As part of Lanvin’s 120th anniversary, Alber Elbaz has designed two stamps for the French postal service, La Poste, illustrated with his iconic playful doodles.

The insanely collectible stamps will debut early next year.

The 120th aniversary collection goodies also features limited edition ceramic hearts, pencils, paper presses and notebooks for sending to loved ones in the post! They will go on sale at the post office based on Rue des Mathurins in Paris.

Lanvin’s mother-and-daughter logo will feature on packs geared to stamp collectors.

For those unable to make it down to the brick-and-motar postal office, fret not, as an online Lanvin store will be created for the occasion on the post office’s Web site!

Hooray! Don’t the stamps look absolutely crazily maniacally adorable??

They look almost deliciously edible. Yum.Yum.

The Tulsa World reported that longtime Route 66 business McElroy Tire, at 1545 E. 11th St., will close at year’s end. It had been there since the early 1930s, but company President Kent McElroy said the firm had been squeezed financially by national tire chains and discount stores.

McElroy Tire is notable for its big purple and yellow sign, which once was festooned with neon.

— We’d noticed an ad in the Joplin Globe for a restaurant for sale on Route 66. After a phone call, we determined it was the Chili Willy’s in Baxter Springs, Kan., and it’s for sale for $90,000. If you’re interested, call 620-202-0085.

— I learned through my Twitter account this week that Tomato Graphics has produced “Route 66 Guide: Texas Panhandle Edition.” I’m not sure where the magazine is going to be distributed. However, you can peruse the edition online here. The “Murder on 66″ story is particularly good.

— Noted Route 66 photographer Quinta Scott is holding a Christmas sale for her prints. If you buy two of her black-and-white 8-by-10 prints for $47 each, you get one free. You can order them at AlongRoute66.com. Scott’s photographs were featured in “Route 66: The Highway and Its People” and “Along Route 66.” She is among the first to document the Mother Road in photographs after it was decertified. It’s worth poking around the site; you’ll see some properties that have been gone for a very long time.

Stats Point to a Recovery

Coremetrics had some interesting data on how users behaved on retail websites as well. The average bounce rate rose by nearly 40% and browsing sessions decreased by 5%, suggesting that consumers were focused less on “window shopping” and more focused on specific items and deals. If they couldn’t find them on a specific website, they left.

The biggest winners seem to be apparel and jewelry retailers. The data says that the amount spent per order for these websites increased by about 25%. Part of it is department store websites, which had a flood of new customers visiting their websites this Black Friday.

Black Friday has always been an important barometer for the health of the holiday shopping season and the economy. These numbers are reassuring and encouraging, although it’s still just data from a single day. We’ll have to see what the final numbers are for this holiday season to really know if we’re through the worst of the global economic downturn.

Black Friday is the Friday following Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which is the beginning of the traditional Christmas shopping season. The term dates back to at least 1966, although its usage was primarily on the East coast. The term has become more common in other parts of the country since 2000. Because Thanksgiving falls on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, Black Friday occurs between the 23rd and the 29th of November. According to Reuters, in 2007 135 million people participated in the Black Friday shopping rush.^[1]

Black Friday is not an official holiday, but as many employees have the day off as part of the Thanksgiving holiday, this increases the number of potential shoppers. Retailers often decorate for the Christmas and holiday season weeks beforehand. Many retailers open extremely early, with most of the retailers typically opening at 5AM or even earlier. Some of the larger retailers (depending on the location) such as Sears, Best Buy, Macy’s, Toys “R” Us, and Walmart have been reported to open as early as midnight on the start of Black Friday in localized areas and remain open for 24 hours throughout the day until midnight the following Saturday. Upon opening, retailers offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. Although Black Friday, as the first shopping day after Thanksgiving, has served as the unofficial beginning of the Christmas season at least since the start of the modern Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in 1924, the term “Black Friday” has been traced back only to the 1960s.

The term “Black Friday” originated in Philadelphia in reference to the heavy traffic on that day (see Origin of the name “Black Friday” below). More recently, merchants and the media have used it instead to refer to the beginning of the period in which retailers go from being in the red (i.e., posting a loss on the books) to being in the black (i.e., turning a profit).

Fade Fave: £6m to help North West small builders go greener

Fade Skinny: Over the next three years, funding worth £6m will be used to assist and advise small construction companies operating in the region. A partnership of northern universities, led by the University of Salford’s Centre for Construction Innovation, has secured the cash from a variety of sources.

(Print Subscription Held by the Fade Library)

I suspected that a proposed highway bypass in the Route 66 town of Holbrook, Ariz., would eventually encounter some opposition.

It looks like the opposition is happening. According to the Tribune-News, the Holbrook City Council is considering a resolution to oppose a plan to route traffic from Highways 77 and 377 away from Holbrook and onto Interstate 40.

The resolution presented by staff to the council stated opposition to any bypass of Holbrook by the Arizona Department of Transportation. It also stated that the city opposes the construction of any new highways in or around the city that have the stated purpose of bypassing Holbrook. The reasons cited in the resolution were that the cost of building a new controlled-access highway would be enormous, requiring the acquisition of thousands of acres of new rights of way, and the high cost of concrete and asphalt, putting a tremendous burden on taxpayers and future highway users.

In addition, the resolution stated that a new controlled access highway bypass would divert vehicles away from existing businesses that are dependent upon commerce generated from traffic on existing highways.

The council will consider amending or voting on the resolution after gathering more information from public hearing scheduled for mid-December about the bypass.

But considering that Holbrook saw its businesses languish after Interstate 40 supplanted Route 66 decades ago, it shouldn’t be a surprise that the townsfolk aren’t going to accept a new, proposed bypass without some semblance of a fight.

UPDATE: Highway engineer Richard Moeur has some of the reports from the state about the proposed bypass.

Source: Forbes, Francesca Levy, 9.30.09

In determining the top cities to earn a living, Forbes magazine considered a number of key factors including: low cost of living, job growth, premium commercial environment, and home to businesses in growing, high-paying industries.  Austin ranked fourth in the nation.  Here are the top ten:

1. Dallas
2. Houston
3. Minneapolis
4. Austin
5. Washington, D.C.
6. St. Louis
7. Seattle
8. Atlanta
9. Kansas City
10. Denver

The market enviroment has a direct influence on the business ,because this is where copetitors compete ,where the customer is found and where the suppliers and intermediaries operate.So crucail business transaction take place in this environment . Therefore most of a business opporunities or threats are found here .For an exsample a strong copetitor could be a very serious  threat to the excisiting businessses operating in the same market.At the same time ,if a company finds it difficalte to compete with a strong competitor ,it may identify other needs that it can satisfy in the community and in so doing exploit (utilise)an opportuninity in that market .CELL C was a late entramce in the cellulare phone marketplace and from the word start was under threat because it was competeing against two established competetors (VODACOM and MTN).CELL C identified a need for a diffrent and cheaper structured usage for cell phone users ,providing sustantail savings to pre-paid  as well as contracts customers .Today Cell c a niche player in the market and has carved out a viable target market against tough competitors

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Lufthansa is having their Open House sale, the sale which you can look forward to having more discounted flights than ever!

This has to be one of the bigger sales offered by a non-budget carrier.

It starts tomorrow, so make time in your appointment schedules!

These sales are NOT AVAILABLE ONLINE.

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Additionally, for tickets purchased on these 2 respective days, you are entitled to a Lucky Draw, and the prizes are:

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A UNAIDS study in the year 2000 on the impact of HIV/AIDS on the Kenya predicted that the scourge would leave the Kenyan economy one-sixth smaller than it would have been in the absence of HIV/AIDS. Well, the pandemic has wreaked more havoc both on the economy as well as business.

Not only has the scourge adversely affected productivity and costs, but HIV/AIDS continues to have an invidious effect that is unquantifiable but yet profoundly impacts enterprise.

Absenteeism is usually the first and most common impact on business productivity. The number of days an employee reports to work can be measured, but this can also be a trigger for discord in labour relations when other healthy workers have to shoulder the responsibilities of the absentee.

The next impact is usually a loss of vital skills, which in turn makes entrepreneurs hesitant to invest in training for their employees. Most times, when a small business owner sponsors an employee to training they also expect that this employee will act as some sort of champion of the newly learned skill or knowledge, spreading it amongst the other employees. Thus the loss caused by AIDS doesn’t just end with the illness or death of that employee.

Finally there is the emergence of a loss of morale amongst the other staff members. What else can you expect when attending funerals of colleagues and their family members becomes a common event.

On World AIDS Day, the National AIDS Control Council should salute small businesses that take measures to protect their workers who are uninfected, whilst offering appropriate support and services to those who are infected. These are the entrepreneurs who are on the front-line fighting the scourge that threatens to shrink and sink the economy.

The government on its part could also provide incentives to small business entrepreneurs by introducing tax incentives for greater involvement in AIDS prevention.

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The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, Calif., posted quite an article about Gus Lizalde, who purchased the Route 66 hamlet of Chambless, Calif., years ago and hopes to eventually businesses in that spot.

He described his vision for a multimillion-dollar makeover.

“It’s going to be a full-blown restoration to the way it was built,” Lizalde said. “I want to bring back that nostalgia.”

The renewed Chambless would feature “totem” gasoline pumps with meters that look like clock faces. Lizalde said he wants to track down original pump bodies and retrofit them with modern gas-delivery and metering systems.

The main building would have a 1950s-style diner, a tavern and a souvenir/convenience store. He intends to fix up the nine concrete cottages behind the main building and build a swimming pool in the shield shape of the Route 66 road sign.

For the trailer park area, Lizalde envisions hauling in about 50 vintage Airstream trailers, refurbishing them and renting them out.

Why Airstreams? “They are so cool,” he answered.

Lizalde remains optimistic because the federal Bureau of Land Management is considering dozens of solar-power applications in the Mojave Desert, including three close to his property. But that development may be threatened by legislation.

Lizalde’s excitement about the solar projects explains why he is worried about a move to create what backers have called a Mother Road National Monument. It would honor Route 66 and its colorful past as a conduit for dust-bowl refugees flooding into California and later as an east-west ribbon of freedom for vacationing Americans.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is drafting federal legislation that would create the monument on public land in eastern San Bernardino County, from the Mojave National Preserve on the north to Joshua Tree National Park on the south. It is expected to prohibit energy development in some areas.

Monument supporters fear development of too many wind and solar projects in territory used by the desert tortoise, a threatened species, and other wildlife.

But Lizalde pointed out railroad tracks and a limestone pit sit near his property, and that the area “is not pristine” environmentally.

I agree the proposed monument may be too much of a good thing, and that the Route 66 Alliance, which supports the monument, needs to advocate a compromise that helps meet America’s future energy needs and supports start-up businesses such as Lizalde’s.

Lizalde has a sporadically updated blog about Chambless here.

UPDATE: Jim Hinckley at Route 66 Chronicles, upon reading the story about Chambless and the issues involved, wrote this thoughtful piece.

pretty in pink…

Ecosystems recently opened a new store kiosk in Waikele Premium Outlets near the Guess store.  Owners Todd Yamanaka, Chris Meheula, and Thaddeus Park had the store’s opening just in time for this year’s Black Friday.  Ecosystems in Waikele is open Monday thru Saturday from 9 am to 9 pm and open Sundays 10 am to 6 pm. 

Ecosystems New Waikele Kiosk

Eco Systems is a clothing and accessory boutique shop that carries men’s and women’s apparel.  The brands they carry are specialty hip-hop, surf, skater, and down right trendy apparel.  They cater to those who think outside the normal department store brands and want to stand out in a crowd.  Find that hot Lucy Love dress, fly Obey t-shirt, or Skull Candy accessory (just to name a few). 

Most people may be familiar with their main location in Ward Warehouse.  Art, Music, and Culture is the store’s motto and can be seen through out the store’s clothing and accessories. 

Waikele Premium Outlets are located at 94-790 Lumianina Street Waipahu, HI  96797.  For the Eco Systems’ specific location and to download a map visit http://www.premiumoutlets.com/outlets/store_listing.asp?id=29.

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Dr. Ben and the awesome ladies at the Breaux Bridge Chiropractic clinic asked me to do some photos for their Christmas cards and coming-soon Web site. We headed out to the Isabelle Inn (where I did the Landry family photos), to see what we could get into. The idea was professional, yet natural. What do you think? Did we get it right?

Emily is ready to take Max for a ride at the Route 66 Riding Stables in east Tulsa.

A couple of weeks ago while cruising the East 11th Street portion of Route 66 in rural Tulsa, we noticed a bunch of saddled horses on the old Brashear’s “Rent a Horse to Ride” property.

Seconds later, we spotted new signs on the fence around the property, advertising Route 66 Riding Stables and “Rent a Horse to Ride.” We were intrigued.

Emily, a horse-riding enthusiast, took her first test-drive Saturday of one of the Route 66 Riding Stables horses, a black gelding named Max. Her cost for riding the horse for an hour on the 100-acre property — a mere $15 and the usual insurance waiver.

Needless to say, Emily will be back.

Route 66 Riding Stables is a no-frills operation. It doesn’t give riding lessons, nor does it have fancy facilities. But it does have about a dozen horses saddled up and ready for riders for $15 an hour. It’s mostly for the experienced rider who doesn’t have a horse, or a traveler who’s away from his or her steed and wants to ride for an hour or two. The people who lease the property patrol the grounds on their horses to make sure everything’s OK, but mostly leave customers to have fun on their own.

Route 66 Riding Stables, at 161st and 11th streets, is open Saturdays and Sundays unless the weather is bad. It can be contacted at 918-314-6184. More about the operation can be found in this Craigslist ad here.

The old Pevely Dairy Plant, on the more-obscure Chouteau Avenue alignment of Route 66 in St. Louis, was named to the National Register of Historic Places effective Nov. 18, according to an e-mail from the National Park Service.

Pevely Dairy, especially its ice cream, was a St. Louis institution for more than a century. But Pevely Dairy laid off all its workers about a year ago and shut down the plant. Pevely remains as a division of Prairie Farms. Jim Fox wrote this nostalgic article in the Suburban Journals about Pevely’s long presence in the community.

It was announced in January that a developer had purchased the complex weeks after the layoffs, but one of the factory buildings was destroyed in a fire in March.

More pictures of the fire can be seen here. A video of the building collapsing as firefighters run for their lives is here.

Since the fire, there was speculation of whether the developer would continue to try to spruce up the site.

The plant was at Grand Boulevard and Chouteau Avenue in St. Louis. Chouteau was an alignment of Route 66 from 1929 to 1935. Here’s a decent Google Maps image of that corner at Chouteau and Grand, where the Pevely building and its huge sign on the roof have been a local landmark for decades. This is not the factory building that burned; it was the one about a half-block down the street.

At a recent meeting the question was asked of us ‘What are we not talking about today that could affect us in 12 months time?’

Ideas such as consumerism, world poverty, unemployment and war were discussed.  But one suggestion I couldn’t stop thinking about, possibly because it involves me directly, is that we might not see an end to this recession until 2012 – and I’m not prepared for that.

I’ve bought in to the idea that we would be seeing the very welcomed green shoots of recovery towards the summer of 2010. I’ve battened down the hatches, tightened my belt and pulled up my socks, but it appears I should now start to take this more seriously than I have, or at least for longer, than I have.

I’ve heard that more businesses fail when the economy gains momentum than through the recession itself. Therefore we should start to factor accordingly: we should consider budgeting for such things as the urgent of replenishment of  stock, the replacement of staff, or the purchase equipment crucial to keep us abreast of our competition.

Maybe the cold, wet and rather dark morning gave rise to the pessimism of the meeting. But certainly I will give greater consideration to my cashflow forecast and my strategy for managing a succesful upturn in the market.