Thursday, February 12, 2009

Merchandizing - that undefinable something . . . . .
If you have been following my blog for a while you will know that I am a big fan of eclectic shops with quirky personality and bundles of style. The kind of shop that offers a selection of old and new and imported and handmade and displays all those treasures in fabulously vintage cupboards or hanging from old tin ceilings and piled on top of perfectly scruffy old tables. You know what I mean - I know you do. There is a fine line that some stores seem to understand - kind of chic but not shabby chic, slightly bohemian, not too antiquarian, not too much imported stuff but definitely edgy and ethnic, not too many reproduction tchochkes and definitely, no definitely not twee. Why are there so few stores like this now? What has happened to them all? Why is it that Anthropologie is the only large chain store that seems to have figured it out that the average gal wants something special when they go shopping? Why is it that we really are drawn to this undefinable, abstract style of merchandizing?


So far in my travels there are only a handful of stores that fall into this category for me - here are a few(but not all) - Fan Tan Gallery, Victoria BC. Any Anthropologie anywhere. The Rubaiyat, Calgary. Salamagundi, Vancouver BC. Cabin Fever, Sandpoint Idaho, ABC Carpet and Home, NYC. Fish's Eddy, NYC. The Cross, Yaletown Vancouver. Watson Kennedy, Seattle. Most of which I featured here over the last few months.

Now it's your turn - I want to know what stores you have found in your neck of the woods and beyond that just have that undefinable something that sets them apart. Let's make a list . . . . . .
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