We love it when our retail friends shine bright!

And we’ve got one for you to watch. Check out as our long-time retail friend, Judy Bell, makes her local television debut. View the complete video below or on YouTube.

How much do you love Judy? She is fabulous (and we LOVE the Target shout-outs)! Leave your comments below.

-Heather Strang Continue reading →

For Halloween last year, my sister dressed up as Taylor Swift. She had long flowing blonde curly hair (thanks to extensions) and a plastic guitar that my 3-year-old nephew now plays with. People immediately recognized her and at one point in the evening, she danced around the entire bar lip-synching one of Swift’s most popular songs, “Love Story.”

Since then, Taylor Swift’s fame has risen to unimaginable heights. So, it only makes sense that at some point she was going to have her own store within a store.

Walgreens recently launched its “The Taylor Swift Store at Walgreens,” filled with more Taylor Swift-branded merchandise than any one celebrity should ever have. Continue reading →

Okay, so it’s confession time. I’m pretty sure the week in Vegas for GlobalShop 2012 did this to me, but in any event, confess I must. Here goes.

I have a thing for celebrities. And…reality TV.

I know, I know – it’s wrong. Why would I enjoy anything that involves celebrities (who aren’t even real people for god’s sake!) and “reality” television, which is now so scripted it’s ludicrous to even call it “reality.”

Well, before you come at me with your judgment – I have plenty of my own – hear me out.

It involves retail this time.

Interested? I thought so. Continue reading →

Hot Man Warning: Reading this blog may over-stimulate your senses. Particularly if your senses are stimulated by H&M, Super Bowl ads, and more specifically, David Beckham.

Okay, so you’ve been warned. Now, onto the good stuff…

I’m not going to lie, I don’t watch the Super Bowl for the football (unless checking out the tight uniforms counts). I don’t even watch the Super Bowl for all the delicious (yet incredibly artery-clogging) food that one gets to eat. I watch it solely for the ads.

There, I said it.
Hype or not, retailers pull out all the stops for their Super Bowl ads. Continue reading →

We’re obsessed with the Brits. Have you noticed? Since announcing that their wedding will take place on April 29, 2011, Prince William and Kate Middleton have become all the rage – everywhere.

From minute-by-minute coverage on television shows like "Entertainment Tonight" (which I only watch for research purposes, of course) to its own website, the royal wedding is hot, hot, hot.

And did you think retail would miss out on this obsession? Absolutely not. Any opportunity to tie the royal wedding into promotions, advertising and sales is fair game. Take for example, T.J. Maxx and Marshalls. Reportedly, Kate Middleton (Wait – are we supposed to call her Katherine now? Continue reading →