Issue no. 274

Boulevard today!

Our plans don't always succeed. A report on the grand boulevards was planned, as these are still the most important shopping areas. Much more vital than all the glass palaces, that is, shopping palaces, of the world. Admittedly nostalgic, I immediately thought of the Via Veneto, though, of course, it is no longer what it once was. There is much to see in Rome but definitely no stimulating show windows or stores. Then, when I was strolling through Saigon's major shopping mile and saw the Vuitton handbags in crookedly hung birdcages, I somehow lost all interest in globalized show window motifs, miserably executed and neither interesting customers nor capable of attracting them into the stores. By the way - I saw not a single customer in all the renowned brands strung out like pearls along the Dong-Khoi. At the Chinese market (Bing Tay market), in contrast, it was hard to get through. But that is completely different story! That's why there is now so much more to report on the new Swarovski in Vienna, about an exceptional shopfitter duo in Recife, about a well-conceived sports store concept and its implementation in Austria, and so forth. Activity in New York stores suggests an incipient pre-Spring. Sometimes humorously, in more or less convincing fashion, but always striving to provide the needed color accent to the bustle of the big city.

This issue will definitely not be boring. And the shopping miles, still very inviting as always, will undoubtedly remain one of our permanent themes.