Retail Design Diva

The Kiss of the Spider Woman

Diva J — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:39:32 -0500

She hung above the pavement like a goddess. She seamless floated magically into the night. She was a Spider Woman. It was Halloween on Fifth Avenue. There was not a trick-or-treater on the street.

Some retailer’s actually understand their customer and understand the product they sell; most retailers, unfortunately, do not have a clue. Halloween has come and gone. Most feeble retailers did the same thing they did last year, and the year before, and the year before that.

Does this sound familiar? It did not matter if you sold fine jewelry or hardware. It did not matter if you sold beautiful clothing or shampoo. The visual merchandising was identical--it included poorly strung cheep polyester spider webs criss-crossing windows with a heavier hand not seen since Bela Lugosi starred in Dracula (1931), interspersed were black paper cut-outs of witches in profile, skeletons and candelabras. Strung from monofilament were limp rubber bats, and lining piles of mismatched orange and black merchandise were plastic skulls with gory blood dripping down like a broken toilet pipe. You walked past, thought “yuck…ugly,” and longed for the days when you were a kid and Halloween was actually mystical and fun.

Bergdorf Goodman is not the kind of store you think of when you think of Halloween. They do not sell pirate outfits or slutty nurse uniforms. There are no candy bars in plastic pumpkins on their accessories counter. I doubt that a penny was even collected for UNICEF. (Now I’m dating myself!) Regardless, that did not stop them from doing Halloween better than every other store in New York City. This is a retailer who understands their customer, and understands their product. They have no equal! Their Halloween windows were beautiful, eerie and captured the puerile magic of Halloween. The windows are sinisterly titled, “Tales of Technology.”

Bergdorf Goodman, in a sinfully creative way, once again raised visual merchandising to an art form. While they had several great Halloween windows, one in particular featured a beautifully adorned mannequin in a golden sequined gown; she was ensnared (suspended) in a crystal Swarovski spider web. Her make-up was gaudy. Bergdorf visual merchandiser, and demi-god, David Hoey even saw that her nail polish matched the ruby red of her lips. Also tangled in this web was a golden scorpion broach so large and ostentatious that it begged to be purchased just for its grandiosity. If that was not enough, also tangled in this macabre scenario was the real pay-off, a bejeweled laptop reinforcing the metaphor of the “web.” BRILLIANT! The Internet, the World Wide Web has ensnared us, too. We are its victims. Bergdorf Goodman makes technology beautiful. If they can make a laptop glamorous, can you imagine what they can do for us mere mortals?

Okay, Bergdorf Goodman partnered with Dell Adamo to create this special series, which includes, one laptop in mother of pearl, another in laser-etched faux oriental red silk, and a tarot-like card that is done in faux ivory scrimshaw. I was green with envy; they are so stunning that I was ashamed of my laptop, which has a vinyl adhesive skin of Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” that I bought on eBay.

Okay, maybe you have no need for a golden gown or a jeweled broach, but everyone has a generic laptop that is not personalized, makes no statement and says nothing about you, the user. Bergdorf Goodman created a series of windows to feature their one-of-a-kind laptop skins that turn a perfunctory item into this year’s “must-have” glamour item--more deeply personal than your iPod, more beautiful than your best piece of jewelry. You may not be able to afford them, but no harm comes from visiting their Web site (www.bergdorfgoodman.com) to take look.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Misspelled Tattoo

Diva J — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:06:06 -0500

It’s the time of the year when many retailers start hiring their holiday help. It used to be Christmas help, but now it’s just generic, politically correct, “holiday help.” God bless retailers everyone. Even with sales projections down by 1 percent from last year, retailers are still hoping that Santa will work his magic--but it’s difficult to trust the only man who lives in the Arctic and still drives a sleigh.

Well, just yesterday I was in one of my favorite retailers (I won’t mention their name) and I realized that there were temps (aka the lowest form of humanity on the retail hierarchy) all over the place. It was delightful. The holiday season has begun. I was asked if I needed help at least a dozen times over.

Now you know I’m a seasoned shopper, and I know this particular store especially well. I’m also obsessively compulsive as visual merchandisers are wont to be. I was in the men’s shoe department perusing a table of cordovan tasseled loafers, straightening up. The shoes were grossly out of alignment, by at least as much of a quarter of an inch, and it was driving me crazy. Anyway, carpe diem, I decided to take the opportunity to rearrange them by style and price point, which seemed perfectly reasonable to me. I looked just like I belonged on the sales floor, busy and officious. (FYI: I’d never pass this retailer’s psychological test, but I digress.) It was no surprise to me when a misguided tourist asked me where they could find the elevator. I barely got an “Ola” out of my mouth when a well-meaning holiday helper interrupted. I wouldn’t take issue, but he directed the customer towards the escalator thattakes you to “Juniors,” which is the next best thing to schizophrenia at this store. The mind reels!

As for standards in the great American retail landscape, despite the talent out there, some stores will hire anyone; you’d think they’d be more discriminating. Let me paint the picture…The holiday helper was all of 19 (maybe), with a Christen Soriano wispy boy coif, black channel polish on his pinky (only), chattering silver cuffs, a discrete amount of eyeliner and a tattoo poking out of the back of his neck that read “Only God juges me.”(Maybe he couldn’t read it, it was on the back of his neck, after all.) I was going to give him the benefit of the doubt, and accept “juges” sort of as in the way Carson Kressley of “Queer Eye For The Straight Guy” would “jujje” someone’s hair. But no, it was meant as in “judges,” to pronounce a declarative analysis of right or wrong, or good and bad.

So I will take his misspelled tattoo to heart and I will not “juge” him. As for God, I doubt he shops at this store; he always seemed more like a Nordstrom kind of guy to me.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Dawn of the Dead (Retail)

Diva J — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:41:18 -0400

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

Swatch Out

Diva J — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 10:44:18 -0400

My first watch was a Timex that my grandfather bought at the local drugstore when I was 12. You had to wind it up, but John Cameron Swayze said it was so reliable you could place it on the rudder of a speedboat, and drag it through the Florida Everglades, and “It would still take a licking, and keep on ticking.” It broke by the sixth grade.

The Swatch watch entered the market around 1983-1984, quickly catching on because it was fun, fashionable and affordable (less than $50). It was plastic, colorful and lightweight, adding to its distinctive appeal. It quickly became a “collectible.” I still have my original gray face/blue band Swatch that my neighbor, Gaby Jochnowitz, bought me on El Al, when she was coming home from Israel where she was working on a Kibbutz. I even kept the original case and sleeve instructions. It’s in mint condition (battery is dead), but all offers will be entertained.

The meaning of the name "Swatch" was a derivative of "Second Watch," because this new watch was usually the buyer’s secondary watch, it was practically a disposable accessory. However, another version of the story suggests that it is the contraction of Swiss (Made) Watch, hence, "S'Watch," soon becoming "Swatch" as it’s known today, but I digress…

Without any rebranding or remarketing goal, the Swatch store on Broadway and 44th Street just underwent a massive overhaul. It’s a well-trodden location attracting locals and tourists. The store is beautifully executed. Kudos!

There is at first the white-on-white interior with oversize graphics, usually done so cliché ridden and hackneyed, but I have to give it up to the designer--it’s really smartly pulled together, and the off whites are really rich in hue and intensity, so you can see the watches from across the street (Planet Hollywood).

The case lines are a series of undulating and interlocking shapes reminiscent of watch gears offered in differing heights, sizes and shapes, so that the floor can be set in any number of configurations, based on need, new product and altering the traffic pattern. It’s scathingly inventive. The case lines are relatively low to the ground so that the Swatches look more like museum pieces.

Wow, there are even soft foamy couches that hug the case lines for weary shoppers. Best of all are the oversize linear chandeliers that are not faceted with crystals, but instead have series of colorful Swatches dangling down like prisms. It’s just so simple and clever when you realize that a Swatch can make a groovy lampshade too. This is a really great store!

When I think of all the ways the store could have gone, when I think of all the ways designers create stores that fail to understand the product, let alone the customer, I have to say, Swatch seems to have done everything right.

P.S. The watches are still the best value in the world today!

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Love On A Rooftop and Grape Jelly

Diva J — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 11:57:06 -0400

Sometimes we really are dopes! Everywhere we look, the words “green” and “sustainability” filter into our consciousness…as well they should. We tend to think of ourselves as being superior to generations past, who we tend to think of as polluters. There may be some truth to that, but it’s not the whole story.

Retailers, listen up: I have a million-dollar idea for you! Okay, I didn’t actually think it up, but give me some credit.

Last night, I was watching the implausible 1968 TV sit-com “Love on A Rooftop,” starring the very cute Peter Duel as Dave, and even cuter Judy Carne (pre-“Laugh In”) as Julie. They’re a young, optimistic, newly married couple trying to get by on his miserly starting architect's salary of $68.50 a week. All they can afford to rent is an old storeroom (with no windows) on top of a high rise (no one else would rent it). By the way, it’s like a 30-story high rise with no elevator, but who cares, it’s the ‘60s, and they are young and in love, and, more importantly, happen to have access to the roof...hence “Love On A Rooftop,” where Julie uses the skylight as a table when she has company, and she hangs her laundry out to dry on the residents' TV antennas (very green). Did I mention that the rooftop overlooks the Golden Gate Bridge?

Okay, so Dave is eating his breakfast when is overbearing father-in-law drops in and spots him eating peanut butter for breakfast, and bellows, “Why are you eating peanut butter…for breakfast?” “I eat peanut butter and jelly every morning,” replies Dave. “But, why?” protests his father-in-law. Dave, with his dimpled smile, plaintively states, “Well, we need the glasses, and Julie wants to complete the set!” The father-in-law is none too pleased that his baby (Julie) is drinking out of peanut butter and jelly glasses.

Like a repressed memory, the flood gates open, and I recall that when I grew up (in 1968, I was 11 years old), we always recycled our peanut butter and jelly glasses. We never threw them away. We kept them. They were not made of non-recyclable, benzene-ridden plastic with a screw-on lid; they were recyclable drinking glasses with a pop off cap. They were decorated with colorful prints of daises, “The Flintstones,” “Batman” and the Presidents of The United States (there were only 36 at the time). So not only did you get a jar of Welch’s grape jelly or Skippy peanut butter, but you had a reusable glass (for free!). Less landfill! Less carbon footprint! Brilliant!

So food manufacturers, give consumers an incentive to buy your product, which is sitting quietly next to your competitors--give us free glasses. In today’s economy, who wouldn't want a pretty drinking glass, for free? Help us to recycle, reuse, renew. Okay, skip the corny old-fashioned commercial ties ins; instead, have some designer do a limited-edition jar. I’d pay twice the amount for a Burberry Plaid peanut butter glass, and maybe three times the amount for an Alexander McQueen grape jelly jar.

Ka-Ching! That’s the sound of a happy customer going home with your product!

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Louis Vuitton: Conveyor Belt Bling

aembrey — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 07:00:00 -0400

Not that a simple Louis Vuitton store window highlighting beautifully adorned handbags wouldn't be enough to catch my gaze, but a conveyor belt?! (The attached pic doesn't do it justice...check out the YouTube video here.)

Ah Louis Vuitton, touché. In this lovely game of store window wonderment, passersby get to play "follow the moving handbag" as it darts in and out of beaded passages, seemingly changing the bag with each passage. Too cool for school, if you ask me. When last in New York, I was so mesmerized by this puzzlingly simple concept, that I had two complete strangers ask me if I would like them to take a picture of me in front of the display. (That's a first!). Internally, I was just trying to figure out the mechanics behind the madness. Lovely, visual, intriguing, handbag madness!

--Alison Embrey Medina

Maxx Surprise

Diva J — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:27:25 -0400

There's something I like to call "Maxx Magnetism," which is the impressive power a TJ Maxx store has over me, literally sucking me inside its doors before I even know what has hit me, should I enter within a 500-ft. radius.

Like all diligent shopaholics, I know that a trip to TJ Maxx is not for the faint of heart. There is no such thing as a "quick stop" here, where treasures are plentiful, but must be sought-out with a discerning eye like a game of hide-and-seek. While there are amazing bargains and finds to be had, it's not always easy to dig them up as quickly as we'd like.

That being said, once I've meticulously combed the racks and picked up a few gems, the idea of trying them on in the fitting room is less than appetizing. But recently, a trip to a local TJ Maxx in the Greater Atlanta area changed my entire outlook.

In the past, the idea of walking into a TJ Maxx fitting room used to make me, well, want to barf. I could just imagine the broken door hinges, chipped paint, stringy carpet, horrid fluorescent lighting and the requisite "fat-mirror." Risking the wrong size and purchasing my items right away seemed worth the risk if it meant skipping the aforementioned unpleasant fitting room experience. But the other day at a TJ Maxx, I accumulated a hefty collection of items, and was convinced by my shopping buddy to "just try them on already." So, I reluctantly trudged to the fitting room area with (soon to be) my things. And oh, what a pleasant surprise!

It was clean, bright, colorful. Organized, simple, well-lit. No stains on the rugs or walls, no gum squished in the corner, no broken benches and...drumroll please...no fat mirror! It was actually very cute! As I happily tried on a few items (and even lingered around), I was so thrilled by the newly refurbished fitting rooms that all I could think was, "I feel a blog coming on!"

Kudos to TJ Maxx for the fitting room revamp. Know any other retailers embracing the power of the fitting room when it comes to shopping decisions? Tell us here!

--Jessie Bove

It's Not My Bag...Yet

Diva J — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 16:37:01 -0400

Living in New York City, I am not a frequent visitor to Target, but I totally “get them.” I love their commercials, which are among the best on the air, but the nearest Target is located way out in Brooklyn (which is a “schlep”--Yiddish for “a drag.”). Target is not adjacent to mass transit, and I am one of those “city kids,” I don’t even have a driver’s license.

Target, like every major retailer, brand and label, advertises heavily in Times Square, where PVC (vinyl) graphics easily rise three to five stories tall by a whole-city-block-wide. These vinyl billboards are bright, colorful and graphic, and add to the energy of the area, which draws tourists from around the country and around the world to one of the most trafficked and visited areas in the world.

But, and it’s a big but, most of these PVC graphics are up for a few weeks and wind up in a landfill for centuries. They are not biodegradable. This turns me and my fellow consumers off…way off. Some companies have cleverly recycled the vinyl billboards and cut them down into tarps to cover dumpsters, so that debris and dust can be contained…that’s clever. Some companies have them cut down into strips (like a giant -size paper shredder) and they are recycled into a kind of insulation for new housing…that’s smart too, except we all know that with the housing market such as it is that there are more billboards going up than new homes being built.

Well, where there is a will there is a way. I'm not sure whose idea it was, but famed womenswear designer and personal champion Anna Sui and Target have partnered in an ingenious campaign to recycle Target’s 42nd Street billboard. When the billboard comes down, it will be rolled up and sent to Anna Sui, who will use the vinyl to create one-of-a-kind tote bags for Target. Okay, I don’t usually carry a tote bag around, and I’ve never had the opportunity to purchase an Anna Sui-designed anything--but Target, if I have to hitchhike all the way to Brooklyn in December in a blizzard, I’m getting one of those bags! If you live in Saint Paul or Paducah and can’t hitchhike to Brooklyn or any other Target location, don’t fret, the totes are available online for just $29.99 at Target.com/billboardbag. Pre-sales are strong, so don’t delay.

Okay, here is another incentive--it is not just that the billboard is one giant ad for Target and Anna Sui, but four famed artists (Laurie Rosenwald, Michael Anderson, Josh Goldstein and Charles Wilkin) contributed to the crazy collage of a billboard that celebrates the Statue of Liberty, the Empire State Building and the humble knish. If you’ve never had a knish, imagine eating a deep fried potato pillow…with mustard! But I digress. You arties out there will also get the opportunity to go home with a kind of museum-quality lithograph by a great artist.

To learn more about this great retailing partnership and all about the billboard bags go to Target.com/billboardbag or just call me!

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Knit One, Pearl Two

Diva J — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 10:39:43 -0400

Across America there are empty storefronts reminding us that, while the worst of the recession may be over, it’s still a long way back to normal. That’s presuming that things will ever be normal again. What will the new normal look like? TBD.

The empty storefronts are metaphors for loss, a life once filled with diversions. Empty stores are like exclamation points, they dot Main Street like punctuations. Store windows once decorated with holiday trim now have unattractive “This space for lease...will build to suit” posters, insulting us on our way to work, or the unemployment line.

Across America there are artists, poets, photographers, actors, dancers and musicians sorely in need of ad-hoc space to present their craft. Well, just the other day, I was on the way from my office to Carnegie Hall, and running late (no jokes, no I didn’t practice, practice, practice) when I came across a familiar retailer that recently closed its store on Sixth Avenue. What to my wondering eyes did appear, but a super groovy--albeit bizarre (my opinion)--conceptual artist who had crocheted a labyrinth of webs and custom-crocheted cozies. She crocheted cozies for a sled, chairs and an indignant look pug dog--she had even crocheted herself into a carpet and had a live model doing contortionist-like moves in a crocheted bikini. Rest assured the window was provocative and made me rethink my grandmother's custom-crocheted Kleenex box with plastic Payettes.

There are few affordable theater and gallery spaces anywhere. Hence, some enterprising partnerships are popping up. Once-adversarial-cast landlords with spare stock on their books are donating, or offering spaces at deep reductions in rental, to these talented people. It’s a win-win. Naturally, it’s great for artists, but it’s equally terrific for the landlord who looks like a “good-guy,” and a part of the community. This exchange of space instills generosity and good-will among us commoners who are looking for affordable (if not free) entertainment off the beaten track. If you can’t afford a night out at the theater, or need to buy a small popcorn/small diet cola at the Cineplex to make ends meet, then this is the ticket!

Think of it as a store that’s being used for a poetry slam, a photo exhibit or a production of “Abies Irish Rose.” For decades, artists have tried to create happenings outside of the “norm,” Isadora Duncan danced on the beach (granted it was the Italian Riviera), Augusto Boal performs his union propaganda plays at local supermarkets and even Kayne West made a video at Macy’s.

Was the public interested? The installation attracted more attention than Momorar Kaddafi and Barak Obama, who were just a few blocks away at the UN. People anxious to get home on the 5:15 were entranced. Saks' best windows don’t draw these kinds of crowds. Like an accident, when one New Yorker sees a crowd they are liable to join in--it’s our nature. People were snapping photos with their cell phones, talking to each other (New Yorkers?) and tapping the glass to get the artists attention. I even saw a cop smile!

So landlords with a heart, if you want some positive attention to draw potential renters, think about calling your local artist and offer your space as a quid pro quo. Who knows, maybe one of those enlightened souls knows someone looking for a corner lot to rent.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Hybrids

Diva J — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:54:59 -0400

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

A Social Media "How To" for Retailers

aembrey — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 10:48:24 -0400

Online retail sales have grown at a staggering rate—from $5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2009 to $30 billion in the first quarter of this year, according to the U.S. Census. And while this growth is extraordinary, it still represents a relatively small portion of all retail sales activity—only 3.5% of sales are transacted online. However, even though retail sales are still dominated by brick and mortar stores, the influence of the Internet on offline purchasing is becoming increasingly important. Website visitation, online advertising and social media all impact offline purchasing. Visibility into online behavior has become critical across the entire retail enterprise.

Twitter has seen an increase of almost 1500%

Mainstream phenomenon
The social media frenzy—also known as consumer-generated media (CGM)—refers to content being created 24-hours a day online on blogs, message boards, social networks like Facebook and platforms like Twitter. CGM has come a long way from the early newsgroup days and continues to grow rapidly.

Traffic to Facebook is up almost 200% over the last year, and Twitter has seen an increase of almost 1500%. Social Media is no longer just for techies or younger generations—it has become a mainstream phenomenon. Compared to a year ago, not only are more people visiting these sites, but they are also spending more time there—time spent per person is up 67% over last year.

So, why is social media so big? The answer is relatively simple: it taps into a few basic human needs and emotions. Social media satisfies our need to be heard, it provides us with a platform to reach more people than ever before and it enables us to advocate for and promote the brands and topics we feel strongly about.

Social media provides a platform to advocate for products and stores…

Amplified advocacy
The purchase consideration process has always been a social endeavor. Before the advent of social media, a shopper may have consulted with a limited number of friends and family members before making a purchase. Today, shoppers’ networks have gone from being composed of just a handful of people to hundreds—or even thousands—many of which are likely strangers.

Social media has not only transformed the research and purchase consideration phase, but it also provides shoppers with a platform to advocate for the products and stores they love. Advocacy has always existed, but social media has made this stage even more critical, amplifying the size of the audience reached.

Listen and engage
CGM provides retailers with a unique opportunity to not only listen to what consumers have to say, but to actively take part in that conversation. Through online listening, retailers can observe conversations that occur naturally to understand consumer attitudes and needs—and then proactively engage customers transparently to answer key questions or concerns.

Listening to consumers through CGM is complementary to other more traditional methods of market research, and provides unique value. Instead of soliciting feedback through a survey or focus group, social media allows retailers to tap into what consumers are passionate about and what they proactively discuss.
Below is a framework for how retailers should think about listening through social media:

In-Store Experience—Shoppers actively discuss their experiences at brick-and-mortar locations online. Find out what consumers are saying about shopping experience, employees, return policy, store layout and more.
Web site—Understand how consumers are using your website regardless of whether or not you sell products online. Are they using it as an informational or couponing resource? If it is a transactional website, what are shoppers saying about the shipping charges and delivery windows?
Products—Learn how shoppers feel about your product selection, availability, pricing and quality, as well as private label brands.
Marketing—From brand health to community relations to coupons and circulars, listening to social media gives retailers the opportunity to gauge awareness of corporate initiatives and marketing.

Reaching out
According to Forrester Research, almost two-thirds of retailers have already invested in CGM in some way, and another 22% plan to get involved in the next year. Additionally, Internet Retailer reports that more than 30% of retailers say that social networks perform better as a marketing vehicle than paid search engine optimization.

Give shoppers a reason to visit the website and keep them engaged…

Retailers should give shoppers a reason to visit the Web site and keep them engaged—know that many shoppers are not going to come proactively. Because of this, the majority of online effort should be concentrated on expanding the digital footprint and reaching shoppers where they are already congregating by participating and encouraging conversations through third-party tools (blogs, forums, social networks, Facebook, Twitter). Importantly, all forms of social media outreach, whether through the retailer website or third party tools, must be transparent and should support a common goal.

There are a number of retailers who are using best practice principles to successfully engage customers through social media:

Zappos uses Twitter as a key customer service platform in addition to a 24/7 phone line and email.
Walmart takes advantage of product review platforms.
Starbucks’ “My Starbucks Idea” program encourages customers to submit ideas for new products and services.
Best Buy uses a private social media network for internal communications with its employees to promote employee satisfaction and idea-sharing.

Assume that consumer control/power will continue to grow—now is the time to listen to your customers. When you are ready and adequately resourced, engage, participate, and respond to customers through CGM. Nurture and protect brand credibility by being honest, open and transparent. Do not neglect your website, it is one of your best marketing vehicles, but focus majority of effort on reaching customers where they’re already congregating. Think about how you can provide better customer service through social media and turn your loyal customers into advocates. And lastly, learn from everyone in your organization.

--Maya Swedowsky, Associate Research Director, Online Division, Nielsen

Cereal Killers

Diva J — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 11:27:24 -0400

We all know that “Secret” is just for women, and “Irish Spring” is a “manly soap,” but that you (lasses) “can like it too.” But now Wheaties is doing them one better and rebranding itself as Wheaties “Fuel.”--the manly cereal. Yes, its packaging looks like “Axe” or “Tag,” those super-stinky body washes for tween males, but if five hunky athletes in tight tees set against a dramatic black background doesn’t grab your attention in the techni-colored world of the cereal aisle, then you might as well resign yourself to a rocking chair.

Out with yesterday’s newspapers, Wheaties, which used to use the 1933 tagline “The Breakfast of Champions," has re-emerged with the declarative, three-word, direct tagline: “Fuel. Win. Evolve."

The new product was created with the guidance of a sports nutritionist and five athletes, including Colts quarterback Peyton Manning; Boston Celtics power forward Kevin Garnett; Albert Pujols, first baseman for the St. Louis Cardinals; Bryan Clay, a decathlon gold medalist; and Hunter Kemper, a triathlete. But are athletes any good in the kitchen? Okay, I might like Peyton Manning making me breakfast in bed (there I admit it!).

"Fuel" is being marketed specifically to men, using a variety of samplings given out at sporting events and samples promoted in Men's Health magazine to get the word out. The updated cereal was honed down to a top three to undergo final analysis. So far the changes in the actual product are minimal, less folic acid (too feminine) and more vitamin E. And how about more sugar (quick energy)--Wheaties was a basic wheat flake, whereas Fuel is much sweeter than the original. Fuel will not include snips and snails and puppy dog tails. The new-and-improved Wheaties will hit supermarket aisles in January 2010.

(Original) Wheaties, which has a 60% male customer base already, has never been male-exclusive in its marketing--its box has featured female athletes many times, but it may have found an approach with legs this time, catering just to guys.

In today’s uncertain times, guys need all the reassurance they can find. So not surprisingly, the cereal and the marketing are centered around the idea of “performance” and performance enhancement. While testosterone and Viagra may not be in the mix, it is suggested in the advertising. This cereal is so masculine looking that the cereal bowl doesn’t even have a spoon. After all, cave men eat their cereal right from the bowl, like Labradors.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Factoid: Wheaties (the original) was invented accidentally when a health clinician in Minneapolis, who was simmering bran gruel for intestinally distressed patients, spilled it onto a hot stove and it dried into flakes. It was introduced by the Washburn Crosby Co. (now General Mills) in 1924.

Pitch, Pitch, Whine, Whine

Diva J — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 11:21:21 -0400

So it seems we find ourselves at that inevitable point in the design cycle once again. You know the one I'm talking about--where pitching is table stakes. Seems just a few short months ago when the economy gave us the buffer we needed to stoically fold our arms and say "we don't do that," but ahhh how times change. Now it's like our industry's dirty little secret, the thing everyone is doing but no one is talking about...kind of like Botox.

I wanted to start by saying there's an argument that pitching is a necessary evil in the times we find ourselves in and I understand that--really, I do. The stakes have never been higher for our clients and every firm out there wants to make the best first impression on what is essentially a first date. In its simplest form, pitching is one thing you can use to try and get people to like you...again, kind of like Botox.

Pitching of course falls into two categories, one quite different from the other. First there is the paid pitch, where some sort of stipend is offered up as a gesture of good faith and to deaden the inevitable pain of the resources that any one of these presentations can suck up. You still lose your rear end on these assignments, but you feel a little better about it. It's the other one I'm talking about here though...the nasty one...the free pitch.

There isn't enough room here for me to get into all the reasons why free pitching is bad for the client, the agency and the industry, and you've probably all heard them before anyway. But rest assured, circumventing a design firm's process--a process intrinsically based on interaction with the client--is not going to yield many magic bullets. Sure the ideas are free (and free is good right?), but exercises like this are the design equivalent of pinning the tail on the donkey--and all parties involved should accept that going in.

But rather than get into all that, the point of this little missive is actually to highlight a client who surprised me recently with their approach to the pitch process.

This client (who obviously shall remain nameless) deserves note for sticking to the letter and law of what pitching is supposed to be about. The line we have all heard a thousand times is that the client "just wants to learn a bit about how you think." All of which sounds great until the next pages tell you that thinking needs to be presented in "floor plans, four perspective views of the interior, a materials board, oh and if you could take a quick look at the bathrooms while you are at it, that would be great." Yuk.

I half expected one of these on this aforementioned pitch, but imagine my surprise when this went a wholly different route. They set a creative challenge for the firms completely unconnected with the job. It was a brilliant little brief and, while clearly referring to their brand, it wasn't something they could just take in house and build when the work was complete. I thought it showed them in the most wonderful light. Recognizing they needed help making their decision, but having a sensitivity to those firms they considered potential partners.

I wanted to hold this up as a truly great solution to a challenge we all face in these trying times. From what I have heard, the lateral nature of the assignment led to each of the firms truly thinking outside of the box, perhaps thinking more about the client than a standard beauty parade might have caused them to do.

They did such a great job, I honestly wish I could name them, but a few of us are still "under consideration" so to speak. Perhaps when the dust has settled and someone has got the job I'll spill the beans.

Oh, one last thing before I go. A friend in the biz told me recently their client justified the free pitch request by saying, "Well, our ad agencies do this all the time." To which I would always respond that retail design firms are not ad agencies. Nor are they compensated in the same way on the back end. The model is not the same, neither should the process be.

Hang in there folks...and of course, as always, comments are very welcome.

--Christian Davies, Guest Blogger

Let Them Eat Cheesecake

Diva J — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 11:42:27 -0400

With a spiraling luxury market, and a decided downturn in the ready-to-wear market, what is one of America’s most gifted designers left to do? If you are the talented Isaac Mizrahi, you start selling cheesecake. Well, we all have to eat.

These will not be your run-of-the-mill cheesecakes. These are designer cheesecakes, including a tartan plaid version for Christmas, and one he describes as “enrobed” in white chocolate, albeit dyed in signature red with navy plaid stripes. In spring, you can look forward to polka dots…”Obviously!” retorted Mizrahi. Ever prolific, he recently decided to make a cheesecake using goat cheese. Mizrahi reports…“It’s amazing. It sounds bad, but it is so good.” Baaaaa! Celebrity chefs are all the rage. It will sort of be like having Mizrahi in your kitchen when you bring out dessert for the in-laws and neighbors and boast that Isaac Mizrahi whipped this up…just for you…girlfriend!

Would I buy a Lagerfeld cheese log or Swedish meatballs from Diane Von Furstenberg? Probably not, but a cheesecake from Isaac…I’d go for it. To promote his exclusive line of cheesecakes, Mizrahi is even getting his own show on QVC called "Isaac Mizrahi Live!" Rest assured that while Mizrahi will be designing a large range of items for QVC, he professes the most excitement about designing couture cuisine.

At age 10, he says he was browsing through recipes and became intrigued by the word “sauté.” “I liked the way it sounded…sauté, sauté, sauté!” Mizrahi says, adding that he used to spend weekends cooking peppers and mushrooms in a pan until they were mushy. (He obviously didn’t see "Julie & Julia.”) “Call my mother. This is what I did on Saturday mornings,” reports Mizrahi. I believe you, but there I was watching reruns of “Sabrina and the Groovy Ghoulies"--my wasted youth.

Mizrahi’s show will begin airing in December, eight hours a month to start, the company says. According to the WSJ, the show is part pitch, part reality television and "will follow Mizrahi as he pitches items like a $200 handbag or $80 shoes, while he engages in his other activities, riffs extemporaneously about his life (he might even sing if coerced) and takes questions from callers," i.e., real people. He also reportedly paints his toenails orange. Well you have to do something while those cheesecakes bake.

The resurgence of Mizrahi, a designer known as much for his charisma as his clothing, is tied to the many changes sweeping the fashion industry. With cost-conscious conglomerates increasingly in control, many designers are searching for ways to broaden their sales beyond the high-fashion customer. At the same time, the growth of collaborations with mid-American retailers, the rise of cable television, the birth of reality television and the Internet have created a surge of opportunities…like cheesecakes.

Is it a comeback? Mizrahi--like a phoenix--has had multiple incarnations. Now 47, Mizrahi seems to be having his moment in the QVC sun again. He already designs for the Liz Claiborne brand--while sales are struggling amid the recession, retailers say he’s added buzz to a line that’s been considered frumpy for years. He’s hosting a fashion reality TV competition on the Bravo network, “The Fashion Show,” which is a “Project Runway” wannabe, and he has been a frequent guest judge on the Food Network’s “Iron Chef America.” Two seasons ago, he resumed showing a high-end line under his own name at New York’s fashion week. And any day now, he’s scheduled to open his first boutique on Madison Avenue.

Remember when Dorothy, Rose, Sophia and Blanche used to gather around their kitchen and trash men over a chocolate-covered cheery cheesecake? I miss the '80s. Isaac, if you're listening, you’re welcome to come over anytime and we can dish Marc Jacobs, Tom Ford and Michael Kors--providing you have a cheesecake in hand.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Greening the Cherry Blossoms

Diva J — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 11:43:18 -0400

What’s pink and green and pretty all over? Tokyo’s annual cherry blossom season, of course. And by green, we’re talking eco-friendly. Now let me explain.

The Japanese custom of viewing cherry blossoms (known as sakura in Japan) dates back to before the 8th century. Blooming all over Japan from mid-January to early-May, the trees tend to flower in Tokyo in late-March or early-April, drawing hundreds of thousands of visitors to Chidorigafuchi Park to view its 200-plus baby-pink flowered cherry trees. That’s a LOT of visitors!

With so many people coming by to take in the trees’ beauty, the park lights the flowers at night to make the most out of the brief viewing time of the one- to two-week-long cherry blossom season. In years past, the trees were illuminated at night with halogen lamps—which not only consumed excess energy, but also damaged the flowers with heat and ultraviolet rays.

But this year, Tokyo decided to make the festival a little greener, replacing many of the existing lights were replaced with more energy-efficient, flower-friendly solid-state floodlights. Built with LUXEON K2 with TFFC (Thin Film Flip Chip) LEDs from Philips Lumileds, Nagasaki-based lighing manufacturer INEX Corp. developed the new LED luminaires with engineering support from LUXEON supplier Future Lighting Solutions. The result is a lighting scheme that slashes energy use and carbon emissions by more than 90 percent! (Yes,I said 90 percent!)

Here’s to adding some green to the cherry blossom! Know of any other annual festivals going green? Let us know about it here!

--Jessie Bove

The Colonel Goes to China?

Diva J — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 07:00:00 -0400

There’s a chain of fried chicken restaurants in China that has a logo that may look familiar. The logo for “Ji'a'po” seems eerily similar to KFC's (Colonel Sander's) brand. The similarities are so close that Chinese consumers apparently have nicknamed the fast-food look-alike “the long-lost sister" of the KFC Colonel. Is it his sister, wife or daughter? And I thought these kind of things only happened in Pine Valley.

Here's how Walletpop.com compared the two designs: “Like the classic KFC logo, the woman's navy blue, pink and white image appears on signs that are, indeed, the same shade of red as KFC's iconic signs; she too is shaded on the left, as if the light source is coming from the chain's name. She even has an identical Southern "welcome-home" smile as does Colonel Sanders. Her glasses are the same style; her hair swoops up and to the left, like the Colonel's.”

If you’re an icon brand, imitation is not the sincerest form of flattery. If it were anyplace else (other than China), Ji’a’po would have been heavily fined, tarred and feathered, (ironically not unlike the taste of KFC chicken) and the ex-Mrs. KFC would have had to change her looks.

Mrs. KFC’s “kiss my grits” smile is probably due to the fact that she knows there will be no possible copyright infringement suit. The Sun reports that "KFC chiefs had called for the takeaway to be closed down, but Chinese trade authorities have given the green light to the chain." But apparently, China's State Administration for Industry & Commerce in China told KFC that Ji'a'po isn't infringing on the American chain's intellectual property. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, the concept of intellectual or artistic property does not exist in China. Wake up retailers!

And now a strange, but true KFC factoid:
What do “Pretty in Pink,” and “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” have in common with KFC? The recently deceased and legendary film director, John Hughes, was a Leo Burnett Advertising copywriter on the Kentucky Fried Chicken account in the 1970s. Former agency partner Robert Birkenes recalls in Advertising Age, that Hughes "was always coming up with some wild, offbeat ways to creatively promote the Colonel's chicken." True, but I bet he wasn’t responsible for the debacle in China.

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Starbucks Tries Something New

aembrey — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 07:00:00 -0400

"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.

Place Your Bets on Store Windows, Literally

Diva J — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 07:00:00 -0400

To promote tune-in for the season premiere of Bravo's Top Chef: Las Vegas on Aug. 19, Monster Media and Fallon Worldwide cooked up an interactive casino in the storefront of the NBC Experience Store window in Rockefeller Plaza, N.Y.

The campaign, which runs through Aug. 31, uses eight linked LCD walls to feature two interactive slot machines that pedestrians can play by texting on their cell phones. Once pedestrians engage with the Top Chef display, they receive text messages back, and if lucky enough, receive a message that tells them how to redeem a prize. All texters are entered in a contest to win a grand prize of $5,000 or a trip to the Top Chef kitchen in Las Vegas.

"The goal of the campaign is to increase awareness of the show, drive traffic to the Bravo Web site and encourage users to sign-up for Bravo's mobile club, where members can receive games, show updates, and more, on their cell phones," said John Payne, president of Monster Media.

The interactive window also tracks the number of texters and the time of all texts, giving Bravo a measure of the campaign's effectiveness. Did you hear that retailers? A way to track effectiveness! Gotta love that. Bravo to Bravo for implementing such a high-tech window campagin!

--Katy Bachman

Retailers Are Like Boyfriends

Diva J — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 07:00:00 -0400

Whether you are married, living with someone, dating, or single, we all know that we are attracted to certain retailers--just like we are to men or women. Unfortunately, we spend more quality time with our retail boyfriends than our real-life ones.

Freud described this phenomenon as the Oedipus Complex, unconsciously becoming attracted to a mate who personifies the (repressed) attributes of our mommy or daddy, (involuntary shudder) which still gives me the creeps just thinking about it.

They say for every pot there is a lid…Example: if you are attracted to those bad-boy types, you probably shop at Ed Hardy, maybe Marc Jacobs (just to make Ed jealous), or that shirtless flirt, Abercrombie & Fitch. Trust me--those retailing bad boys are high maintenance.

If you are attracted to the kind of men that you’d bring home to your mom, you probably shop at GANT, Ralph Lauren, Brooks Brothers, Coach or Cole Haan. They are respectable, they are the kind of retailing boyfriends whose stores (homes) already look like the club room at a (non-restricted) country club, and besides, they are financially stable. They make excellent retailing boyfriends. Tally Ho!

Once in everyone’s life, we have to have a retail boyfriend we regret-- summer fling--and what’s more attractive than an European accent, which is why a Euro-trash retailing boyfriend like Louis Vuitton, Versace, Ferregamo, Prada, or Gucci fits the bill. (See “The Roman Spring of Mrs. Stone.”) At first, it’s all glamour and romance, and then it fizzles like a cigarette butt in a coffee cup in a lonely sidewalk café. Don’t let this happen to you.

Ask yourself: Is ebay, Amazon or Bluefly your Match.com?

Some of us go for those intellectual, geeky types (remember the board game “Mystery Date”…"I got the dud”?) If so, Thom Browne, Kenneth Cole, Zac Posen and Isaac Mizrahi might just be your cup of tea. Granted, they themselves may not show up in a sequel to “Revenge of The Nerds,” but they personify the sort of retailing boyfriends that are smart, appreciate us and, most importantly, won’t cheat on us (like A&F).

I, alas, prefer the sophisticated scoundrel, as personified by the sexy Tom Ford and Dolce & Gabbana. These are retailing boyfriends who are seductive, slick and promise you the world. Granted, they treat us terribly. They’re nothing more than retailing gigolos. Sure they will tell you that you’re the only one, but rest assured, they make fun of you as you exit the store. Boo…Hoo…Hoo. Shamefully, we go back for more.

Are you the all-American who sees themselves with the boy next door? You know, the winsome athletic type...if so, Calvin Klein, Tommy Hilfiger, Todd Oldham (Old Navy), L..L Bean, and Michael Bartlett (Claiborne) are the perfect groom atop your retailing wedding cake. They’re cute, take a great picture and always look like they just took a shower. They’re not a threat to others, but your friends are all envious of them.

Are you into biker-types like John Varvatos, Christian Audigier and Rock & Republic? Watch out, these retailing boyfriends have a dark side--they’re unpredictable and are dangerous. If you wear them out, you’ll get a bad reputation. You’ve been warned.

I need to go to retail couples therapy. The question is: how am I going to get Phineas Cole through the door?

Which retailer have you been dating? Tell us here! Inquiring minds want to know...

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger

Photo: Carlo Dapino|Dreamstime.com

Le Vigne Wine Shop: A Recession-Ready Reality

aembrey — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 07:00:00 -0400

Here's a story that might lift your day. Sommelier Carlo Orrico just opened a "cute as a button" wine shop in New York's Greenwich Village--a 600-sq.-ft. space next to Jonathan Adler's boutique, which he found in an ad on Craigslist.com. After signing the lease for "Le Vigne," he hired architecture firm MADLAB LLC with the goal of breaking the mold of traditional wine shopping.

As the design process went underway, the price tag quickly went up. Orrico's dreams of custom features and design elements pushed the cost higher than the novice shop owner had imagined. Lucky for him, MADLAB brought in the artist collective Spurse and came up with a turnkey solution that would compress the design process into a simple, to-the-heart-of-it solution: three client meetings, three design drawings and three weeks of installation. No problem, right?

Armed with "tools, truckloads of thrift shop furniture and a knack for experiential carpentry," the design team decided to leave the excavated space as is and used recycled and repurposed second-hand furniture as the primary design approach.

The result is a 25-ft.-long massive assemblage of tables, drawers, lids and chair legs--all painted white in the center aisle and along the side wall--that allows an abundance of surfaces, nooks and clusters to display the shop's collection of artisanal wines in a unique and clever way. Cheap. Brilliant.

Design creativity rules!

--Alison Embrey Medina

Want Not

Diva J — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:00:00 -0400

“Waste not, want not!” Ancient proverb

Can retailers learn a lesson from the art world? Is conspicuous consumption and gross consumerism high art? The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) thinks it may be. Currently on exhibit (until Sept. 7) is “Waste Not,” a conceptual installation by the Beijing artist Song Dong. The exhibit is the talk of the town, and the lines to see the show thread through the museum like a ball of untwisted yarn. The consciousness-raising installation consists of the complete contents of his parents’ rural home in China, which was amassed over 50 years during which the Chinese concept of “wu jin qi yong” or "waste not" was a prerequisite for survival. (A time when individuals could not amass wealth, but could collect things in reciprocity, the harsh years of the Cultural Revolution.)

The contents of the Dong home are laid out systematically and categorically on the floor, in artfully constructed piles and rows. It’s as neat and orderly as a J. Crew catalog, if J. Crew could catalog our lives. The Dong family treasures are ordinary items like empty water bottles, and partially used tubes of tooth paste. The Dong family was not the Beales. They were a typical family, no different in many respects from you or I.

Much is made of Chinese consumer goods and imports invading America--this is the exception to the rule! Shamefully, it seems like the Chinese and Americans have an awful lot in common.

The exhibit is set up in a maze-like configuration so that you can meander about the contents (almost as if you are in a garden of things) and get so close to the items that you could pick them up in your hands like a rose--but please don’t! Children find the loot almost irresistible. There are piles of clothes, piles of medicinals and piles of soap--some rise so high as to suggest a cityscape. Then you come upon all the shoes, all the shoe boxes, all the plastic bags, all the designer shopping bags, all the dishes, chopsticks and flatwear. There are empty water jugs and empty water bottles, not to mention hundreds of bottle tops, all the toys, including dolls with missing limbs and rotting stuffed animals. There are rows and rows of pens, bundled twine and jump ropes. Stacks of poetic empty birdcages, stacks of magazines, stacks of pans and woks. The unfathomable and incomprehensible waste makes one reconsider the values of Capitalism. I’ll warn you in advance, the exhibit is voyeuristic, as if you are walking through someone’s mind, and then you realize it’s yours.

By placing the items on the floor, viewers cast their eyes downwards in amazement of all the “stuff” that has been collected. The exhibit creates a kind of phrenetic anxiety. While the contents may seem foreign at first glance, and therefore exotic (ergo easy to dismiss), ultimately we see ourselves, our own social disease, and hear our inner monologue, “What if everything I owned was laid out for the world to see, how would I be scrutinized? What would people think about me?”

So let me ask you: do you save empty margarine containers, bubble wrap, tissue paper? Do you hold onto plastic grocery bags, rubber bands? Do you have a jar of paper clips or dead felt tip pens? Would you want your neighbors to see how many pairs of shoes you own and how few pairs of underwear you have? It starts to get scary when you think about what’s “stored” in your closet, “stored” in your drawers, and how many cardboard boxes of stuff you have squirreled away in your basement, attic or garage. We are trained to be compulsive “savers” and sheep-like shoppers.

Now some back story...Dong’s father was once an officer in the Cultural Revolution, but was accused of being a spy and remanded to prison for years. This plummeted the family into deprivation, poverty and shame. Grief-stricken, Dong’s mother compensated by hoarding. Years later Dong’s father was released, and ordered to work in a button factory until his death in 2002. Dong’s mother believed that by obtaining things she might alleviate her grief, creating a false kind of attachment to things--what we here in the States call “retail therapy.”

Retail is based on the precepts of replaceable goods, disposable items. American retail is based on the notion of the power and amount of things as being tantamount to our status. Think about Bed, Bath & Beyond, Office Max and Amazon. Having more means we are valued more. We are indoctrinated to order the economical jumbo size, and a second one for half price. Even octo-moms are deified for over-production. Today’s consumer is way ahead of the retailers. Our homes, our pocketbooks and our office cubicles are jammed full of relatively meaningless stuff. We are more interested in having less and having better. Retailers do yourself a favor and get yourself to MoMA to see what your customers really think about “stuff.” It may make you question what you sell and why.

DuPont Corian Lights Up Its New York Design Studio

aembrey — Mon, 10 Aug 2009 07:00:00 -0400

A space to show off the diverse capabilities of DuPont Corian is an understatement. The new DuPont Corian Design Studio in New York's Flatiron district is a full-out appeal to the senses. The 5,000-sq.-ft. space is intended to be an interactive workshop where designers can consult directly with experts to address project-specific needs. And there's plenty of pretty things to look at, too.

Designed by architects Michael Morris and Yoshiko Sato of New York-based Morris Sato Studio, the space uses lighting, sound and shape technology to create "a sanctuary of space." Innovative lighting fixtures hang from the ceiling, featuring a thin skin of Corian wrapping elongated tubes with color-changing LEDs. The space is segmented by industry, opening with a multi-use wall, and then separating for hospitality, kitchen, bath, corporate and healthcare usages. A fitting showroom for a limitless product.

--Alison Embrey Medina

Social Media Mania

Diva J — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 07:00:00 -0400

Jones Lang LaSalle is looking to add a few friends to its Facebook page. The real estate giant has launched a social media campaign for 22 of its malls using Facebook and Twitter. Messages on the platforms will send shoppers updates on special promotions, events and sales.

The social media campaign has been rolled out for 13 of Jones Lang LaSalle’s malls, and will be introduced for nine more by the end of the year. It is intended to give consumers a direct line to their local mall and the individual retailers in each, with insider information that might not be otherwise promoted in traditional advertising outlets. (Hello, secret sales!)

For example, retailer Body Central at the Village Mall in Auburn, Ala., recently promoted the fact that it has put up a wall of Auburn-themed merchandise in time for the start of the local football season.

“Back-to-school and holiday 2009 are more critical than they’ve ever been for the retail industry,” saysGreg Maloney, president and CEO of Jones Lang LaSalle Retail. “We know that by engaging with our shoppers, members of the community and even retailers at our own centers, we will be able to increase traffic and give a boost to the entire retail sector.”

The social media campaign was developed by Dallas-based The Dealey Group, which also coordinated Jones Lang LaSalle’s 2008 “Black Friday” campaign. Last year’s effort asked shoppers to text a keyword when they arrived at the mall to receive updates on holiday deals directly on their phones.

Let the tweeting begin!

--Alex Palmer

Buying into the Bite

Diva J — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 14:26:34 -0400

Remember the days of a classic, traditional vampire plot line? Well forget them. These days, box office smashes like the “Twilight Saga” and hit television series like “True Blood” have taken these monsters and turned them into leading men. With this surge of popularity in recent years, it’s not surprising that vampire stories have come out of the coffin and into the shops of our favorite retailers.

Recently, big-time movie production agencies have partnered with big-time retailers. Summit Entertainment, who of course is responsible for bringing “Twilight” to the big screen, has now found a new niche in the retailing industry, signing with both Nordstrom and teen clothing retailer Hot Topic. Both stores have been granted the rights to have “Twilight”-inspired merchandise designed and sold exclusively at their stores. The collection will include T-shirts, jackets, dresses, jewelry and key chains, with phrases like “Team Edward” or “Team Jacob.” Can you imagine the line of excited tweens ready to sink their teeth into these products when the line debuts on Oct. 15?

With the vampire craze in full swing, many people believe consumers not only want to dress like their favorite villain, but they also want to drink with them, too. No, not the mass selling of A-positive and O-negative blood on the black market. Rather, a soda-like drink inspired from HBO’s “True Blood” will soon be on store shelves. The drink, which appears on the show as a “blood substitute” for vampires, will be a slightly tart and lightly sweetened, blood-orange drink, marketed as “All Flavor, No Bite.”

How well will the franchises fare away from their entertainment settings? Only time will tell whether the vampire craze will see continued success or end up lifeless. Tell the Retail Design Diva your prediction!

--Jaime Moricco, Guest Blogger, LIM student

Rising to the Challenge

Diva J — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:32:37 -0400

It’s always refreshing to see which retailers, when push comes to shove, rise to the challenge. The national economy is still stiff, and the retail landscape is, for the most past, still static. There's just not an awful lot to celebrate about, but there are several retailers not playing possum--they have taken the bull by the horns, and each has come up with a unique way to lure shoppers back into their stores.

Banana Republic has partnered with the successful and award-wining (everyone loves a winner) series “Mad Men.” A series noted for its effect on the revivalist movement in men’s suits. Think Thom Browne, only the clothing actually fits. The windows feature smart and sexy suits that looked good in ’61, and great in ’09, conveying the message that style is timeless (whereas fashion gets dated). Besides, who wouldn’t want to look like John Hamm? Not only can you pick up a whole suit for a song, but you can enter Banana Republic’s contest for a walk-on role in the show. Acting ability not required--okay, you might need to pick up smoking, but you’ll look great! P.S. the suits come with white pocket squares ala Don Draper. For real fun, take a fantasy trip with a not to be missed avatar on this site, where you can dress yourself virtually, and even place yourself in the glamorous world of Sterling Enterprises instead of your cruddy job. You can save it as your desktop wallpaper!

Nordstrom abandoned their classical pianists long ago amidst cries of foul play, but Diesel, which like many teen retailers is known for its loud piped in music and indie playlist, has converted their toney Fifth Avenue front windows into a tricked out DJ booth worthy of a hole in the wall night club in the East Village. Live guest DJs cater to the crowds outside and inside the store, “interactivity” being the watchword for Diesel. That in and of itself is clever, but Diesel has invited a slew of relatively unknown, but emerging bands to play live in the store--it’s just like YouTube, but live. Getting a gig and finding a venue for bands in NYC is nearly impossible, but Diesel has welcomed the fold, and cult-like fans are charging up a storm in the store in appreciation just to have the opportunity to see their favorite bands--like Zoe Kravitz and her band Elevator Fight; Anti Pop Consortium; Hundred in the Hands and Throne of the Blood--for FREE. (Even the band names sound loud, I sound like my father!). It’s a total win-win for all. FYI: Diesel does not sell denim covered earplugs for those of us who are over 35.

Okay, Daffy’s, which is a mostly NY retailer famous for its great discounted designer duds, captured the interest of all the major networks and print media with its ingenious marketing campaign. Last week when the housing market reports came out and showed that real estate remains as flat as a polyester T-shirt, Daffy’s tied into the depressing economic news. It may seem counter intuitive, but wait, like its discounted clothing, Daffy’s is offering a designer apartment in one of New York’s trendiest neighborhoods. It's a fully furnished 2 bedroom, 2 bath, with floor-to-ceiling windows in an architectural landmark for just $700 a month, and the lease is good for a year. The apartment usually rents for $7,000 a month (unfurnished). Mind you, a studio apartment in a lousy section of the Bronx rents for $1,500 a month easy. No purchase is required, all you need to do is go into the store at selected times and fill out an online video essay (30 second minimum) on why you deserve the apartment. The lucky winner will not only have the grooviest apartment in New York City, but celebrity neighbors. I would be happy to lend Gwyneth Paltrow Coldplay a cup of sugar.

Ricky’s, the trashy trampy cosmetics store, has the most implausible, albeit attention-grabbing, gimmick going. They have a live drag queen in the window walking on a treadmill all day in high heels (like obscene stiletto heels) with the wry equal rights comment, “Help! I have a blister. Ricky’s endorses men in heels.” Okay, I didn’t buy any Band-Aids, let alone Ricky’s “Help! I Have A Blister Kit,” but I did stop…

--Ron Knoth, Guest Blogger