PETA may take umbrage, but despite the movement towards environmental friendliness, the fur is flying…off the racks. Say what you will about fiscal austerity this year, but retailers are promoting luxury furs this holiday. If a white sable is not...

The majority of us have probably sold an item or two on eBay. A football ticket here, a luxury handbag there, maybe a collection of baseball cards. According to an article in Shopping Centers Today, Steve Leydig from Cumberland, Md.,...

Breaking news alert: Thanksgiving is NEXT week. That's right, next week. And we all know what the onset of Thanksgiving means, don't we? It's the big kick-off for the holiday shopping season. Black Friday here we come! To prepare us...

A friend of mine recently turned me on to the sublime design of Ella, a new Sacramento, Calif., restaurant, and inadvertently kicked off an obsession. While thumbing through the photos they sent me, I was drawn to these funky little...

"If I could work my will," said Scrooge indignantly, "every idiot who goes about with 'Merry Christmas' on his lips, should be boiled with his own pudding, and buried with a stake of holly through his heart.”--Ebenezer Scrooge/Charles Dickens The...

It's an exciting time for the environment. Finally, we're taking care of it, and every day seems to yield yet another amazing eco-friendly product. Payless ShoeSource recently joined the environmental phenomena with the launch of its new line of shoes....

The holidays are coming! And with them a host of hand-wringing and anxiety about what the outcome will be. Studies are being conducted, predictions are coming out daily and, in general, speculation is everywhere. Most of it, however, is pretty...

We are obsessed with speed. Despite annoying commercials late at night, we are urged to go to Finallyfast.com to speed up our laptops. You can download your favorite tune on your iPod faster than you can whistle Dixie. We e-mail...

We're all pretty familiar with the traditional fur debate. We've got Pam Anderson and PETA on one side of the fence and on the other America's elite who don't see too much wrong with killing animals for their fur, and...

In case you didn't receive the memo--it's November. Already. And that means we don't have much time left before the holiday season is upon us. Holiday shopping is now at the top of my priority list--how about you? So, today,...

Remember that time just a while ago when all things American seemed to be sweeping the globe with unrestrained fervor? Back when I started my career, a GAP store in London was an exotic thing and friends of mine swooned...

Historically, fashion by and large is an estrogen-driven industry. Almost everything important in the industry, and connected to fashion, invariably centers on women’s fashion. But as we all know, overall sales in the marketplace have plummeted as low as the...

Peanut butter and jelly. Gisele and Victoria's Secret. These are things that just automatically go together. You wouldn't question a delicious pb&j sandwich or a beautiful pajama set worn by Gisele in a Vicky's catalog. But you might retract a...

Remember when retail product advertising simply centered on the product itself? You know, when a piece of plastic was just a wasteful piece of earth-harmful material and nothing more? Those days are totally over. Today, retail product advertising often glosses...

Poor Man to Rich Man: “Hey buddy, can you spare $100 for a cup of coffee?” Rich Man to Poor Man: “Isn’t that an awful lot for a cup of coffee?” Poor Man to Rich Man: “Well you don’t expect...

Oh W Hotels, how I love thee! And now, with their latest property debuting in Hong Kong, I have even more fabulous hotel space to dream about. That’s right, I’m talking about the new W Hong Kong from W Hotels...

The poor U.S. economy just can't catch a break these days. It's been blamed for everything from corruption in corporate America (AIG, anyone?) to keeping Americans at home watching "Mad Men." And now, the economy is being blamed for an...

What a world we live in today. Our houses are worth less, our gasoline is worth more and our shopping desire is worth...well, let's just say it's diminished. I headed over to the neighborhood Linens 'n Things this week (admittedly...

My poor grandma just can't seem to get any retail love. With a quadruple bypass, hip replacements and an excessive paranoia that salespeople in general are trying to take advantage of her--she's pretty much at odds with the retail industry....

Not often does a site come around that gets my design juices up and flowing, but this new blog by Anne Corrons is a fun, international peek into the everyday world of window dressers the world over. Offered with both...

While the stock market is going down, we girls are kicking up our heels--high heels that is. Have you taken a good look at the shoes in specialty stores lately? Those high-heels just keep getting higher and higher. There is...

If you have a minute, go ahead and take a peek into your garbage can. You'll probably find the usual suspects--a banana peel, pieces of random mail and maybe some coffee grinds. Just ordinary garbage, right? Well, tell that to...

Nail polish and lipstick and hair gel, oh my! Beauty retailer ULTA--aka makeup junkie mecca-- unveiled its first urban location on State Street in Chicago this week. The brand, which carries an obscene amount of (more than 21,000!) prestige and...

Before consumers could finish saying, "Happy Labor Day," retailers were busily stocking their shelves with oodles of Halloween candy corn and witches hats. As the first major holiday of the season nears, retailers are ready for Halloween and have been...

As principal of a commercial design firm that specializes in retail, restaurants, hospitality and corporate spaces, it amazes me how fast sustainable design has become the hot-button topic in the industry. Collaborating with developers, engineers, municipalities and builders has always...