“Like Alexander the Great and Caesar, I’m out to conquer the world. But first I have to stop at Walmart and pick up some supplies. ”
― Jarod Kintz, The Titanic would never have sunk if it were made out of a sink.
J Crew comes to Regent Street – by taxi
J Crew is about to open a store on Regent Street in London.
The outside of the upper floor is decorated with fantastic taxis, bringing fun and colour to your shopping.
Linked to Look Up, Look Down Challenge.
Happy Pills
If you are looking for a small gift for sweet-toothed friend, go no further than Happy Pills. They stock sweets of all colours presented in pill bottles and boxes. Fill your own, or select a pre-filled package.
You can find the stores in a number of locations, including Portal de l’Angel and Argentaria. Or order online.
Linked to Pink Saturday and Frizztext’s Tagged H Challenge.
Old Fashioned Sweets at Hardy’s
For those with a sweet tooth and a taste for the traditional, head to Covent Garden.
Hardy’s Original Sweet Shop, 25 New Row, Covent Garden, London WC2N 4LA.
Posted as part of the Thursday Lingering Look at Windows.
Wordless Wednesday – Open All Hours
Denim Windows
Selfridges has a fantastic new Denim Stdio on the 3rd floor, stocking denim galore plus other casual brands such as American Apparel and Cos. Their windows have some fun displays to accompany the studio’s launch.
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Want to get involved yourself? Take a photo of your favourite denim and post it on Instagram with #denimlovers. Selfridges will pick the best to appear in their windows and one lucky person each week will win a pair of designer jeans. Click here for more details.
Posted as part of the Thursday Lingering Look at Windows.
Denim Cupcakes
Posted as part of the Word a Week Challenge: Unexpected.
When it comes to retail tracking, shoppers prefer being watched in their homes – Quartz
Most people realise that their shopping patterns are being monitored by online suppliers, and that loyalty cards are worth millions to the stores that issue them because they tell the store everything about your shopping patterns, your eating habits, your medical problems, etc.
But do you realise some high street shops are now tracking your movements and assessing your age and gender. Read the post below from Quartz.
Reblogged from When it comes to retail tracking, shoppers prefer being watched in their homes – Quartz.
By Rachel Feltman, July 15, 2013
Who’s the bigger brother: the physical store or its website? REUTERS/John Gress
Brick-and-mortar retailers are starting to track your behavior the same way online stores do, and customers aren’t happy about it. According to The New York Times, Nordstrom started an experiment in data collection last fall, tracking customer movement by following the wifi signals in their smartphones. But when they posted a sign alerting shoppers to the practice (and letting them know that they could opt out by turning off their phone’s wifi connection), people freaked out.
Nordstrom stopped the project in May, but probably not for good—especially since many other retailers are rolling out similar technology. The question is, how much can a store find out about you by creeping on your cellphone, and is it really worse than online data tracking, or even as bad?
The tech that Nordstrom implemented was really pretty minimal: Essentially, it tracked foot traffic around the store, keeping counts of how many passerby entered and how long they spent in a given department. The result is a rough picture of how customers move throughout the store, indicating whether conditions like long lines or fewer salespeople on the floor affect how long customers stick around.
Some companies, like RetailNext and Brickstream, add in cameras that can track individual shoppers, and use their cellphones to tell if they’re a repeat shopper. The companies’ cameras can determine approximate age and gender, so they can, for instance, figure out how many adult male shoppers stop at the shoe department before deciding not to buy any loafers.
Even Nordstrom’s minimal approach to in-store data collection was met with discomfort from customers. Robert Plant, a computer information systems professor at the University of Miami, told The Times that the discomfort probably has something to do with people’s perceptions of being watched in real time (by brick-and-mortar retailers) versus having their information collected (by online retailers). “The idea that you’re being stalked in a store is, I think, a bit creepy,” he said, “as opposed to, it’s only a cookie—they don’t really know who I am.”
But is online data collection really less invasive, or are we just more used to it? Last year, a survey by Accenture asked 2,000 shoppers from the US and the UK about online retail practices, and while 86% said they were concerned about tracking of their online shopping behavior, 85% said that while they were aware of the practices, they understood that it allowed stores to offer them unique content. And 64% of respondents said it was more important that they be given relevant offers than privacy, while only 36% thought it was better for websites to stop tracking them.
Tracking and data collection in physical stores may feel more like stalking, but in reality there’s a lot more that online tracking can learn about you based on just a few clicks, such as your alma mater, religion and favorite YouTube videos. According to Wired, Amazon has known everything about you since 2005. In that sense, squeamishness about in-store cellphone tracking, especially a system as benign as Nordstrom’s, seems misplaced.
If brick-and-mortar stores have any chance of wooing shoppers spoiled by online customization, it’s through their own version of tracking.
Ted Baker in the Yellow
Ted Baker has a new range of pretty yellow and pink bags.
Keltty, small printed tote bag, £109 
Teata, tea party bow clutch, £69
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Posted as part of Monday Mellow Yellow.
Nail Art Festival in Essex Today
Attention all Nail ART fans in the Essex and North London area. Here is some news I have to share with you:
The UK’s first Nail Art Festival comes to London
Posted July 6, 2013 in Time Out London.
Know your galaxies from your stilettos? Or your caviar from your foils? No, we’re not going mad and listing random objects. We’re talking art… nail art to be exact. The 2013 Oscars may have been awash with nude polish and french tips but – according to Google Trend – the fashion statement which took the world by storm and made block colours boring is still going strong. So with new nail trends hitting the internet and filling the shelves every day, it’s not surprising that the UK’s first nail art festival is heading to London this weekend. On July 6 -7, a FREE two day festival will be taking place at the Ilford Exchange Shopping Centre where you can see nail art specialists, live demonstrations, talks as well as have the chance to transform your nails into a masterpiece in their own right. So if you’re not into muddy fields and loud music and prefer the quiet, pampered lifestyle, there’s definitely a festival for you this summer. Carly-Ann Clements
For more info, see exchangeilford.com.
Reblogged from The UK’s first Nail Art Festival comes to London – Now. Here. This. – Time Out London.
Shop with Intent 