Burke Decor Has What's Hip For Your Home

Burke Decor could very well be your one stop shopping for all things hip for the home. Whether you need furnishings for the bedroom, kitchen, bathroom, or livingroom, -even for the baby's room-- they've got it.

The brainchild of Erin E. Burke, it's an online retailer who stocks such hip brands as Modern Dose, ibride, Bliss Studio, Denyse Schmidt, Paul Thomas, RE:surface lighting, Graham & Brown, House Eclectic and so many more.

With the convenience of online shopping and the feel of a boutique, you could buy everything from rugs and pillows to furniture and photography from this place! They make it super easy by taking major credit cards and paypal, offering flat rate shipping of $6.00 for items under $50.00 and free shipping on items over $50.00 for the contiguous 48 states.

Below are a few of my favorite items available from Burke Decor.

House Ecletic's colorful take on the famous Eames Time life stools:


Custom wood items by Akemi Tanaka:


Hand-tufted New Zealand Wool rugs in many colors, sizes and styles:



ibride's animal shaped shelving:


Fun shower curtains by Izola:


Pillows of every kind by many popular manufacturers:


Simrin table linens, coasters, trays and platters:


Wonderful modern quilted bedding for both baby and adult from Denyse Schmidt:



Lots of fun lighting:



They have a large selection of wallpaper and wall coverings, too:



And tons of miscellaneous decorative items:


And they have so much more. Be sure to check out their many items and you can get 10% off their purchase simply by entering "GETIT" when you check out!

Start hipping up that home of yours now!
Shop Burke Decor

The Latest On Holiday Shopping & Spending

Amazon.com, EBay Shares Fall as Online Shopping Slows
By Joseph Galante

Dec. 14 (Bloomberg) -- Amazon.com Inc., EBay Inc. and other retailers fell in U.S. trading as cash-strapped consumers limited their Internet holiday purchases of leather coats and high-definition televisions while waiting for better bargains.

Internet sales from Nov. 1 through Dec. 11 increased 19 percent to $20.5 billion, Reston, Virginia-based ComScore Inc. said late yesterday. Online purchases in November and December may advance 20 percent, a record low for the industry, and slower than the 26 percent pace of a year earlier.

U.S. retailers may see the worst sales growth this holiday season since 2002 as shoppers grapple with $3-a-gallon gasoline and consumer prices that rose the most in more than two years in November. Target Corp., Kohl's Corp. and J.C. Penney Co. have responded with discounts of 50 percent or more to lure customers.

``It could be challenging for our ecommerce companies to outperform expectations'' this quarter, Robert Peck, an analyst at Bear Stearns Cos. in New York, said in a note today.

U.S. retailers' shares have dropped during the holiday season, with the Standard & Poor's 500 Retailing Index falling 11 percent since the start of November, compared with a 5.3 percent decline on the S&P 500.



Amazon.com, the world's largest online retailer, decreased $3.32, or 3.6 percent, to $89.08 at 4 p.m. in Nasdaq Stock Market composite trading. EBay, the largest global auctioneer, dropped $1.39, or 4.1 percent, to $32.70, and Circuit City Stores Inc. fell 59 cents, or 8 percent, to $6.82.

Internet Sales

Internet sales, which make up more than 3 percent of total retail sales, may be the fastest-growing retail channel this holiday season. Online sales may increase to $29.5 billion in November and December from $24.6 billion a year ago, ComScore predicted.

``In a rapidly growing market like ecommerce, very high growth rates become more difficult to sustain as the market gets bigger,'' ComScore spokesman Andrew Lipsman said in an e- mail. ``It doesn't mean the growth rate this year is necessarily a sign of weakness.''

The slowdown contrasts with government data that showed U.S. retail sales in November rose at twice the rate anticipated by economists.

Retail sales increased 1.2 percent in November, the Commerce Department said in Washington yesterday. That followed a 0.2 percent gain in October, the U.S. agency said.



Shopper Visits

Sales fell 2.7 percent in the seven days through Dec. 8, following a 4.4 percent decline a week earlier, Chicago-based research firm ShopperTrak RCT Corp. said this week. About 12 percent fewer shoppers visited stores last week, compared with the same period a year ago, ShopperTrak said.

Consumers are completing their holiday shopping later than usual, and they're trimming purchases to pay more for food and fuel. The National Retail Federation in Washington forecast a 4 percent increase in holiday sales this year.

While the Monday after Thanksgiving is promoted as Cyber Monday because of a pattern of higher online shopping, days closer to Christmas had purchases totaling more.

Last year, Cyber Monday was the 12th-heaviest online shopping day, while Dec. 13 had the biggest sales, according to data from ComScore.



Profit Margins

Stores may further reduce prices, hurting profit margins, to lure customers seeking bargains. Target, the second-largest U.S. discount chain, and J.C. Penney, the nation's third- biggest department-store company, missed analysts' sales estimates for November. CompUSA, the 23-year-old computer retailer, said Dec. 7 it will shut down after the holidays.

Office Depot Inc., the world's second-largest office- supplies chain, forecast ``continued erosion'' of sales and earnings in the current quarter because of declining demand from corporate customers.

Purchases at Office Depot and Staples Inc., its larger rival, have slowed as small businesses and consumers buy fewer copiers and furniture during the worst housing slump since 1991.

U.S. consumer prices increased 0.8 percent in November, up from 0.3 percent the previous month, on higher food and energy costs, the Labor Department said today in Washington.

To contact the reporter on this story: Joseph Galante in New York at jgalante3@bloomberg.net .
Last Updated: December 14, 2007 16:16 EST

10 Fabulous New Finds For The Home

Below are 10 fabulous new finds for your home. From rugs to lamps to placemats, just click on the item for more info or to purchase.

Los Angeles Gathers Moss

It's been with eager anticipation that trendsetters have looked forward to the inevitable expansion of Moss, Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell's New York-based design store and gallery.

And appeared it certainly has, in the shape of a minimalist, open-plan 3,500 square foot gallery on LA's Melrose Avenue. The venue was designed by Murray Moss himself to be the ultimate exhibition space, though Moss is keen to stress that the new venue is a development, not simply a replica: 'We're very excited about the ability to create a new environment, not a duplicate one, expanding our presentation in ways unique to Los Angeles. We want Moss to grow, to reach further and at the same time, we want it to be local.'

Moss




August 2007: the first Moss store outside of New York's Soho district opens its big glass door, on Melrose Avenue near the mouth of Melrose Place. 3500 square feet of cool optic white space bifurcated by a ten ton steel beam running straight from the door to the sales station. Paul Smith Big Pink to right of us, the Pacific Design Center Blue Whale to the left, and Marc Jacobs across the street. We got Maharam down the street and APC so close we can bang on the wall.

The opening exhibition, 'Glitter and Smoke' is the first of several installations featuring chandeliers from the Swarovski Crystal Palace collection. Up first is Georg Baldele's Vertical Glitterbox, comprising 18 eight-foot crystal pillars, together giving a hanging garden effect. The chandelier surrounds a unique 1938 Steinway Baby Grand Piano, fire-sculpted by Maarten Baas, which forms part of Baas' ongoing 'Where there's Smoke' collection for Moss.



INFORMATION
Address

Moss Loss Angeles
8444 Melrose Avenue
Los Angeles
Telephone

+1.323 866 5260
Website

http://www.mossonline.com

Way To Cushion The News: Google Headline Pillows!

The top 10 google searches of 2006, printed on a pillow and available for purchase:

Above: The 2006 Cushion

Above: back of cushion

Fantastic and alarming at the same time!

Each cushion is signed and numbered from an edition of 250:




designed by elodie blanchard

details:
16"x16"
feather down filler

*please note*: the 2003 edition is an edition of 5 and costs $250 - please call to check if still available



Buy the 2003, 2005 or 2006 cushions here.

Do It In Damask

8 new ways to get your fill of damask.
Just click on the item below for details or to purchase.

Once relegated to Grandma's bed spread, Damask has made a major comeback as the new 'modern' pattern!

After the past few years of minimalist design in furniture and objects, Rococo, ornate and baroque have come back with a vengeance!

Don't believe me? Just looky...

See more of my Divine Damask list at ThisNext.

A Shop That Sells Consumer Awareness:The FLOWmarket

FLOWmarket™

A shop selling consumer awareness

FLOWmarket™ is a shop designed to inspire consumers to think, live and consume more holistic.
Present imbalances from the 3 dimensions of the FLOW model™ have been addressed and transformed into physical products in the shape of aesthetically designed (empty) packings with humorous and thought awakening labels that the visiting consumers can buy at prices ranging from 5-20 dollars.



FLOWmarket™ ”basic collection” offers 40 different scarcity goods in 3 product categories:






The product category ”Individual flow” offers e.g: ”stress killers”, ”ups and downs”, ”addiction liberators”, ”detox”, ”obesity dissolvers”, ”a lack of exercise killers” and ”symptom removers”.





The product category ”Collective flow” offers e.g: ”off liners”, ”commercial free-space”, ”presence”, ”tolerance”, ”exploitation free produce” and ”consumption moderators”.





The product category ”Environmental flow” offers e.g: ”organic food”, ”clean tap water”, ”pollution dissolvers”, ”factory farming antibiotics”, ”renewable energy ” and ”100% GMO”.



In relation to these new scarcity goods the FLOWmarket™ is addressing imbalances from each of the 3 product categories as well as elite companies that have succeeded in gaining a leading position in the rapidly emerging “holistic market” through their unique approach to sustainable innovation.

The first FLOW market™ opened in 2004 and has due to it’s commercial success been granted a permanent status at the Danish Design Center in Copenhagen, Denmark. The goal is to make FLOWmarket™ a global franchise success.

Of appraisals FLOW market™ has received a danish design award in 2004 along with a Danish broadsheet and a Swedish TV-program naming it the danish design event of 2004. In 2006 FLOW market™ won the ICFF editors award in New York.

FLOW

A brand and template that meets the rising demand for sustainable innovation
Throughout the 20th century the pursuit for technological and economic progress has given the industrialized world great new possibilities but has also resulted in a wide range of imbalances and challenges on 3 levels:

The individual - man’s relation to oneself:
(rising stress- depression- and obesity curves, addictions, eating disorders, symptom treatments etc.)

The collective - man’s relation to society:
(over-consumption, increasing fear, xenophobia, global inequality, cultural rectification, conflicts over resources etc.)

The environmental - man’s relation to nature:
(pollution, agricultural toxics, factory farming, decreasing biodiversity, non renewable energy consumption etc.)

Challenges that individually and together bear witness to an unhealthy development of our societies.

As a response a need for more sustainable growth is rising to the top of the agenda of individuals, business and nations.

Thus a new consumer market based on values is expanding rapidly, where the materialistically rich consumer increasingly judges products and sevices on their immaterial values and on level of sustainability.

Businesses, whose role is changing from being production units to becoming ”corporate citizens” know this.
They themselves point towards social responsibility and innovation as the most important competitive parameters of tomorrow, but they lack the skills to combine the to notions.

FLOW™ - a template and brand
In order to meet the rising demand for sustainable growth and innovation we will have to be able to navigate within
the term sustainablility. For this purpose we have created the FLOWmodel™, a design model that reflects our three dimensional view on creating sustainable growth:

Individual flow:
Balanced physical, mental and spiritual growth.

Collective flow:
Balanced interpersonel, cultural, economic, social and technological growth.

Environmental flow:
Balanced environmental growth.

A holistic mindset that is the essential basis of all our future commercial and non-commercial activities. Thus FLOW™ is the brand name for our products and services that in each of their own way catalyze sustainable growth.

A FLOW™ product is caracterised by providing beneficial solutions on both the individual, the collective and the environmental level.

A wide range of products created from theFLOWmodel™ are in progress, and will be serving consumer markets in the near future. The first product launch will be FLOWbottle™ in august 2007. For more FLOW please go to www.theflowinstitute.com

You can buy the products here.

Happy Fourth of July!

How about some Fireworks for your tongue?

Now that it's the 4th of July, time for fireworks and BBQs, I'd like to introduce you to d'Oni products; gourmet condiments that inspire great meals, great health, great conversation and laughter according to founder and owner, Janis Dalessandro.

Having received lots of great press, favorable reviews and is stocked by the most chic of specialty stores, now's the time to try them out..especially since this post includes a 20% off code!

Hungrygirl.com's newsletter featured d'oni sauces today (see below):

Grill Talk...

BBQ time is here! And we wanna help...



Get Saucy! OK -- get this. These special gourmet sauces (great for grilling) from d'Oni are good for you, all-natural, preservative-free, and taste FANTASTIC! All of them ROCK, but our fave is the Bold as Love Honey-Habanero-Mustard. And their Moondance Marinade is worth a mention too. Hmmm, so is their What's Goin' On Soy-Pear-Ginger Korean Teriyaki. Guess we like them all.

Here's the best part -- they each have less than 10 calories per teaspoon and are fat-free! And Janis (the very nice and generous gal behind 'em) is offering 20% off if you use discount code hungrygirl at checkout on her site.

Find these at select specialty stores or order online by clicking here.

Now, fire up those grills....

I'm The First "User Of The Week" on This Next!

I'm super flattered that the increasingly popular shopcasting site, This Next has named me as their first "User of The Week".

A new weekly component to their blog, I'm the first to get the honor.



If you don't know about This Next (www.thisnext.com) by now, you should.



As explained on their own site:-------------------------------------------------

ThisNext is a shopcasting network where people can discover, recommend and share products and services they love.

In the real world, we rely on the people around us to sort out what we should buy. Brand marketing hype is too loud, too confusing. Tech specs are too complicated, confounding and time consuming to sort through. Our site is a way to answer online a question we ask those around us every day, “What do you use?”

Buying things that are better suited to our individual lifestyles makes life better. We want to help people live the good life, whatever that means to them.

The ThisNext Blog is a place where we identify bloggers and trends whose work aligns with our goal of helping communities unite, express who they are and find products that will help them live more happily and easily.

Our blog will also cover shopcasting on ThisNext. Curious about what’s being picked, who’s picking it and why? Want to know why we’re doing something (or why we aren’t doing something)?
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I actually found out about thisnext.com before it was up and running from a friend of mine who was in contact with one of the founders, Craig Ogg. I have since Craig as well as CEO Gordon Gould, the other founder. Terrific, personable visionaries. I have also had the great fortune to meet some other members of their team, including their fabu PR Diva, Nicole.

Their bloggers and staff are some of the nicest people you will ever meet.


Above: the hardworking team of This Next

They have received impressive press you can view by clicking here.

The name for my blog actually stemmed from my first list of products for This Next.
"If It's Hip, It's Here" was the first thing that came to mind once I started posting objects, art and services that I felt were worth sharing.

Since then, I have created many 'lists' of cool and hip products on This Next.
16 lists, to be exact.

Lists that range from things like "Shop or I'll Shoot: Gun Shaped Stuff" to "Put That Down, That's My Grandma; Modern Cremation Urns" and lists that are really useful like my "Fancy Friggen Flooring and Radical Rugs" list and my The Dish on Dishes list

Some of which have received press from other hot sites (like www.notcot.org) and many of which I've covered in my own blog.

above: My Gun Shaped stuff as seen on NOTCOT.org

I add to the lists almost daily, so if you need to know the latest and greatest things with skulls or aquariums that rock, links to all the lists can be found at the right in my side bar.

As of today, here are my personal stats on this next:


So, perhaps the above is actual 'proof' that I am a trendsetter, no? Okay, well then at least I'm someone who spends waaaay too much time on the web. At least I've done all the "searching for what's hip" legwork for you.....