I was walking up Lexington Avenue to Project on Monday and saw “Voodoo Guru” written on the sidewalk in yellow chalk.  I didn’t think much of it, this is New York and someone is always promoting something on the sidewalks: bands, store openings, sometimes it’s simply drunken scribble… It didn’t occur to me that Voodoo Guru was a new menswear collection...

The Saturday over Memorial Day weekend, Old Navy had a $1 flip flop promotion (marked down from their already promotional two pairs for $5). A friend of mine was leaving for Miami that afternoon and wanted to pick up a couple pairs for the trip. We went to the store in Astoria, Queens and when we arrived, there was a line down the street. I couldn’t believe...

The highly anticipated British chain Topshop/Topman made its New York debut yesterday. The excitement was palpable and the line of people waiting to actually spend money was literally wrapped around the block.

It may have been the six-month delayed opening, the free coffee distributed to the waiting hordes by neighboring store Madewell, the free samples...

Earlier this week I was on a market appointment with the president of a multi-brand showroom. He mentioned a recent meeting with a buyer from a high-end specialty department store. The buyer told him that he would only buy a particular European collection if the vendor drastically reduced his wholesale prices. The buyer explained that he’s been instructed...

I first met Saks' custom clothing specialist Domenico “Mimmo” Spano at a seminar when I was just an MR intern. When I ran into him again a couple months later in a subway station, I didn’t need to reintroduce myself—he remembered exactly who I was.

At left, the author gets a smooch from Mimmo.

Mimmo’s humility and genuine good heartedness are part of...