When I was younger, Long Island seemed oddly resistant to chain stores, or at least the standalone types that couldn't be contained by a shopping mall. It was a big deal when, during my high-school years, the Island got its first K-Mart. Wal Mart didn't arrive in the 516 until 1995. After that, a series of big-box complexes rushed in, as did new streets to lead people inside their hulking parking structures. (I still have to swallow hard before I can give people directions that incorporate "Corporate Drive.") READ MORE

So much for the Starbucks/Wal-Mart population divide ratio; now Wal-Mart is back in the market for a New York City store. From the department of the obviously obvious: "The retailer is likely to focus on poor neighborhoods where there is a pent-up demand for jobs and supermarkets."

Guess what's currently wrapped in exciting packaging on the corner of 62nd and Madison? Yes, another Hermes store-across the street from the Hermes store! READ MORE

Oh, look, AN OUTLIER. Call Malcolm Gladwell or whoever wrote that book that is about outliers! Hermes revenue is up 12% overall in the second quarter of the year. Things were bananas in Asia, but even in the Americas? Sales were up 14%. We are thinking a lot of that up-tick is in the America called South-but still, the New York store is constantly swamped! Well, the real one. That Wall Street one is a little quiet and lonely.