CWS Retailer News

So here’s what we learned last week that you can use this week:

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneBring an umbrella. If it doesn’t rain, you can always use it to second-line.

Threads:

– A hat with sturdy, wide brim shields your eyes from the rain. If wearing a baseball cap, turn it sideways over your ear to protect your cell phone on a call.

– Wear a tank top or other light, cotton shirt under the lightest-weight rain gear. It’s still hot out there.

– Look for shorts or pants that can be rolled up (capri pants, ladies!). Wet long pants and skirts are miserable. Clothes made of Gore-Tex — a waterproof fabric that breathes — are a good option.

– Find old shoes that tie or buckle, or make a fashion statement with cute, colorful rain boots. Crocs work OK, but flip-flops only seem like a good idea: When the mud sucks them off, you’ll be digging in the swamp to retrieve them. Yuck!

Kathy Anderson / The Times-PicayuneWear old shoes. Yeah, you right.

All-terrain gear:

– A water-resistant backpack is a must. Make sure your poncho is large enough to put OVER it.

– A knee-length rain poncho. You have a choice between thicker (will last longer and keep out the wind, but it’s hot) and disposable (lightweight and cooler, but it tears easily, so bring more than one). Or stuff some large lawn and leaf bags into your pack. One slit for your head on the bottom edge, and two on the sides near the corners for your arms, and you have a makeshift poncho.

– Resealable plastic bags in several sizes will keep your valuables dry. Slip a change of clothes and a small towel inside. In small resealables, put cameras, tissues and cell phones (you can text through the plastic). Also, you can use the bags for leftovers, if it doesn’t rain.

– A travel umbrella. Debate: Some would rather wear a hat or a hooded poncho to keep hands free for eating and drinking.

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Kelly Stiles can’t wear sandals or high heels anymore, not since she she bought a pair of $3 flip flops at a Walmart near Ocala, Fl. After wearing them for just a couple of hours Stiles says they chemically burned the tops of her feet.

 

“When I say very bad I mean painful to walk. At one point I was actually crawling around on my hands and knees because I could not I absolutely could not walk on my feet,” said Stiles.

A year later Stiles still has scars and days where the pain is too much. She’s tried to get answers from Walmart about what was in the sandals but after hitting roadblock after roadblock she decided to start a website. She quickly realized she wasn’t alone.

“So far I have been contacted by no less than 200 hundred and I think no more than 350 people who have said you know I had the same thing happen,” said Stiles.

From around the country they write on her website about burns they said they also suffered from the “Sand N Sun” Walmart flip flops.

“We’re scared. We don’t know what we have been exposed to.
We don’t know what’s going to happen 10 years from now, what going to happen 20 years from now. Are we going to die from cancer? You know what’s going to happen,” said Stiles.

She says several people have settled with Walmart for undisclosed amounts and Walmart says they have taken the flip flops off the shelves but Stiles says she still wants answers.

We went to a local Walmart and saw flip flops made by the Sand N Sun company on the shelves but they had cloth straps instead of plastic straps like the ones Kelly Stiles bought.

We tried to contact Walmart for a statement regarding these flip flops but our calls were not returned before we went to air.

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Sustainable clothier Nau Inc. has closed shop, The Oregonian reports. The company says it couldn’t raise the funds needed to continue operations. The company, founded in 2005, had received more than $34 million in capital as of July 2007.
Nau’s clothing line was made entirely of recycled polyester, certified organic fabrics, and biodegradable corn fiber. Because the fabrics cost 25 percent to 30 percent more than those used by other apparel makers, the company’s success depended not on traditional retail stores but ‘WebFronts.’

The WebFronts offered free shipping and a 10 percent discount if customers ordered clothes online from its in-store kiosks.

Nau believed that with the strategy it could hit 72 percent gross margins, compared to 45 percent to 60 percent at other merchants, despite the high cost of its fabrics.

That, obviously, didn’t pan out.

The company employed 60 at its Portland headquarters and 35 in its five Webfronts nationwide. Its fifth store opened less than two weeks ago in Los Angeles.

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Reef is proud to announce the opening of the first Reef Partnership Store in FRANCE located in Bordeaux, in the south west of the country. Ideally located in Rue Saint Catherine, this street is reserved for pedestrian foot traffic only and receives hundreds of thousands of shoppers throughout the year.

The store is a true reflection of the spirit of the brand as seen in the decoration, fixtures and fittings - all of which are further enhanced with the high ceilings and natural lighting. Within the 80m² store, you will discover a separate universe for both Reef and Reef Girl, offering a complete range of products including apparel, swimwear, footwear, sandals and accessories.

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Vaca Beach photo : Courtesy BillabongBillabong helps clean beach in El Salvador - Cleanup includes teaching recycling and respect for the coast

Surfersvillage Global Surf News, 21 April, 2008 : - - Vaca Beach is a small beach near Las Flores surf club where Billabong was holding their Fantasy Surf Camp, where campers go with one of Billabong’s top pros. While the Las Flores point break where the camp took place has an immaculate beach, the crew was taken back by the amount of plastic trash at this nearby wave.

With all the enjoyment the area was giving the campers, Billabong Surf Camp Director Jim Kempton and the Billabong team decided it was only right to give back; building pride for the locals and education to solve the more long-term trash problem that plagues the coastline in El Salvador.

Billabong videographer Luke Thorpe was going to be on site for the duration of the camp so he set out to organize a ‘Vaca beach cleanup and locals only surf competition’. While acknowledging that this effort couldn’t solve the whole problem, the main mission was to get the locals involved and show them how maintaining a clean environment would not only be healthier for the community, but attract more tourists to their tourism-based economy.

The way to do this would be to offer locals something in return for their work. The Life on a Board Foundation, a non-profit group set up to combat this sort of situation, teamed up with Billabong to accomplish the task. The Life on a Board Foundation stepped up and delivered over 60 board shorts and rash guards which were surely needed. Billabong donated all cleaning materials, board shorts, t-shirts, and sandals to be given to all who assisted with the cleanup.

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The Simplest Things Can Make a Huge Impact on the Planet

By SHARYN ALFONSI April 22, 2008

It wasn’t that long ago that cutting out litter was considered cutting edge. Today, it takes a little more to be green, though not that much.



You can ditch your tie and save the environment. Japan swapped suits for open collars one summer, as offices eased up on arctic-level air conditioning. The result? The country cut an estimated 79,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

Airing your not-so-dirty laundry can also make an impact. Over a lifetime of laundering, one T-shirt can send 9 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air. But if you use warm water instead of hot water and hang your clothing on a clothesline, you’ll cut the carbon dioxide by 90 percent.

Flip your fleece. Outdoor outfitter Patagonia will recycle any of your old fleece, which they melt to make new fabric and clothes.

Remember to switch off your computer. Don’t just use a screensaver, which doesn’t save energy. Shutting off your computer will reduce its carbon emissions by 83 percent.

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The Simplest Things Can Make a Huge Impact on the Planet

By SHARYN ALFONSI
April 22, 2008

var addthis_pub = \'abcnews\';

It wasn’t that long ago that cutting out litter was considered cutting edge. Today, it takes a little more to be green, though not that much.

(PhotoDisc )

You can ditch your tie and save the environment. Japan swapped suits for open collars one summer, as offices eased up on arctic-level air conditioning. The result? The country cut an estimated 79,000 tons of carbon dioxide.

Airing your not-so-dirty laundry can also make an impact. Over a lifetime of laundering, one T-shirt can send 9 pounds of carbon dioxide into the air. But if you use warm water instead of hot water and hang your clothing on a clothesline, you’ll cut the carbon dioxide by 90 percent.

Flip your fleece. Outdoor outfitter Patagonia will recycle any of your old fleece, which they melt to make new fabric and clothes.

Remember to switch off your computer. Don’t just use a screensaver, which doesn’t save energy. Shutting off your computer will reduce its carbon emissions by 83 percent.

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THIS is a great way to spend 47 minutes.

KILLER! awesome soundtrack.

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Cool surf label Billabong is greening up its act with a new material it’s devised that’s made from (you’ve guessed it): recycled plastic bottles!

What sets this fabric aside from other bottle-derived materials is that it’s been given a soft, suedy quality. Approximately 10 plastic bottles are used to create one pair of boardshorts, which helps reduce the impact we humans have on the environment, especially on landfill. “When it comes down to it, if you have an option to buy a pair of boardshorts that are actually lessoning our impact on the world we live in, the choice is simple,” said Billabong freesurfer Dave “Rasta” Rastovich. [Via Sustainable is Good Products]

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Patagonia, a manufacturer and retailer of outdoor clothing that was founded by a mountain climber, plans to open its first Texas store on Congress Avenue in downtown Austin this fall.

The national retailer, which is opening a 7,000-square-foot store in the historic W.B. Smith Building, 316 Congress Ave., will be one of the only retailers of that stature to open on Congress in decades.

Ventura, Calif.-based Patagonia Inc. is accepting applications for managerial and retail associate positions.

Austin’s reputation as one of the nation’s healthiest and greenest cities made it a natural choice for a company that caters to outdoors aficionados who want eco-friendly merchandise. The company said it uses 100 percent organic cotton for all of its Patagonia-branded apparel.

Patagonia opened its 24th U.S. store in a historical building in Boulder, Colo., recently. It often opts to restore buildings rather than build new stores.

“At Patagonia, we look to open stores in cities filled with people who love the outdoors as much as we do,” Vickie Achee, Patagonia’s retail marketing manager, said in a statement.

Congress Avenue was once Austin’s top retail address, but it has lost all but a few retailers over the years.

The city has poured resources into building up the Second Street retail district west of Congress, but rebuilding Congress has been a slower process, mainly because there are about 80 different property, business and store owners, said Molly Alexander, associate director of the Downtown Austin Alliance, which helps match building owners with potential tenants to expand downtown’s retail mix.

Many of the storefronts have been converted into offices, bank lobbies, fast- and full-service restaurants, and bars, leaving just 11 retailers (not counting restaurants and bars) from the Capitol to Cesar Chavez Street, Alexander said. The alliance, a coalition of business and property owners, helped attract Patagonia.

Alexander said Austin was on Patagonia’s radar when she made the first call to the company in October 2006. A retail consultant had identified Patagonia as one of five national retailers that would be a good fit for downtown.

“We’ve been very successful bringing in local retailers,” Alexander said. “We knew that the national piece was critical, and it was critical to get the right ones.”

In July, a Patagonia representative and an architect checked out historical buildings on Congress and later zeroed in on the Smith building owned by Clarke Heidrick and others, she said. A lease deal was made final last month.

“They are a great company with a long history of quality and commitment to the environment,” Heidrick said. “And they will really add to downtown.”

Built in 1884, the building first housed W.B. Smith’s dry goods store. Later, it was home to ventures including a candy manufacturing business and the Vulcan Gas Co.’s psychedelic rock emporium in the late 1960s, Alexander said.

Alexander said Patagonia “will help Congress move forward to become the major shopping destination downtown.”

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