In October of 2001, I walked into William-Wayne & Co. in New York City with no appointment. I asked for the owner, was introduced to the co-owner, and suggested he build a website. The two owners, William and Wayne, agreed to discuss it further with me and we scheduled a meeting. Nine months later, William-wayne.com was born.
We’ve updated the website since then, but the fundamentals have stayed the same.
It all started with William & Wayne &...
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How Amazon privatizes public spaces for its own profit
February 14, 2024
This is a daily sight on 8th St. in the East Village of New York City, a spot historically chockablock with indie, brick-and-mortar shops. This is an Amazon truck and freelancers who have taken over the street (it’s a no standing zone) and sidewalk as their own. This is one way Amazon sells things for less: it turns public streets and sidewalks into its “warehouses” and “stores.” Imagine you’re a local business with a roof and rent. You can’t compete ...
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Designer Don Estabrooks just may have the most compelling flatware portfolio ever. The longtime Towle Silversmiths designer joined the company in the mid-’60s and has created hundreds of flatware patterns in an almost six-decade (and counting) tenure.
Perhaps his greatest achievement is Wave, which debuted in 2004 to rousing fanfare and has been at the top of the charts ever since. Chris Wile, another longstanding staffer (33 years), is president of Lifetime Brands/Metals (which owns ...
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Inspired by a storybook setting nestled in the French Alps, enjoy après-ski with mulled wine and a hearty meal served on this charming collection depicting Santa’s snowy village.
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How to quickly view and navigate between all products in a collection.
November 28, 2023
Your Shop Local Store has a new feature: We've made it easier to view and browse through products in a collection. A product's Details page now displays thumbnail images for all products in the collection.
Previously, one could only click the "Next" button to navigate to the next product in the collection. If one wanted to view all products in a collection, one had to browse to a brand's Home (Collections) page. With this update, one can quickly view all products in a collection and...
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Looking to add some new traditions to your holiday gatherings this year? Look no further than the Forest Walk Gratitude Banner! This banner was inspired by a beloved family tradition and is designed for families to hang in their homes and pin gratitude messages throughout the season. The banner features our Forest Walk motif and is a perfect way to add gratitude to your home this season. 💖✨
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Amazon and third-party delivery services have setup a “warehouse” outside the Astor Place USPS office. This is not a truck parking for five minutes. This a day-long, everyday occurrence. I’ve seen this same scene on a daily basis all around the city for the last three years.
This hurts local retailers. While the local businesses pay extra taxes to operate a store in southern Manhattan, it costs Amazon much less to park a delivery truck (permanently?), put ...
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Brighten up your home with a touch of Sicilian tradition by VIETRI. Sicily has a tradition dating back generations of displaying female and white sculptural heads, and they are often used as planters on doorsteps, porches, and balconies. No matter the placement, these handcrafted Sicilian Heads are sure to be a conversation starter. There are 7 different styles to choose from. Stop in to see our selection.
Join us for an irresistibly Italian experience with VIETRI's Susan Gravely! She will be...
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What Threads can teach us about leveraging our existing network when launching a new service.
July 22, 2023
Threads, a new Twitter-like service from Meta, the owner of Instagram, launched this month and almost immediately attracted 40m active daily users. The service’s growth has since stalled and now has just over 10m daily users, but that is still commendable. The Wall Street Journal shared that this impressive launch was largely possible because Meta used its built-in network of one billion Instagram users. This user base helped it overcome the “cold start” problem of acquiring ...
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Visit Glassworks and Cheeks and Feathers during the Annual Shadyside Sidewalk Sale, which takes place Wednesday, July 26th - Sunday, July 30th from 10 am to 5 pm each day. Head down to Walnut Street and it's side streets next week to find bargains. Shop your favorite stores and boutiques to find products at incredible discounts. Most local retail businesses will participate, offering up to 80% off regular retail! Glassworks and Cheeks and Feathers will offer the best deals of the year! Savvy ...
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Nice to see this sign at an indie store, The Art of Simple, in Seaside, Florida.
“You may not know this, but if you shop with Amazon.com, you are not supporting small local businesses. If you want Amazon to be the world’s only retailer, keep shopping online at Amazon.com.
If you enjoy shopping in our store, buy from us. We appreciate your support. Thank you.”
If I were asked, I’d recommend these tweaks to this:
Susan Gravely – alongside her sister, Frances, and mother, Lee – founded VIETRI 40 years ago after a serendipitous vacation where they discovered the charms of Italian ceramics. Gravely’s new book, Italy on a Plate, equal parts travelogue/cookbook/memoir, is a culinary delight celebrating four decades of bringing the best of Italy’s tableware to an adoring fan base.
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You and I go back almost to the start of VIETRI in 1983. [Editor&rsquo...
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How big data, filters, and search engines can help us create a better experience for our members.
May 26, 2023
Apple announced last month that it's launching a new classical music app. What’s novel about the Apple Music Classical app is how it lets music fans more easily search thousands of variations of the same song. For example, let’s say you want to find a Johann Sebastian Bach song. Over the past 300 years, many musicians have done ‘covers’ of his works, and there are variations by conductor, music, year, etc., thereby producing thousands of variations. Existing software ...
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Your kitchen should feel like a comfortable and well-designed space - enhancing the way you feel when you walk into it. That's why we created the Wildflower collection—to bring an extra dose of comfort to your home with thoughtful details that enhance your existing style 🌸
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While drinking Athletic, a non-alcoholic (fake!) beer, I noticed that its box proclaims that it gives back 2% to local trails. I love walking trails, and I thought: the next time I venture to have a sober night, I’ll pick up another box of Athletic. (Thanks, Athletic, for giving out $2.5m in trail grants.) Warby Parker gives a pair of eyeglasses for each pair bought (they've given 10m pairs!), while Bombas does this for socks. Bookshop.org gives a percent back to small ...
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Celebrating the bounty of friends and abundant fare at harvest time, we’ve invited four new guests to our Autumn Thanksgiving table! Part of Juliska's cherished Forest Walk collection, a stately stag, regal pheasant, thoughtful fox, and charming squirrel are featured in the corners. The beautifully woven linen napkin is bordered with a painterly Fall motif. Stop at the Shadyside store to see them. Glassworks can help you with all of your Thanksgiving entertaining needs!
The Walk in the Woods Deer add festive forest style to your Fall or Holiday tabletop. Made of hand-painted resin, they have golden antlers and hooves of Courtly Stripe, while around their necks are collars of golden acorns. Measurements of these these impressive pieces: Standing Deer is 3" wide, 12" long, 16" tall, and the Sitting Deer is 4.5" wide, 10.5" long, 12.5" tall. Stop at the Shadyside store to check them out.