You don’t need us to tell you that JCPenney is in the news a lot—and not all of it is good.

But, there’s design and visual news worth noting. The Plano, Texas-based retailer unveiled its newly imagined home department earlier this month at a press event. Read all about it or go see great-looking design with good-looking product from Michael Graves, Martha Stewart, Jonathan Adler, Sir Terrance Conran and Bodum boutiques yourself—it’s worth the effort.

Under Ron Johnson, JCP’s recently ousted CEO, the venerable retailer was to be merchandised into a series of in-store brand shops, designed to attract a younger, hipper customer. Continue reading →

Recently, we saw the opening of & Other Stories on Regent Street, London’s prime retail location. The store is confident, individual, distinctive, busy and, most significantly, owned and operated by H&M. & Other Stories is the latest in a series of openings that has established the H&M group as a manager of many brands, rather than a mono-brand.

Following Arcadia and Inditex, H&M has stretched its operation and used its expertise in the purchase and development of a very intriguing portfolio. Unlike the well-established names in the Arcadia and Inditex stables, H&M’s portfolio is full of promise, potential and personality.

The H&M brand provides a platform for the other brands to take risks; there seems to be an understanding that it takes time to develop a brand, build a customer base and make a connection between the offer, the fit and the end user. Continue reading →

Just about everyone is talking about the new hook up between Target and Facebook.

Target is rolling out Cartwheel, a service that pairs a social network with “deal” pricing. Target’s new program (about a year in development) relies on customers using their Facebook accounts to select the deals they want online. But, the payoff is actually in-store, when the customer presents a barcode (either on paper or mobile screen) at a bricks-and-mortar Target to get the special offer pricing. It grows more “social” when a shopper can see what offers their FB friends have chosen, while claiming them generates automatic News Feed posts on Facebook (unless the user turns them off). Continue reading →

We’ve been reading and hearing quite a lot about signs these days and that got us thinking. Contemplating the craft of making signs and the role signs play in our lives—how signs reflect the intersection of art and commerce.

I visited the new home of the American Sign Museum in Cincinnati, prompted by a recent segment on “Antiques Roadshow.”

The museum boasts one-of-a-kind signs befitting retail Main Street of a bygone time. We’re talking hand-lettered, hand-painted, gold-leafed, porcelain enamel and, yes, neon ones that reflect individual shopkeeps and the community they served, well before graphic design co-opted the word “identity” (remember a discipline called “commercial art”?). Continue reading →

If you really want to rock a Hollywood premiere, searchlights are so old school. When Tommy Hilfiger opened his West Hollywood flagship store in February—at the corner of Robertson and Beverly—they went 3-D, just like the latest blockbuster films.

Team Tommy turned to Pearl Media and Pearl Media Productions (based in Fairfield, N.J.), which produced a “massive” 3-D projection for the street-level store windows, making the Hilfiger brand live in 3-D for passersby to see—sans the dorky glasses. Pearl Media specializes in 3-D projection mapping, interactive storefront advertising and large-format outdoor campaigns.

A nearby building was transformed for the opening event by using its exterior as a giant canvas. Continue reading →