Results tagged “retail”

The current economic situation has not been kind to American retailers. With sales sinking and several wobbly chains going the liquidation route, the U.S. retail landscape might not be the best model to emulate at the moment.

Gift cards may make convenient presents for Christmas, but they're a lump of coal for the environment. According to the Consumers' Association of Canada, Canadians will spend $3 billion on gift cards this year, which means a lot of rectangular pieces of plastic will end up in the garbage. Gift cards can be reloaded to extend use, but a person who receives multiple gift cards for a retailer usually keeps only one to reload and throws away the rest. (For example, 96 million Starbucks cards have been activated since 2001 and the cards have been reloaded more than 38 million times. That's 58 million Starbucks cards either unused or used and tossed in the trash.) In addition, most gift cards are not recyclable, says Givex, one of the largest providers of gift cards.

December is party season, but what if you don't feel like dancing? There's more to holiday dressing than disco-ball metallics and electro-shock hues. Indeed, in today's ever-flashier scene, you're most likely to stand out in a standby—the little black dress. Luckily for you nineties types, local label Common Cloth is a step ahead on the road back to minimalism. For their current fall/winter collection, scissor sisters Melanie Talbot and Kristina Bozzo cut refined, modern...

Last Wednesday, legendary Canadian music retailer Pindoff Record Sales sold off their 72-store Music World chain. Two days later, the new owners filed for bankruptcy protection and and will likely lay off 648 employees by the end of January. And so it goes. According to court documents, Music World plans an "orderly wind down," including closing stores and liquidating inventory. The retailer has been in dire straits for years, propped up by the Toronto-based...

"Hey kids, let's dig out that cowboy gear we bought for Halloween last year and hum the theme to Bonanza on the way to the Western Days hoe-down in Don Mills! Don't forget the toy gun, pardner!"

The Drake Hotel, the Queen West nightspot all the cool kids are contractually obligated to pretend they hate, is throwing down the gauntlet this All Hallow's Eve with their Dead Artist party. Dress as your favourite deceased cultural type and have the chance to win 300 bucks, they say on their website. Torontoist guesses Andy Warhol fright wigs won't be enough to bring home the bacon. You could tape over an ear and go as Vincent, but we'll be aiming higher: Brantford's finest thespian, the late, great Phil Hartman.