360 DEGREES Weblog

As much as we love Amazon and our Amazon Prime accounts, we still miss the instant gratification that comes from purchasing goods in a brick-and-mortar store and having them with you when you get home. Amazon.com Local Express Delivery ($6 and up, per item) aims to lessen this gap by offering same-day delivery for orders placed before a certain time in New York City, Philadelphia, Boston, Washington D.C., Baltimore, Las Vegas, and Seattle. Great news for procrastinators and the impatient, bad news for the ol’ charge card.

The recently-opened Etiqueta Negra boutique in downtown Manhattan has brought a modern take on masculine, equestrian style all the way from Buenos Aires. The store, which features among other d?cor elements a 1938 Alfa Romeo racecar (above), carries suits, jackets, jeans and shirts, as well as a line of leather shoes designed exclusively for Etiqueta Negra by Casa Fagliano, the Argentina-based maker of Prince Charles’ bespoke polo boots. Prices for the princely footwear, which is not available anywhere else in the U.S., begin at $2,500 a pair. They also carry polo gear as well as women’s clothing, though the emphasis is on the menswear.

Bloomberg News is reporting that the store is looking at either a debt restructuring or a bankruptcy filing. Dubai-based investment fund Istithmar World bought the luxury chain at peak value for $942 million in 2007. But after a year of slumping sales the company is feeling the increasing pressure of its boatload of debt. Earlier this year Barneys got a major infusion of money to allow it to pay for its shipments for the rest of the year.

Bloomberg says that Perry Capital, the hedge fund firm that helped finance the 2007 buyout, has been approached by the Canadian department store chain Holt Renfrew on an offer of join control of Barney’s. Holt Renfrew has stores in major Canadian cities including Montreal and Vancouver. Getting a partner might be the best shot for saving the struggling retailer since it’s unlikely that a buyer would come forward at this point. According to the article, Barneys and its owners are still considering what to do. With an uncertain holiday season approaching the store may have to make a move soon. Luxury department stores are cautiously optimistic that this season may be better than last but it probably won’t be strong enough to alter the situation for stores that are struggling.

Why might Holt Renfrew want Barneys? If the Toronto-based chain ever wanted to make forays into the United States this would present a nice opportunity. The chains are of similar size. Holt Renfrew has nine stores throughout Canada. Barneys has nine department stores in major cities and like other stores such as Saks and Nordstrom it also has thriving business in outlets (it has 13) and lower priced stores (19 Co-OP stores). Both stores stock the same types of designer brands including Marc Jacobs, Zac Posen and Michael Kors.

Are shopping malls in the U.S. evolving into more of an outdoor shopping venue such as the Grove in Los Angeles, or are they disappearing entirely. One thing is for certain many malls have a lot of vacant space lately, partly because some of those anchor department stores are disappearing or consolidating. All that vacant space is forcing mall owners to get creative. One mall, the Westfield North County Shopping Mall in Escondido near San Diego, California may move a supermarket into the area that once housed a Robinsons-May store.

Big box retailers like Costco have also moved into some malls, taking over prized anchor spots vacated by department stores. Westfield already has a Gelson’s Market at Westfield Century City in Los Angeles and a Bristol Farms at Westfield San Francisco Centre and has found that overall mall sales have increased as the mall becomes one-stop shopping. There’s a hope that the big retailers will lift the sales of the smaller specialty stores in the same way that department stores did in the past.

Other ideas for attracting patrons to malls including indoor skating rinks, spas and community centers. Another type of mall that seems to be thriving is the specialty mall. The Christian Science Monitor recently had an interesting piece on the rise of ethnic malls which have continued to thrive even in a tough economy. This hints at an idea that for some malls the feature might not be in trying to appeal to everyone just to get them in the door but instead focusing on a select population of shoppers who will remain loyal.

There’s likely no end in sight to the number of iPhone apps to come. So I’m going to tell you about one more, OK? You’ll thank me. Actually, thank The New York Times: Designer fashion hub Net-a-Porter.com released its iPhone application, the Net-App, in mid-July. Shoppers can browse handbags, clothes and shoes; read the site’s weekly fashion stories; and make purchases. The Times noted that even though some people use their cell phones to buy virtual goods to use in mobile games or e-books to read on their phones, the masses have not shown much willingness to buy physical goods – especially expensive ones – from their cell phones. (Kind of like how early online purchases, of anything, were made by the few and the brave; now, it’s second nature.)

But Net-a-Porter.com, which went live in 2000 and states it has 1.8 million visitors a month, succeeded in getting people to buy $4,000 gowns and $1,000 stilettos on the Web, so iPhone app success may be in sight. The potential for shopping on phones “is massive,” said Alison Loehnis, v.p. of sales and marketing at Net-a-Porter.com, in the Times. “We feel very strongly that third-generation technology is the new shop window. No one wants to be bound to their computer anymore.”

Net-a-Porter.com is not the first to offer an iPhone shopping app: there’s Lucky at Your Service from Lucky magazine and ShopStyle Mobile from ShopStyle. Net-a-Porter, however, developed a tool it calls ClosetFlow, which shows users small images of new products to thumb through. Shoppers can zoom in, flip the phone to look at items from different directions, and read more detailed information about them. The shopper can add the items to a wish list to access later from a computer or buy from within the application, without opening a separate browser window.

Loehnis noted in the article: “Our customers love to shop from their homes or offices, but we want our customers to be able to shop from a cab or while waiting in line and really maximize what little free time they have.”

Thanks Luxist

Ever gone on vacation and realized you left your swimsuit behind. Worry no more if you are staying at any of The Standard hotels. Sporty clothing company Quiksilver has partnered with Andr

A project codenamed “Square” is the brand new iPhone-base payment processing system that’s currently being alpha tested at the also brand new Self Edge NYC. In addition to keeping the process paperless, Square makes check-out clean and easy. The innovation is in a small, plastic card reader that fits in to the headphone jack of an iPhone (or iPod Touch) and transfers the credit card’s swipe data to the app (pictured, right). After the employee enters the amount to charge the customer confirms by scrawling their signature with their finger and then either one enters the customer’s email address to send the receipt to. The payment is processed by Square for a small percentage plus a fixed fee; the funds are transferred directly to the store’s bank account, cutting both time and complexity on the processing side. The customer’s receipt includes a map showing the location of the transaction which is handy for those who record, sort and file such things (pictured below).

While allowing anyone from a hot dog vendor to a bike messenger to process credit cards on-the-go, all we can say at the moment is that consumer to business transactions are just the beginning.

The SmartSwipe home credit card terminal plugs into your computer?s USB port so you can happily swipe your life away with the credit card of your choice. Need some more junk for the basement or attic? This?ll help you fill the gap with no messing. It?s not real money, and that chocolate covered toaster looks ever so nice. Shop shop, chop, chop. Swipe and smile. Yours for just $99.95 Canadian. There, you?re saving money already.

SmartSwipe is the new, smarter, more secure way to shop online. The SmartSwipe (by NetSecure Technologies) is the world?s first truly secure personal credit card reader. When you install SmartSwipe, you can swipe your credit card at your home or office computer just like you would in a store. Plug the SmartSwipe into your computer?s USB port, go shopping to your favourite online stores and swipe your credit card ? it is that easy. The best part is that you know your credit card information is safe and secure.

While some buy water others invest in precious metals during times of possible apocalyptic turmoil.

We’re big fans of the weathered, worn look, and these Found Soda Crates ($15) from Pottery Barn follow the tradition well. Once used to transport sodas to old-school bottle-vending machines and classic restaurants, these crates display the kind of wear that comes from decades of real-life use, and they’re just as useful today as they were 50 years ago. Now that’s recycling.