Here’s a Neiman Marcus store in Washington D.C., I’ve never been inside one of these before that I can remember.

Supposedly they are very nice, with good service and quality clothes.

I actually have an excuse for never having been inside a Ross’s - there were none close by to where I used to live. Since this one is right near the Trader Joe’s I frequent, I’ll be sure to go inside and see what Ross’s is all about.

I of course took a picture with my cell phone:

The picture doesn’t do it justice - but its pretty impressive that CVS is able to afford a retail location right on the strip in Las Vegas.

The idea struck me because Trader Joe’s sells a reusable bag for $0.99. Not a bad price if you think about it, but I resisted thinking: “I already have a bunch of bags!”

I used to even use them at the super market. The Hannaford Super Market in Quincy, Massachusetts used to offer $0.05 off per bag you re-used - so of course I was convinced. Then the unfortunate happened - I put the bags under the sink and they got wet, and then got gross.

So now I need to find a replacement bag. I’ve got a couple of duffel bags that might work… yeah I think I’ll try that next time. One reason why I like store bags is because its so obvious you aren’t shop lifting. If a customer has a duffel bag full of products, the store manager might think that they are trying to get a “five finger discount”. Sure you have the receipt to back up your purchase, but what if you lose or forget it? Maybe I’ll hold off on bringing my own bag until radio frequency identification (RFID) chips are available on everything. Not only would you not have to go to the register, it would be incredibly easy to know if a customer leaving the store with a product has paid for it or not. Unfortunately that won’t be for some time… maybe the Trader Joe’s reusable bag would be a good compromise.

As a side note - shopping bags are also in the news. New York City is considering a tax on shopping bags. There are some other places that do this - Bonaire for example. I think it makes sense, but it could have other problems I’m not aware of.

I’ve had a suspicion that the mall owners of the world will be hurting based upon the seemingly continuous flow of bad news from retailers: Starbucks, Circuit City, and Williams Sonoma, among others.

Source: http://money.cnn.com

I actually had a Starbucks coffee this morning- the first time in a very, very long time. It was a little splurge I felt like going for. In lieu of buying Starbucks for the last few years, we’ve been instead going to our local independent coffee shops. It has been a conscience effort on our part to support our neighborhood instead of the chains. For us that means the small businesses in Providence’s East Side and Pawtucket’s Oak Hill area. For coffee specifically, it’s Seven Stars and Three Sister’s Cafe. Don’t get me wrong- Starbucks coffee is good, but overly-expensive, and there is something about its cookie cutter chain store appearance that after awhile, became boring, stuffy and even hautey. And our local guys are a little cheaper and actually even better and consistent. With Seven Stars and Three Sisters, I feel little attitude (esp when I order decaf- I’m pregnant so caffeine is on a break), and get a warm, welcoming, family-like atmosphere at both.

I don’t want to see Starbucks go down, I don’t want to see more people loose their jobs. But I have to say I will keep supporting our neighbors instead of big chains hoping to help ensure their lively-hoods in the near future.

The article at Bloomberg quotes an analyst saying something about the store filing for bankruptcy before Christmas, and I have to chime in on that too. Do they already have their holiday inventory? What about Black Friday and Cyber Monday?

Source: Bloomberg

Yes folks, without having to state the obvious, our economy is in dire straights.

The consumer is usually resilient to the ups-and-downs of the financial markets, buying stuff they need, as well as stuff they simply want. Our economy is facing more than just bouncy markets - its facing deflated housing values, increasing job losses, and increasing foreclosures.

I keep saying “unfortunately”, but again its very unfortunate that this is still not the last phase of the process to any type of financial rebirth. We’ll probably have to go through a few more doldrums before seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. DOH! When the retailers are forced to close more shops, many employees will be laid off as well.

Source: Retailers Report a Sales Collapse

I guess this news isn’t too surprising, considering that since the word first got around the economy has only gotten worse.

Hopefully they’ll release a list of the closings, I want to make sure that the one I’ve been to here in Maryland doesn’t close.