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

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

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

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

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

You Don’t Buy Me Retail…Anymore

“Used-to-be’s don’t count anymore, they just lay on the floor till we sweep them away…I remember when…”--Barbra Streisand, who on April 24th will turn a scant 67. This means, alas, I too am getting on, and one thing invariably leads to another.

Remember those halcyon days when luxury was not a dirty word. Now luxury is like our mem’ries “scattered ashes of the world we left behind, the world we gave one another, for the way we were.” Gosh, it seems like just yesterday. Well, tread carefully, “happy days are here again, the skies above are clear again.” There are multiple factors to account for the changes in retail. It’s a sort of perfect storm that may just be lifting.

The economy not withstanding, here are a few factors that feed into the magical alchemy that defines us, and how we shop. It’s not without coincidence that The First Lady and style maven, Michelle Obama, wore a J. Crew cardigan to Buckingham Palace. Despite Oscar De la “Ranta's” chastisement (and subsequent retraction on “the View,” Youtube him to see him get grilled like a cheese sandwich by Barbra Walters). Ms. Obama looked a-dor-a-ble in her entry-level sweater set. It broadcast a message loud and clear to the fashion hoi-polio, eat my *%$#. Ouch!

Maybe the Fashion Council of America missed WWD the other day, but lifestyle of the rich and famous luxury retailer Jil Sander is designing for Japanese fast-fashion merchant Uniqulo. They do everything except sell fries with their hoodies. Jil Sander is in good company, every other designer is trading down, welcome to the 21st century. It’s sort of nice.

Customers are shopping differently. They enter stores with a different set of expectations. What are the new standards in the new world order? Customers are not as easily swayed by slick advertising and marketing. Customers can spot a faker a mile off; customers seek truth. Customers want fashion that is relevant, not just stylish. Customers are not on acquiring mode anymore, they are on keeping mode. Customers balance value and price, and while the percentage off that retailers are offering is greatly appreciated, it will wear thin, as expectations are lowered, bottom out, and then “value” takes hold. We’re seeing that now. Customers are much better informed. They’re educated, and have researched product online. They don’t just look at product, they’re scrutinizing the company behind the product.

As for the new society, to wit: Kenneth Cole, with his social advocacy promoting his (seldom do they fit) shoes, and Donna Karan (Barbra’s VBF), with her Urban Zen collection that supports wildlife conservation, are the admiration of the industry. Their corporate mission speaks directly to their customers. Customers are looking for eco-friendly products. Statistics vary, but last year 49 percent of customers reported that they looked for organic materials (tipping point for securing a sale)--this year it’s already up to 55 percent and we’re only in April. Target and Anthropologie have done exceedingly well meeting this demand. Customers shop there because they are perceived as “green.” Customers long for the feeling that whatever they buy is somehow magically creating a better world, whether it's promoting consciousness awareness for breast cancer or rebuilding the rain forest.

What does this mean for retailers not on board, or behind the curve? The prognosis is poor. Mediocre collections and companies will no longer be blindly supported. Celebrity endorsements are becoming passé. Retailers need to move toward fewer venues, and open up in better locations with greater visual impact to develop their distinctive voice to appeal to higher-evolved customers. This accounts for the rapid demise of Steve and Barry’s. You can’t throw a fleece sweatshirt on the floor and expect the public to line up for it just because Sarah Jessica Parker wore it. A non-acceleration approach needs to be entertained. The glory days of ostentaciousness have given way to austerity. Get with the program. Customer approach and language needs to be addressed. We were once pegged as consumers, until be became customers, and then were reborn as guests--but the larva has been removed to reveal the new citizen of the world.

You "people, people who need people, are the luckiest people in the world."

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Photo: A product RED T-shirt from the Gap speaks to consumers who value socially responsible retailers.