It is undeniable that consumerism is experiencing hard times as shoppers scale back on their purchases this year. Below are some retail sector companies that have either closed, are closing or are scaling back in '08 and '09.
If you have any gift cards, store money cards or credit slips from retailers that maybe shuttering all-together, it might be wise to you use them right away lest you lose them.

Here are some of the retailers along with links to the respective news source(s):

Circuit City; Ann Taylor; Lane Bryant, Fashion Bug; Cache; Eddie Bauer; Talbots; J.Jill; GAP; Footlocker; Bombay; Zales; Disney; Home Depot; Linens and Things ; Pacific Sunwear; Pep Boys; Sprint/Nextel; Ethan Allen; Wilson Leather; Sharper Image; KB Toys; and Dillard's.

[ Additional Sources: www.risnews.com ; www.associatedcontent.com ; www.ireport.com ]

Now here's a genius idea. Get your bubble wrap popping-fix, on a daily basis, with this  poster-sized calendar with three hundred and sixty five of them, one for everyday of the year. We're really diggin' its modern look and feel which is appropriate for us design snobs with image-conscious homes and offices.
Just don't let your friends and family pop them all  before Janaury 1st!

For more info visit: www.bubblecalendar.com

Target unleashes twenty-two designers at recessionista prices to help soothe style savvy, cash strapped NY'ers this fall.

With four pop-up Bullseye Bodegas, (that strongly resembles a Café Bustelo / Pantone color chip explosion) staged throughout Manhattan for a limited time, you'll find  chic deals in home, fashion, beauty and accessories.

Labels include:  Anya Hindmarch* | Christiane Lemieux - DwellStudio for Target | Converse One Star | Dean Harris | Isabelle de Borchgrave | Jemma Kidd – JK Jemma Kidd | John Derian* | Jonathan Saunders* | Keanan Duffty | Liz Lange | Marcia Kilgore – Soap & Glory | Michael Graves | Mossimo Giannulli | Napoleon Perdis – NP Set | Petra Strand - Pixi by Petra | Rachel Ashwell | Sean Conway | Sigerson Morrison* |  Sonia Kashuk | Thomas O’Brien | Umberto Savone | Victoria Hagan

*Exclusive preview. Shop these designers before they hit Target stores.

Locations:

Midtown:
101 57th Street at 6th

Union Square:
813 Broadway between 11th and 12th

SoHo:
489 Broome Street between Wooster
and West Broadway

East Village:
325 Bowery at 2nd

For more info visit: www.target.com

For more images on the store concept visit: www.apartmenttherapy.com

Citizen, a brand of watches that we've always admired for their affordability and reliability is the company behind the cool, hip, retro inspired watch brand called Indepenedent. We're not sure what the relationship is as we couldn't find much information online but there seems to be some connection with the Japanese based Tokyoflash Corp. where you can order these limited edition watches straight from the states.

Fasion and tecnology intersect yet again.  First a dope bag design from two Portuguese designers and now an ill, limited edition, hand-made, silver USB jewelry collection via Berlin. This collection ranges from necklaces to bracelets and keychains by industrial designer Tonia Welter and jewelery designer Julia Reymann. International is where it's at!

[ via: www.toniawelter.de ]

With all of the media related hoopla surrounding the new iPhone's release ($199 for the 8GB & $299 for the 16GB), we've been thinking about possibly switching from our Sprint enabled Blackberry's to Apple iPhone's given that the new version will be operating on the 3G network and all. So after going on AT&T's site in search of pricing plans to compare and finding it all a bit vague, we decided to do a Google search and here's an excellent pricing breakdown we found courtesy of the folks over at Apple Insider. It succintly compares the costs of the original iPhone to the new 3G one including monthly SMS charges. Click on the chart below for a larger view.
AT&T is also requiring that all current iPhone subscribers pay an additional $18 to upgrade to an iPhone 3G account.

Lastly don't forget to factor in miscellaneous usage charges, taxes and fees that added on to wireless bills each month. According to Apple Insider, "these charges added nearly $20 in June to an individual AT&T account in New York that was subscribed to the $109/1350 minute iPhone plan."

For now, I think we'll stick to our Blackberry.

[ via Apple Insider ]

Get your Ivan Lendl on with the retro look of the Adidas Tennis Super...our choice for this spring/summer's white must have kicks.

Catch Republica Eyewear on the new VH1 show Viva Hollywood where contestants compete for a chance at a $100,000 prize and a telenovela contract with Telemundo. Hosts are Maria Conchita Alonso and Carlos Ponce. Judges include: Daisy Fuentes, Charo, Cheech Marin and Sofia Vergara to name a few. Here's a clip from the season premiere featuring our Barcelona & Sucre frames.

In this spring fashion segment, BET's Danella and Ray J both rock Republica Eyewear. She the Sucre frame in Tortoise and he the Bangkok frame in gold.
For more info visit: shop.republicatrading.com

On their website, U.K. based Continental Mobiles describes itself as "Bespoke British Tailoring for Luxury Mobile Phones & Exclusive Gifts"... and luxury they are 'ol chap. You can snag iPods, iPhones, Nokia, Samsung and LG mobile phones in 24K yellow gold, white gold, rose gold or platinum. The only question we have now is how does this modification affect their phones warranties? 
[ iPhone shown in rose gold: £1199 GBP Sterling ]