Unbranding the Brand II: The Strategy of No Brand

by | Jun 4, 2012

      This Effort by Starbucks describes a store design problem that is related too, but not exactly the same as “unbranding.” It is telling us that the market is saturated and cannot support the same shop over and over again. My idea of...

Unbranding the Brand, Part I: Finding Main Street Retail

by | May 21, 2012

At the AIA convention this week I attended an event entitled:  Bathesda Row a Retrospective Look at a Retail Icon.  For anyone not familiar with it, Bethesda Row it is a highly successful mixed use development project that took place over 17 or so years.  It is a...

To Mall or Un-Mall?

by | Apr 26, 2012

Old Town Alexandria, VA Crocker Park Shopping Center, Westlake, OH For some time I have wanted to compare a real town shopping district  to one of the fakes that are popping up around the country.    We humans have this acute sense of the authentic, leading me to ask,...