nous allons à Paris

Today is the first day of Spring.....and every year my thoughts stray to Paris. I can't help it I'm a hopeless Francofile. This year I was fortunate enough to express my love of France. The Philadelphia Flower Show choose "Springtime in Paris as its theme. No problem here, Suzanne Roberts accepted the theme for their newly arrived spring groups [some of which are French]. click on the first day phrase and take a small trip to Paris

Then and Now the 60's..

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/19/opinion/19walker.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha212

 The resurgence of commercial interest in the 60's has exploited all the icons that I embraced as a teenager. I have been busy googling peace signs and the Haight for the past 2 years. It is clear to me that the 25 to 35s are enamored with the decade as well as the 10 to 16 year olds. We boomers have a very different take on the 60s, [because we were there]. Last week saw the tragic death of a character that all this nostalgia has ignored. I am sure all of you readers of a "certain age" will remember Augustus Owsley. Owsley was the first to market L.S.D. talk about timing...He made a fortune before the feds put an end to his endeavor. Owsley Acid was the Dom Perignon of all illegal substances. Hit the link to read his obit. in the Times. True to form the Times compares him to Steve Jobs to give the writing modern relevance. Sorry people...I was there, It ain't the same thing. Peace, man

   

Here it is, the new blog, after a few years writing “A Life in Retail”, I am branching out. I am tired of bemoaning my fate and complaining about what a mess the retail world has become. This blog will be an all out no holds barred expression of what I have done, what I am able to do and what we can do for you.

Over the past year my colleague, Lynne Desmond and I have been discussing a melding of our talents. Lynne and I represent an impressive body of work. We agree we should  spread it around and share it, in order to past the knowledge on.

We believe that is it is high time that we make our lifes work apparent and accessible. There is too much experience here to sit back and let the current conditions defeat us. We will not let beautiful display and merchandising become a quaint memory of department stores from long ago. Call us old school, but that’s where we learned our craft, from the Display directors who redefined the 20th century store , Bonwit Teller, Saks, Wanamaker’s, Strawbridge’s, Higbee’s, Halle’s, Gimbel’s, just to mention a few.The great Department stores knew the importance that display staffs played in their success; long before “marketing” tried to convince us that display was dead. Nothing will replace the art, creativity, ingenuity and knowledge at work in the mind of an experienced display professional.

It is our intent to become your own “Display Department”.

We have an answer for your every question. Forget the excuses and blame placing. The only way out of this current retail malaise is to work harder and provide customers with the excitement and service they crave. It’s time to put the fun back in shopping.We love comments and links of interest, don't hestitate to join in.