We're a couple of swells

It's holiday catalog season, bringing lots of flowery copy trying to lend a little extra intrigue to clothing and housewares (number one culprit: J. Peterman). I think this establishment manages more successfully than most.

"The moment when a man truly feels a Man, in the most James Bondian sense of the word, is while he is tying his bow tie in front of the mirror, a bottle of vintage champagne cooling on the dressing table, and he catches a fleeting glimpse of a lady in French underwear skipping into the bathroom. If he has merely caught the reflection of the television set, which is showing another rerun ofBasic Instinct - he is still that Man if he is tying his bow tie himself and not using a ready-tied one."

The Chap Shop

Japanese convenience stores

Pico Iyer wrote an article describing the branch of Japanese convenience store chain Lawson's where he spent so much time that the cashier cried when he said he was moving away. Japanese convenience stores offer a much larger range of products and services than their American counterparts, even those owned by the same corporate parent. Unlike the fancy schmancy McDonald's, this is a retail trend I'd really like to make its way over here. According to this item in the Washington Post:

At FamilyMart, customers can make appointments for someone to vacuum their home. At 7-Eleven (now run by a Japanese-owned company), there's a drop-off laundry service. To cater to Japan's oldest-in-the-world population, the Lawson chain has invented "Lawson Plus" stores, which carry false-teeth cleanser, hair dye and bouquets suitable for graves. Aisles are wider, signs have larger print, and there are massage chairs with blood-pressure machines nearby.
...
Japan is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries, and convenience stores here are trying to corner the market on worst-case scenarios. When Big Ones hit, they let government agencies take advantage of their ubiquity for the delivery of emergency water and other supplies.

WaPo: Japanese Stores Take Convenience To a New Level

Berkeley Bowl

It's a shame that caring about what you eat is often equated with being a pompous ass, but this L.A. Times article about a legendary Berkeley grocery store proves that the two are by no means always mutually exclusive.

The Big Money: Big Shop of Horrors