Word: fashionability
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...decided the concept needs tweaking. Most of Oxfam's 730 shops across the U.K. are slightly dowdy affairs, crammed with a wide variety of used clothes, bric-a-brac, books and CDs. But the Notting Hill shop - one of three in London recently reopened as high-fashion boutiques - looks downright chic, with polished dark-wood flooring, arty light fixtures, and top-brand ladies' wear displayed on stylish wrought-iron racks. The shop also sells brand-new fair-trade clothes and accessories typically made by London College of Fashion students from organic fabrics, as well as one-of-a-kind items...
...Oxfam is hoping its flight to fashion will boost sagging sales. In 1999, its profits hit a high-water mark of $54 million but have been sliding since, down to $20 million last year. The slump is largely due to increased competition - not only from rival charity shops, but also from discount retailers like Primark and Peacock, which sell trendy new clothes at prices nearly as low as those found in secondhand shops. Says Sarah Farquhar, Oxfam's retailing head: "We realized we needed a different clothing-business model...
...Creating specialty shops dedicated to high fashion was the natural answer. Some Oxfam regulars already knew they could often find real gems buried within the jumble of dull duds packed into ordinary shops. Oxfam had already had good success with other types of specialty stores: it has 120 used-book shops in the U.K. and recently opened five shops dedicated to selling used vinyl LPs and CDs. Farquhar says the Notting Hill shop's makeover should increase that site's revenues 100%. The boutique's average sale is $40, four times the average sale at a regular outlet. The other...
...business solution, one that would give the Redmond, Wash., corporation control of the Weemote trademark - which would seem to make sense, since Nintendo has applied to trademark the Wiimote name in Europe - while helping Fobis rebrand its product. Corporate titans like Microsoft have resolved past trademark problems in similar fashion. Nintendo has so far balked at any such deal. In an email statement, Nintendo spokesperson Charlie Scibetta told TIME, "Because Nintendo does not use and does not plan to use the Weemote trademark, we declined Fobis' offer to purchase it. We wish them success with their Weemote." Legally, of course...
...winning look from the very first episode of the very first season, when we took the designers to a Gristedes grocery store and Austin Scarlett made a dress out of corn husks. It was the closest to couture as a corn husk in America could possibly get. On the fashion front, it was the collaboration of Christian Soriano and Chris March on Season 4, the avant-garde challenge. That dress was magnificent...