~nancy brenner
Showing posts with label The Wall Street Journal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label The Wall Street Journal. Show all posts
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Red Rules Runway
~nancy brenner
Thursday, August 26, 2010
WSJ: Marketers Try Interactive Mirrors, Discounts via Scanners
The Wall Street Journal
BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY
AUGUST 26, 2010
Luring Shoppers to Stores
Marketers Try Interactive Mirrors, Discounts via Scanners
By EMILY STEEL
It's Steven Spielberg's futuristic "Minority Report" come to life.
New technologies at the retail center at IPG's Media Lab.
Marketing companies are experimenting with a new wave of digital technologies to pitch to consumers while they shop: interactive dressing-room mirrors, kiosks with virtual customer-service representatives, and shopping carts and digital scanners that offer personalized discounts.
These futuristic technologies are among the interactive tools on display at Interpublic Group of Cos.' new retail center at the advertising company's Media Lab in Los Angeles.
There, Interpublic is testing innovative ways for marketers to connect with customers as part of an effort to better understand what makes consumers buy and to encourage companies to rethink their approaches to the role of the retail store.
Emily Steel discusses a new wave of digital technologies that pitch consumers while they shop.
Retailers are grappling with lackluster sales and consumers who are dissatisfied with the store experience as online shopping with its related interactivity becomes mainstream. Shopper satisfaction at retail stores is declining up to 15% a year, according to an ongoing IPG Media Lab study of more than 10,000 North American shoppers.
Online shopping gives buyers lots of information to guide their purchases. And consumers want detailed product data, reviews from previous buyers, related recipes for food products, health and nutrition information, and more, says John Ross, president of Shopper Sciences, which is part of IPG's Mediabrands unit.
"The role the store is playing is changing," says Mr. Ross, who was previously chief marketing officer at Home Depot. "Shoppers are walking up with a different set of expectations."
Some retailers have started testing basic versions of the new technologies. J. C. Penney has a "FindMore" fixture at select stores. The size of a door frame, it comes with a 52-inch touch screen that lets consumers see the retailer's full range of merchandise. Consumers can email data about an item to themselves or a friend or scan a bar code to learn more about a product and get recommendations, such as tops and accessories that match a pair of pants.
The Digits blog Stop & Shop Supermarket is testing handheld scanners in 289 stores that show customers personalized discounts as they shop. The offers are based on such factors as shopping history and just-purchased items. The scanner also lets consumers place deli orders and check out faster.
But IPG's retail lab offers a window into what the future could hold. Among the new technologies on display is a device that transforms the front window of a store into a giant touch screen. Instead of looking at a static mannequin, consumers can interact with the screen to select outfits for an avatar. Meanwhile, kiosks allow a customer to chat with a virtual sales associate who can provide advice on such topics as how to install a new flat-screen television.
Another device is a mirror that enables a shopper to scan a dress and then project that clothing onto her body before going to the dressing room. She can also tap the mirror to view different colors, find matching shoes and send the image to her Facebook profile.
Specialty retailer The Limited is considering installing interactive mirrors in some of its stores in the next six months, says Chief Executive Linda Heasley. The technology will help consumers match styles or even warn that two pieces of clothing don't match.
"It's like 'Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, what is the best outfit of all?'" she says.
At the same time, the price point of new technologies is dropping fast, allowing tools that were once considered space age and too expensive to be deployed at much lower costs, ad executives say.
Companies spent about $19.4 billion on in-store marketing in the U.S. last year, down about 10% from 2008, according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson Partners, a private-equity investment firm that produces forecasts for the communications industry. By 2011, when the economy is likely to have picked up again, the firm expects spending on in-store growth to accelerate.
Some of the most sophisticated in-store technology is tied to consumers' mobile devices, ad executives say. Marketers are experimenting with ways to use mobile phones to provide customers with services and promotions as they shop. These range from truck reviews at car dealerships to allergy information tied to certain foods at supermarkets, Mr. Ross says.
Dunkin' Donuts plans to test new mobile technologies in select markets in the next two weeks that will allow shops to send customized offers to customers.
Earlier this month, electronics retailer Best Buy announced plans to start an experiment at 257 of its stores involving a mobile application called Shopkick. Consumers who download it onto their mobile phones get rewards when they visit the store.
Write to Emily Steel at emily.steel@wsj.com
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY
AUGUST 26, 2010
Luring Shoppers to Stores
Marketers Try Interactive Mirrors, Discounts via Scanners
By EMILY STEEL
It's Steven Spielberg's futuristic "Minority Report" come to life.
New technologies at the retail center at IPG's Media Lab.
Marketing companies are experimenting with a new wave of digital technologies to pitch to consumers while they shop: interactive dressing-room mirrors, kiosks with virtual customer-service representatives, and shopping carts and digital scanners that offer personalized discounts.
These futuristic technologies are among the interactive tools on display at Interpublic Group of Cos.' new retail center at the advertising company's Media Lab in Los Angeles.
There, Interpublic is testing innovative ways for marketers to connect with customers as part of an effort to better understand what makes consumers buy and to encourage companies to rethink their approaches to the role of the retail store.
Emily Steel discusses a new wave of digital technologies that pitch consumers while they shop.
Retailers are grappling with lackluster sales and consumers who are dissatisfied with the store experience as online shopping with its related interactivity becomes mainstream. Shopper satisfaction at retail stores is declining up to 15% a year, according to an ongoing IPG Media Lab study of more than 10,000 North American shoppers.
Online shopping gives buyers lots of information to guide their purchases. And consumers want detailed product data, reviews from previous buyers, related recipes for food products, health and nutrition information, and more, says John Ross, president of Shopper Sciences, which is part of IPG's Mediabrands unit.
"The role the store is playing is changing," says Mr. Ross, who was previously chief marketing officer at Home Depot. "Shoppers are walking up with a different set of expectations."
Some retailers have started testing basic versions of the new technologies. J. C. Penney has a "FindMore" fixture at select stores. The size of a door frame, it comes with a 52-inch touch screen that lets consumers see the retailer's full range of merchandise. Consumers can email data about an item to themselves or a friend or scan a bar code to learn more about a product and get recommendations, such as tops and accessories that match a pair of pants.
The Digits blog Stop & Shop Supermarket is testing handheld scanners in 289 stores that show customers personalized discounts as they shop. The offers are based on such factors as shopping history and just-purchased items. The scanner also lets consumers place deli orders and check out faster.
But IPG's retail lab offers a window into what the future could hold. Among the new technologies on display is a device that transforms the front window of a store into a giant touch screen. Instead of looking at a static mannequin, consumers can interact with the screen to select outfits for an avatar. Meanwhile, kiosks allow a customer to chat with a virtual sales associate who can provide advice on such topics as how to install a new flat-screen television.
Another device is a mirror that enables a shopper to scan a dress and then project that clothing onto her body before going to the dressing room. She can also tap the mirror to view different colors, find matching shoes and send the image to her Facebook profile.
Specialty retailer The Limited is considering installing interactive mirrors in some of its stores in the next six months, says Chief Executive Linda Heasley. The technology will help consumers match styles or even warn that two pieces of clothing don't match.
"It's like 'Mirror, Mirror, on the wall, what is the best outfit of all?'" she says.
At the same time, the price point of new technologies is dropping fast, allowing tools that were once considered space age and too expensive to be deployed at much lower costs, ad executives say.
Companies spent about $19.4 billion on in-store marketing in the U.S. last year, down about 10% from 2008, according to Veronis Suhler Stevenson Partners, a private-equity investment firm that produces forecasts for the communications industry. By 2011, when the economy is likely to have picked up again, the firm expects spending on in-store growth to accelerate.
Some of the most sophisticated in-store technology is tied to consumers' mobile devices, ad executives say. Marketers are experimenting with ways to use mobile phones to provide customers with services and promotions as they shop. These range from truck reviews at car dealerships to allergy information tied to certain foods at supermarkets, Mr. Ross says.
Dunkin' Donuts plans to test new mobile technologies in select markets in the next two weeks that will allow shops to send customized offers to customers.
Earlier this month, electronics retailer Best Buy announced plans to start an experiment at 257 of its stores involving a mobile application called Shopkick. Consumers who download it onto their mobile phones get rewards when they visit the store.
Write to Emily Steel at emily.steel@wsj.com
Copyright 2009 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
WSJ: Style: Heard on the Runway / News From New York Fashion Week Spring 2010
Since I got boxed out of Fashion Week yet again, I thought I would provide you with a decent roundup from Christina Binkley at The Wall Street Journal:
Style: Heard on the Runway / News From New York Fashion Week Spring 2010
By Christina Binkley
16 September 2009
The Wall Street Journal
Marc Jacobs Air-Kisses the '80s Goodbye
Usually, you show up at fashion shows fashionably late. For Marc Jacobs, you show up a half-hour early. Anna Wintour was already there for the 8 p.m. show when I arrived at 7:30. The only person who strolled in looking unworried at precisely 8 p.m. was Madonna, her hair blown dry and poofed like a blonde That Girl.
Spread the word: Marc Jacobs is as punctual as a German train these days.
Jacobs brought us the whole 1980s power-clothes thing last year. Now, just as the rest of the world is getting in sync with shiny leggings, big-shouldered jackets and blouses pleated at the neck, he's moved on. His show Monday night was juicy and surreal -- and incredibly, laughably feminine. It was a circus of ruffles and frills, tamed by some 1960-ish men's trench coats and a touch of S&M wear. It was the opposite of power dressing.
Supermodel Jessica Stam wore a kinky black plastic (or patent) suit with holes cut out and huge epaulette-type ruffles at the sleeves. There were gray "Mad Men" trenches belted over lacy dresses.
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the crazy styling of Jacobs's shows. This season, the models' faces were powdered white, and their hair was drawn up tight. They looked like cabaret clowns.
But look closely: Those fabulous "Mad Men" trenches were nearly vintage. A series of softly pink and mossy silk blouses could be worn in any boardroom. There was a nearly collegiate sportswear feel to some knitwear. The bags were rich-looking and the shoes mostly flat sandals, but they looked hard to walk in because the heels were several inches in under the sole.
Vera Wang Gets Personal
Vera Wang's clothes don't change drastically from season to season. There's an intimate quality to her work, as well as her shows. If you're a fan, you're going to find a satisfying consistency in her collections, which aren't the bridal gowns she's most known for.
This is the clothing Wang wears herself -- her personal style: black and gray silk sheaths, jackets transparent and light as a feather, and sculptural creations using tiny strips of fabric sewn together for texture.
A highlight at her Tuesday show was a black faille jacket and ivory-washed tank worn over a flanged skirt cut on the bias. Another was a series of prints -- lavender-colored flowers on a black background -- on which Wang had tacked each flower by sewing over and over a small square. It gave texture and richness to the lovely print and will be a signature as loud as her name.
Rodarte's Tattoo Theatrics
From the theatrical smoke on the runways to the mud-painting tattoos drawn on the models' arms, and the ragged, gauzy, vegetable-toned cheesecloth that draped the models' bodies, Kate and Laura Mulleavy's world is tribal and apocalyptic. It's Mad Max emerging from a cave, but dressed with the extraordinary artistic skills of two of fashion's most daring designers.
Their label, Rodarte, is becoming known more for artistry than sales. True to form, there was little in the collection, shown Tuesday, that could be worn to most offices. These are clothes for artists, special events and collections. It's hard to imagine that they could even be dry-cleaned. Yet they get you thinking.
Dresses were made from cheesecloth, silk linen and ruched leather, some covered with cobwebs of wool, which also wrapped the models' hair. Hand-braided belts -- some of the more sellable items -- encircled waists. There were macrame dresses with yarn hanging in strands. And in them, elaborately, were lace, velvet and leather wound and draped and stitched to look haphazard.
The audience was crawling with celebrities. Sunny Elijah Wood chatted with teen blogger Tavi beforehand. Backstage, actor Jason Schwartzman talked to model Madisyn. A spectacularly heavily made-up Courtney Love chatted animatedly. Kirsten Dunst sat in the front row.
As for the influential styles that will come of this show, I'm looking forward to a whole new trend in arm tattoos.
Stuart Channels Cher
Women of various generations flocked to Jill Stuart's noon show at the New York Public Library Tuesday. Teen girls watched while cameras trailed Leigh Lezark, Kim Kardashian, Kelly Rowland and Peaches Geldof to their chairs. A bevy of Bravo's "Real Housewives" from the New York and New Jersey editions attended.
While last season's collection was softly feminine, with fluffy tulle skirts and puff sleeves, this season's collection was all aggressive sex appeal. Body-hugging dresses with revealing sheer panels and cut-outs suggested an '80s exhibitionist club girl. Most dresses were cut so ultra-short that models tugged at the hems, with a few inadvertent flashes as they took their runway walk.Stuart says this collection's "angel rocker girl" look was inspired by Cher. A silver mesh dress was cut so low in the front and back that it prompted the question about what underthings one would wear with it. "You can't," Stuart said with a laugh. "You have to be pretty risky to wear that."
-- Elva Ramirez
Style: Heard on the Runway / News From New York Fashion Week Spring 2010
By Christina Binkley
16 September 2009
The Wall Street Journal
Marc Jacobs Air-Kisses the '80s Goodbye
Usually, you show up at fashion shows fashionably late. For Marc Jacobs, you show up a half-hour early. Anna Wintour was already there for the 8 p.m. show when I arrived at 7:30. The only person who strolled in looking unworried at precisely 8 p.m. was Madonna, her hair blown dry and poofed like a blonde That Girl.
Spread the word: Marc Jacobs is as punctual as a German train these days.
Jacobs brought us the whole 1980s power-clothes thing last year. Now, just as the rest of the world is getting in sync with shiny leggings, big-shouldered jackets and blouses pleated at the neck, he's moved on. His show Monday night was juicy and surreal -- and incredibly, laughably feminine. It was a circus of ruffles and frills, tamed by some 1960-ish men's trench coats and a touch of S&M wear. It was the opposite of power dressing.
Supermodel Jessica Stam wore a kinky black plastic (or patent) suit with holes cut out and huge epaulette-type ruffles at the sleeves. There were gray "Mad Men" trenches belted over lacy dresses.
It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the crazy styling of Jacobs's shows. This season, the models' faces were powdered white, and their hair was drawn up tight. They looked like cabaret clowns.
But look closely: Those fabulous "Mad Men" trenches were nearly vintage. A series of softly pink and mossy silk blouses could be worn in any boardroom. There was a nearly collegiate sportswear feel to some knitwear. The bags were rich-looking and the shoes mostly flat sandals, but they looked hard to walk in because the heels were several inches in under the sole.
Vera Wang Gets Personal
Vera Wang's clothes don't change drastically from season to season. There's an intimate quality to her work, as well as her shows. If you're a fan, you're going to find a satisfying consistency in her collections, which aren't the bridal gowns she's most known for.
This is the clothing Wang wears herself -- her personal style: black and gray silk sheaths, jackets transparent and light as a feather, and sculptural creations using tiny strips of fabric sewn together for texture.
A highlight at her Tuesday show was a black faille jacket and ivory-washed tank worn over a flanged skirt cut on the bias. Another was a series of prints -- lavender-colored flowers on a black background -- on which Wang had tacked each flower by sewing over and over a small square. It gave texture and richness to the lovely print and will be a signature as loud as her name.
Rodarte's Tattoo Theatrics
From the theatrical smoke on the runways to the mud-painting tattoos drawn on the models' arms, and the ragged, gauzy, vegetable-toned cheesecloth that draped the models' bodies, Kate and Laura Mulleavy's world is tribal and apocalyptic. It's Mad Max emerging from a cave, but dressed with the extraordinary artistic skills of two of fashion's most daring designers.
Their label, Rodarte, is becoming known more for artistry than sales. True to form, there was little in the collection, shown Tuesday, that could be worn to most offices. These are clothes for artists, special events and collections. It's hard to imagine that they could even be dry-cleaned. Yet they get you thinking.
Dresses were made from cheesecloth, silk linen and ruched leather, some covered with cobwebs of wool, which also wrapped the models' hair. Hand-braided belts -- some of the more sellable items -- encircled waists. There were macrame dresses with yarn hanging in strands. And in them, elaborately, were lace, velvet and leather wound and draped and stitched to look haphazard.
The audience was crawling with celebrities. Sunny Elijah Wood chatted with teen blogger Tavi beforehand. Backstage, actor Jason Schwartzman talked to model Madisyn. A spectacularly heavily made-up Courtney Love chatted animatedly. Kirsten Dunst sat in the front row.
As for the influential styles that will come of this show, I'm looking forward to a whole new trend in arm tattoos.
Stuart Channels Cher
Women of various generations flocked to Jill Stuart's noon show at the New York Public Library Tuesday. Teen girls watched while cameras trailed Leigh Lezark, Kim Kardashian, Kelly Rowland and Peaches Geldof to their chairs. A bevy of Bravo's "Real Housewives" from the New York and New Jersey editions attended.
While last season's collection was softly feminine, with fluffy tulle skirts and puff sleeves, this season's collection was all aggressive sex appeal. Body-hugging dresses with revealing sheer panels and cut-outs suggested an '80s exhibitionist club girl. Most dresses were cut so ultra-short that models tugged at the hems, with a few inadvertent flashes as they took their runway walk.Stuart says this collection's "angel rocker girl" look was inspired by Cher. A silver mesh dress was cut so low in the front and back that it prompted the question about what underthings one would wear with it. "You can't," Stuart said with a laugh. "You have to be pretty risky to wear that."
-- Elva Ramirez
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
H&M will begin selling its special collections in most of its stores...
...rather than just a select few...so says today's Wall Street Journal.
Thursday, April 16, 2009
WSJ: On Style: Death to Discounts? The Designers Rebel
...an extremely interesting and important article!
On Style: Death to Discounts? The Designers Rebel
By Christina Binkley
16 April 2009
The Wall Street Journal
Eileen Fisher is a mild-mannered woman -- quick to apologize and even timid. But the famously silver-haired designer is pondering a radical shift in the way her clothes reach consumers.
In department stores these days, Eileen Fisher clothes "get marked down before they even have a chance to sell," she told me recently. Perhaps it no longer makes sense to give Saks, Bloomingdales and other department stores so much control over the brand, she posited. She has asked her staff to consider a new model: renting department-store space in order to control prices and inventory.
Ms. Fisher's comments illustrate the rift that has formed between department stores and many brands after decades of close cooperation. The rift means shoppers will see fewer of those deep, early luxury-brand discounts that they have enjoyed for the past year.
The relationship between the stores and the brands cracked last fall, when Saks Fifth Avenue and its rivals slashed prices around Thanksgiving. Consumers benefited immediately. I bought a $1,200 Piazza Sempione dress, still in season, for less than $300 at Saks in Los Angeles.
In a matter of weeks, high-end retail's carefully tended pricing structure began to collapse. Shoppers demanded discounts at brands' own stores. At elite brands like Loro Piana, a flea-market mentality took hold. In Europe, even French stores, which are bound by strict pricing laws, are holding "floating sales" that include deep discounts. In the U.S., spring sales are arriving early, rather than coming at the end of the season.
Bargain pricing, of course, appeals to many cash-strapped shoppers, who couldn't otherwise afford luxury goods. But the onslaught of sales actually dismays other customers -- particularly loyal luxury devotees, who feel duped for having paid full price. Shortly after Nancy Novogrod paid full price at a department store for a pair of spring Jil Sander slacks, the editor of Travel + Leisure Magazine got an email saying the store's spring sale was under way. "Spring sale?" Ms. Novogrod said when New Yorkers were still shivering in mid-March. "That's not buyer remorse. That's buyer rage."
The price swings confuse customers, leading them to question the real value of their purchases. Was my Piazza dress ever really worth $1,200?
"Even wealthy people don't want to be ripped off," Ms. Fisher told me this week. She concedes apologetically that her company's prices -- a jacket might cost $400 and pants $150 -- rose more than necessary during the economic boom. "We sort of let the prices go up because business was so good," she says.
Airlines and hotels faced similar price competition several years ago, when Web sites began buying bulk seats and rooms and sold them at discount. It was often more expensive to book a Marriott room on Marriott.com than on Hotels.com. Eventually, the companies made their own prices more competitive, even as they gave the new Web sites incentives to cooperate and punished the sites if they undercut prices by limiting access to inventory.
These days, many fashion brands are effecting their own pushback, demanding to be left out of department stores' sales. "All our brands are taking great care to ensure that what happened in November will not happen again," says Paola Milani, a spokeswoman for Gucci Group, which owns Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci and other brands. "The idea is to maintain pricing coherence in the regions in which our products are sold regardless of channel of distribution."
It's not that the brands will totally eschew sales; Yves Saint Laurent yesterday emailed customers an offer good next week at its stores: 50% clothing, 30% off accessories. But the luxury brands want to control when they take discounts and on which products. And the deals will likely be less sweeping.
Saks, which was a leader in last fall's discounting, declined to comment. But this week, notices for Saks's 25% off "Friends and Family" sale exclude, in the teensy fine print, more than 40 top luxury brands, including Gucci, Cartier, Chanel, Loro Piana, Oscar de la Renta, Zegna and Christian Louboutin.
Ms. Fisher says she hadn't been aware of this week's sale and wishes her brand had also been excluded. Known for its ease of wear and timeless styles, the brand uses washable silks and wools that are intended to last for years. Her company depends on department stores for 70% of its revenue, which was $273 million in 2008. But she would like to whittle that share down to 50%.
To that end, Eileen Fisher will open six new stores of its own this year in the U.S. -- slightly accelerated from an average of five new stores per year -- and is launching a costly new technology platform for Internet sales that will offer greater flexibility, allowing online customers to pick up items in stores, for instance.
Ms. Fisher is also working to encourage department stores to use what she calls "scalpel markdowns" -- where items that sell poorly are marked down quickly, leaving strong sellers at full price even as new inventory arrives. "We're negotiating harder with all of them," she says of department stores.
Ms. Fisher's most extreme idea -- renting space in department stores -- won't happen anytime soon, but she and her staff plan to broach it with store accounts tentatively. The project would be complex -- equivalent to opening scores of boutiques across the country.
But the in-store boutiques have some precedents. LVMH's Louis Vuitton brand has been doing it for years. Every LV-logoed wallet and handbag at Saks or Neiman Marcus is sold by a salesperson who is employed by Vuitton, on space that is leased by the French luxury manufacturer.
LVMH's fashion and leather-goods revenues, dominated by Louis Vuitton, rose 10% in the fourth quarter. Little wonder: They didn't go on sale last fall.
---
Subscribers, please join my Journal Community, where you can share questions and ideas, at WSJ.com/Community. Twitterers can follow me at Twitter.com/BinkleyOnStyle.
On Style: Death to Discounts? The Designers Rebel
By Christina Binkley
16 April 2009
The Wall Street Journal
Eileen Fisher is a mild-mannered woman -- quick to apologize and even timid. But the famously silver-haired designer is pondering a radical shift in the way her clothes reach consumers.
In department stores these days, Eileen Fisher clothes "get marked down before they even have a chance to sell," she told me recently. Perhaps it no longer makes sense to give Saks, Bloomingdales and other department stores so much control over the brand, she posited. She has asked her staff to consider a new model: renting department-store space in order to control prices and inventory.
Ms. Fisher's comments illustrate the rift that has formed between department stores and many brands after decades of close cooperation. The rift means shoppers will see fewer of those deep, early luxury-brand discounts that they have enjoyed for the past year.
The relationship between the stores and the brands cracked last fall, when Saks Fifth Avenue and its rivals slashed prices around Thanksgiving. Consumers benefited immediately. I bought a $1,200 Piazza Sempione dress, still in season, for less than $300 at Saks in Los Angeles.
In a matter of weeks, high-end retail's carefully tended pricing structure began to collapse. Shoppers demanded discounts at brands' own stores. At elite brands like Loro Piana, a flea-market mentality took hold. In Europe, even French stores, which are bound by strict pricing laws, are holding "floating sales" that include deep discounts. In the U.S., spring sales are arriving early, rather than coming at the end of the season.
Bargain pricing, of course, appeals to many cash-strapped shoppers, who couldn't otherwise afford luxury goods. But the onslaught of sales actually dismays other customers -- particularly loyal luxury devotees, who feel duped for having paid full price. Shortly after Nancy Novogrod paid full price at a department store for a pair of spring Jil Sander slacks, the editor of Travel + Leisure Magazine got an email saying the store's spring sale was under way. "Spring sale?" Ms. Novogrod said when New Yorkers were still shivering in mid-March. "That's not buyer remorse. That's buyer rage."
The price swings confuse customers, leading them to question the real value of their purchases. Was my Piazza dress ever really worth $1,200?
"Even wealthy people don't want to be ripped off," Ms. Fisher told me this week. She concedes apologetically that her company's prices -- a jacket might cost $400 and pants $150 -- rose more than necessary during the economic boom. "We sort of let the prices go up because business was so good," she says.
Airlines and hotels faced similar price competition several years ago, when Web sites began buying bulk seats and rooms and sold them at discount. It was often more expensive to book a Marriott room on Marriott.com than on Hotels.com. Eventually, the companies made their own prices more competitive, even as they gave the new Web sites incentives to cooperate and punished the sites if they undercut prices by limiting access to inventory.
These days, many fashion brands are effecting their own pushback, demanding to be left out of department stores' sales. "All our brands are taking great care to ensure that what happened in November will not happen again," says Paola Milani, a spokeswoman for Gucci Group, which owns Bottega Veneta, Yves Saint Laurent, Gucci and other brands. "The idea is to maintain pricing coherence in the regions in which our products are sold regardless of channel of distribution."
It's not that the brands will totally eschew sales; Yves Saint Laurent yesterday emailed customers an offer good next week at its stores: 50% clothing, 30% off accessories. But the luxury brands want to control when they take discounts and on which products. And the deals will likely be less sweeping.
Saks, which was a leader in last fall's discounting, declined to comment. But this week, notices for Saks's 25% off "Friends and Family" sale exclude, in the teensy fine print, more than 40 top luxury brands, including Gucci, Cartier, Chanel, Loro Piana, Oscar de la Renta, Zegna and Christian Louboutin.
Ms. Fisher says she hadn't been aware of this week's sale and wishes her brand had also been excluded. Known for its ease of wear and timeless styles, the brand uses washable silks and wools that are intended to last for years. Her company depends on department stores for 70% of its revenue, which was $273 million in 2008. But she would like to whittle that share down to 50%.
To that end, Eileen Fisher will open six new stores of its own this year in the U.S. -- slightly accelerated from an average of five new stores per year -- and is launching a costly new technology platform for Internet sales that will offer greater flexibility, allowing online customers to pick up items in stores, for instance.
Ms. Fisher is also working to encourage department stores to use what she calls "scalpel markdowns" -- where items that sell poorly are marked down quickly, leaving strong sellers at full price even as new inventory arrives. "We're negotiating harder with all of them," she says of department stores.
Ms. Fisher's most extreme idea -- renting space in department stores -- won't happen anytime soon, but she and her staff plan to broach it with store accounts tentatively. The project would be complex -- equivalent to opening scores of boutiques across the country.
But the in-store boutiques have some precedents. LVMH's Louis Vuitton brand has been doing it for years. Every LV-logoed wallet and handbag at Saks or Neiman Marcus is sold by a salesperson who is employed by Vuitton, on space that is leased by the French luxury manufacturer.
LVMH's fashion and leather-goods revenues, dominated by Louis Vuitton, rose 10% in the fourth quarter. Little wonder: They didn't go on sale last fall.
---
Subscribers, please join my Journal Community, where you can share questions and ideas, at WSJ.com/Community. Twitterers can follow me at Twitter.com/BinkleyOnStyle.
Friday, January 30, 2009
WSJ: Fashion: A glimpse of the future of luxury
Oh the GSNYC loves it when prices drop...read on:
WEEKEND JOURNAL
Fashion: A glimpse of the future of luxury
By Teri Agins
30 January 2009
The Wall Street Journal
THE PARTY IS OVER for the fancy labels that once scored big on $600 stilettos and $1,500 "It" handbags. This year, world-wide sales of luxury goods are expected to fall between 3% and 7% from a year earlier, according to a Bain & Co. study.
Moreover, many fashion-industry veterans believe last fall's steep discounting of European designer goods by 70% or more did lasting damage to the perception of luxury. People now feel like they were ripped off by high prices all along -- and they are vowing never to pay full price again. If you can buy a Michael Kors wool dress for $230 on sale, as I did, you may wonder if its original $2,400 price wasn't a bit high to begin with.
The discounts follow other moves that have blurred the distinctiveness of luxury. When hip designers like Proenza Schouler, Roberto Cavalli and Viktor & Rolf can create nifty pieces that sell for under $100 at H&M and Target, it raises the question: Why can't they keep the prices in their signature collections from creeping over $1,000?
"It will take at least a year or more for people not to become nervous, thinking that if they had waited a couple of months longer, they could have bought something at 50% off. People don't want to be made a fool of," says John Idol, chief executive at the Michael Kors fashion house.
Now, luxury designers and retailers are responding to the new environment by altering the way they make, price and sell their goods.
We surveyed some of the smartest people in the luxury business in Europe and the U.S. to find out what luxury shopping might look like in coming years.
Some features:
-- Permanent price cuts. The weak U.S. dollar boosted the prices of euro-denominated Italian and French luxury goods by a third or more in the past few years. Shoes that once cost $550 shot up to $700 or $800 -- giving even the most rabid fashionistas sticker shock.
"Designer clothes are way overpriced; there's no way that a blouse that a woman paid, say, $1,500 for three years ago is now worth $4,000," says Allen Questrom, a former chief executive at Barneys New York and the former Federated Department Stores. His prediction: Prices will fall to better reflect the "price-value relationship of the merchandise."
"We have to lower our prices," agrees Alber Elbaz, the designer for Lanvin in Paris, where prices for cocktail and evening attire range from $2,600 to $8,000. "For the past month I have personally been on the phone asking our manufacturers, our fabric makers, all our suppliers to give us a better price," Mr. Elbaz says. "It's the subject of the day."
Emanuel Ungaro, another French fashion house, has already cut prices on 18 items for early fall delivery, dropping the price of one jacket, for instance, by 20% to $1,800. Prices for high fashion have become "way too expensive, and it's time to lower them," Ungaro CEO Mounir Moufarrige said through a spokeswoman.
-- More high-end bargains. Upscale chains such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus are stocking far less merchandise this year, in hopes that they won't have to mark it down. But savvy shoppers won't be starved for bargains. For one thing, consumers may keep refusing to pay full price, despite fashion labels' efforts to make clothes more affordable. But also, there's a glut of fancy merchandise still in the pipeline.
The Web sites that peddle excess designer inventories at a discount are here to stay. Gilt Group Inc., a members-only discount Web site, has about 25 sample sales a week, featuring labels such as Missoni, Vera Wang and Valentino. Another site, Shopittome.com, sends alerts to its members as soon as retailers start marking down their favorite designers by 40%.
No matter where the economy goes, a new generation of consumers "are spending differently and shopping online," says Alexis Maybank, co-founder of Gilt. Apparel makers have adapted to the presence of discounters, accepting smaller margins in order to sell more -- and sometimes even making goods expressly for the outlets.
-- More luxury goods made outside of Europe. With growing pressure for lower prices, more luxury makers will have no choice but to shift more production from Italy and France to China and other places.
"You can't tell me that you can't get the same quality in China that you can in Europe," says Mr. Questrom of Barneys and Federated.
Three years ago, womenswear label Lafayette 148 hired Barbara Gast, a production veteran of Italian luxury maker Ermenegildo Zegna, to move to China and teach 120 Chinese workers how to produce and finish fine-gauge knitwear, which sells for an average price of $350 a sweater for cashmere and $228 for merino wool.
"Our suppliers have told us that our product is on the same level with those made in Italy," says Deirdre Quinn, president and co-owner of Lafayette 148. Last year, the $100 million-a-year brand moved all production to its newly built factory in Shantou, China.
Of course, many labels won't broadcast such moves; don't be surprised if you see more labels that read: "Styled in Italy."
Upscale labels mix it up with more inexpensive items. The Marc by Marc Jacobs label plans to add more "exclusives" -- items found only at its own stores, says Robert Duffy, president of Marc Jacobs. Those exclusives will include more inexpensive items, he says. "We have always believed in having a broad mix of prices, like our $11 flip flops . . . and our $28 rain boots," he says.
Michael Kors boutiques -- which sell handbags and shoes at various price levels, ranging from $150 platform sandals to a $3,200 python handbag -- are employing a similar strategy, showcasing high and low-priced options alike. "Customers already cross-shop between designer shops and Zara, so we're just allowing them to do it in our own stores," says Mr. Idol.
Lord & Taylor is taking market share from higher-end merchants by offering designer looks for less, says Richard Baker, CEO of NRDC Equity Partners, which owns Lord & Taylor. He cites $89-to-$350 shoes with "the look of Gucci and Prada -- styles that can cost $700."
Burberry Group, a brand whose outerwear runs from $400 to $5,000, is launching its first jeans line, priced from $150 to $250. Says Angela Ahrendts, Burberry chief executive: "Our luxury positioning is more democratic than any of our peers."
WEEKEND JOURNAL
Fashion: A glimpse of the future of luxury
By Teri Agins
30 January 2009
The Wall Street Journal
THE PARTY IS OVER for the fancy labels that once scored big on $600 stilettos and $1,500 "It" handbags. This year, world-wide sales of luxury goods are expected to fall between 3% and 7% from a year earlier, according to a Bain & Co. study.
Moreover, many fashion-industry veterans believe last fall's steep discounting of European designer goods by 70% or more did lasting damage to the perception of luxury. People now feel like they were ripped off by high prices all along -- and they are vowing never to pay full price again. If you can buy a Michael Kors wool dress for $230 on sale, as I did, you may wonder if its original $2,400 price wasn't a bit high to begin with.
The discounts follow other moves that have blurred the distinctiveness of luxury. When hip designers like Proenza Schouler, Roberto Cavalli and Viktor & Rolf can create nifty pieces that sell for under $100 at H&M and Target, it raises the question: Why can't they keep the prices in their signature collections from creeping over $1,000?
"It will take at least a year or more for people not to become nervous, thinking that if they had waited a couple of months longer, they could have bought something at 50% off. People don't want to be made a fool of," says John Idol, chief executive at the Michael Kors fashion house.
Now, luxury designers and retailers are responding to the new environment by altering the way they make, price and sell their goods.
We surveyed some of the smartest people in the luxury business in Europe and the U.S. to find out what luxury shopping might look like in coming years.
Some features:
-- Permanent price cuts. The weak U.S. dollar boosted the prices of euro-denominated Italian and French luxury goods by a third or more in the past few years. Shoes that once cost $550 shot up to $700 or $800 -- giving even the most rabid fashionistas sticker shock.
"Designer clothes are way overpriced; there's no way that a blouse that a woman paid, say, $1,500 for three years ago is now worth $4,000," says Allen Questrom, a former chief executive at Barneys New York and the former Federated Department Stores. His prediction: Prices will fall to better reflect the "price-value relationship of the merchandise."
"We have to lower our prices," agrees Alber Elbaz, the designer for Lanvin in Paris, where prices for cocktail and evening attire range from $2,600 to $8,000. "For the past month I have personally been on the phone asking our manufacturers, our fabric makers, all our suppliers to give us a better price," Mr. Elbaz says. "It's the subject of the day."
Emanuel Ungaro, another French fashion house, has already cut prices on 18 items for early fall delivery, dropping the price of one jacket, for instance, by 20% to $1,800. Prices for high fashion have become "way too expensive, and it's time to lower them," Ungaro CEO Mounir Moufarrige said through a spokeswoman.
-- More high-end bargains. Upscale chains such as Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus are stocking far less merchandise this year, in hopes that they won't have to mark it down. But savvy shoppers won't be starved for bargains. For one thing, consumers may keep refusing to pay full price, despite fashion labels' efforts to make clothes more affordable. But also, there's a glut of fancy merchandise still in the pipeline.
The Web sites that peddle excess designer inventories at a discount are here to stay. Gilt Group Inc., a members-only discount Web site, has about 25 sample sales a week, featuring labels such as Missoni, Vera Wang and Valentino. Another site, Shopittome.com, sends alerts to its members as soon as retailers start marking down their favorite designers by 40%.
No matter where the economy goes, a new generation of consumers "are spending differently and shopping online," says Alexis Maybank, co-founder of Gilt. Apparel makers have adapted to the presence of discounters, accepting smaller margins in order to sell more -- and sometimes even making goods expressly for the outlets.
-- More luxury goods made outside of Europe. With growing pressure for lower prices, more luxury makers will have no choice but to shift more production from Italy and France to China and other places.
"You can't tell me that you can't get the same quality in China that you can in Europe," says Mr. Questrom of Barneys and Federated.
Three years ago, womenswear label Lafayette 148 hired Barbara Gast, a production veteran of Italian luxury maker Ermenegildo Zegna, to move to China and teach 120 Chinese workers how to produce and finish fine-gauge knitwear, which sells for an average price of $350 a sweater for cashmere and $228 for merino wool.
"Our suppliers have told us that our product is on the same level with those made in Italy," says Deirdre Quinn, president and co-owner of Lafayette 148. Last year, the $100 million-a-year brand moved all production to its newly built factory in Shantou, China.
Of course, many labels won't broadcast such moves; don't be surprised if you see more labels that read: "Styled in Italy."
Upscale labels mix it up with more inexpensive items. The Marc by Marc Jacobs label plans to add more "exclusives" -- items found only at its own stores, says Robert Duffy, president of Marc Jacobs. Those exclusives will include more inexpensive items, he says. "We have always believed in having a broad mix of prices, like our $11 flip flops . . . and our $28 rain boots," he says.
Michael Kors boutiques -- which sell handbags and shoes at various price levels, ranging from $150 platform sandals to a $3,200 python handbag -- are employing a similar strategy, showcasing high and low-priced options alike. "Customers already cross-shop between designer shops and Zara, so we're just allowing them to do it in our own stores," says Mr. Idol.
Lord & Taylor is taking market share from higher-end merchants by offering designer looks for less, says Richard Baker, CEO of NRDC Equity Partners, which owns Lord & Taylor. He cites $89-to-$350 shoes with "the look of Gucci and Prada -- styles that can cost $700."
Burberry Group, a brand whose outerwear runs from $400 to $5,000, is launching its first jeans line, priced from $150 to $250. Says Angela Ahrendts, Burberry chief executive: "Our luxury positioning is more democratic than any of our peers."
Friday, November 14, 2008
WSJ: Drop in Consumer Spending Creates Glut of Name Brands
I knew it would happen! I think 2009 will be my best year ever! Heart, GSNYC.
The Bright Side: Deep Discounts From Retailers --- Drop in Consumer Spending Creates Glut of Name Brands; 31% Off a Croc-Embossed Tote
By Jennifer Saranow and Christopher Lawton
13 November 2008
The Wall Street Journal
Financial markets are in the tank, and the economy is grinding to halt -- a great time, it turns out, to shop.
Shoppers can find a bonanza of deals on everything from Prada shoes to premium jeans and smart phones. Discounters like T.J. Maxx and Overstock.com and outlet stores like Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth are all stocking some of the best selections of apparel, accessories and electronic goods -- at some of the best prices -- due to the sharp falloff in consumer spending that has forced full-price stores to unload excess inventory.
Shoppers like Kristle Bonfield, a 23-year-old nurse technician and regular T.J. Maxx customer, have noticed the difference. The store she frequents in Manhattan has lately been stocking a wider selection of high-end jeans from labels such as True Religion, Joe's Jeans and Paper Denim & Cloth, she says. Ms. Bonfield says she was able to pick up a pair of 7 for All Mankind jeans for about $80 that she later saw at Bloomingdale's for more than $200.
Kimberly Greenberger, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., expects the deals to only get better into next year if consumer spending stays weak, which industry-watchers are expecting. In a survey of 1,000 people earlier this month by America's Research Group, nearly half of the respondents who said they've shopped at luxury stores in past Christmas seasons say they won't be shopping at those stores this year -- meaning more merchandise could be headed to off-price stores, online discounters and outlet stores.
Overstock.com, an online discounter based in Salt Lake City, will be selling items at 15% to 45% off full retail price for the holidays. Even now a gray crocodile-embossed tote bag from Yves Saint Laurent sells for $1,300 on the site, a discount of 31% from the retail price of about $1,900. Since mid-September, the company has been snapping up high-end apparel, boots, shoes and handbags from brands such as Prada, Gucci and Jimmy Choo that it has never carried before. Its inventory of shoes alone has swelled to 55,000 pairs from fewer than 2,000 before September.
Retail Ventures Inc.'s DSW stores are offering up to 75% off designer shoes from brands like Ralph Lauren and Sergio Rossi, compared with discounts of up to 50% last year, while Loehmann's recently advertised a "big fashion event," with discounts of up to 70% off on apparel from designers, including Nanette Lepore and Marc by Marc Jacobs.
"We are really seeing more and better brands across the board, in all categories of apparel, accessories, footwear, bath and body, and home fashions," says Sherry Lang, spokeswoman for TJX Cos., which owns T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores, two of the largest off-price retailers.
Rival Ross Stores Inc. has also "been able to take advantage of an increased supply of better merchandise, including getting some new brands in our stores," says spokeswoman Bobbi Chaville. And Stein Mart Inc., which recently rolled out a premium jeans section in all its stores, says it now carries at least half a dozen premium jeans brands, up from one or two last year.
Many of the stores generally won't name the new brands for fear of being cut off by the labels, which face a delicate balancing act in times like these. The ability of designer brands to command high prices depends on their image as luxury items sold exclusively at high-end stores. But if orders are canceled or the goods don't sell once they hit a store, the labels often show up in "off-price" stores.
Shopping at off-price retailers, of course, isn't easy. Most of the stores try to create a treasure-hunt atmosphere that requires sorting through racks crammed with a jumble of brand names. And some of the merchandise is so picked over that it is damaged, like a Vince cashmere cardigan with a hole near the collar that was being offered recently by T.J. Maxx for $149.99.
But Maria Elena Friskel, a retiree from Kansas City, Kan., and a regular shopper at B&H Factory Outlet Inc. on eBay, says she likes the fact that the site starts bidding on all dresses at just 99 cents. Last month, she purchased a Calvin Klein velvet evening dress that was originally priced at $198 for just $25, a price that included shipping.
Today's deals aren't limited to fashion. Dyscern LLC, an Amazon.com and eBay seller of handheld electronics, says it is now getting good prices on MP3 players, smart phones and portable DVD players that have been returned to big-box electronics stores. Dyscern then passes along the savings to consumers. For example, a Palm Inc. Treo smart phone, which retails normally for $579, is selling for $189 on the site, a discount of 67%.
And TigerDirect.com, a unit of Systemax Inc., has been snapping up TVs, laptops and LCD monitors from manufacturers in the past three to four weeks, in part because of big box retailers canceling orders, says Chief Executive Gilbert Fiorentino.
Such deals, at savings of up to 20% off retail prices, can be found near the bottom of the Web site under the "e-deals" section and usually sell out in 24 to 48 hours, he says. On the site, a 46-inch high-definition liquid-crystal-display television set that would retail for about $1,300 is discounted 30% to $900.
---
Bargain Hunting
Tips for cost-conscious consumers:
Expect bargains throughout the holidays and even into the new year if sales continue to disappoint retailers.
Markdowns extend to more designer brands and a greater selection of items than in the past.
At some stores, be prepared to sift through racks of picked-over merchandise.
The Bright Side: Deep Discounts From Retailers --- Drop in Consumer Spending Creates Glut of Name Brands; 31% Off a Croc-Embossed Tote
By Jennifer Saranow and Christopher Lawton
13 November 2008
The Wall Street Journal
Financial markets are in the tank, and the economy is grinding to halt -- a great time, it turns out, to shop.
Shoppers can find a bonanza of deals on everything from Prada shoes to premium jeans and smart phones. Discounters like T.J. Maxx and Overstock.com and outlet stores like Saks Fifth Avenue Off Fifth are all stocking some of the best selections of apparel, accessories and electronic goods -- at some of the best prices -- due to the sharp falloff in consumer spending that has forced full-price stores to unload excess inventory.
Shoppers like Kristle Bonfield, a 23-year-old nurse technician and regular T.J. Maxx customer, have noticed the difference. The store she frequents in Manhattan has lately been stocking a wider selection of high-end jeans from labels such as True Religion, Joe's Jeans and Paper Denim & Cloth, she says. Ms. Bonfield says she was able to pick up a pair of 7 for All Mankind jeans for about $80 that she later saw at Bloomingdale's for more than $200.
Kimberly Greenberger, an analyst at Citigroup Inc., expects the deals to only get better into next year if consumer spending stays weak, which industry-watchers are expecting. In a survey of 1,000 people earlier this month by America's Research Group, nearly half of the respondents who said they've shopped at luxury stores in past Christmas seasons say they won't be shopping at those stores this year -- meaning more merchandise could be headed to off-price stores, online discounters and outlet stores.
Overstock.com, an online discounter based in Salt Lake City, will be selling items at 15% to 45% off full retail price for the holidays. Even now a gray crocodile-embossed tote bag from Yves Saint Laurent sells for $1,300 on the site, a discount of 31% from the retail price of about $1,900. Since mid-September, the company has been snapping up high-end apparel, boots, shoes and handbags from brands such as Prada, Gucci and Jimmy Choo that it has never carried before. Its inventory of shoes alone has swelled to 55,000 pairs from fewer than 2,000 before September.
Retail Ventures Inc.'s DSW stores are offering up to 75% off designer shoes from brands like Ralph Lauren and Sergio Rossi, compared with discounts of up to 50% last year, while Loehmann's recently advertised a "big fashion event," with discounts of up to 70% off on apparel from designers, including Nanette Lepore and Marc by Marc Jacobs.
"We are really seeing more and better brands across the board, in all categories of apparel, accessories, footwear, bath and body, and home fashions," says Sherry Lang, spokeswoman for TJX Cos., which owns T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores, two of the largest off-price retailers.
Rival Ross Stores Inc. has also "been able to take advantage of an increased supply of better merchandise, including getting some new brands in our stores," says spokeswoman Bobbi Chaville. And Stein Mart Inc., which recently rolled out a premium jeans section in all its stores, says it now carries at least half a dozen premium jeans brands, up from one or two last year.
Many of the stores generally won't name the new brands for fear of being cut off by the labels, which face a delicate balancing act in times like these. The ability of designer brands to command high prices depends on their image as luxury items sold exclusively at high-end stores. But if orders are canceled or the goods don't sell once they hit a store, the labels often show up in "off-price" stores.
Shopping at off-price retailers, of course, isn't easy. Most of the stores try to create a treasure-hunt atmosphere that requires sorting through racks crammed with a jumble of brand names. And some of the merchandise is so picked over that it is damaged, like a Vince cashmere cardigan with a hole near the collar that was being offered recently by T.J. Maxx for $149.99.
But Maria Elena Friskel, a retiree from Kansas City, Kan., and a regular shopper at B&H Factory Outlet Inc. on eBay, says she likes the fact that the site starts bidding on all dresses at just 99 cents. Last month, she purchased a Calvin Klein velvet evening dress that was originally priced at $198 for just $25, a price that included shipping.
Today's deals aren't limited to fashion. Dyscern LLC, an Amazon.com and eBay seller of handheld electronics, says it is now getting good prices on MP3 players, smart phones and portable DVD players that have been returned to big-box electronics stores. Dyscern then passes along the savings to consumers. For example, a Palm Inc. Treo smart phone, which retails normally for $579, is selling for $189 on the site, a discount of 67%.
And TigerDirect.com, a unit of Systemax Inc., has been snapping up TVs, laptops and LCD monitors from manufacturers in the past three to four weeks, in part because of big box retailers canceling orders, says Chief Executive Gilbert Fiorentino.
Such deals, at savings of up to 20% off retail prices, can be found near the bottom of the Web site under the "e-deals" section and usually sell out in 24 to 48 hours, he says. On the site, a 46-inch high-definition liquid-crystal-display television set that would retail for about $1,300 is discounted 30% to $900.
---
Bargain Hunting
Tips for cost-conscious consumers:
Expect bargains throughout the holidays and even into the new year if sales continue to disappoint retailers.
Markdowns extend to more designer brands and a greater selection of items than in the past.
At some stores, be prepared to sift through racks of picked-over merchandise.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
WSJ: A Splurge on St. John Shows What You Can Get for the Price of Luxury
I have always thought this of St. John and had recently decided that when my "ship comes in" I shall adorn myself in this brand. Their recent ad campaigns are looking younger and more relevant as well...
Style -- On Style: The Suit That Turns Me Into a VIP --- A Splurge on St. John Shows What You Can Get for the Price of Luxury; Best Table in the House
By Christina Binkley
30 October 2008
The Wall Street Journal
Maitre d's are expert decoders of social rank. When I dine with CEOs at Michael's in New York or Spago in L.A., we score the best tables. On my own, I wind up seated near the kitchen doors.
Unless I wear my St. John suit.
It is very understated, with no logo. The navy blue knit tank dress hits right at the knee. A zipper up the front of the jacket adds a modern edge, but the look is timeless. That is what St. John is famous for -- and it is why the brand is often disdained by the trend-conscious fashion cognoscenti.
Yet when I wear my suit, maitre d's snap to attention, sales clerks rush to assist me and people I barely know offer me favors.
What is it about the cut of certain clothes that signals "VIP"? Men's Brioni suits and Charvet shirts are famous for it. Bottega Veneta and Akris have it. Their head designers can tell you the fabric cost the moon and the tailor apprenticed for three years, but it's more difficult to define what conveys the effect of Somebody. As with pornography, you know it when you see it. Delivering that cachet -- that power -- is the promise of the luxury business.
It was curiosity about these questions that led me into the boutiques on Fifth Avenue in the summer of 2007, shortly after I began writing this column. Comfortably middle-class, I had shopped for years at the likes of Saks outlet Off Fifth, Banana Republic and Zara. My mom raised me to believe clothes should be comfortable and practical, not frivolous.
At Versace, I tried on a $1,100 white cotton blouse with ruffles down the front. I exited Versace as I had entered -- empty-handed and skeptical.
Just up the avenue at the St. John boutique, a salesman helped me select a half-dozen jackets and dresses. The ensembles cost a couple thousand dollars apiece -- a steep price, but only a third the cost of similar outfits at high-fashion brands like Chanel and Akris. My salesman arranged it all in a vast dressing room and hovered outside the door. An hour later, I emerged from the store with the most expensive items of clothing I have ever purchased. I felt shock, shame, pleasure: The suit hadn't even been on sale.
The cost of luxury can seem outlandish -- particularly now, in an uncertain global economy. Clothes are particularly hard to value. While cars and high-tech gadgets -- Maseratis, Audemars Piguet watches and first-generation iPhones -- offer not only performance but the cachet of a visibly rich item, clothing does less to convey what you spent on it. Clothes get stained and snagged, and they go out of style quickly.
But clothes also have the power to transform you. Clothes "can be used to beguile, seduce, mock, lie and deceive," semiotics professor Marcel Danesi says in his book, "Of Cigarettes, High Heels, and Other Interesting Things." He adds, "Criminals can dress in three-piece suits to look trustworthy." Designer Marc Jacobs this year was asked to leave a Chelsea art gallery when an employee mistook him for a homeless man. The iconic designer's clothes apparently signaled "soup kitchen."
Most important, clothes can speak the secret language of status. In one of my early forays in my St. John suit, I dropped my kids at school on my way to work. A mom I've known for two years stopped me outside the building and exclaimed, "Wow. What do you do for a living again?" At the office, a colleague complimented my suit and asked, "Did it cost $1,000?" (I dissembled. If only.)
My suit and I got on a plane and drew the attention of a passenger in an ostrich-skin baseball cap and matching boots. It was Pete Rose. The baseball legend wound up telling me where I could get boots just like his -- flipping open his cellphone to display the number for Friedman's Shoes in Atlanta. "All the athletes shop there because he has big sizes," Mr. Rose confided.
As a woman at midlife, I find that if I want notice, I must command it. Waiters can be slow to respond to my black Banana Republic pantsuits. But they "ma'am" my St. John. Store clerks glide over to offer coffee while I browse. Maitre d's offer hangers for my jacket. A gentleman insisted on carrying my luggage onto a plane at JFK airport -- a chivalry he surely wouldn't have offered to my Lucky brand jeans. Is it my imagination, or do New York cab drivers pick me and my St. John over other hailers during rush hour?
At New York's fashion week last February, I sat outside the Bryant Park tents in my St. John, talking on my cellphone. A photographer began shooting pictures of me.
I don't think people recognize the label. My suit doesn't have the boxy shape, tweedy fabric and decorative touches of the traditional St. John's suit.
But the suit does have a good fit, strong workmanship and non-trendy style. Glenn McMahon, chief executive of St. John Knits Inc., says my jacket is known as the "Angelina" after former St. John model Angelina Jolie. Spun, dyed and knit in Irvine, Calif., St. John's signature wool-blend yarn has a patented twist that gives the garment memory so it doesn't wrinkle in suitcases or get baggy when worn. It can be "blocked" into a new size or shape, if mine should change. As a result, my suit rarely needs dry-cleaning, and looks as good at the end of the day as it did at sunrise.
These days, getting value for money is more important than ever. But spending money on hot designers doesn't guarantee you'll impress others. My green-gray Marni suit, which cost about $675 at the brand's Milan outlet, garners compliments but no restaurant-table upgrades. My cropped Stella McCartney jacket, $304 on sale at Barneys, has led to no adventures.
But recently, a friend gave me several hand-me-down Chanel jackets and they, like my St. John, stop sales clerks in their tracks.
---
Email Christina.Binkley@wsj.com
Style -- On Style: The Suit That Turns Me Into a VIP --- A Splurge on St. John Shows What You Can Get for the Price of Luxury; Best Table in the House
By Christina Binkley
30 October 2008
The Wall Street Journal
Maitre d's are expert decoders of social rank. When I dine with CEOs at Michael's in New York or Spago in L.A., we score the best tables. On my own, I wind up seated near the kitchen doors.
Unless I wear my St. John suit.
It is very understated, with no logo. The navy blue knit tank dress hits right at the knee. A zipper up the front of the jacket adds a modern edge, but the look is timeless. That is what St. John is famous for -- and it is why the brand is often disdained by the trend-conscious fashion cognoscenti.
Yet when I wear my suit, maitre d's snap to attention, sales clerks rush to assist me and people I barely know offer me favors.
What is it about the cut of certain clothes that signals "VIP"? Men's Brioni suits and Charvet shirts are famous for it. Bottega Veneta and Akris have it. Their head designers can tell you the fabric cost the moon and the tailor apprenticed for three years, but it's more difficult to define what conveys the effect of Somebody. As with pornography, you know it when you see it. Delivering that cachet -- that power -- is the promise of the luxury business.
It was curiosity about these questions that led me into the boutiques on Fifth Avenue in the summer of 2007, shortly after I began writing this column. Comfortably middle-class, I had shopped for years at the likes of Saks outlet Off Fifth, Banana Republic and Zara. My mom raised me to believe clothes should be comfortable and practical, not frivolous.
At Versace, I tried on a $1,100 white cotton blouse with ruffles down the front. I exited Versace as I had entered -- empty-handed and skeptical.
Just up the avenue at the St. John boutique, a salesman helped me select a half-dozen jackets and dresses. The ensembles cost a couple thousand dollars apiece -- a steep price, but only a third the cost of similar outfits at high-fashion brands like Chanel and Akris. My salesman arranged it all in a vast dressing room and hovered outside the door. An hour later, I emerged from the store with the most expensive items of clothing I have ever purchased. I felt shock, shame, pleasure: The suit hadn't even been on sale.
The cost of luxury can seem outlandish -- particularly now, in an uncertain global economy. Clothes are particularly hard to value. While cars and high-tech gadgets -- Maseratis, Audemars Piguet watches and first-generation iPhones -- offer not only performance but the cachet of a visibly rich item, clothing does less to convey what you spent on it. Clothes get stained and snagged, and they go out of style quickly.
But clothes also have the power to transform you. Clothes "can be used to beguile, seduce, mock, lie and deceive," semiotics professor Marcel Danesi says in his book, "Of Cigarettes, High Heels, and Other Interesting Things." He adds, "Criminals can dress in three-piece suits to look trustworthy." Designer Marc Jacobs this year was asked to leave a Chelsea art gallery when an employee mistook him for a homeless man. The iconic designer's clothes apparently signaled "soup kitchen."
Most important, clothes can speak the secret language of status. In one of my early forays in my St. John suit, I dropped my kids at school on my way to work. A mom I've known for two years stopped me outside the building and exclaimed, "Wow. What do you do for a living again?" At the office, a colleague complimented my suit and asked, "Did it cost $1,000?" (I dissembled. If only.)
My suit and I got on a plane and drew the attention of a passenger in an ostrich-skin baseball cap and matching boots. It was Pete Rose. The baseball legend wound up telling me where I could get boots just like his -- flipping open his cellphone to display the number for Friedman's Shoes in Atlanta. "All the athletes shop there because he has big sizes," Mr. Rose confided.
As a woman at midlife, I find that if I want notice, I must command it. Waiters can be slow to respond to my black Banana Republic pantsuits. But they "ma'am" my St. John. Store clerks glide over to offer coffee while I browse. Maitre d's offer hangers for my jacket. A gentleman insisted on carrying my luggage onto a plane at JFK airport -- a chivalry he surely wouldn't have offered to my Lucky brand jeans. Is it my imagination, or do New York cab drivers pick me and my St. John over other hailers during rush hour?
At New York's fashion week last February, I sat outside the Bryant Park tents in my St. John, talking on my cellphone. A photographer began shooting pictures of me.
I don't think people recognize the label. My suit doesn't have the boxy shape, tweedy fabric and decorative touches of the traditional St. John's suit.
But the suit does have a good fit, strong workmanship and non-trendy style. Glenn McMahon, chief executive of St. John Knits Inc., says my jacket is known as the "Angelina" after former St. John model Angelina Jolie. Spun, dyed and knit in Irvine, Calif., St. John's signature wool-blend yarn has a patented twist that gives the garment memory so it doesn't wrinkle in suitcases or get baggy when worn. It can be "blocked" into a new size or shape, if mine should change. As a result, my suit rarely needs dry-cleaning, and looks as good at the end of the day as it did at sunrise.
These days, getting value for money is more important than ever. But spending money on hot designers doesn't guarantee you'll impress others. My green-gray Marni suit, which cost about $675 at the brand's Milan outlet, garners compliments but no restaurant-table upgrades. My cropped Stella McCartney jacket, $304 on sale at Barneys, has led to no adventures.
But recently, a friend gave me several hand-me-down Chanel jackets and they, like my St. John, stop sales clerks in their tracks.
---
Email Christina.Binkley@wsj.com
Thursday, August 21, 2008
WSJ: Claiborne Seeks a New Look --- Company Hangs Hopes On Isaac Mizrahi's Vision
Yay. Good news in fashion today. I heart Isaac. Read on:
Claiborne Seeks a New Look --- Company Hangs Hopes On Isaac Mizrahi's Vision Of Its Namesake Brand
By Rachel Dodes
21 August 2008
The Wall Street Journal
In an art gallery in New York's trendy Meatpacking district, celebrity designer Isaac Mizrahi recently quietly gave retailers a glimpse of his vision for rejuvenating the Liz Claiborne label. The occasion was a preview of the shoes, handbags and jewelry that will accompany his spring 2009 apparel line, which is still under wraps.
The collection includes modern styles like cork-covered high heels and oversize tote bags in soft neutrals, metallics and bright colors, according to two people who were there. The designs also incorporate an updated Liz Claiborne logo.
Liz Claiborne Inc., which hired Mr. Mizrahi as creative director earlier this year, is betting Mr. Mizrahi's star power will give its namesake label some sex appeal, or "mojo," as Chief Executive William L. McComb puts it. The flamboyant Mr. Mizrahi, after all, became a household name by designing a "cheap chic" line for Target Corp. that helped cement the retailer's reputation for selling stylish but inexpensive clothes.
Liz Claiborne, the company, has a lot riding on Mr. Mizrahi's efforts. The Liz Claiborne women's brand, long its cash cow, has been fading for years. As recently as 2000, it generated $1.2 billion of the company's $3.1 billion in sales that year and more than half its profit, according to people familiar with the business. Today, the brand rings up sales of about half as much and barely breaks even.
The company's fortunes nevertheless are tied more closely to the label than they have been in years. Since his arrival in late 2006, Mr. McComb, a former Johnson & Johnson executive, has sold, licensed or discontinued more than a dozen labels, including Dana Buchman, Ellen Tracy and Sigrid Olsen. In the process, he reversed the strategy of his predecessor, Paul Charron, who snapped up niche brands to spur growth and reduce the company's reliance on the Liz Claiborne label.
The relaunch with designs by Isaac Mizrahi "is the single most important issue" facing the company, Goldman Sachs analyst Benjamin Rowbotham said in a recent research report.
Mr. Mizrahi's collection, which will hit stores in February, has been shrouded in secrecy. He will unveil the line at a presentation for retailers in September. In an unusual step, the company is inviting only members of the media who agree not to write about the collection until Jan. 1, when Mr. Mizrahi is allowed to discuss it. Though his design agreement with Target has ended, Mr. Mizrahi is barred from speaking publicly about his Liz Claiborne designs until next year, because "it would be terribly confusing" for him to promote them while selling a different line at Target, a spokesman for the discount chain says.
The Liz Claiborne relaunch comes as retailers are cutting back on orders in response to the consumer spending slump. Department stores, the brand's only distribution channel, have been consolidating, pushing their own private-label brands and inking exclusive deals with designers in efforts to distinguish themselves from their competitors.
Women now are also used to mixing labels instead of buying an entire look like the color-coordinated Liz Claiborne separates that millions of baby boomers wore in the 1980s. Dave McTague, Claiborne's executive vice president of "partnered brands" -- those distributed mainly through department stores -- acknowledges in an interview that wowing the consumer these days "is so hard it's almost defeatist."
The new initiative also comes at a rough time for the company. In 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange trading Wednesday, its stock was up 20 cents, or 1.3%, at $14.98. That's down about 58% from its 52-week high last October, compared with a drop of about 29% over the same period for the Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Clothing and Accessories index. Last week, Claiborne cut its 2008 earnings guidance for the second time this year and disclosed that it had amended the terms of its credit facility to help it maintain adequate liquidity in the capital-intensive third quarter.
There has been high turnover in the executive ranks as Mr. McComb has reorganized the company. He slashed the number of senior positions and made some unconventional hires. They include Mr. McTague, a former Nike Inc. executive who ran its Converse apparel division, a significantly smaller business than the one he now oversees, and Tim Gunn, a co-host of Bravo's "Project Runway" reality show, who was brought in as chief creative officer.
To gather intelligence about the Claiborne consumer, Mr. Gunn toured 16 U.S. cities this spring, hosting fashion shows in department stores. The Liz Claiborne displays he saw were loaded with "dumb tops and bottoms" and were missing key styles and sizes, he says, adding: "I thought to myself, 'Where is the fashion?'"
Since his arrival at Claiborne earlier this year, Mr. Mizrahi has been given an unusual amount of control over the label that the late designer Liz Claiborne introduced in the 1970s and oversaw until her retirement in 1989. Working with a team of about 25 designers at his own Chelsea studio, instead of at Claiborne's headquarters in New York's Garment District, he can design whatever styles he wants, in whatever colors he chooses, so long as he sticks to cost guidelines, people close to the company say. Mr. Mizrahi is even helping determine the "line architecture" -- the number of shirts, pants, skirts and other garments in the collection. Such decisions are typically made solely by merchandising executives.
"If [Mr. Mizrahi] does the same thing with ready-to-wear as he did with the accessories, they could become a ferocious competitor again," says Anthony J. Buccina, vice chairman and president of merchandising at Bon-Ton Stores Inc., a regional chain.
Mr. McTague says "the beauty of Isaac" is that he connects with a wide range of customers. "There are 60-year-old women who are smoking hot, and 28-year-old moms who have kids and want to feel feminine and sexy but who are a size 16," he says. ". . . This woman has a list of desires, and we want to meet those desires."
Claiborne Seeks a New Look --- Company Hangs Hopes On Isaac Mizrahi's Vision Of Its Namesake Brand
By Rachel Dodes
21 August 2008
The Wall Street Journal
In an art gallery in New York's trendy Meatpacking district, celebrity designer Isaac Mizrahi recently quietly gave retailers a glimpse of his vision for rejuvenating the Liz Claiborne label. The occasion was a preview of the shoes, handbags and jewelry that will accompany his spring 2009 apparel line, which is still under wraps.
The collection includes modern styles like cork-covered high heels and oversize tote bags in soft neutrals, metallics and bright colors, according to two people who were there. The designs also incorporate an updated Liz Claiborne logo.
Liz Claiborne Inc., which hired Mr. Mizrahi as creative director earlier this year, is betting Mr. Mizrahi's star power will give its namesake label some sex appeal, or "mojo," as Chief Executive William L. McComb puts it. The flamboyant Mr. Mizrahi, after all, became a household name by designing a "cheap chic" line for Target Corp. that helped cement the retailer's reputation for selling stylish but inexpensive clothes.
Liz Claiborne, the company, has a lot riding on Mr. Mizrahi's efforts. The Liz Claiborne women's brand, long its cash cow, has been fading for years. As recently as 2000, it generated $1.2 billion of the company's $3.1 billion in sales that year and more than half its profit, according to people familiar with the business. Today, the brand rings up sales of about half as much and barely breaks even.
The company's fortunes nevertheless are tied more closely to the label than they have been in years. Since his arrival in late 2006, Mr. McComb, a former Johnson & Johnson executive, has sold, licensed or discontinued more than a dozen labels, including Dana Buchman, Ellen Tracy and Sigrid Olsen. In the process, he reversed the strategy of his predecessor, Paul Charron, who snapped up niche brands to spur growth and reduce the company's reliance on the Liz Claiborne label.
The relaunch with designs by Isaac Mizrahi "is the single most important issue" facing the company, Goldman Sachs analyst Benjamin Rowbotham said in a recent research report.
Mr. Mizrahi's collection, which will hit stores in February, has been shrouded in secrecy. He will unveil the line at a presentation for retailers in September. In an unusual step, the company is inviting only members of the media who agree not to write about the collection until Jan. 1, when Mr. Mizrahi is allowed to discuss it. Though his design agreement with Target has ended, Mr. Mizrahi is barred from speaking publicly about his Liz Claiborne designs until next year, because "it would be terribly confusing" for him to promote them while selling a different line at Target, a spokesman for the discount chain says.
The Liz Claiborne relaunch comes as retailers are cutting back on orders in response to the consumer spending slump. Department stores, the brand's only distribution channel, have been consolidating, pushing their own private-label brands and inking exclusive deals with designers in efforts to distinguish themselves from their competitors.
Women now are also used to mixing labels instead of buying an entire look like the color-coordinated Liz Claiborne separates that millions of baby boomers wore in the 1980s. Dave McTague, Claiborne's executive vice president of "partnered brands" -- those distributed mainly through department stores -- acknowledges in an interview that wowing the consumer these days "is so hard it's almost defeatist."
The new initiative also comes at a rough time for the company. In 4 p.m. New York Stock Exchange trading Wednesday, its stock was up 20 cents, or 1.3%, at $14.98. That's down about 58% from its 52-week high last October, compared with a drop of about 29% over the same period for the Dow Jones Wilshire U.S. Clothing and Accessories index. Last week, Claiborne cut its 2008 earnings guidance for the second time this year and disclosed that it had amended the terms of its credit facility to help it maintain adequate liquidity in the capital-intensive third quarter.
There has been high turnover in the executive ranks as Mr. McComb has reorganized the company. He slashed the number of senior positions and made some unconventional hires. They include Mr. McTague, a former Nike Inc. executive who ran its Converse apparel division, a significantly smaller business than the one he now oversees, and Tim Gunn, a co-host of Bravo's "Project Runway" reality show, who was brought in as chief creative officer.
To gather intelligence about the Claiborne consumer, Mr. Gunn toured 16 U.S. cities this spring, hosting fashion shows in department stores. The Liz Claiborne displays he saw were loaded with "dumb tops and bottoms" and were missing key styles and sizes, he says, adding: "I thought to myself, 'Where is the fashion?'"
Since his arrival at Claiborne earlier this year, Mr. Mizrahi has been given an unusual amount of control over the label that the late designer Liz Claiborne introduced in the 1970s and oversaw until her retirement in 1989. Working with a team of about 25 designers at his own Chelsea studio, instead of at Claiborne's headquarters in New York's Garment District, he can design whatever styles he wants, in whatever colors he chooses, so long as he sticks to cost guidelines, people close to the company say. Mr. Mizrahi is even helping determine the "line architecture" -- the number of shirts, pants, skirts and other garments in the collection. Such decisions are typically made solely by merchandising executives.
"If [Mr. Mizrahi] does the same thing with ready-to-wear as he did with the accessories, they could become a ferocious competitor again," says Anthony J. Buccina, vice chairman and president of merchandising at Bon-Ton Stores Inc., a regional chain.
Mr. McTague says "the beauty of Isaac" is that he connects with a wide range of customers. "There are 60-year-old women who are smoking hot, and 28-year-old moms who have kids and want to feel feminine and sexy but who are a size 16," he says. ". . . This woman has a list of desires, and we want to meet those desires."
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Good Shopping Advice from Teri Agins (WSJ)
Style: Ask Teri
By Teri Agins
17 July 2008
The Wall Street Journal
(Copyright (c) 2008, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
[Fashion reporter Teri Agins answers readers' questions]
Q: Before the weather even got warm this spring, a lot of department stores were already putting spring clothes on sale for 40% off. I just went to the mall and saw signs for prefall sales. Summer clothes just went on sale. What is going on?
-- M.J., Evanston, Ill.
A: Retailers today work to turn over their inventory as often as possible. Long gone is the era when stores received only a couple of big seasonal deliveries. Now, most stores get fresh merchandise monthly -- or as often as weekly at some fast-fashion chains. Frequent deliveries keep the stores looking fresh and inspire shoppers -- led by the trendiest -- to get into the habit of shopping early and often for the latest novelties.
Compounding the seasonal confusion, high-end designers now aggressively market "pre-collections," such as the fall items that are now in stores, well in advance of each season. In addition, stores may offer "special purchase" and "special value" items that are depicted as deals but were never really marked down.
Retailers typically start marking down goods after nine weeks on the sales floor -- or sooner when retail traffic is sluggish or when they have very unpopular items to clear out. Now that sales are slow, vigilant, frequent shoppers can find better bargains earlier than usual.
To navigate the store floors, develop a deft strategy. Wait it out for the markdowns, if you must, but make exceptions for exceptional finds. Right after July 4, I bit the bullet and paid full price for a distinctive fall dress that fit perfectly.
Contrary to myth, the best-dressed people typically don't have closets bursting with clothes; they have smaller, exquisite wardrobes of carefully picked items. After years of buying too many middling markdowns that I never wore, I now buy far less. Most of the time, I walk away from the markdown rack empty-handed. I buy only what I adore, no matter how cheap it is.
To temper your impulses, don't remove tags on new clothes until you've given them another audition in front of the mirror at home. If the merchandise doesn't pass muster, take it back.
---
Email questions to askteri@wsj.com
By Teri Agins
17 July 2008
The Wall Street Journal
(Copyright (c) 2008, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.)
[Fashion reporter Teri Agins answers readers' questions]
Q: Before the weather even got warm this spring, a lot of department stores were already putting spring clothes on sale for 40% off. I just went to the mall and saw signs for prefall sales. Summer clothes just went on sale. What is going on?
-- M.J., Evanston, Ill.
A: Retailers today work to turn over their inventory as often as possible. Long gone is the era when stores received only a couple of big seasonal deliveries. Now, most stores get fresh merchandise monthly -- or as often as weekly at some fast-fashion chains. Frequent deliveries keep the stores looking fresh and inspire shoppers -- led by the trendiest -- to get into the habit of shopping early and often for the latest novelties.
Compounding the seasonal confusion, high-end designers now aggressively market "pre-collections," such as the fall items that are now in stores, well in advance of each season. In addition, stores may offer "special purchase" and "special value" items that are depicted as deals but were never really marked down.
Retailers typically start marking down goods after nine weeks on the sales floor -- or sooner when retail traffic is sluggish or when they have very unpopular items to clear out. Now that sales are slow, vigilant, frequent shoppers can find better bargains earlier than usual.
To navigate the store floors, develop a deft strategy. Wait it out for the markdowns, if you must, but make exceptions for exceptional finds. Right after July 4, I bit the bullet and paid full price for a distinctive fall dress that fit perfectly.
Contrary to myth, the best-dressed people typically don't have closets bursting with clothes; they have smaller, exquisite wardrobes of carefully picked items. After years of buying too many middling markdowns that I never wore, I now buy far less. Most of the time, I walk away from the markdown rack empty-handed. I buy only what I adore, no matter how cheap it is.
To temper your impulses, don't remove tags on new clothes until you've given them another audition in front of the mirror at home. If the merchandise doesn't pass muster, take it back.
---
Email questions to askteri@wsj.com
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Steve & Barry's: When Cheesy Goes Bankrupt
I have always considered writing about what a cheesy P.O.S. store Steve & Barry's is, but decided not to waste the space...until now. And so happy to see that my alma mater has pulled the plug on them as well.
Steve & Barry's Hits Trouble --- Hyped Clothing Retailer Hires Turnaround Help
By Jeffrey McCracken and Peter Lattman
26 June 2008
The Wall Street Journal
The hype for retailer Steve & Barry's LLC neared a zenith last June. The "Today" show touted the discount department store as actress Sarah Jessica Parker appeared on the program, announcing her new exclusive fashion line at a Manhattan store.
The Rhode Island contractors who helped prepare the store for national TV were beaming with pride. Their mood soon changed. The $4,000 bill for that store, and many others, went unpaid amid unreturned phone calls and promises of payment.
"They've never paid on time and always had some excuse, so when they were on the 'Today' show we felt really proud, but at the same time, it felt like the emperor had no clothes," said Laura Johnson, who owns a small carpentry firm, Ottmans Services.
For those doing business with Steve & Barry's, it has become hard to reconcile the hype with reality. As the chain was inking high-profile licensing deals and attracting national media acclaim, small vendors across the country -- along with overseas apparel manufacturers -- say they were going unpaid, or enduring months of lag time between payments.
For instance, Steve & Barry's is no longer allowed to advertise in the University of Michigan student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. The company was the paper's largest advertiser for the 2006-07 school year.
Newspaper business manager and University of Michigan senior Elaina Bugli said the retailer fell months behind on $36,000 in bills and still owes $20,326 for ads bought more than a year ago.
"It's by far our largest unpaid debt. They owe us more than we set aside for all unpaid debts for the year," Ms. Bugli said. Meanwhile, Steve & Barry's is a prominent licensee of merchandise for the University of Michigan, which ranks fourth in collegiate apparel sales.
Steve & Barry's, with about 275 stores across the country and sales approaching $1 billion, has hired the same turnaround firm as Sharper Image and Linens 'n Things, both of which have since filed for bankruptcy. That restructuring firm, Conway, Del Genio, Gries & Co., and a spokesman for Steve & Barry's didn't return calls seeking comment.
The closely held retailer has also hired a bankruptcy lawyer, and if Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is unable to line up at least $30 million in last-minute rescue financing, the company may have to file for bankruptcy as soon as next week, several people involved in the matter said. Crystal Capital, a retail-focused private-equity fund specializing in rescue financing is among the firms to be contacted by the retailer.
With their deeply discounted prices and celebrity endorsers, childhood friends Steve Shore and Barry Prevor of Long Island, N.Y., became media darlings. The attraction came on several levels. Celebrities such as Ms. Parker, actress Amanda Bynes, tennis star Venus Williams and surfer Laird Hamilton cut exclusive licensing deals with the company. Meanwhile, Steve & Barry's grew and added stores while other retailers closed sites or even filed for bankruptcy. The company has opened eight stores in the last month with 12 more in the works.
Along with the attention came big investments. TA Associates Inc., an old-line Boston-based private-equity firm with $12 billion in assets, paid $320 million for roughly half of the company. About half of that went into the company, with the balance being paid to Messrs. Prevor and Shore.
Steve & Barry's main lender is the commercial-lending unit of General Electric Co. It provided the company with a roughly $200 million credit facility in March, and the company is already in default on that loan, three people familiar with the matter said.
Among landlords, four publicly traded mall REITs have the most exposure to Steve & Barry's, according to a report from Merrill Lynch. They are Westfield Group, CBL & Associates Properties Inc., Glimcher Realty Trust and Feldman Mall Properties Inc. Each has that retailer at roughly one quarter or more of their malls. The malls declined to discuss Steve & Barry's or couldn't be reached for comment.
Despite all the attention and money, the company appears to have been getting far behind on some bills, including with long-time vendors that had been used to open a slew of new stores. Much of the investment that came in was used to open new stores or fund operating losses on low-cost apparel, people familiar with the matter said. Earnings were about $20 million on sales of $1 billion, and the store often lost money on its key merchandise, these people said.
Eight-person firm Ottmans Services put in fixtures, shelves, dressing rooms and other work for about 40 Steve & Barry's stores across the country, including the Manhattan site that hosted the "Today" show. The company was getting so much business with Steve & Barry's that Ms. Johnson said she cut her hourly rates from $65 to $45 as new stores opened from California to Idaho to New York.
But now, owed about $23,000 for a job in December, her firm has ceased work. Two weeks ago she backed out of a job on a new store to open in Danvers, Mass., a Boston suburb. The final straw was when she said the company offered to pay off its debt with a corporate credit card, if she would do the next job.
"There was always some excuse, some new form you had to fill out or a new person who was taking calls," Ms. Johnson said.
Steve & Barry's Hits Trouble --- Hyped Clothing Retailer Hires Turnaround Help
By Jeffrey McCracken and Peter Lattman
26 June 2008
The Wall Street Journal
The hype for retailer Steve & Barry's LLC neared a zenith last June. The "Today" show touted the discount department store as actress Sarah Jessica Parker appeared on the program, announcing her new exclusive fashion line at a Manhattan store.
The Rhode Island contractors who helped prepare the store for national TV were beaming with pride. Their mood soon changed. The $4,000 bill for that store, and many others, went unpaid amid unreturned phone calls and promises of payment.
"They've never paid on time and always had some excuse, so when they were on the 'Today' show we felt really proud, but at the same time, it felt like the emperor had no clothes," said Laura Johnson, who owns a small carpentry firm, Ottmans Services.
For those doing business with Steve & Barry's, it has become hard to reconcile the hype with reality. As the chain was inking high-profile licensing deals and attracting national media acclaim, small vendors across the country -- along with overseas apparel manufacturers -- say they were going unpaid, or enduring months of lag time between payments.
For instance, Steve & Barry's is no longer allowed to advertise in the University of Michigan student newspaper, The Michigan Daily. The company was the paper's largest advertiser for the 2006-07 school year.
Newspaper business manager and University of Michigan senior Elaina Bugli said the retailer fell months behind on $36,000 in bills and still owes $20,326 for ads bought more than a year ago.
"It's by far our largest unpaid debt. They owe us more than we set aside for all unpaid debts for the year," Ms. Bugli said. Meanwhile, Steve & Barry's is a prominent licensee of merchandise for the University of Michigan, which ranks fourth in collegiate apparel sales.
Steve & Barry's, with about 275 stores across the country and sales approaching $1 billion, has hired the same turnaround firm as Sharper Image and Linens 'n Things, both of which have since filed for bankruptcy. That restructuring firm, Conway, Del Genio, Gries & Co., and a spokesman for Steve & Barry's didn't return calls seeking comment.
The closely held retailer has also hired a bankruptcy lawyer, and if Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is unable to line up at least $30 million in last-minute rescue financing, the company may have to file for bankruptcy as soon as next week, several people involved in the matter said. Crystal Capital, a retail-focused private-equity fund specializing in rescue financing is among the firms to be contacted by the retailer.
With their deeply discounted prices and celebrity endorsers, childhood friends Steve Shore and Barry Prevor of Long Island, N.Y., became media darlings. The attraction came on several levels. Celebrities such as Ms. Parker, actress Amanda Bynes, tennis star Venus Williams and surfer Laird Hamilton cut exclusive licensing deals with the company. Meanwhile, Steve & Barry's grew and added stores while other retailers closed sites or even filed for bankruptcy. The company has opened eight stores in the last month with 12 more in the works.
Along with the attention came big investments. TA Associates Inc., an old-line Boston-based private-equity firm with $12 billion in assets, paid $320 million for roughly half of the company. About half of that went into the company, with the balance being paid to Messrs. Prevor and Shore.
Steve & Barry's main lender is the commercial-lending unit of General Electric Co. It provided the company with a roughly $200 million credit facility in March, and the company is already in default on that loan, three people familiar with the matter said.
Among landlords, four publicly traded mall REITs have the most exposure to Steve & Barry's, according to a report from Merrill Lynch. They are Westfield Group, CBL & Associates Properties Inc., Glimcher Realty Trust and Feldman Mall Properties Inc. Each has that retailer at roughly one quarter or more of their malls. The malls declined to discuss Steve & Barry's or couldn't be reached for comment.
Despite all the attention and money, the company appears to have been getting far behind on some bills, including with long-time vendors that had been used to open a slew of new stores. Much of the investment that came in was used to open new stores or fund operating losses on low-cost apparel, people familiar with the matter said. Earnings were about $20 million on sales of $1 billion, and the store often lost money on its key merchandise, these people said.
Eight-person firm Ottmans Services put in fixtures, shelves, dressing rooms and other work for about 40 Steve & Barry's stores across the country, including the Manhattan site that hosted the "Today" show. The company was getting so much business with Steve & Barry's that Ms. Johnson said she cut her hourly rates from $65 to $45 as new stores opened from California to Idaho to New York.
But now, owed about $23,000 for a job in December, her firm has ceased work. Two weeks ago she backed out of a job on a new store to open in Danvers, Mass., a Boston suburb. The final straw was when she said the company offered to pay off its debt with a corporate credit card, if she would do the next job.
"There was always some excuse, some new form you had to fill out or a new person who was taking calls," Ms. Johnson said.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
WSJ: On Style: Early Markdowns Mean Springtime for Shoppers
See I said it was so, and now so has Ms. Binkley. So it's the truth. Go get 'em tigers!
...........
On Style: Early Markdowns Mean Springtime for Shoppers
By Christina Binkley
15 May 2008
The Wall Street Journal
As fashion retailers vie for scarce business this spring, one clear winner is emerging: you, the consumer.
Markdowns of spring and summer clothes that would normally begin in June started in March this year -- an early thawing of prices brought on as luxury department stores tried to warm up the chilly response to fashion this season. High-end boutiques have felt compelled to follow suit, and discounters have been able to nab luxury goods months earlier than usual.
In many places, spring styles have been marked down before it's even warm enough to wear them. Finally, fashion's seasons -- which always feel somewhat premature -- have gotten so out of whack that they actually work in shoppers' favor!
The wave of discounting could ripple through seasons to come. Stores are likely to cut back on the trend-setting looks shown on runways in Milan, Paris and New York and instead focus on tamer clothes that are easier to sell. Indeed, Kelly Golden, co-owner of Neapolitan, a high-end boutique in Winnetka, Ill., near Chicago, says she plans to cut her purchases of runway looks to as little as 10% of her inventory, from around 20%, when she places orders this fall.
Right now, bargains abound on runway styles. If you had your eye on Prada's iconic wave-striped handbags as their wearers minced down Milan's runways last October, you can now pick one up for 20% off at Bluefly.com. Or how about one of those Cynthia Steffe georgette tunics from the designer's spring runways -- at 40% off?
Barneys New York notified customers of a one-week sale of up to 40% off starting May 20. Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's have had their own sales of warm-weather styles.
The early markdowns are largely a result of flagging consumer confidence. With home foreclosures, sky-high gas prices and financial-industry layoffs making headlines, many middle-class consumers sharply cut back their spending, particularly avoiding splurges on high-priced shoes, handbags and designer fashions. Stores, though, made their purchases of spring goods early last fall, when the luxury industry was still enjoying double-digit sales amid an orgy of interest in such frivolities as ostrich handbags and Louboutin platform sandals.
When racks of $750 sandals are marked down to $400 this fast, even the keenest shoppers learn patience. Consumers "are not going to want to pay full price for anything," predicts Ms. Golden of Neapolitan. Though she didn't have a spring sale last year until mid-June, she launched a 40%-off sale this week. Many of the clothes, from Tory Burch, Michael Kors and other designers, arrived in her store less than two weeks ago. Ms. Golden says her revenues are actually up 20% from a year ago. But when major department stores are discounting, she says, she has to match them or risk selling at even deeper markdowns in June.
If stores like hers cut back on the most dramatic fashions, as seems likely, it will further enlarge the disconnect between the runway looks the public sees -- styles that set the tone in fashion magazines -- and the plainer (but often excellent) "pre-collection" designs that consumers see more frequently in stores. Less dramatic pieces are less risky, and in a slow season, their very lack of distinctiveness means they can hang around longer on store racks without looking stale. The runways' relevance has been falling for years. Now, "resort," "pre-spring" and "pre-fall" collections account for 70% to 80% of the clothes and accessories in stores.
Weirdly -- considering that we haven't yet celebrated Memorial Day and schools won't let out for a good month -- new fall designs are hurrying spring and summer styles out the door. As designers race to be first into stores for the next season, tweed and dark wool looks from the likes of Carolina Herrera, Tuleh, Zac Posen, Pucci and Michael Kors are already on store floors -- suggesting that nothing about the timing of fashion is likely to get saner soon.
Some specialty manufacturers and retailers that stayed focused on the truly wealthy say they haven't felt the same bite as the mass purveyors. Pier Guerci, president and chief executive of Loro Piana U.S.A., says his cashmere company's sales so far this year are up by double-digit percentages over last year. He has been struggling, to little avail, to keep his company's cashmere and other luxury lifestyle wear from being swept up into department stores' sales. "We try to talk them into the fact that our customers are more than willing to pay full price," he says.
All the off-kilter fashion timing plays into the hands of Internet discount sites, which are already busy selling designers' current spring and summer collections. Melissa Payner, chief executive of Bluefly.com, says this spring's retail slump has enabled Bluefly to sell current-season designer fashions at 40% or more off. Ms. Payner notes that Bluefly is seeing more inventory than usual this season.
While department stores launched spring and summer collections in January, Bluefly waited until March to buy and took the luxury of reading trends when they were already happening. That enabled the site, among other things, to order more blue than yellow after early predictions that yellow would be big failed to come true. And thank goodness, because yellow is a hard color to wear, no matter what the price.
---
Email Christina.Binkley@wsj.com
...........
On Style: Early Markdowns Mean Springtime for Shoppers
By Christina Binkley
15 May 2008
The Wall Street Journal
As fashion retailers vie for scarce business this spring, one clear winner is emerging: you, the consumer.
Markdowns of spring and summer clothes that would normally begin in June started in March this year -- an early thawing of prices brought on as luxury department stores tried to warm up the chilly response to fashion this season. High-end boutiques have felt compelled to follow suit, and discounters have been able to nab luxury goods months earlier than usual.
In many places, spring styles have been marked down before it's even warm enough to wear them. Finally, fashion's seasons -- which always feel somewhat premature -- have gotten so out of whack that they actually work in shoppers' favor!
The wave of discounting could ripple through seasons to come. Stores are likely to cut back on the trend-setting looks shown on runways in Milan, Paris and New York and instead focus on tamer clothes that are easier to sell. Indeed, Kelly Golden, co-owner of Neapolitan, a high-end boutique in Winnetka, Ill., near Chicago, says she plans to cut her purchases of runway looks to as little as 10% of her inventory, from around 20%, when she places orders this fall.
Right now, bargains abound on runway styles. If you had your eye on Prada's iconic wave-striped handbags as their wearers minced down Milan's runways last October, you can now pick one up for 20% off at Bluefly.com. Or how about one of those Cynthia Steffe georgette tunics from the designer's spring runways -- at 40% off?
Barneys New York notified customers of a one-week sale of up to 40% off starting May 20. Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue and Bloomingdale's have had their own sales of warm-weather styles.
The early markdowns are largely a result of flagging consumer confidence. With home foreclosures, sky-high gas prices and financial-industry layoffs making headlines, many middle-class consumers sharply cut back their spending, particularly avoiding splurges on high-priced shoes, handbags and designer fashions. Stores, though, made their purchases of spring goods early last fall, when the luxury industry was still enjoying double-digit sales amid an orgy of interest in such frivolities as ostrich handbags and Louboutin platform sandals.
When racks of $750 sandals are marked down to $400 this fast, even the keenest shoppers learn patience. Consumers "are not going to want to pay full price for anything," predicts Ms. Golden of Neapolitan. Though she didn't have a spring sale last year until mid-June, she launched a 40%-off sale this week. Many of the clothes, from Tory Burch, Michael Kors and other designers, arrived in her store less than two weeks ago. Ms. Golden says her revenues are actually up 20% from a year ago. But when major department stores are discounting, she says, she has to match them or risk selling at even deeper markdowns in June.
If stores like hers cut back on the most dramatic fashions, as seems likely, it will further enlarge the disconnect between the runway looks the public sees -- styles that set the tone in fashion magazines -- and the plainer (but often excellent) "pre-collection" designs that consumers see more frequently in stores. Less dramatic pieces are less risky, and in a slow season, their very lack of distinctiveness means they can hang around longer on store racks without looking stale. The runways' relevance has been falling for years. Now, "resort," "pre-spring" and "pre-fall" collections account for 70% to 80% of the clothes and accessories in stores.
Weirdly -- considering that we haven't yet celebrated Memorial Day and schools won't let out for a good month -- new fall designs are hurrying spring and summer styles out the door. As designers race to be first into stores for the next season, tweed and dark wool looks from the likes of Carolina Herrera, Tuleh, Zac Posen, Pucci and Michael Kors are already on store floors -- suggesting that nothing about the timing of fashion is likely to get saner soon.
Some specialty manufacturers and retailers that stayed focused on the truly wealthy say they haven't felt the same bite as the mass purveyors. Pier Guerci, president and chief executive of Loro Piana U.S.A., says his cashmere company's sales so far this year are up by double-digit percentages over last year. He has been struggling, to little avail, to keep his company's cashmere and other luxury lifestyle wear from being swept up into department stores' sales. "We try to talk them into the fact that our customers are more than willing to pay full price," he says.
All the off-kilter fashion timing plays into the hands of Internet discount sites, which are already busy selling designers' current spring and summer collections. Melissa Payner, chief executive of Bluefly.com, says this spring's retail slump has enabled Bluefly to sell current-season designer fashions at 40% or more off. Ms. Payner notes that Bluefly is seeing more inventory than usual this season.
While department stores launched spring and summer collections in January, Bluefly waited until March to buy and took the luxury of reading trends when they were already happening. That enabled the site, among other things, to order more blue than yellow after early predictions that yellow would be big failed to come true. And thank goodness, because yellow is a hard color to wear, no matter what the price.
---
Email Christina.Binkley@wsj.com
Thursday, April 10, 2008
WSJ: Seeking Comfort in the Power Heel
I think I'm more inclined to go the Cole Haan route - but read the article if you are in need of comfortable, appropriate work shoes that can go all day long...[Taryn Rose "Dree" sandals pictured, $465 (!)]On Style: High and Mighty: Seeking Comfort in the Power Heel
By Christina Binkley
10 April 2008
The Wall Street Journal
Feet hurt?
These days, stylish shoes come in two heights: flat and towering. Fashion magazines and stores are showcasing more flashy three- and four-inch heels than ever -- and sometimes adding on platforms that we once thought only Elton John would wear.
The pinch of high heels isn't an issue just for fashionistas. At the office, high-heeled pumps are the feminine equivalent of wingtips. A woman who wants a power shoe -- or added height -- will usually wear heels, even if they leave her wriggling her tingling toes in the privacy of the space underneath her desk.
But in recent years, a small but fast-growing group of shoemakers have tried to combine height and comfort, seeking solutions in orthopedic and athletic-shoe technology. I decided to try some of the latest heels that are marketed as comfortable and healthy, to see how they lived up to their billing. I also tried several shoe brands that have long been known for being more comfortable, if sometimes less fashionable.
All these technologies attempt to absorb and spread pressure, addressing the fact that tiny foot bones weren't designed to carry the weight that heels put on them. When you're wearing a three-inch heel, the pressure on the ball of the foot is akin to the pounding that part of the foot takes when you're running. And few people run for 10 straight hours -- the length of many workdays.
To see which were most comfortable for a full day of work, I bought six pairs of shoes ranging in price from $89 to $495, with heels from 2 1/2 to 3 inches high. I wore each one all day and even hiked through airports with two of the pairs. For comparison, I also tried inserting arch supports and toe pads into some of my own heels.
There was a clear winner for comfort married with style: Taryn Rose, the most expensive shoe in the group. With contrast piping, metallic leathers, slim wedges and peep toes, the shoe line looked highly stylish. The $495 price for the Daphne model I chose could make such shoes prohibitive for some pocketbooks, but special built-in supports made it a cradle compared with the others.
A $275 pair of Stuart Weitzman heels lacked thick padding, but this shoe's sturdy footbed and toe room made it one of my airport stompers. And the selection was the most glam of any brand, with a wide range of materials from patent leather to snakeskin. Cole Haan's $275 Nike Air pumps also deserve a special note for combining comfort and style; they come in a variety of sleek-looking styles, including razor-point toes, open toes, slingbacks, wedges and some with a small platform. Still, the pointy toe made my toes numb.
I also looked at Naturalizer, Aerosoles and Ecco -- brands that have focused on comfort for years. Of the three, the $84 Naturalizers blended comfort and style most effectively, and, given the price, they were the best deal of all six pairs. Aerosoles, $83, and Ecco, $144, had more-limited offerings for office looks, though they had wide selections in lower heels and walking shoes.
For inserts to my own not-comfortable heels, I tried Dr. Rosenberg's Instant Arches in a favorite pair of pumps, and I stuck Foot Petals cushion inserts in the toes. The result was an improvement, but the built-in supports of the other shoes felt better overall. I would recommend inserts only for people who want to improve a favorite pair of shoes.
There's a reason that Taryn Rose shoes performed well -- the company was founded by an orthopedic surgeon named, naturally, Taryn Rose. She recently resigned from the privately held company, but continues to hold a minority stake, people there said. The director of design, Roberta Covari, described to me a construction process that starts with a wide, ergonomic "shoe last" -- a form around which a shoe is made -- to allow the foot to "lean properly." There are soft sheep-leather linings, a layer of a shock-absorbing material called "Poron," a sole made of a light material called "Wearlight," and a bottom that is part leather and part rubber for flexibility where the foot bends. Despite all this, Chief Executive Andrew Forbes said, "We don't like to think about them as orthopedic shoes."
It's a good bet that we're going to see more of this sort of thing. Taryn Rose's revenue doubled in the past two years to reach $40 million in 2007, says Mr. Forbes. And Cole Haan, owned by Nike Inc., has seen fast growth since it began inserting Nike's tiny airbags in some women's dress shoes several years ago. Cole Haan Air helped sales of Cole Haan dress shoes more than double over the past year, says Chief Executive James Seuss. The dressy Air shoes now represent approximately 30% of the company's assortment of women's shoes -- triple the amount of fall 2006. In fact, it's been so successful that Cole Haan plans to add the Nike Air bags to "all possible" men's and women's shoes in the spring 2009 line, Mr. Seuss says.
But don't expect super-high heels to go away anytime soon. Stuart Weitzman says he offers a range of mid-height heels each season, but when fashion editors arrive at his showrooms, they ignore shoes that aren't either flat or radically high. He argues that the pressure to get photographs in magazines forces less-established designers to create eye-catching high heels in order to get attention. The effect, he says: "They are almost forced into designing shoes that are uncomfortable."
Thursday, April 03, 2008
WSJ: Organizing More Than 100 Pairs of Shoes
Hey guys, my friend the fabu shoe guru is the star in an article in today's Wall Street Journo, Read and learn!:The Wall Street Journal
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Organizing More Than 100 Pairs of Shoes
TRICKS OF THE TRADE
Organizing More Than 100 Pairs of Shoes
April 3, 2008
Meghan Cleary, who makes her living speaking and writing about shoes, contends that the current economic downturn is a great time to shop for and buy shoes. "I can't afford to get five new suits, but I can afford a new pair of shoes," she says.
To gauge value, Ms. Cleary suggests thinking about "cost per wear" -- spending the most on shoes you'll wear several times a week, and the least on trendy styles that might go out of fashion by next year.
Ms. Cleary, author of "The Perfect Fit: What Your Shoes Say About You," shops online at merchants that allow free returns, orders the style she wants in two sizes, and keeps the pair with the best fit. She continually canvasses for price reductions. "Be a little open to something that's off the beaten path -- such as a pump in forest green rather than black -- and you'll get the best deals," she says.
Her biggest challenge is organizing. Ms. Cleary owns about 120 pairs, which she keeps in her one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan's West Village and her office nearby. According to a 2007 poll by the Consumer Reports National Research Center for ShopSmart magazine, the average American woman owns 19 pairs of shoes (excluding sneakers), with 15% of women owning 30 or more pairs.
She rejects many of the obvious organizing tools, like storage bins and over-the-door hangers, which she says take up a lot of room, cost too much and can be impractical for large collections. She also dismisses the oft-suggested tactic of keeping shoes in shoe boxes with Polaroid photographs taped to the outside. "It's too complicated: You take out one pair of shoes and the entire thing falls down," she says.
Ms. Cleary, who worked as a marketing consultant to the investment-banking division of Deutsche Bank Group before beginning to write and blog about shoes, incorporates her shoes into her décor. For instance, she recently leaned a 9-foot ladder against the wall of her foyer and hung about 15 pairs of stilettos on it. In the past she used a pair of red sparkly Dries Van Noten slingbacks as a table centerpiece because she thought they were too beautiful to use immediately.
She has other "special occasion shoes" on display in her bedroom dresser and windowsills. "They are beautiful pieces of art -- like beautiful sculptures," she says. She says she has been obsessed with shoes since she was 5 years old, when she bugged her mom to get baby-blue wedge espadrilles with flower embroidery at Kmart.
To help her shoes last, she stuffs the toes of her better pairs with white or pink tissue paper. (Newspaper, she notes, will leave ink marks.) Ms. Cleary's radical tip for "very cantankerous" new leather shoes is to get the shoes completely wet. She spritzes her more-delicate leather shoes just until they are damp before wearing them until they are completely dry. But if the leather is thick, she runs the faucet over them.
In coming weeks, she says, she plans to do her annual spring "shoe edit," in which she donates to charity all shoes she hasn't worn in the past year (except those she really can't part with). Her goal, she says, is to get the number of shoes she owns back to around 100.
--Vanessa O'Connell
Thursday, January 31, 2008
WSJ: On Style: Law Without Suits: New Hires Flout Tradition
Basically, get with the program youngsters. You aren't as inexpendable as you think. And if you don't believe me, just wait for the economy to continue crashing...
Style -- On Style: Law Without Suits: New Hires Flout Tradition --- Young Attorneys' Casual Attire Draws Criticism at Big Firms; A Crackdown on Ugg Boots
By Christina Binkley
31 January 2008
The Wall Street Journal
One of the lifestyle perks law firms increasingly offer young lawyers is the chance to dress comfortably at the office. With "business casual" as the new dress code of record, ties hang in closets and jackets await their day in court at home.
There's just one problem: It can be difficult to get young associates to shift gears and don traditional dress when the need arises. A decade after the dot-com boom made casual Friday a weeklong event, many people under 30 have never witnessed a suits-only office.
Older people have long complained about the sartorial sloppiness of the younger generation. But the divide is stark in the legal profession.
"I share the lament and disgust about the general level of associates' attire," says Tom Mills, the 60-year-old managing partner of the Washington office of Winston & Strawn LLP. "I think it's abysmal."
For young men and women, a business suit is an uncomfortable yoke to be dusted off for special occasions. "Getting up in the morning and putting on a suit is hard," says Sara Shikhman, a 26-year-old legal associate at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in New York. She says she hasn't worn one in six months.
When associates show up at work in suits, their peers think they have a job interview, Ms. Shikhman says. "Guys don't really polish their shoes," she adds. They go for cool, rather than traditional. "They wear shoes like you might see Johnny Depp wearing to the Oscars." She recognizes that her firm's partners "definitely look more put together than associates, but they also get more sleep than the associates."
Yet in lawyering, half the battle is the posturing. Many experienced lawyers see their wardrobe as a tool to win the trust of clients, juries and judges. Legal associates who aren't sartorially prepared may not be invited along to a new-client pitch or to take a leading role in court, regardless of the office's stated "business casual" dress code.
Mr. Mills says he is partial to well-fitted Brioni suits for himself. He notes that the going rate for new associates in New York, Los Angeles and Washington is $160,000 a year -- enough to buy suits while paying down school loans. Yet all too often, associates show up at work in jeans -- attire that he doesn't condone "unless it's moving day."
When it came time to pick a point person for a plum assignment at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips recently, the New York law firm chose "a polished, professional-looking associate" over a "brilliant" and experienced associate who had been counseled, to no avail, to improve his grooming and attire, says Renee Brissette, a partner at the firm.
The firm opted for someone more presentable to the client, says Ms. Brissette. She notes that associates are often loath to believe their attire could affect assignments or promotions. "Young lawyers don't like to hear that it's anything but their intellect," says Ms. Brissette. She notes that for women, being professionally attired doesn't require a man-suited look: She has a wardrobe of Nanette Lepore suits that are unmistakably feminine without being inappropriately flirty.
Brad Tobin, 25, who is working at a midtown Manhattan law firm, says he is certain that clothes don't affect job assignments at his firm. "Not at all -- it's really based on work product," says Mr. Tobin, who is working part-time while he completes law school. He says he owns suits but doesn't bother to wear them at work.
Law firms are attempting to raise the bar. Some associates at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft this winter received a note asking employees to change out of their snow boots after young associates began wearing their Ugg boots all day at work, says Ms. Shikhman. A Cadwalader spokeswoman says she wasn't aware that such a note had circulated.
Winston & Strawn brought in a personal shopper from a local department store last year to address associates on how to shop and dress for work. Mr. Mills says that when some associates do make an effort to dress up, they seem to base their look on Hollywood. "You get the TV-woman lawyer look with skirts 12 inches above the knee and very tight blouses," he says. "They have trouble sitting and getting into taxis."
The firm also hired etiquette consultant Gretchen Neels, a former executive recruiter, to give lectures on grooming, dress, and etiquette standards such as where to place one's napkin at dinner.
She says many members of the so-called millennial generation have never been schooled in the traditions that previous generations learned at their parents' knees. Yet these 20-somethings are still being evaluated by old-school bosses and clients. Many members of this generation not only "don't own a watch -- they've never owned a watch," says Ms. Neels. In many white-collar professions, an expensive watch signals success, while a cool cellphone or iPod, though it tells time, signals hipness.
Ms. Neels, founder of Neels & Co. in Boston, has been making the rounds at law firms, as well as law and business schools at Duke, Harvard and other universities. She hears all sorts of complaints from scandalized partners: One young attorney wears yoga pants to work. Another associate blasted out a firmwide email searching for a size-32 belt when an unanticipated court appearance required him to dress up midday.
Ms. Neels notes that business-school grads share law associates' casual sartorial attitude, and she tries to connect the dots between what they wear and how they come across. When she was coaching M.B.A. graduates at Harvard last weekend, she says only about half came in a suit. One young man showed up in cargo pants, and his cellphone rang during the interview.
"What I'm getting from you is that you're a jerk," Ms. Neels told the student as part of her feedback. "Can you see how I'd get that?"
"Yeah, I guess," he responded, she says.
Trial attorney Rosemarie Arnold says young lawyers need to learn that "courtroom drama is all about control." Ms. Arnold represented Joran van der Sloot, one of three men who were with student Natalee Holloway before she disappeared in Aruba. With courtroom appearances in mind, Ms. Arnold spends $150,000 a year on clothes, she estimates. She is partial to Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana in particular and black suits in general.
"Trying a case is like a movie," Ms. Arnold says. "Wardrobe is everything."
---
Email Christina.Binkley@wsj.com.
Style -- On Style: Law Without Suits: New Hires Flout Tradition --- Young Attorneys' Casual Attire Draws Criticism at Big Firms; A Crackdown on Ugg Boots
By Christina Binkley
31 January 2008
The Wall Street Journal
One of the lifestyle perks law firms increasingly offer young lawyers is the chance to dress comfortably at the office. With "business casual" as the new dress code of record, ties hang in closets and jackets await their day in court at home.
There's just one problem: It can be difficult to get young associates to shift gears and don traditional dress when the need arises. A decade after the dot-com boom made casual Friday a weeklong event, many people under 30 have never witnessed a suits-only office.
Older people have long complained about the sartorial sloppiness of the younger generation. But the divide is stark in the legal profession.
"I share the lament and disgust about the general level of associates' attire," says Tom Mills, the 60-year-old managing partner of the Washington office of Winston & Strawn LLP. "I think it's abysmal."
For young men and women, a business suit is an uncomfortable yoke to be dusted off for special occasions. "Getting up in the morning and putting on a suit is hard," says Sara Shikhman, a 26-year-old legal associate at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP in New York. She says she hasn't worn one in six months.
When associates show up at work in suits, their peers think they have a job interview, Ms. Shikhman says. "Guys don't really polish their shoes," she adds. They go for cool, rather than traditional. "They wear shoes like you might see Johnny Depp wearing to the Oscars." She recognizes that her firm's partners "definitely look more put together than associates, but they also get more sleep than the associates."
Yet in lawyering, half the battle is the posturing. Many experienced lawyers see their wardrobe as a tool to win the trust of clients, juries and judges. Legal associates who aren't sartorially prepared may not be invited along to a new-client pitch or to take a leading role in court, regardless of the office's stated "business casual" dress code.
Mr. Mills says he is partial to well-fitted Brioni suits for himself. He notes that the going rate for new associates in New York, Los Angeles and Washington is $160,000 a year -- enough to buy suits while paying down school loans. Yet all too often, associates show up at work in jeans -- attire that he doesn't condone "unless it's moving day."
When it came time to pick a point person for a plum assignment at Manatt, Phelps & Phillips recently, the New York law firm chose "a polished, professional-looking associate" over a "brilliant" and experienced associate who had been counseled, to no avail, to improve his grooming and attire, says Renee Brissette, a partner at the firm.
The firm opted for someone more presentable to the client, says Ms. Brissette. She notes that associates are often loath to believe their attire could affect assignments or promotions. "Young lawyers don't like to hear that it's anything but their intellect," says Ms. Brissette. She notes that for women, being professionally attired doesn't require a man-suited look: She has a wardrobe of Nanette Lepore suits that are unmistakably feminine without being inappropriately flirty.
Brad Tobin, 25, who is working at a midtown Manhattan law firm, says he is certain that clothes don't affect job assignments at his firm. "Not at all -- it's really based on work product," says Mr. Tobin, who is working part-time while he completes law school. He says he owns suits but doesn't bother to wear them at work.
Law firms are attempting to raise the bar. Some associates at Cadwalader Wickersham & Taft this winter received a note asking employees to change out of their snow boots after young associates began wearing their Ugg boots all day at work, says Ms. Shikhman. A Cadwalader spokeswoman says she wasn't aware that such a note had circulated.
Winston & Strawn brought in a personal shopper from a local department store last year to address associates on how to shop and dress for work. Mr. Mills says that when some associates do make an effort to dress up, they seem to base their look on Hollywood. "You get the TV-woman lawyer look with skirts 12 inches above the knee and very tight blouses," he says. "They have trouble sitting and getting into taxis."
The firm also hired etiquette consultant Gretchen Neels, a former executive recruiter, to give lectures on grooming, dress, and etiquette standards such as where to place one's napkin at dinner.
She says many members of the so-called millennial generation have never been schooled in the traditions that previous generations learned at their parents' knees. Yet these 20-somethings are still being evaluated by old-school bosses and clients. Many members of this generation not only "don't own a watch -- they've never owned a watch," says Ms. Neels. In many white-collar professions, an expensive watch signals success, while a cool cellphone or iPod, though it tells time, signals hipness.
Ms. Neels, founder of Neels & Co. in Boston, has been making the rounds at law firms, as well as law and business schools at Duke, Harvard and other universities. She hears all sorts of complaints from scandalized partners: One young attorney wears yoga pants to work. Another associate blasted out a firmwide email searching for a size-32 belt when an unanticipated court appearance required him to dress up midday.
Ms. Neels notes that business-school grads share law associates' casual sartorial attitude, and she tries to connect the dots between what they wear and how they come across. When she was coaching M.B.A. graduates at Harvard last weekend, she says only about half came in a suit. One young man showed up in cargo pants, and his cellphone rang during the interview.
"What I'm getting from you is that you're a jerk," Ms. Neels told the student as part of her feedback. "Can you see how I'd get that?"
"Yeah, I guess," he responded, she says.
Trial attorney Rosemarie Arnold says young lawyers need to learn that "courtroom drama is all about control." Ms. Arnold represented Joran van der Sloot, one of three men who were with student Natalee Holloway before she disappeared in Aruba. With courtroom appearances in mind, Ms. Arnold spends $150,000 a year on clothes, she estimates. She is partial to Gucci and Dolce & Gabbana in particular and black suits in general.
"Trying a case is like a movie," Ms. Arnold says. "Wardrobe is everything."
---
Email Christina.Binkley@wsj.com.
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
WSJ: New Services Help Bloggers Bring in Ad Revenue
For all you bloggers out there, let's make 2008 the year we actually make money off these things! The following article details lots of ideas. Now I just have to figure it all out...
Small Business
Best of Independent Street / Excerpts from WSJ.com's Blog for Entrepreneurs
15 January 2008
The Wall Street Journal
New Services Help Bloggers Bring in Ad Revenue
---
Users Can Customize Appearance of Spots, Use Video and Audio
If you're not making money off your blog, 2008 might be the year.
As more people see potential in earning money off the Internet, there is a quickly expanding array of advertising services and tools for bloggers that go well beyond the standard pay-per-click text ads or display ads.
Many of the most widely used programs are adding features to allow users to customize the appearance and placement of ads on their sites. Some also are introducing newer money-making mediums such as audio and video ads.
"There's going to be a lot of new business models in 2008 that are geared toward more monetization," says Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of strategic services for Nielsen Online, the Web analysis unit of the Nielsen Co.
Blog publishers could certainly use the help in making money. The vast majority of publishers make less than $10 or $20 a month through advertising, according to Internet-advertising experts. How much money is made through advertising on a site depends much on how much traffic a site gets, the trustworthiness of the content and how relevant the ads are to the visitors.
Starting Feb. 1, San Diego-based V2P Communications is offering five-to-eight-second audio ads, called NetAudioAds, that will automatically play when a visitor lands on a blog or Web site. Publishers sign up for the free service and V2P then lines up advertisers, who bid on rates they will pay to have their ads played on a given blog. Bids generally start around $14 per 1,000 plays. Blog publishers get a 25% cut of the ad revenue.
About 25,000 publishers have signed up so far, says Michael Knox, V2P's co-founder, and several large companies and 2008 presidential campaigns have expressed interest in becoming advertisers through the service. A site that gets 2,000 unique visitors per day with an advertiser paying $14 per 1,000 plays might earn $28 a day, or $196 a week.
Another model that's expected to gain traction this year are ads connected to videos. Revver Inc.'s Revver.com lets advertisers tack on ads to videos uploaded to the video-sharing site. Publishers who then put those videos on their sites, earn 20% of all ad revenue generated from plays of the videos on the blogs. Revver and the videos' creators, often amateurs, split the remainder.
In October, Google Inc. released Video Units, a program that allows Web-site publishers who use its AdSense program -- which places Google-brokered ads on other Web sites based on the sites' content -- to add YouTube videos to their blog sites and have ads appear on the video player.
Some ad services are trying to help publishers expand their advertising by putting ads in their blog's Really Simple Syndication, or RSS feeds, which send blog posts out to subscribers. Some services even specialize in providing ads to publishers that pop up when someone visits the blog from a mobile phone.
Many of the most widely used ad programs -- such as AdSense and Amazon.com Inc.'s affiliate-marketing program, where publishers get a cut of all sales generated from ads on their site -- also are trying to make ads more appealing. For instance, they have rolled out new features in recent months to give publishers more control over how the ads look and where they are placed.
AdSense recently began testing gadget ads, which are more visually stimulating with graphics and interactive features than the traditional basic text ads the program offers.
"One of the biggest things we're trying to do is create more ad formats for publishers," says Google spokesman Brandon McCormick, adding that AdSense paid $3.5 billion to publishers in the first three quarters of 2007.
Meantime, Amazon.com in September introduced several free widgets -- easy-to-use programs that, by plugging a code into a site or blog, let publishers customize how and where ads appear in a blog. One widget lets people embed links to Amazon products in their text, while another lets publishers create a slideshow of relevant Amazon products displayed on their site. Amazon affiliates earn up to a 10% commission on all sales directed from their ads.
Some bloggers already are seeing results. Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay.com, a site with articles on rainforest conservation and other environmental issues, makes $15,000 to $18,000 a month from AdSense, using various types of ads. Mr. Butler says his blog currently gets about 1.3 million unique visitors per month.
He's planning to eventually experiment with Google's video player ads and create his own video content for the site. "The rainforest has always been my passion, but I never expected to make a living off of it," says Mr. Butler, who quit his job as a product manager in 2003 when he realized he could make a living off his site.
Darren Rowse, the Melbourne, Australia-based writer of ProBlogger.net, a popular blog that teaches other bloggers how to make money, earned roughly $250,000 in 2007 off ads on three blogs he writes. Mr. Rowse says he makes the most off traditional display advertising, where advertisers pay a fee to appear, but he also has used affiliate ads and Google AdSense.
Mr. Rowse says publishers should experiment with several types of advertising and use an analytics program to figure out which ones are most effective. Once they do that, bloggers should, for the most part, rely on just one or two advertising programs "so they don't clutter the site," he says. Bloggers should be careful to pick advertising that doesn't appear to taint the content or reputation of the site, he adds.
Mr. Rowse says certain types of advertising can be most effective for certain sites. For instance, affiliate programs, such as Amazon's, tend to work best on sites with loyal followers who trust their blogger for recommendations. Sites with lots of general search-engine traffic but fewer devotees may do better with a contextual ad program, such as AdSense. Regular display ads can also be very effective, he says, depending on how well the ad matches the site's content.
Small Business
Best of Independent Street / Excerpts from WSJ.com's Blog for Entrepreneurs
15 January 2008
The Wall Street Journal
New Services Help Bloggers Bring in Ad Revenue
---
Users Can Customize Appearance of Spots, Use Video and Audio
If you're not making money off your blog, 2008 might be the year.
As more people see potential in earning money off the Internet, there is a quickly expanding array of advertising services and tools for bloggers that go well beyond the standard pay-per-click text ads or display ads.
Many of the most widely used programs are adding features to allow users to customize the appearance and placement of ads on their sites. Some also are introducing newer money-making mediums such as audio and video ads.
"There's going to be a lot of new business models in 2008 that are geared toward more monetization," says Pete Blackshaw, executive vice president of strategic services for Nielsen Online, the Web analysis unit of the Nielsen Co.
Blog publishers could certainly use the help in making money. The vast majority of publishers make less than $10 or $20 a month through advertising, according to Internet-advertising experts. How much money is made through advertising on a site depends much on how much traffic a site gets, the trustworthiness of the content and how relevant the ads are to the visitors.
Starting Feb. 1, San Diego-based V2P Communications is offering five-to-eight-second audio ads, called NetAudioAds, that will automatically play when a visitor lands on a blog or Web site. Publishers sign up for the free service and V2P then lines up advertisers, who bid on rates they will pay to have their ads played on a given blog. Bids generally start around $14 per 1,000 plays. Blog publishers get a 25% cut of the ad revenue.
About 25,000 publishers have signed up so far, says Michael Knox, V2P's co-founder, and several large companies and 2008 presidential campaigns have expressed interest in becoming advertisers through the service. A site that gets 2,000 unique visitors per day with an advertiser paying $14 per 1,000 plays might earn $28 a day, or $196 a week.
Another model that's expected to gain traction this year are ads connected to videos. Revver Inc.'s Revver.com lets advertisers tack on ads to videos uploaded to the video-sharing site. Publishers who then put those videos on their sites, earn 20% of all ad revenue generated from plays of the videos on the blogs. Revver and the videos' creators, often amateurs, split the remainder.
In October, Google Inc. released Video Units, a program that allows Web-site publishers who use its AdSense program -- which places Google-brokered ads on other Web sites based on the sites' content -- to add YouTube videos to their blog sites and have ads appear on the video player.
Some ad services are trying to help publishers expand their advertising by putting ads in their blog's Really Simple Syndication, or RSS feeds, which send blog posts out to subscribers. Some services even specialize in providing ads to publishers that pop up when someone visits the blog from a mobile phone.
Many of the most widely used ad programs -- such as AdSense and Amazon.com Inc.'s affiliate-marketing program, where publishers get a cut of all sales generated from ads on their site -- also are trying to make ads more appealing. For instance, they have rolled out new features in recent months to give publishers more control over how the ads look and where they are placed.
AdSense recently began testing gadget ads, which are more visually stimulating with graphics and interactive features than the traditional basic text ads the program offers.
"One of the biggest things we're trying to do is create more ad formats for publishers," says Google spokesman Brandon McCormick, adding that AdSense paid $3.5 billion to publishers in the first three quarters of 2007.
Meantime, Amazon.com in September introduced several free widgets -- easy-to-use programs that, by plugging a code into a site or blog, let publishers customize how and where ads appear in a blog. One widget lets people embed links to Amazon products in their text, while another lets publishers create a slideshow of relevant Amazon products displayed on their site. Amazon affiliates earn up to a 10% commission on all sales directed from their ads.
Some bloggers already are seeing results. Rhett Butler, founder of Mongabay.com, a site with articles on rainforest conservation and other environmental issues, makes $15,000 to $18,000 a month from AdSense, using various types of ads. Mr. Butler says his blog currently gets about 1.3 million unique visitors per month.
He's planning to eventually experiment with Google's video player ads and create his own video content for the site. "The rainforest has always been my passion, but I never expected to make a living off of it," says Mr. Butler, who quit his job as a product manager in 2003 when he realized he could make a living off his site.
Darren Rowse, the Melbourne, Australia-based writer of ProBlogger.net, a popular blog that teaches other bloggers how to make money, earned roughly $250,000 in 2007 off ads on three blogs he writes. Mr. Rowse says he makes the most off traditional display advertising, where advertisers pay a fee to appear, but he also has used affiliate ads and Google AdSense.
Mr. Rowse says publishers should experiment with several types of advertising and use an analytics program to figure out which ones are most effective. Once they do that, bloggers should, for the most part, rely on just one or two advertising programs "so they don't clutter the site," he says. Bloggers should be careful to pick advertising that doesn't appear to taint the content or reputation of the site, he adds.
Mr. Rowse says certain types of advertising can be most effective for certain sites. For instance, affiliate programs, such as Amazon's, tend to work best on sites with loyal followers who trust their blogger for recommendations. Sites with lots of general search-engine traffic but fewer devotees may do better with a contextual ad program, such as AdSense. Regular display ads can also be very effective, he says, depending on how well the ad matches the site's content.
Friday, January 04, 2008
WSJ: Griddles--They're Hot!
Since I still have no working stove or oven in my old new apartment, I am thinking of getting a big bad electric griddle and eating breakfast morning, noon and night! Here's a comparison in today's Wall Street Journal. The winner? BroilKing Professional Griddle.
Catalog Critic
WEEKEND JOURNAL
Griddles -- They're Hot
By Charles Passy
4 January 2008
WEEKEND JOURNAL
Griddles -- They're Hot
By Charles Passy
4 January 2008
The new year may be as good a time as any to start giving breakfast its proper due. But how are we going to progress beyond quick and easy solutions like Pop-Tarts and cold cereal?
The short answer: Consider buying an electric griddle.
These classic countertop kitchen appliances, typically designed to offer more room for cooking pancakes, eggs and such than your standard frying pan, seem to be making a comeback. BroilKing, an appliance manufacturer in Winsted, Conn., has expanded its line of griddles in the past couple of years, including one with a splatter guard. And Presto, a century-old name in appliances, has added three new models. Presto spokesman Don Hoeschen says the appliance's continued appeal has a lot to do with its versatility, noting that griddles come in handy beyond the morning meal. "You can use them for grilled-cheese sandwiches, too," says the executive with the Eau Claire, Wis., company.
We wanted to see how some griddles handled the familiar American breakfast spread of pancakes, eggs and bacon. (OK, it's a little on the heavy side, but you can always opt for healthier substitutes, like turkey bacon and egg-white omelets.)
In the case of the Rival griddle we tested, we nearly went hungry. The appliance didn't heat up as well as the four other models we tried and it never got our bacon crispy enough. (And the pancakes came out more like sponge cakes, according to our nine-year-old taster.) A West Bend model performed better in the cooking department, but had other significant flaws, such as a hard-to-turn dial and a narrow frying space (so much for fitting all that bacon on it). Hamilton Beach's Jumbo Griddle came close to the mark, but still didn't quite hit it. The culprit? A drip tray difficult to pull out.
But two griddles made a strong impression. Presto's Tilt'nDrain BigGriddle ($39.96), our pick for Best Value, was 23 by 17 inches, big enough for about 12 modest-sized pancakes. It also gave us the option to position the grilling surface flat or at a bit of an angle, good for anything greasy. Our Best Overall, BroilKing's Professional Griddle ($99), had the edge, with its solid construction -- the handles are stainless steel -- as well as a splatter-guard feature. And at 21 by 12 inches, it still had enough room for all our pancakes -- at least until the call came for seconds.
---
BroilKing Professional Griddle (model PCG-10)
BEST OVERALL
CompactAppliance.com
compactappliance.com; 800-297-6076
$99; standard shipping cost $19
The Good: A sturdy model, constructed partly of stainless steel, that made
the other griddles feel lightweight by comparison. Splatter guard, easy-to-
grip handles and relatively large size (21 by 12 inches) were other plusses.
The Bad: It was more than twice as expensive as other griddles on the
market.
The Shopping: A similar model, minus the splatter guard, is available for
$79.
Presto Tilt'nDrain BigGriddle (model 07046)
BEST VALUE
Amazon.com
amazon.com
$39.96; standard shipping cost $10.30
The Good: At 23 by 17 inches, this griddle could handle enough to feed a
small family. And the unique tilting system gives you the choice of cooking
with the surface flat or angled.
The Bad: Not dishwasher safe; this was also true of the BroilKing and
Hamilton Beach models.
The Shopping: As always, there are different ways to go with Amazon.com:
You can buy through them or through other retailers on their site.
(Currently, this griddle is available only through other retailers, priced at
$40-$45.)
West Bend Electric Griddle (model 76220)
West Bend
westbend.com; 866-290-1851
$39.99; standard shipping cost $9.95
The Good: Finally, a dishwasher-safe model. The griddle also cooked
reasonably well, though we would have preferred not feeling the heat
radiating from the surface so much.
The Bad: The narrow, front-to-back dimensions (the griddle measures 20 by
10 inches) made it difficult to position a strip of bacon that way. And
temperature dial was the hardest to turn of all that we encountered.
The Shopping: This is the only griddle that West Bend offers on its site,
but it does have a panini press and an indoor grill.
Hamilton Beach StepSavor Jumbo Griddle (model 38510)
iKitchen.com
ikitchen.com
$34.99; standard shipping cost $11.20
The Good: Comparable with Presto in quality, though slightly smaller, at 19
by 12 inches. Comes with a handy temperature guide right on the drip tray, so
you know what's appropriate for everything from steaks to eggs.
The Bad: The drip tray was hard to remove.
The Shopping: Well-organized site allows you to shop easily by brand. But
we wish it offered a phone number for customers (Amazon.com has a similar
email-only contact policy).
Rival Digital Griddle (model GR250)
QVC
qvc.com; 888-345-5788
$59.99; standard shipping cost $8.22
The Good: Lots of good features on this 20-by-10-inch griddle, including a
digital temperature setting (our other models were strictly dial-operated)
and removable surface that can be washed separately.
The Bad: If only the thing would actually heat properly. Even when we set
the temperature much higher than the norm for pancakes, we couldn't get
things cooking. The result: "Sponge cakes," to quote our nine-year-old
taster.
The Shopping: Griddle is also available directly from the manufacturer at
Rivalproducts.com.
Thursday, December 20, 2007
WSJ: Latest Luxury: The Store Concierge
For those of you who have more money than you know what to do with:
Latest Luxury: The Store Concierge --- Retailers Kick It Up a Notch To Coddle Affluent Clientele
By Ann Zimmerman
20 December 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Dallas -- Not long ago, Mark Krug, a concierge at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, dealt with a panicked hotel guest who had arrived at 10 p.m. in an irreparably ripped pair of pants.
The executive had an important business meeting the next morning and needed new slacks to match his suit jacket. Mr. Krug knew exactly what to do. He dialed the cell phone of the concierge at the Dallas store of luxury retailer Barneys New York. The concierge, Gary Jackson, who goes by the name Jackson, opened the locked store, scooped up some potential selections and brought them to the hotel by 11 p.m.
"It made us look good and it gave Barneys fantastic customer loyalty," say Mr. Krug. "I call what Jackson does 'making magic.'"
In the race to attract customers, luxury emporiums are doing what the best hotels have done for decades -- installing concierges. Customer service has always been the hallmark of luxury retailers. But Barneys New York (a unit of Dubai World) and Nordstrom Inc., in particular, have kicked it up a notch by stationing concierges at several of their highest-profile branches to fulfill an array of customer requests that have nothing to with shopping -- for example, obtaining seats at the best restaurants or arranging admission to the hottest clubs. In return, the stores say they gain new customers and foster deeper loyalty in their old ones. It is another way for retailers to set themselves apart in a world where even the best stores often carry similar brands.
Seattle-based Nordstrom, for instance, has concierge desks in eight of its 101 stores. They are in stores in the largest cities and serve in part as a local chamber of commerce, providing information about the city's sites, best restaurants and other areas of interest. Among other tasks, they also deliver merchandise to people's homes or hotels at no charge.
Saks Inc. has concierge service in stores in its biggest cities and tourist towns. The concierges will give customers water, take returns or help answer questions about bills and for the best customers can arrange extra-special services. A valued customer of the Manhattan Saks Fifth Avenue, for instance, uses the store's visual team to decorate her home for the holidays, according to Suzanne Johnson, general manager of the store.
The stores with concierges say the service is available to any customer, regardless of how much they spend. But clearly, the extra mile is expended on the customers who are best known to the store. Several of the concierges say not all customers know their cellphone numbers, for instance, for getting last-minute favors.
For sending them business, restaurants, hotels and clubs often comp the concierges. But the programs aren't without their risks. Mr. Jackson, the Barneys concierge in Dallas, recalls calling the VIP manager of a new private club to get a store customer on the guest list. The manager called him the next day to tell him the customer had drunk too much and started a brawl. "I made it clear to the customer I wouldn't be rebooking him in the future," he says. "Their behavior reflects on us as well."
Barneys's concierge program started about a decade ago in its store on Manhattan's Madison Avenue. Taylor Piedra, a former sales associate for Barneys, pioneered the program and now trains the others, who work in Boston, San Francisco, Dallas and its soon-to-open Las Vegas store.
Stationed right inside the entrance behind a custom-made teak and leather desk, under a sign saying Concierge Services, Mr. Piedra is sort of a ringmaster and tour guide. Like hotel concierges, he has sources that provide hard-to-nab theater tickets. And he knows exactly who to call to get his best customers into the newest, hottest restaurants.
One recent day, he gets an email from Lisa Jurick, a customer from New York's Long Island who has heard that the Waverly Inn restaurant in Manhattan's West Village only takes reservations two days in advance. Then she tells Mr. Piedra she wants reservations for two weeks hence for "five peeps." Mr. Piedra makes a note of it. "He is the love of my life," says Ms. Jurick. "When I want something, I want it now and Taylor makes it happen and with such calm."
Mr. Piedra's services are free, and Ms. Jurick says she never tips him, but does give him lavish Christmas presents. Last year, it was a Philip Stein Teslar watch, which retails for more than $1,500.
While Mr. Piedra doesn't do any direct selling, he drives sales nonetheless. His computer has bookmarked a currency converter, to help foreign customers figure out just how much money they are saving on their purchases with the dollar being so weak. "Finding out the exact savings can clinch a sale," says Mr. Piedra.
When Kevin Dyson became the general manager at the Manhattan Barneys, he asked Mr. Piedra what exactly a store concierge did. Mr. Piedra replied that he dug for answers to customer questions and didn't quit until he found them -- "like a ferret, but an elegant ferret."
During his stint, he has had to answer some far-fetched questions, once including where to find a real hippopotamus jaw. Mr. Piedra, who didn't ask why the customer needed it, found a little taxidermy store in Soho that had one.
Mr. Jackson, the Dallas Barneys concierge, plays a different role. He serves as the store host and has been essential to help building clientele at the year-old store. Barneys's previous attempt to crack the Dallas market failed in the 1990s. Jackson stocks beer, wine, champagne and the best customers' favorite liquors. He remembers every customer's name like a good bartender and is out every night finding the new chic watering hole. "Every restaurant and club in Dallas wants our customer," he says, whose background includes designing furniture and jewelry.
He has become something of a celebrity in town, invited to 50 events a month. An out-of-town customer once corralled him to squire his daughter, a local college student, and her out-of-town guests around town to the newest in nightspots.
Last week, a TV actress was shopping in the store when a man who pretended to know her threw his arms around her and kissed her. Mr. Jackson intervened. The actress was upset that the man had gotten his cologne scent on her and asked for a disposable wipe to get it off. Jackson searched all over the mall until he found one.
Latest Luxury: The Store Concierge --- Retailers Kick It Up a Notch To Coddle Affluent Clientele
By Ann Zimmerman
20 December 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Dallas -- Not long ago, Mark Krug, a concierge at the Rosewood Mansion on Turtle Creek, dealt with a panicked hotel guest who had arrived at 10 p.m. in an irreparably ripped pair of pants.
The executive had an important business meeting the next morning and needed new slacks to match his suit jacket. Mr. Krug knew exactly what to do. He dialed the cell phone of the concierge at the Dallas store of luxury retailer Barneys New York. The concierge, Gary Jackson, who goes by the name Jackson, opened the locked store, scooped up some potential selections and brought them to the hotel by 11 p.m.
"It made us look good and it gave Barneys fantastic customer loyalty," say Mr. Krug. "I call what Jackson does 'making magic.'"
In the race to attract customers, luxury emporiums are doing what the best hotels have done for decades -- installing concierges. Customer service has always been the hallmark of luxury retailers. But Barneys New York (a unit of Dubai World) and Nordstrom Inc., in particular, have kicked it up a notch by stationing concierges at several of their highest-profile branches to fulfill an array of customer requests that have nothing to with shopping -- for example, obtaining seats at the best restaurants or arranging admission to the hottest clubs. In return, the stores say they gain new customers and foster deeper loyalty in their old ones. It is another way for retailers to set themselves apart in a world where even the best stores often carry similar brands.
Seattle-based Nordstrom, for instance, has concierge desks in eight of its 101 stores. They are in stores in the largest cities and serve in part as a local chamber of commerce, providing information about the city's sites, best restaurants and other areas of interest. Among other tasks, they also deliver merchandise to people's homes or hotels at no charge.
Saks Inc. has concierge service in stores in its biggest cities and tourist towns. The concierges will give customers water, take returns or help answer questions about bills and for the best customers can arrange extra-special services. A valued customer of the Manhattan Saks Fifth Avenue, for instance, uses the store's visual team to decorate her home for the holidays, according to Suzanne Johnson, general manager of the store.
The stores with concierges say the service is available to any customer, regardless of how much they spend. But clearly, the extra mile is expended on the customers who are best known to the store. Several of the concierges say not all customers know their cellphone numbers, for instance, for getting last-minute favors.
For sending them business, restaurants, hotels and clubs often comp the concierges. But the programs aren't without their risks. Mr. Jackson, the Barneys concierge in Dallas, recalls calling the VIP manager of a new private club to get a store customer on the guest list. The manager called him the next day to tell him the customer had drunk too much and started a brawl. "I made it clear to the customer I wouldn't be rebooking him in the future," he says. "Their behavior reflects on us as well."
Barneys's concierge program started about a decade ago in its store on Manhattan's Madison Avenue. Taylor Piedra, a former sales associate for Barneys, pioneered the program and now trains the others, who work in Boston, San Francisco, Dallas and its soon-to-open Las Vegas store.
Stationed right inside the entrance behind a custom-made teak and leather desk, under a sign saying Concierge Services, Mr. Piedra is sort of a ringmaster and tour guide. Like hotel concierges, he has sources that provide hard-to-nab theater tickets. And he knows exactly who to call to get his best customers into the newest, hottest restaurants.
One recent day, he gets an email from Lisa Jurick, a customer from New York's Long Island who has heard that the Waverly Inn restaurant in Manhattan's West Village only takes reservations two days in advance. Then she tells Mr. Piedra she wants reservations for two weeks hence for "five peeps." Mr. Piedra makes a note of it. "He is the love of my life," says Ms. Jurick. "When I want something, I want it now and Taylor makes it happen and with such calm."
Mr. Piedra's services are free, and Ms. Jurick says she never tips him, but does give him lavish Christmas presents. Last year, it was a Philip Stein Teslar watch, which retails for more than $1,500.
While Mr. Piedra doesn't do any direct selling, he drives sales nonetheless. His computer has bookmarked a currency converter, to help foreign customers figure out just how much money they are saving on their purchases with the dollar being so weak. "Finding out the exact savings can clinch a sale," says Mr. Piedra.
When Kevin Dyson became the general manager at the Manhattan Barneys, he asked Mr. Piedra what exactly a store concierge did. Mr. Piedra replied that he dug for answers to customer questions and didn't quit until he found them -- "like a ferret, but an elegant ferret."
During his stint, he has had to answer some far-fetched questions, once including where to find a real hippopotamus jaw. Mr. Piedra, who didn't ask why the customer needed it, found a little taxidermy store in Soho that had one.
Mr. Jackson, the Dallas Barneys concierge, plays a different role. He serves as the store host and has been essential to help building clientele at the year-old store. Barneys's previous attempt to crack the Dallas market failed in the 1990s. Jackson stocks beer, wine, champagne and the best customers' favorite liquors. He remembers every customer's name like a good bartender and is out every night finding the new chic watering hole. "Every restaurant and club in Dallas wants our customer," he says, whose background includes designing furniture and jewelry.
He has become something of a celebrity in town, invited to 50 events a month. An out-of-town customer once corralled him to squire his daughter, a local college student, and her out-of-town guests around town to the newest in nightspots.
Last week, a TV actress was shopping in the store when a man who pretended to know her threw his arms around her and kissed her. Mr. Jackson intervened. The actress was upset that the man had gotten his cologne scent on her and asked for a disposable wipe to get it off. Jackson searched all over the mall until he found one.
Monday, November 19, 2007
WSJ: With a spate of new hotels, Brooklyn bets on tourism
Sorry Brooklyn, the gentrification is in full swing and appears that there's no stopping the freight train now (see y'all in Staten Island??):
Travel
WEEKEND JOURNAL
And Maybe a Side Trip to Manhattan? --- With a spate of new hotels, Brooklyn bets on tourism
By Candace Jackson
17 November 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Brooklyn, N.Y. -- At Hotel Le Bleu, rooms have 42-inch plasma-screen TVs with Bose speakers and showers with views of the Statue of Liberty. But the hotel is in an unlikely spot: sandwiched between a taxicab depot and a Pep Boys auto shop, in a former plumbing-supply building in the gritty Brooklyn neighborhood of Gowanus.
In recent years, New York's borough of Brooklyn has been luring top chefs, celebrity residents and high-end retailers away from Manhattan. Now, with a spate of new hotel openings, it's trying to take the tourists, too.
Not far from Hotel Le Bleu, the 93-room Smith Hotel is scheduled to open early next year, complete with cork floors (said to be eco-friendly) and a yoga studio. Starwood has plans to open a hotel under its aloft brand in the artsy neighborhood of Dumbo by 2009; next door will be a Sheraton. And downtown, the Brooklyn Marriott recently added 280 rooms, nearly doubling its size.
It helps that Manhattan hotels have only gotten more crowded -- running at almost 90% capacity last year, according to industry researcher PKF Consulting -- and expensive, at an average nightly rate of nearly $280.
Visiting Brooklyn right now is a chance to watch a place very much in transition. Gowanus, for example, is an industrial area sandwiched between posh Park Slope and trendy Carroll Gardens. The neighborhood is still home to blocks of abandoned old textile factories, vast truck parking lots and areas that most locals avoid after dark. The Gowanus Canal, for which the neighborhood is named, breaks up the grim landscape, but its surface is still slick and shiny with oil.
In the past few months, several high-rise condos have cropped up here. A Whole Foods Market is coming. Artists have begun renting studio space in old factories neaby. The Annual Gowanus Artists Studio Tour, which happens in October, started 11 years ago with just 15 artist lofts as stops -- this year, there were 140.
For travelers who've never crossed the Hudson River or been further east than Manhattan's South Street Seaport, a weekend in Brooklyn might seem like an odd vacation. But it's now possible to do just that. Below, a three-day itinerary.
FRIDAY
CHECK INTO Hotel Le Bleu. Don't be deterred by the gritty surroundings -- it's pretty calm inside and centrally located.
START YOUR DAY by wandering the shops of Fifth Avenue -- the one locals like to call New York's "other" Fifth Avenue, albeit without the Bergdorf's and Bendel's. Once considered scary to walk at night, the street, roughly between Flatbush Avenue to the north and 12th Street to the south, is now lined with high-end restaurants, day spas and boutiques.
Brooklyn Mercantile, opened last summer by Tamara Lee, an independent film producer and longtime resident, sells quirky items for the home like vintage spools that could double as candlestick holders and handmade silhouette cut-outs in glass frames. Some of the best shops include Eidolon for shoes and jewelry, Area Kids for hip infant and children's clothing and Cog & Pearl for unusual gifts like iPod cases made out of old vinyl records.
FOR LUNCH, grab a lobster roll and fresh oysters at Brooklyn Fish Camp, an outpost of the Manhattan restaurant Mary's Fish Camp.
IN THE AFTERNOON, take a walking tour of the neighborhood with Norman Oder, who runs the tour company New York Like a Native. Mr. Oder has an encyclopedic knowledge of the borough and can point out lesser-known sights like the corner in Park Slope where a plane crashed in 1960, killing 135 people, and the empty field in Gowanus that's destined to be a Whole Foods Market (nylikeanative.com).
In warm-weather months, more adventurous types can hop on a canoe and take a "discovery tour" of the Gowanus Canal with the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, a volunteer organization working to revitalize the area (gowanuscanal.org).
SINCE MANY of the most popular spots for dinner are small, they tend to fill up quickly, so make reservations. One of the newest, Palo Santo, serves Caribbean and Latin food with an extensive wine list from South America. (The chef-owner lives upstairs.) Or head to a restaurant called Two Toms, a holdover from the days when Gowanus was primarily a neighborhood of Italian immigrants. It's been serving juicy pork chops, lasagna and antipasto in a no-frills wood-paneled dining room since 1948.
FOR A DRINK after dinner, go to Union Hall, a cavernous bar with fireplaces and indoor bocce courts.
SATURDAY
TAKE A SHORT cab ride (or a 30-minute walk) to Tom's Restaurant in Prospect Heights (no relation to Two Toms). Don't worry if there's a line -- it moves quickly and the waiters will bring you cookies and orange slices as you wait. The place feels like a relic from the 1930s, with an old-fashioned soda fountain vibe.
WALK A FEW BLOCKS southeast to the Brooklyn Museum, one of the borough's biggest cultural institutions. Through mid-January, a watercolor exhibit includes works by Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper.
SATURDAY MORNINGS, a farmer's market that rivals Manhattan's biggest one sets up a few blocks from the museum on Grand Army Plaza. Warm up with a cup of hot apple cider and take a walk through Prospect Park, Brooklyn's answer to Central Park, which has two-thirds the acreage and a slightly woodsier feel.
WALK ALONG the side streets leading to Prospect Park West to check out some of the neighborhood's famous tree-lined brownstone streets, most built more than 100 years ago. Montgomery Place and Carroll Street between the park and Eighth Avenue are two especially picturesque blocks.
FOR DINNER, Franny's on Flatbush Avenue serves thin-crust pizzas out of a wood-fired oven. Most have fashionable toppings like ricotta and pork sausage supplied by nearby farms.
LATE-NIGHT, Southpaw is one of Brooklyn's hippest concert venues, and on most Saturday nights a DJ collective called the Rub spins old-school hip-hop and newer hits. (Family-friendly alternative: some Saturday afternoons, the same venue hosts "Baby Loves Disco," where many local parents bring their toddlers for a few hours of socializing.)
SUNDAY
ON SUNDAY MORNING, walk a few blocks east to Carroll Gardens, a leafy neighborhood that used to be known for Italian groceries and social clubs. In recent years it has become known for high-end restaurants and boutique shopping along Smith and Court streets from roughly Atlantic Avenue to Ninth Street.
EAT BRUNCH at Israeli restaurant Miriam in Cobble Hill on Court Street. Try the burekas, puffed pastries stuffed with olives and feta served with organic eggs.
SMITH STREET'S boutiques rival Fifth Avenue's for both quirky home goods and high-end apparel. When you hit Atlantic Avenue, make a right, and you'll find rows of antiques stores (many more affordable than those in Manhattan's Garment District) and Middle Eastern groceries selling scented oils, incense and robes.
FOR DINNER, try Saul, a Michelin-starred restaurant on Smith Street that offers seasonal dishes such as spiced crusted loin of venison with ginger pear chutney and desserts like spiced pumpkin souffle.
IN THE EVENING, head toward Fourth Avenue to Brooklyn Lyceum, a former bathhouse that's been converted into an event space with live jazz Sunday nights.
---
Along the Route
Hotel Le Bleu
370 Fourth Ave., 718-625-1500
Brooklyn Mercantile
335 Fifth Ave., 718-788-1233
Cog & Pearl
190 Fifth Ave., 718-623-8200
Eidolon
233 Fifth Ave., 718-638-8194
Area Kids
45 Fifth Ave., 718-230-7495
Brooklyn Fish Camp
162 Fifth Ave., 718-783-3264
Palo Santo
652 Union St., 718-636-6311
Two Toms Restaurant
255 Third Ave., 718-875-8689
Union Hall
702 Union St., 718-638-4400
Tom's Restaurant
782 Washington Ave., 718-636-9738
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Pkwy., 718-638-5000
Franny's
295 Flatbush Ave., 718-230-0331
Southpaw
125 Fifth Ave., 718-230-0236
Miriam Restaurant
229 Court St., 718-522-2220
Saul
40 Smith St., 718-935-9844
Brooklyn Lyceum
227 Fourth Ave., 718-857-4816
Travel
WEEKEND JOURNAL
And Maybe a Side Trip to Manhattan? --- With a spate of new hotels, Brooklyn bets on tourism
By Candace Jackson
17 November 2007
The Wall Street Journal
Brooklyn, N.Y. -- At Hotel Le Bleu, rooms have 42-inch plasma-screen TVs with Bose speakers and showers with views of the Statue of Liberty. But the hotel is in an unlikely spot: sandwiched between a taxicab depot and a Pep Boys auto shop, in a former plumbing-supply building in the gritty Brooklyn neighborhood of Gowanus.
In recent years, New York's borough of Brooklyn has been luring top chefs, celebrity residents and high-end retailers away from Manhattan. Now, with a spate of new hotel openings, it's trying to take the tourists, too.
Not far from Hotel Le Bleu, the 93-room Smith Hotel is scheduled to open early next year, complete with cork floors (said to be eco-friendly) and a yoga studio. Starwood has plans to open a hotel under its aloft brand in the artsy neighborhood of Dumbo by 2009; next door will be a Sheraton. And downtown, the Brooklyn Marriott recently added 280 rooms, nearly doubling its size.
It helps that Manhattan hotels have only gotten more crowded -- running at almost 90% capacity last year, according to industry researcher PKF Consulting -- and expensive, at an average nightly rate of nearly $280.
Visiting Brooklyn right now is a chance to watch a place very much in transition. Gowanus, for example, is an industrial area sandwiched between posh Park Slope and trendy Carroll Gardens. The neighborhood is still home to blocks of abandoned old textile factories, vast truck parking lots and areas that most locals avoid after dark. The Gowanus Canal, for which the neighborhood is named, breaks up the grim landscape, but its surface is still slick and shiny with oil.
In the past few months, several high-rise condos have cropped up here. A Whole Foods Market is coming. Artists have begun renting studio space in old factories neaby. The Annual Gowanus Artists Studio Tour, which happens in October, started 11 years ago with just 15 artist lofts as stops -- this year, there were 140.
For travelers who've never crossed the Hudson River or been further east than Manhattan's South Street Seaport, a weekend in Brooklyn might seem like an odd vacation. But it's now possible to do just that. Below, a three-day itinerary.
FRIDAY
CHECK INTO Hotel Le Bleu. Don't be deterred by the gritty surroundings -- it's pretty calm inside and centrally located.
START YOUR DAY by wandering the shops of Fifth Avenue -- the one locals like to call New York's "other" Fifth Avenue, albeit without the Bergdorf's and Bendel's. Once considered scary to walk at night, the street, roughly between Flatbush Avenue to the north and 12th Street to the south, is now lined with high-end restaurants, day spas and boutiques.
Brooklyn Mercantile, opened last summer by Tamara Lee, an independent film producer and longtime resident, sells quirky items for the home like vintage spools that could double as candlestick holders and handmade silhouette cut-outs in glass frames. Some of the best shops include Eidolon for shoes and jewelry, Area Kids for hip infant and children's clothing and Cog & Pearl for unusual gifts like iPod cases made out of old vinyl records.
FOR LUNCH, grab a lobster roll and fresh oysters at Brooklyn Fish Camp, an outpost of the Manhattan restaurant Mary's Fish Camp.
IN THE AFTERNOON, take a walking tour of the neighborhood with Norman Oder, who runs the tour company New York Like a Native. Mr. Oder has an encyclopedic knowledge of the borough and can point out lesser-known sights like the corner in Park Slope where a plane crashed in 1960, killing 135 people, and the empty field in Gowanus that's destined to be a Whole Foods Market (nylikeanative.com).
In warm-weather months, more adventurous types can hop on a canoe and take a "discovery tour" of the Gowanus Canal with the Gowanus Dredgers Canoe Club, a volunteer organization working to revitalize the area (gowanuscanal.org).
SINCE MANY of the most popular spots for dinner are small, they tend to fill up quickly, so make reservations. One of the newest, Palo Santo, serves Caribbean and Latin food with an extensive wine list from South America. (The chef-owner lives upstairs.) Or head to a restaurant called Two Toms, a holdover from the days when Gowanus was primarily a neighborhood of Italian immigrants. It's been serving juicy pork chops, lasagna and antipasto in a no-frills wood-paneled dining room since 1948.
FOR A DRINK after dinner, go to Union Hall, a cavernous bar with fireplaces and indoor bocce courts.
SATURDAY
TAKE A SHORT cab ride (or a 30-minute walk) to Tom's Restaurant in Prospect Heights (no relation to Two Toms). Don't worry if there's a line -- it moves quickly and the waiters will bring you cookies and orange slices as you wait. The place feels like a relic from the 1930s, with an old-fashioned soda fountain vibe.
WALK A FEW BLOCKS southeast to the Brooklyn Museum, one of the borough's biggest cultural institutions. Through mid-January, a watercolor exhibit includes works by Winslow Homer and Edward Hopper.
SATURDAY MORNINGS, a farmer's market that rivals Manhattan's biggest one sets up a few blocks from the museum on Grand Army Plaza. Warm up with a cup of hot apple cider and take a walk through Prospect Park, Brooklyn's answer to Central Park, which has two-thirds the acreage and a slightly woodsier feel.
WALK ALONG the side streets leading to Prospect Park West to check out some of the neighborhood's famous tree-lined brownstone streets, most built more than 100 years ago. Montgomery Place and Carroll Street between the park and Eighth Avenue are two especially picturesque blocks.
FOR DINNER, Franny's on Flatbush Avenue serves thin-crust pizzas out of a wood-fired oven. Most have fashionable toppings like ricotta and pork sausage supplied by nearby farms.
LATE-NIGHT, Southpaw is one of Brooklyn's hippest concert venues, and on most Saturday nights a DJ collective called the Rub spins old-school hip-hop and newer hits. (Family-friendly alternative: some Saturday afternoons, the same venue hosts "Baby Loves Disco," where many local parents bring their toddlers for a few hours of socializing.)
SUNDAY
ON SUNDAY MORNING, walk a few blocks east to Carroll Gardens, a leafy neighborhood that used to be known for Italian groceries and social clubs. In recent years it has become known for high-end restaurants and boutique shopping along Smith and Court streets from roughly Atlantic Avenue to Ninth Street.
EAT BRUNCH at Israeli restaurant Miriam in Cobble Hill on Court Street. Try the burekas, puffed pastries stuffed with olives and feta served with organic eggs.
SMITH STREET'S boutiques rival Fifth Avenue's for both quirky home goods and high-end apparel. When you hit Atlantic Avenue, make a right, and you'll find rows of antiques stores (many more affordable than those in Manhattan's Garment District) and Middle Eastern groceries selling scented oils, incense and robes.
FOR DINNER, try Saul, a Michelin-starred restaurant on Smith Street that offers seasonal dishes such as spiced crusted loin of venison with ginger pear chutney and desserts like spiced pumpkin souffle.
IN THE EVENING, head toward Fourth Avenue to Brooklyn Lyceum, a former bathhouse that's been converted into an event space with live jazz Sunday nights.
---
Along the Route
Hotel Le Bleu
370 Fourth Ave., 718-625-1500
Brooklyn Mercantile
335 Fifth Ave., 718-788-1233
Cog & Pearl
190 Fifth Ave., 718-623-8200
Eidolon
233 Fifth Ave., 718-638-8194
Area Kids
45 Fifth Ave., 718-230-7495
Brooklyn Fish Camp
162 Fifth Ave., 718-783-3264
Palo Santo
652 Union St., 718-636-6311
Two Toms Restaurant
255 Third Ave., 718-875-8689
Union Hall
702 Union St., 718-638-4400
Tom's Restaurant
782 Washington Ave., 718-636-9738
Brooklyn Museum
200 Eastern Pkwy., 718-638-5000
Franny's
295 Flatbush Ave., 718-230-0331
Southpaw
125 Fifth Ave., 718-230-0236
Miriam Restaurant
229 Court St., 718-522-2220
Saul
40 Smith St., 718-935-9844
Brooklyn Lyceum
227 Fourth Ave., 718-857-4816
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