The New York Times shares a salacious story about Sherry-Lehman, a world-famous wine shop. The story recounts how the retailer was hit by tariffs, online competitors, and COVID shutdowns. It had borrowed excessively, which many retailers do. At first, it reads like a Bed Bath & Beyond obituary. But then the owners veered into the criminal realm. They sold rare wine to new customers that belonged to existing customers, in other cases didn’t deliver what was sold, and ...
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Sam Gross, who drew many cartoons for The New Yorker, passed away this month at the age of 89. I've been a The New Yorker cartoon fan for years, and often include them in the footer of our emails to clients.
I'd not thought of the people behind those cartoons, but it's people like Sam that labor over them.
An East Village Artist’s Death Prompts a Reflection on the State of Indie Retailers Today
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While thumbing through the Times, I noticed a smiling young woman’s picture in the obituaries. In the black and white photograph, she's standing on a fire escape with a historic building and a bridge in the distance. I was initially attracted to Ronni Solbert’s 1959 picture, yet I was even more drawn in by what I noticed next to her photo: a children&...
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In the movie Glengarry Glen Ross, a motivational speaker played by Alec Baldwin addresses a group of salesmen. He writes three letters vertically on the chalkboard, “A B C.” He explains that the acronym means "Always Be Closing."
The way that Baldwin's character thinks about sales, I may think about reading. I think of: "ABR,” Always Be Reading. Whether it's breakfast, lunch, or dinner, I try to get in a page or two of the Times, Wall St. ...
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When I explain Bridge's Product Syncing service, I sometimes compare the service to the store-within-a-store concept at the mall. I didn't know that Jerry Chazen, who helped found Liz Claiborne, pioneered that concept in the 1980s. Thank you, Jerry.
"Are you happy?” That’s a question you may ask yourself. Your parents and friends also likely inquire (I hope!). While it may seem flaky to say, happiness is important. This topic was the subject of Dr. Edward Diener, who passed away in April of this year. Dr. Diener, who studied happiness and earned the moniker “Dr. Happiness,” reported that happiness often correlates with social relationships, being with others, and not being alone.
Martha Nierenberg, co-founder of Dansk, passed away at 96. She had fled the Nazis, worked at M.I.T., and fought to regain her family’s artwork. Nierenberg and her husband (who passed in 2009) brought the Dansk products (designed by Jens Quistgaard) to the U.S. market and created the Dansk brand.
Dansk in Danish means: Danish.
The School of Visual Arts (SVA) did a retrospective on Dansk which can be found here:
I’m writing to sadly share that my dad Don Solarek passed away last week. He was quiet, thoughtful, and would gladly walk in New York City from the Battery to Harlem.
Don always had time to chat with me, share a story, give a lesson, and encourage me. He helped me with my paper route at 6 am when it was 3º in Rochester. He came to every high school cross country race and wrestling match—which were often held around 3:30 pm. Likely not ...
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December 6, 2015
December 6, 2015
We all owe Chuck Williams a thank you. He popularized cooking and home goods as we know it. Thank you Chuck for bringing Paris and the world into our homes.
Thank you Adrian Frutiger for inspiring my business card. Oh, and creating almost every single sign and credit card image the world knows. You changed the face of the world.