As a girl, I formed many notions about entrepreneurship by devouring every biography in my elementary school. I loved the stories about how a single person like Abraham Lincoln could influence the world. The founder of the Girl Scouts, Juliette Gordon Low, was notably in the group of innovators and leaders who inspired me with [...]
Archive for the ‘American culture’ Category
Girls, Girls, Girls!
Posted in American culture, Entrepreneurs, Parenthood, tagged George R. Brown Convention Center, Girl Scout Swaps, Girl Scouts, Houston on November 10, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Retail discounts…often just a modern day shell game
Posted in American culture, e-commerce, tagged Bed Bath & Beyond, fake discounts, Filene's Basement, flash sales, MSRP on November 4, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I was in Bed Bath & Beyond recently and the prices seemed high. I paused and thought about their generous return policy, the expense of the store space, and the normally helpful staff. I reminded myself that those things have meaningful costs. But when I got to the cash register I remembered the real reason [...]
Ten years of fashion mistakes, out the door
Posted in American culture, Design, tagged clothing purge, fashion mistakes, Goodwill, Guys and Dolls on October 30, 2011 | 2 Comments »
Thanks to an October snow storm, the power is kaput at my house. I must be very restless, because my neatening up one pile of jeans somehow turned into a full-scale fashion purge. I did a little photo documentary of the effort. Here is the work in progress. Here is the end result of the [...]
It’s not your imagination…those fake ghosts are multiplying like rabbits.
Posted in American culture, Citizen Commerce, Cultural anthropology, tagged Halloween decorations on October 29, 2011 | 2 Comments »
I have some new neighbors. They moved to Massachusetts from DC. Last weekend,as I was out in our front garden planting tulips (Eco Tulips!) the new folks stopped by to chat, seeking direction on how much candy to stock up for Halloween. (They also wanted to know what candy was popular but I couldn’t help [...]
Operating under siege
Posted in American culture, Start-ups, tagged Danielle Chapdelaine, Jamie Weliver, June Hsiao, Katherine Klinger, Leonard Chen, Wendy Chandor on August 30, 2011 | 3 Comments »
As we straggled into the office yesterday morning, after weathering Hurricane Irene, I thought, “It’s getting rather Biblical around here.” I’m sharing a photo essay of what the Boston-based Grommet team has been surviving: The quake was just last week. Although other people in Boston felt it, we did not. That’s probably because one of [...]
The ridiculous and the sublime in a New York john
Posted in American culture, Design, tagged Eataly on April 24, 2011 | 1 Comment »
Look at the upper right of this photo. Why doesn’t every toilet seat have this little “lift here” handle? It could save many a marriage. And in a public restroom like this one it’s like a small smart “gift”. A splash of thoughtfulness. (Pun intended, look closely at the picture.) I have to admit that, [...]
What does the price of tomatoes have to do with anything?
Posted in American culture, Citizen Commerce, tagged Imoakalee Workers, Stop & Shop on February 28, 2011 | 5 Comments »
My eyes perked up when I saw this headline “Farm workers to pressure Stop & Shop.” (Stop & Shop is the most prominent Massachusetts grocery chain.) The thrust of the article is a campaign by the Florida based Coalition of Immokalee Workers to increase the price of tomatoes by $0.01 per pound. The article explains [...]
L.L. Bean understands that even the store door handles matter
Posted in American culture, Cultural anthropology, Design, tagged L.L. Bean on February 1, 2011 | 6 Comments »
I dropped $250 on new X-country ski bindings and boots this weekend. That’s a ton of dough to me. And since I haven’t bought ski equipment in 20+ years, the purchase destination was pretty much a jump ball. I might be more overtly reflective on this kind of decision than the average bear, but most [...]
Real Deal Road Trip No. 12: Yankee and Make Magazine HQ’s
Posted in American culture, Design, tagged Dale Dougherty, Make Magazine, The Old Farmer's Almanac, Yankee Magazine on October 16, 2010 | Leave a Comment »
I’m always surprised at how down to earth small to medium size publisher offices tend to be. Case in point. Here’s where Make Magazine tests the projects they publish. That’s founder Dale Dougherty in the photo. Make Magazine (and parent O’Reilly Media) are in beautiful Sebastopol, California. The field trip there was a real treat [...]
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