Despite the truckloads of statistics floating around lately indicating that U.S. consumer confidence is plummeting (not to mention the millions of tax rebate checks in the mail), the city’s retailers seem convinced that New Yorkers will continue to shop, recession or not.

Monday brought a flood of new retail news, some of it reflective of the economic slump and some less so.  read more »

One of the major differences, generally speaking, between Manhattan and Brooklyn is the proximity you have to your neighbor. In Manhattan, residents may feel piled on top of each other in shoeboxes or filing cabinets, depending on your metaphor preference, but rarely will they ever get to know one another. In Brooklyn, residents tend to have more space and fewer neighbors, yet the proximity seems closer.

Brooklynites exist closer to the urban frontier.  read more »

40-year-old designer Patrick Robinson, who is most recently famous for having been the latest high-end designer to sell a budget line of his wares at Target, has been snatched away by the Gap.

He leaves his full time gig at Paco Rabanne, where he was artistic director, to oversee design for Gap’s women’s and men’s apparel, accessories and intimates lines in North America.  The press release can be read here.