich. It must be successful, as 13 other stores are set to open in 10 states this year.

The Gap's Fifth Avenue store in New York has partnered with Pantone (paints), havaianas (sandals), “Pure Body Yoga Studios” and trendy French retailer Collette to create pop-up shops to draw customers into their adjacent store where their perfunctory T-shirts and jeans are sold. This ever-changing hybrid concept seems to support Gap sales and makes the Gap a destination spot to pick up something extra and unexpected--an incentive goes a long way these days.

The jury may be out on some hybrid concept stores, but rest assured it does seem to invigorate sales. I’m all for hybrids, with one notable exception to the book publisher (shame on you) who reported that they were taking two classic books to create a new fantasy series. Rest assured, I will not be reading “The Diary of Anne Frankenstein.”

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Borders photo credit: Laszlo Regos

Starbucks Tries Something New

"I'll have a Venti Merlot, please."

Only in my dreams, right? Perhaps not. While I'm sure they hope their maniacal Starbucks fans continue to crave no-whip, half-caff, mocha light frappucinnos on a daily (if not hourly) basis, the Seattle-based coffee company is quietly testing a new concept on the block. It sells coffee, teas and the like as expected, but add to that a dash of ice cream, local pastries and a wine and beer menu. Suddenly the craving is not just breakfast oriented...but happy hour savvy. And hint hint: it's not called Starbucks.

Introducing the new 15th Ave. Coffee & Tea concept, a locally driven test concept Starbucks launched in the Capitol Hill area in Seattle in July. The new store is part of a test that will include an additional two Seattle shops, similarly named after their surrounding neighborhoods. The coffeehouse design draws inspiration from the original Starbucks location opened in Seattle’s Pike Place Market 38 years ago, and features materials and furnishings that are recycled, reused or locally sourced, such as a community table made using wood from an old ship and bartops from shuttered Starbucks locations. Just a pleasant, authentic neighborhood coffeehouse vibe. In this diva's mind, Starbucks got it right. For more pics, visit the DDI Project Gallery.

P.S. The store manager, Jenna, even has her own blog with updates on events and store happenings. Very un-corporate. Very cool. They also have a Twitter page (@15thAveCoffee), for the super social-net savvy.

--Diva

Photo: Courtesy of Starbucks Corp.

I'll Have a Grande Merlot

They’re called “wineys”--yuppies that are obsessed with wine tastings, wine parties, spa vacations in the Napa Valley, and some can even recite every other speech from the movie “Sideways.” They can be annoying, hence the play on words (whiney), but they have some disposable income--and discriminating wineys also appreciate a good cup of coffee, readily citing its aroma, fragrance, bouquet, undernotes and aftertaste. So praises to Starbucks, which recently announced that it's beginning to test a new concept store to cater to wineys in its hometown of Seattle, where it all began. Starbucks is changing the name of one of its current locations to a neighborhood friendly sounding, "15th Avenue Coffee and Tea" (note conspicuous absence of alcohol in new name) and will be serving wine and beer alongside its beverages. Do I see reruns of “Cheers” playing in the background? You may be appalled, but remember they all laughed at Christopher Columbus.

Starbucks is already the equivalent of a singles bar, with its friendly staff (usually) and socially accessible meeting place atmosphere. It’s the perfect (safe and respectable) place to hang out. If successful, the company says it will expand this new concept. (Trust me, it will.) "It's interesting," said Morningstar analyst, R.J. Hottovy, "especially since the Starbucks brand has been such an integral part of their success. The test is clearly examining an innovative sub-brand strategy to counteract the pushback by some customers disillusioned by a large corporate chain." So time permitting, you may need to be “proofed,” the next time you waltz into your local Starbucks.

Alcohol license not withstanding, Starbucks also has made major changes to its food offerings over the last several months, and now they're ready to finalize the big push to offer healthier items. (Yes, we’ve seen the news reports, we’re all getting fat.) The company has been overhauling its menu over the last several months, introducing oatmeal, naturally sweetened baked goods, and smoothies with protein and fiber. Oatmeal, in particular, has been a big hit in today’s depression-era climate. It’s very “The Walton’s.” That’s right, oatmeal, that slimy whole grain cereal our mother couldn’t get us to eat--well now it’s the comfort food for breakfast. Starbucks announced that it has overhauled 90 percent of its bakery case. Starbucks is heading off the move of fast-food retailers to eliminate transfats and is posting calories on their desserts. To support the move, Starbucks is announcing the shift in newspaper ads in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today. From Advertising Age: "There are few things good enough to go with Starbucks coffee," says the ad, from BBDO, New York. "Luckily we now have them all in our bakery case." Starbucks has readily acknowledged that its food offerings failed to stand up to its premium beverages (read: artery-clogging), and CEO Howard Schultz has made upgrading the chain’s consumables a top priority.

Here’s the real low down, the benefit to all this: you can tell all your colleagues that you stopped off for your afternoon refill of Pike Roast, but really chill out on a venti Chianti. Now that’s just too Hannibal Lechter!

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

SoHollister

There are only three places darker than hell when the hell fires burn out--an S&M club at 4 a.m., Abercrombie & Fitch, and now, Hollister. I have never been to an S&M club or hell, but I have been to A&F and Hollister.

The Abercrombie & Fitch template for success is simple--turn off the lights, turn up the music and take off your clothes. It has worked so well that sister store Hollister is going one better, by doubling those efforts. Will it be successful? Hollister opened last week on Broadway, just below Houston Street, in New York, making it the first store South of Houston Street (SoHo). The lines suggest that it will become a destination spot in a neighborhood full of destination spots like Topshop, Bloomingdale's, Prada, Desigual, H&M and Forever 21. Hollister appeals to the A&F crowd, but is distinguished by its slightly smaller price points, younger-looking sales staff and more-revealing product.

Hollister caters to the surf crowd. Okay, I’m a native New Yorker, all I know of the beach I learned from when Gidget was wiping out with Moondoggie, but I do know that surf, ski and skate attire are important fashion statements these days.

At Hollister last week, there were slews of families in from Jersey, tourists and locals checking out the new space. In fact, Miss Rhode Island even made an appearance. Adults were overheard to say, “Let me out of here!” while their pre-teen prodigy waxed rhapsodic over flannel, which only goes to show you that some people will buy anything. Hollister didn’t miss a trick; there were cute girls in bikinis and cuter guys in surf shorts posing in every nook and cranny. To create “buzz,” collegiate-age model wanna-bes were strategically placed by stairwells in packs, making the store appear more crowded than it actually was. Bars use this strategy during happy hour, too. 

On every landing (four floors) there were couples hanging over the balusters welcoming customers. I received nine greetings of “What’s up?”, five “Hey, how ya doing?" and three respectful, “Can I help you”s (as in, “Hey Grandpa, are you in the right store, you look lost!"). The question remains, can you trust a 19-year-old in flip-flops, red surf shorts (sans undies), sunglasses and a zinc-oxidized nose to offer an unbiased opinion on whether the blue and gray, or red and gray flannel tank top is hotter?

With a reported 40,000 sq. ft. of sales space, there is ample space to shop. The store is set up in a series of predictable little rooms, almost like you wandered into some strange meandering mansion, come library, come antique store, come gentleman‘s clubhouse. The rooms are set off a center hallway, with clichéd low-hanging chandeliers, leather wing back chairs, potted palms, Pendleton blankets, antique luggage, non-working billiard tables acting as merchandise tables, and stacks of surf magazines. The store is not signed, but sepia graphics by Bruce Webber reinforce the nascent sexual tone. There are no mannequins, just dressmaker forms, stained in vintage tea. The dressmaker wheels were removed so that forms don’t move. The dressmaker forms are poorly made, lacking bosoms and hip, or any musculature at all. Visually, it was not imaginative. It was predictable.

Technology promised to be a central focus. Indeed, it’s one promise that was kept. Huge monitors are split up into faux windows that border the perimeter of the store, giving customers a wrap-around view of the California Huntington Pier and the adjacent shore. It’s a bold stroke, and is visually arresting--customers are transported to the Southern California (SoCal) coast, where waves crash and surfers hang 10. It looks as real as an Imax. As you venture into the store, the city outside disappears, and one feels that the shore might really be outside. In truth, it’s just a Getty parking lot.

Will abdominal muscles continue to draw in the crowds? Well, sex sells. I did find it disturbingly lurid, and there was a sort of an “ick” factor to see little girls and boys no more than 7- or 8-years-old, posing with half-dressed models. Is this retail indoctrination? Well-meaning parents were snapping photos right and left. Would I really want Grandma to see my 9-year-old with her hands around some guy with his navel practically in her face? “Say cheese!”

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Photos: Ron Knoth

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

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

Diesel Fueled and Strong Armani

Okay, take a breath, we all know the economy is poor, the unemployment rate is rising and homes are going into foreclosures...retailers like Chicken Littles are running around crying “The sky is falling! The sky is falling!”

Retailers (especially those who over-expanded) will be closing their least profitable locations. Does America really need a Starbucks and Duane Reade on every other corner? After all, how many cups of grande Sumatra roast and bottles of avocado crème rinse can we consume? Some retailers will disappear forever into the Valhalla of retail. Like kingdoms where the bloodline ended, when Bonwit  Tellers, Orhbach’s, S. Klein and Abraham and Strauss went out of business, the world did not collapse, other merchants merely rose in prominence. While retailers will scale back, here is the good news... Indeed, they will be in fewer locations, but, (and it’s a big but) they will re-emerge in better locations, with larger, more attractive stores, and they will lock into longer leases as rents have been reduced. In order to attract customers back into shopping, stores will become destination sites, more attractive  environments will need to be created and customer service will be enhanced (however, how much further backwards Nordstrom’s can bend is TBD).

To illustrate my point, despite the sour economy, two brave retailers Diesel and Armani, just opened their over-the-top U.S. flagships on toney Fifth Avenue, New York, within one day of one another. (Tommy Hilfiger and Top Shop will also open shop shortly.) I quote…“Wouldn‘t you like to be my neighbor?” a la Mr.Rogers. Both Diesel and Armani are brilliantly executed stores, both different as night and day. Both, by all appearances, promise to be successful.

Diesel fuels Fifth Avenue with startling window displays. While possibly counter-intuitive, there is no product in the window, no mannequins, not one pair of distressed jeans. The windows represent a slice of life apartment, where their iconic, colossal-size, bronze punk head has just been hurled through the ceiling, and has now exploded. The apartment is a shambles. Post 9/11, it commands your attention. Once entering the store, a live DJ is playing rap as loudly as it might be heard at Webster Hall. Kids are absorbing Neo like a sponge. There are beautiful museum-quality-framed prints of Diesel's sexy advertising hung over leather couches. There are coffee tables and potted orchids to remind you of some swanky party you were once invited to. You almost begin to wonder, “Where am I, is this a jeans store, it’s too luxurious?” Natural light filterers into the store, bringing the glamour of Fifth Avenue right into the interior, at night the neon street sparkles. Jeans, which are plentiful, are hung, folded and draped as if they were made of Persian silk. The different washes of denim blue run from the color of the Aegean Sea to the color of the night sky in Nantucket. Like a zombie, you find yourself aimlessly walking into the dressing room with three pairs of low-rise boot cut jeans. I think the air is filtrated with Absinthe.

Also strong-arming, Armani, just two short blocks away from Diesel, presents the diametric opposite aesthetic. The exterior of the store is swathed in a perforated sheet of black polished steel; light from behind illuminates it like your kid sister's old “Light Bright” game. The staircase is elliptical in shape, and from the upper floor clearly reiterates the feminine shape of a women’s strappy stiletto. The stairs are illuminated in radiant white phosphorus, much in the same way I imagine that the steps to the Pearly Gates may be. Balancing the whiteness of the architectural staircase is a predominance of black, Armani’s signature color. It is not one shade of black--there are 96 shades of black, yes, I counted them. Ad Reinhardt would not only be impressed, he would have taken copious notes. The fixturing is as modern and sleek as a Porsche or Ferrari. I have to give it up to those Italian designers. The white marble floor creates a sinuous ice skating rink, and you will be doing figure eights in the couture department wondering how many books of S & H Green Stamps you would need to collect to pick up a frock. There are several floors, each so impressive you will venture into departments where you have no business to be.

If you do not trust my opinion, please note that the reviews are universal. Retail is alive and well, and living in New York City.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

True Colors

The oft-berated Gap is showing a stoke of brilliance with its ingenious pop-up shop featuring its partnership with Pantone. For those of you not familiar with Pantone, Pantone sets the industry standard for color reproduction, identifying trends, and is the international authority for how the color palette is identified and interpreted. No explanation for the Gap is necessary.

Man of the hour, Gap designer Patrick Robinson offers one solution to the post-holiday doldrums, a limited-edition line of T-shirts designed in collaboration with Pantone. Pantone is renowned for its vivid life-affirming hues. Judging from the holiday sales reports, the cheap and cheerful crews and v-necks will add a bright spot to an otherwise bleak economic mood. While other retailers bemoan, the Gap/Pantone pairing creates a horse of a different color. Hey, Baskin Robbins has done very well with its 31 flavors, too.

Pop-up shops are all the rage. If you have not seen one, here is how it works: whole stores or in-store events pop-up for a few days and then disappear into the retail netherworld. Target recently had great success with its pop-up stores in NYC. New Yorkers may pride themselves as being the epicenter for everything, but we do not have a Target on the mainland, despite the aggressive billboards in Times Square. Pop-up stores feed into our need for the temporal, and give us that feeling that we can still collect something special, especially with its limited-time availability. Pop-up stores usually pop-up in unexpected places, like a vacant Duane Reade, or an abandoned corner bodega, adding to their quirky, unexpected presence.

Do you have that one dress or one sweater that stands out in your closet? That one article that is turquoise, coral or acid green? Do you wear it whenever you need a little pick me up? Sure, we all do. If however, your closet is a canvas, bereft of vivid colors, Bee-Shyuan Chang (whose interview "Bright Idea | the Gap and Pantone T-Shop" from the Moment/New York Times (01/13/09) elucidates why introducing some spots of color may be worth your consideration.

Patrick Robinson: “…At the last (Gap) show, the word “optimistic” was in the air and that is truly the core and heart of Gap. We are all about optimism, and there is no better way to show that than in color.” “…We were studying Mimosa, Pantone’s color of the year, and what turns me on about this yellow is that it speaks of enlightenment. It is also supposed to spark imagination and innovation, and that is kind of amazing that color evokes that kind of emotion in people.” “I do think people do interesting things in tough times. In recessions, people actually get healthier. They start taking care of themselves better, and that is the mind-set we get into here (at the Gap) when we think about people, color and clothes. People are going to do the opposite, and not be in mourning, and they’ll want to be fresh, and the more they are thinking about taking care of themselves, and not only thinking of money, that sense of optimism rebalances your life."

It sounds like Robinson understands the culture, climate and customer better than all his peers do together. I’m not a soothsayer, but a T-shirt in Mimosa sounds awfully welcome right about now. I could use all the enlightenment, imagination and innovation a body can get. I predict great success for the Gap, and hope they will expand the program

What is your new favorite color?

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger