The Art & Science of Shopping: Fashion’s Night Out

September 8, 2011 marked the third annual Fashion’s Night Out, a retail cause célèbre feted in major fashion capitals across the globe. The event is the brain child of Anna Wintour, who proposed it as a remedy to the recession and the lackluster sales comps that accompanied it. The now-international event dedicates one evening during NYC’s Fall Fashion Week to taking the customer experience to a whole other energy level. I’ve calendared this event for three years, but this was the first year I was actually in NYC to enjoy it. Shopaholic that I am, I was like a kid waiting for Christmas to come.

Click to read more ...

The Art & Science of Shopping: Shopping the Seven Seas

Part of my client roster is Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines, and I had the privilege (and I mean privilege) to work as their retail design consultant on what at the time had been deemed “Project Genesis” for the onboard shops. This was my first foray into cruise ship retail, and it reminds me of an expression a friend always used to say, “If you’re going to be a bear, be a grizzly.”

Click to read more ...

The Art & Science of Shopping: Navigating the Shanghai Marketplace

I was recently in Shanghai for a conference, the Global Department Store Forum, to hear perspectives on the retail industry from CEO's of the world's best department stores. Given my passion for shopping, the presentations only made me want to go hit the streets of Shanghai and spend some Yuan. I managed to squeeze in one day of my own for just this purpose, escorted by a friend who had been living in Shanghai for a few months.

Click to read more ...