Subject: Retail Trade

• Free Mac Lethal

  June 28, 2007

• Surprise of the Week: QVC Customers Dig Manilow

  September 14, 2007

• Art Institute Party Slideshow!

  By NADIA PFLAUMDamn, those Kansas City Art Institute kids put Urban Outfitters to shame when it comes to dressing up. There were lots of scarves on guys and boots and dresses on girls, plus a few bizarre items that I'm afraid I can't explain. You'll see -- check out the slideshow!

  November 25, 2008

• Best Place to Buy Hockey Gear

  January 27, 2000

• Best Local Book

  January 27, 2000

• Best Place to Honey-Watch

  January 27, 2000

• Nature versus nurture versus Napster

  June 29, 2000

• Breakfast Buffet: 12/30

  Wait? Is this blog post even about food? It starts off on the subject but quickly veers to Twitter. You've been warned. [Hip Suburban White Guy]New Years' Resolutions are coming quick and often now. Dan Regan from KC Irish Fest has a good list of what he hopes to accomplish including, "I will get a full 8 hours of sleep a night Irish Fest weekend and will eat three square, healthful and nutritious meals each day, while limiting myself to one small glass of light beer." I wish him the best of luc

  December 30, 2008

• Letters

  August 10, 2000

• Best Place to Buy Hip Accessories

  October 19, 2000

• Best Furniture Store -- New

  October 19, 2000

• Best Used CD Store

  October 19, 2000

• Best Waiter in Town

  October 19, 2000

• Best Billboard

  October 18, 2001

• Circuit City misses KC so much, it goes out of business everywhere else

  CNN reports this morning that troubled big-box store Circuit City has asked the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia for permission to liquidate all its remaining merchandise.The electronics retailer, long the also-ran in a market dominated by Best Buy, filed for bankruptcy last November. Around the same time, it pulled out of the empty new Merriam shopping development that one of its stores was to have anchored. David Martin looked into the damage caused that suburb by Ci

  January 16, 2009

• Best Used Music Selection

  October 18, 2001

• Best Place to Buy Used Clothes

  October 9, 2003

• Best Free Wine

  October 7, 2004

• Mallstars

  December 2, 2004

• Whole Foods says screw it. Agrees to FTC's demands.

  I hope I don't have to write the word "FTC" for a long time, now that the governmental organization that's been out to get that devious Whole Foods company has won. Sort of. No one's really a winner here.Whole Foods, which has publicly regretted taking over rival Wild Oats, agreed to give up use of the name and sell some former Wild Oats stores. Kansas City had two Wild Oats before Whole Foods bought them. The store at 6621 w.119th Street will remain Whole Foods, while the 4301 Main location, wh

  March 9, 2009

• The newest nut crisis: pistachio panic?

  Flickr: Lolo_ Many radio and TV broadcasts this morning led with this story: a major recall of roasted pistachios because of fears of potential salmonella contimation. The good news: No illnesses have been reported, thus far, due to a reported salmonella strain discovered during routine tests by Kraft at a California food processing plant. But the peanut crisis, earlier this year, has food manufacturers going nuts over the possibility of potential lawsuits. The tainted peanut problem that

  March 31, 2009

• Team Vintage

  February 5, 2009

• Lenka

  January 22, 2009

• GET YOUR LAUGH ON

  November 27, 2008

• Broken Circuit

  Merriam’s new retail haven just lost its anchor tenant. What now?

  November 20, 2008

• Park Place Flower Market

  September 4, 2008

• Vinyl Honor

  April 16, 2009

• Tom Waits, Booker T. and Bad Religion release limited 7-inches for Record Store Day this Saturday

  Michael O'BrienTom Waits wants to show you his 7-inch.Everybody likes record stores. And this Saturday, as I'm sure you know, is National Record Store Day. In only its second year, the vinyl-junkie's holiday has gotten huge, thanks to big-name recording artists throwing in guitar giveaways, downloads, special-edition re-releases, parties, you name it. Joining the fray are Anti-/Epitaph artists Tom Waits, Booker T. Jones and Bad Religion, all releasing limited-edition 7-inches in commemoration of

  April 15, 2009

• Guitar Geek-Out

  September 27, 2007

• You Go, Coppers

  Considering our cops have decided to ignore the law, we've got a few ideas for them.

  August 9, 2007

• The City Forces the Foundation to Go Sober

  They’ve been selling liquor for decades at the historic Jazz District jam session. Suddenly, the city wants them to stop.

  October 19, 2006

• Merry Xmas From the Dead Malls

  A lonely Santa, decorations held up by an abandoned shoe, and an homage to Oprah await you at KC's forgotten shopping centers.

  December 15, 2005

• Download

  War Child Music

  October 20, 2005

• Title Fight

  August 11, 2005

• Extreme Makeover

  A former Nordstrom exec gives Goodwill stores a big-money face-lift.

  May 13, 2004

• When Online Got Off Base

  Or: How Mark Cuban would have--and could have?--saved the music biz.

  April 11, 2002

• Copy Right

  The Rosenbergs use a progressive contract to convert modest sales into rock-star royalties.

  March 15, 2001

• Ransom Notes

  Can one man convince millions of people to pay for their "free" music?

  November 9, 2000

• Kids in America

  Barnstorming overseas has earned the Get Up Kids plenty of new fans, but the group looks forward to seeing some familiar faces.

  August 31, 2000

• Closing the book

  The Book Shop at Brookside succumbs to pressures faced by independent bookstores

  January 13, 2000

• evening soundS

  June 25, 2009

• evening soundS

  June 25, 2009

• Needmore Discs is closing.

  Erik and Colleen Voeks announced on Facebook this morning that their record store in Shawnee, Needmore Discs, will be shutting its doors for good on August 2. Thanks to Robert Moore for passing along the note. July 3rd is Needmore Discs six year anniversary, and six years is a pretty fair innings. Right? We've had some good times. Sold a bunch of CDs and records. Met some awesome people. Paid the bills. But as George once sang "All things must pass" and "all things" includes Needmore Discs. The

  July 1, 2009

• Erik Voeks On Needmore Discs' Closing

  We wrote yesterday about the impending closure of Needmore Discs, and how sad it was to see another local record store go. Erik Voeks was kind enough to give me a few more details on the specifics behind closing the store down: "The music retail business has been changing for years (obviously). With everybody moving to downloads it's become harder and harder for a small independent store like ours to survive...without resorting to carrying "smoking accessories" and black lights. We always wante

  July 2, 2009

• Buying gourmet food online

  Once the domain of high-end restaurants and the super-rich, many food delicacies are not only now for sale online, they're in abundance. Some of the fanciest foods are available at plebeian prices.Witness the price-slashing at Amazon's Gourmet Food Store which acts as a middleman for high-end retailers to sell chocolates, coffee, steaks, cheeses and other items. For its summer sale, Omaha Steaks is offering more than half-off gourmet burgers. At iGourmet, a two-pound tote-bag of English versus G

  July 16, 2009

• La Bodega and Sol Cantina busted for selling alcohol to minors

  ​Liquor control busted La Bodega and Sol Cantina selling alcohol to minors. For this bit of naughtiness, their liquor licenses will be suspended for two days. Updated (The city sent out the wrong dates and times. These are the correct days and times.) La Bodega, 703 Southwest Blvd., won't be allowed to sell liquor as of 6 a.m. on Monday, September 7. The suspension ends September 9 at 1:30 a.m. The liquor license suspension at Sol Cantina, 408 E. 31st St., begins at 9 a.m. on Sunday, September

  August 31, 2009

• Breakfast Buffet: Monday, September 14

  Thoughts on 9-11, the loss of a job and Boulevard's newest smokestack entrant -- Seeyoulator Doppelbock, which might be on shelves Tuesday. [KC Beer Blog]Being on hand for the delivery of hops at Boulevard Brewery: not a bad way to spend your lunch hour. [KC Hop Head]Where to find the steepest discounts on wine -- surprisingly, high-end retailers might be the best place to start. [Forbes]Anybody know what the law says about eating flags? Food-based renditions of national flags. [Toxel] 

  September 14, 2009

• Amazon scraps plans for wine delivery

  ​You won't be getting happy-faced cardboard boxes filled with cases of wine any time soon, because apparently Amazon.com has decided to end its dalliance with wine delivery. After launching a trial program in March 2008, the online retailer has shelved AmazonWine.  The news sent wine blogs into a tizzy about how the promise of widespread access to small-scale wineries never materialized. Vinography contends that financial difficulties at Amazon's potential fulfillment partner, New Vine

  October 26, 2009

• The King Khan & BBQ Show

  November 12, 2009

• Is Starbucks pushing Via too hard?

  ​Last week, a series of stories focused on how Starbucks baristas were bristling at being forced to push the coffee shop's new instant brew product, Via, to each customer. I stopped in the Starbucks at Ward Parkway to see if that was the case. The store was pushing Via in displays, but the marketing effort was no more overbearing than previous holiday offerings or seasonal goods. 

  November 16, 2009