The Power of Retail

I don’t blog half as much as I used to earlier, mostly due to my concentrating on my freelance work. In the past I usually had some dedicated blogging time, but I have had to cut down on that, since I’ve been giving priority to assignments that I get for work. A lot of people think of blogging as work too, but I try to keep it fun and light, else it’s not much of a relaxer is it?

Interestingly, the crescendo of blogging seems to be quietening down a bit lately. The buzz about it is a lot less, the number of new blogs being started per day has also come down and the ones being abandoned is going up as it always has been. So, is the blog party all over? Or is it going to come back in a new form? It will definitely be interesting to watch.

I’ve been using a really wonderful travel site called Responsible Travel, and have found some really great vacation options there. What is so great about this site is that it gives you so many choices from around the world, and so I have looked at destinations that I usually would not have, places such as Morocco, Cyprus and so on. What is so different about this site is that they only list places and resorts that are eco-friendly and responsible to the environment around them. There are thousands of destinations and travel packages listed, some as interesting as cooking holidays in Italy, Spain and many other destinations. I found that to be so interesting and refreshing. Take a look around yourself and you’ll be hooked too!

Ever since I started working at home in 2006, I could not have been happier with my work situation. I simply love the flexibility it affords me and even though I know I could earn a lot more if I worked at a regular job, I don’t think I would be very happy at it. For more and more people that concept of a home based business is gaining in popularity. Many are realizing that their worth is a lot more than their employers are giving them and are deciding to start something of their own. It’s certainly not easy, but if you’re dedicated, professional and organized, it can be done very well. With the current situation of the economy, a lot of stay-at-home moms are also taking up such options, which will give them additional income but also give then access to their kids at all hours.

Siberia might be an unlikely place for a retail revolution, but that’s exactly what is happening! When Ikea opened last winter, shoppers loaded up their carts and yellow bags with everything from household goods, to clothes, appliances and furniture. The Ikea store in the Mega Mall opened on the side of the Ob River and expects 12 million visitors in 2008, making it an unlikely center of a retail boom.

With the retail industry seeing a downturn in the United States, Russia is becoming more and more appealing to retailers from across the world. There are big box stores opening every month and the country is likely to have more than twice as much as mall space than any other country in Europe in 2008. Malls have been around in Moscow for several years, and there are another 38 scheduled to be opening in the city and the surrounding areas by 2010.

The Russian retail sector is attracting so much attention that Ernst & Young and KPMG held a investor road show in London highlighting it last month. There are an expected 49 million sq ft of retail space that is to open in 2007 and 2008, which is more than double the expected shopping area in Poland, the country with the second largest mall development plans.

“You have this incredible purchasing power in these cities retailers want to tap into,” said Charles Slater, a partner working in the Russia office of Cushman & Wakefield, which advises mall developers headed to the Russian hinterlands. “There is a race for land.” That is another reason sparsely built Siberia is so popular.

Developers are turning to the 12 provincial cities in Russia with populations over one million, islands of prosperity with population inflows from rural migration and rising purchasing power, ripe for malls. This retail strategy is known here as the “millions,” and is embraced by leading Western retailers including Ikea and Auchan, the French food chain.

Over the years, fashion has continued to change, but the one segment of the clothing industry that has seen a radical shift is the swimwear industry. Thanks to new technologies, the kind of swimwear we are now seeing in the market is quite different than what was available a generation ago. There are lots of different segments within the swimwear segment, since a lot of people who wear swimming costumes are not actually going to do any swimming. These lounge or poolside swimwear are made more for looking good and glamorous instead of taking the vigors of the water. With the resort season continuing all year round, there is always perfect swimming available somewhere or the other!

Japanese culture and lifestyle are the hottest trends this summer. Everything from movies to fashion, books to games is Japanese inspired. One of the summer’s highly anticipated movies Speed Racer, which is based on the anime from the 1960s. From racks and racks of manga comics at Barnes & Noble to Gwen Stefani’s Harajuku line of fashion, Japanese influences are everywhere to be found.

According to Roland Kelts, a professor at the University of Tokyo and auther of Japanamerica: How Japanese Pop Culture Has Invaded the US, “I mean, [look at] the fact that sushi is available in mainstream supermarkets around the country; the fact that Japanese style, design and architecture are appearing in major cities around the country; [and] the popularity of manga and anime in bookstores and Wal-Mart and Target.”

According to Seiji Horibuchi, president and CEO of VIZ Pictures, “What I think is most appealing about Japanese culture is its amazing mixture of cuteness, coolness and playfulness. Playfulness can allow us to have generous curiosity, to cross borders between cultures, beliefs, genders, ages and so on. I think that’s the true beauty of Japanese culture.”

Where to get Japanese inspired items? FredFlare.com has a large range of items that are cute and Japanese products are a perfect fit for their store. The site carries items such as a spatula that looks like a frog and a pan that has a panda face on it, alongside accessories for crafts.

Today’s generation feels no shame or embarrassment in getting professional help for their problems and going in for a stint of alcohol rehab treatment. Maybe it is because of all the publicity about celebrities going in for rehab of one kind or the other, or maybe it is the changing times. What ever reason it might be, it is a telling change in the way society thinks and judges others. Ultimately, it is for the good of society that those in need of help get it professionally and in the best possible time, so that their personal future and that of the society is not put in jeopardy. It’s not always an easy choice to make I’m sure, and to go through with it means that you have to bare your soul, but if the end result is a positive one and through it you can make changes in your life, then it must be done. And it’s really as simple as that.

Could you be a good trendspotter?

Are you able to notice new products or services that are being offered in your neighborhood?

Well, if you can, then you could become a SpringSpotter. I have been an avid reader of Springwise for many years now and love reading about all the news they have on trends from all over the world. Their network of people who spot trends is called Springspotters and if you think you’re good at this kind of thing, do sign up and you might even win some cool gifts. The concept of being able to participate in such a project, makes looking out for trends even more interesting, right? It’s kind of along the same vein as social networking and participating in global forums.

As retail trends go, the current one for maternity clothes and baby items does not seem to be letting up one bit. This has been quite a long running for all things to do with babies, and if anything the trend is only growing stronger and is branching off to include other items such as furniture and accessories as well. There are a variety of baby boutiques that have been inundated with consumers wanting their children to wear products like the celebrities are selecting for their children and retailers are making the most of this resurgence in interest in all things related to babies.

The one segment of the retail sector that is seeing a great resurgence for the past few years is that of maternity clothing. The trend started off due to the magazines who follow the celebrities, and bit by bit, it has trickled down to the mass level now. For a lot of average consumers, buying maternity clothes used to be a waste of money, since it was only a transient phase and there was always someone or the other to borrow clothes from or get them stitched. The trend now is towards celebrating the body and not hiding it in tent like clothes, so maternity clothes are the center of attention now, with options in a vast price range and materials.