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Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Working girl; mastering the art of spring time workwear

6:23 PM Koomhoo No comments

Stay stylish in the office as spring hits in new season workwear

BY Frankie Graddon

18 March 2014

75dec main 2855230a

Make like actress Caitlin Fitzgerald and work bright tailoring into your office wardrobe Photo: REX

It would appear that spring has sprung; hello longer evenings and daylight commutes – hurrah! As the seasons shift so does our wardrobe wants and needs, especially when it comes to working attire. The leather skirt worn only weeks ago suddenly feels too heavy, that fuzzy knit stifling. It’s no mean feat navigating the warmer seasons whilst remaining office-appropriate, but just a few considered additions will ready one’s working wardrobe for the weeks of sun to come.

The new shirt

Shirts are one of this season’s hero pieces and with good reason; stylish, versatile and with one to suit every budget it is a true working wardrobe staple.

Take inspiration from the catwalk and team a white cotton boyfriend-style shirt with a pretty pencil skirt in lace or flower-print for a play on masculine vs feminine. Spots and stripes are on trend this season, so try clashing a polka dot shirt with a striped circle skirt or fluid trousers for a bold take on office wear. Burberry’s spotted shirt is a favourite among the fashion pack but for purse-friendly alternatives try Marks Spencer and River Island.

Raf Simons demonstrated the effortless chic of a simple shirt dress on the Dior spring catwalk. Try Hobbs’ twist front style in red and pair with a classic court shoe and tote for an instant easy-breezy office ready outfit.

75dec shirts 2854624a
_{^{Left: Polin shirt by Saint Laurent from
matchesfashion.com

; twist front dress by
Hobbs

; polka dot shirt by
Marks and Spencer}}

Stay grounded

When it comes to summery footwear the chicest (and most comfortable) option is always a great pair of flats. Eschew of-the-moment sneakers, skaters and sliders for one of the more office friendly alternatives on offer.

The classic brogue has had a summery make over coming in pastels and creams, woven and with cut-outs. Wear with lurex ankle socks and cropped trousers. We love Russell and Bromley’s woven lace ups and Clarks’ cream cut away style. For a feminine touch try a flat with a pointed toe. Top of our list are Boden’s slingbacks which come in stripes, polka dots and metallic silver and Nicholas Kirkwood’s loafers in brights with a micro heel.

75dec shoes 2854631a
_{^{Canvas slingbacks by
Boden

; leather loafers by Nicholas Kirkwood from
net-a-porter.com

; woven brogues by
Russell and Bromley}}

Tailored brights

Office wear needn’t mean a dour colour palette; freshen up a working wardrobe by introducing tailored pieces in summery brights.

For the colour-shy, dip a toe into the trend by swapping jackets in grey and black for light weight styles in canary or sky blue. Zara and COS have stylish high street options. Pair with a crisp white shirt or fitted T-shirt and cropped trousers in navy. The brave and bold should go for a head-to-toe colour hit. Avoid colour clashes by dressing in tonal shades which will also lengthen the body. Try a matching jacket and trouser with a similar shade shirt, a contrasting shoe or bag will add flair.

5bbe9 newPic 1687 jpg 2855324a
_{^{Left: textured blazer by
COS

; centre: stretch jersey blazer with matching trousers by By Malene Birger from
net-a-porter.com

; right: blue green blazer by
Zara}}

White-out

This may sound a little daunting but trust me on this – an all white outfit is a sure fire way to work sunny weather chic.

For office purposes think less Elizabeth Hurley’s skin tight jeans and more Bianca Jagger in a tailored jacket and wide-legged trousers. It pays to invest in high quality pieces as there is no hiding when it comes to pale tailoring. Try Stella McCartney, Helmut Lang and Joseph, or Reiss for high street options. If a head-to-toe white look is too challenging then try mixing in some cream and putty shades which will still create the desired effect. A sweep of bronzer and a sheer lip is all you need for the freshest look of the season.

5bbe9 white out 2855131a
_{^{Left: fluted skirt by
Reiss

; centre: tailored jacket by Stella Mccartney; right: cotton trousers by
Jaeger}}

XL bags

Accessories have taken a practical turn this season, none more so than that of the bag. Gone are the days (for now) of cramming all your daily essentials into a slim line clutch, far more substantial bags have taken centre stage.

The arm candy of choice for the fabulous is none other than the backpack. Chanel paved the way with their interpretation of the sixth form holdall, covering it with graffiti print and dangling carabiners. For office use opt for a minimal style in leather such as The Row’s caramel version with top handle. If you’d rather one strap than two then opt for the backpack’s grown-up sister; the bucket bag. Spacious enough for an i-pad, lunch and a change of shoes without a hint of bag lady, this is the working girl’s answer to stylish toting.

5bbe9 bags 2855199a
_{Left; leather backpack by
Topshop

; centre: leather backpack by The Row from
matchesfashion.com

; right: leather bucket bag by
Kurt Geiger}

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Talking point: will unpaid fashion internships ever really end?

Working girl; mastering the art of spring time workwear

Chile's copper standard

5:22 PM Koomhoo No comments

WE STILL have to travel a long way to become a real developed country,” Chile’s outgoing president Sebastián Piñera told Monocle magazine at the beginning of this year. His warning was to Michelle Bachelet, his socialist successor, who was due to take the reins of power on 11 March following presidential elections. And while many believe Bachelet’s regime poses little risk to Chile’s economic success and its appetite for imported goods, there are those who do worry her reform agenda amounts to a significant threat.

Last year was a good year for business between Chile and Britain. It was the first time UK exports topped £1bn. British business has been sending cars, heavy machinery for mining and power generation, clothes and whiskey to the Latin American country where even Waitrose now has a foothold, supplying its own products to 100 supermarkets. But given Chile’s advantages, it remains an under-exploited market by British business, which still insists on attempting to sell goods mostly to Europe and the Commonwealth.

“Those that look west see the US and Canada as much easier … and Brazil casts a shadow over the rest of South America,” says Karl Royce, deputy director for UK Trade Investment at the British embassy in Santiago. “For those that look beyond, they’ll find a welcoming export market in Chile.”

Miracle
Chile’s progress as an economy is often described as a “miracle”. A country of 17.4 million people tucked along the western coast of Latin America, Chile emerged from the dictatorship of the Pinochet years in 1990 and has been building democratic institutions and growing its economy ever since. Last year saw GDP expand by 4%, the previous year by 5.6%.

Since the coming of democracy, the growth rate has averaged 5.3%. Next year, the economy is expected to slow down slightly yet it still posts growth of which the UK can only dream.

But it’s a miracle built on shrewd decisions, the key one being to be the most open economy in the region. Chile has trade agreements with more than 56 countries and, according to some figures, its free trade deals – which include ones with the EU – give it access to 4.2 billion people worldwide. The country is seventh on the Economic Freedom Index (the UK is 14th), 34th in the World Bank’s Doing Business Index (ahead of Belgium and France; the UK is 10th) but first in Latin America where it is also the leader on the Intellectual Property Rights Index (26th in the world). Its approach has been to build zero-rate tariffs, transparency and openness.

“Chile took a long, hard look at itself, decided that it was a small country in an unfashionable neighbourhood a long way from its prime export markets … the only way it was going to compete was to be the easiest country with which to do business,” says Royce. So intent was the country on making its markets easy to enter that it refused membership in the Mercosur free trade agreement with Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Paraguay and Venezuela because it would involve raising tariffs – anathema to Chile’s business-savvy policy makers.

This openness doesn’t come without a downside. According to Gabriela Castro-Fontoura, an author on business in Latin America and an export consultant representing British companies across the region, Chile provides an easy doorway to the rest of the continent.

“If you want to test whether your goods or services will work in Latin America, it’s a great market with quite a high purchasing power,” she explains. “The only thing is you’ve got to be very price competitive. And you can’t just do business from the UK; you’ve got to travel and be there.”

Waitrose may have just arrived in Chile, Castro-Fontoura notes, but because of the local kudos attached to buying British goods, Mothercare is already there along with Nissan Qashqais – assembled in Sunderland – Topshop, Clarks Shoes and Whittards of Chelsea, among others.

Copper
That price competitiveness has come as the Chilean middle class has expanded and taken a greater interest in buying consumer goods. But if the power to consume has come from anywhere, however, it is from the expansion of Chile’s mining industry, especially copper, which has grown to account for more than 50% of exports and 13% of GDP.

So dependent has the country become on sending copper to China (Chile is the world’s top producer of copper with a 35% global share, while Asia is by far the biggest regional user of refined copper) that it is said even taxi drivers know the commodity’s price on any given day. “In the morning, people look at the paper to check the weather forecast and the copper price,” says Castro-Fontoura.

Mining, which includes not just copper but also gold, silver and iron ore, presents a major opportunity. According to UK Trade and Investment, an estimated $70bn (£42bn) of investment will be ploughed into Chilean mining between 2013 and 2021. Largely as a result of this expansion, the demand for power supply is estimated to double by 2030, adding up to an extra 17,000 megawatts of capacity for the Chilean grid.

This leads to one of the big issues for Chile. Despite its success and the obvious wealth generated by extractive industries, development projects risk delay because of frequent blocks to the construction of power stations. In 2010, six months into his term, president Piñera courted controversy by imposing a veto on a proposed coal-burning power plant, known locally as Barrancones, under development by French energy company Suez, after environmental concerns were raised (largely by fisherman protesting against the risk of pollution to the sea). Similar concerns in 2012 saw the country’s Supreme Court kill off another plant known as Castilla, planned by Brazilian billionaire Eike Batista. Yet another plant, Punta Alcalde, planned by the Spanish energy company Endesa, received permission from the Supreme Court in January after being blocked by lower courts.

“The strategic results are most obviously seen in the mining sector. You need power, water and human resource for a mining project. If you don’t have power, you don’t have mining,” says Karl Royce.

Power transfer
While mining grapples with its power needs, there are those who see the greater risk for Chile in the transfer of power from Piñera to Michelle Bachelet and her coalition. Bachelet has been in power before, president from 2006 to 2010, when she was considered moderate. Indeed, it was Piñera who came in and raised taxes. This time around, Bachelet’s reform proposals and her political partners – The Communist Party of Chile – have attracted gloomy predictions that they intend to reconstruct a huge welfare state.

Bachelet has certainly included plans to reform the structure of Chile’s pensions with the creation of a new state-owned pension fund and raise corporation tax from 20 to 25%. But what concerns some observers more is proposed reforms that could affect business. In a 200-page document released in October, Bachelet revealed her government programme included a controversial plan to remove what Chileans call the FUT (Fondo de Utilidades), an income tax exemption on non-distributed earnings designed to encourage investment. A repeal would see business owners have to declare all their income for tax purposes, even if some of it is undistributed.

Another point of contention is Bachelet’s aim to remove what is known as Decree Law 600, which creates a special tax regime for inward investment. This could be problematic for Chile. The vast majority of foreign direct investment in the country is made under the DL600 legal apparatus, according to the OECD.

The law allows companies to sign contracts with the Chilean state that protect their rights to repatriate capital after one year and send profits back home at any time. But it also offers comforting insurance against changes in the tax regime by locking companies into rates current at the time of signing their deals, creating what the OECD calls a “stable tax horizon”. Large projects, those in excess of $50m, also enable investors to use accounting in foreign currencies and lock into current practices on asset depreciation and the tax treatment of start-up expenses.

Axel Kaiser, a columnist at Chile’s El Mercurio newspaper and director of the Santiago think-tank Fundación para el Progreso, caused a stir in the capital last year when he wrote in Forbes magazine, comparing Bachelet to Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez and insisting her reform agenda would mean “Chile’s economic miracle will face an unprecedented challenge which might seriously endanger its survival”.

Kaiser’s concern is due to what he sees as an internal threat from Bachelet as well as concerns about the external economic environment – the slowing demand for copper in China and the tapering of quantitative easing in the US, which has prompted investors to move capital out of emerging markets.

Kaiser told Financial Director: “I don’t want to be pessimistic but I don’t see why Chile will perform as well in the coming years as it has done in the last five years. The country will still work and there will be consuming and buying … but overall I would be cautious. Dollar prices are going up so imports are getting more expensive – this is a reason for thinking that imports will fall. It’s not the case that Chile is not facing serious trouble. The international situation is important. If China gets in trouble, this will have an effect on us.”

Optimism
Not everyone is as pessimistic as Kaiser and many commentators in Chile struck back, insisting he had given a simplistic analysis. Some financial institutions remain bullish in the face of Bachelet’s election. JP Morgan issued a note in October saying her programme was reason for a “positive view” of Chile’s future. Indeed, Bachelet’s proposals for growing the economy drew praise from the investment bank whose analysts described themselves as “positively surprised with the 46 pages dedicated to the economic programme”.

JP Morgan adds: “The economic programme is based on the idea that ‘economic growth is key to defeat poverty, improve inequality, enhance quality of living and become a developed country.’ This basic statement in our view summarises a programme that presents a lot of pro-market ideas.” ■

Key facts: Chile
Population: 17.4 million
GDP: $268bn (£161bn)
Considerations: The Chilean market is very competitive and highly price-sensitive. Therefore, companies must develop an aggressive marketing campaign and a pricing strategy that is appropriate for the local market.
Market entry: The common mode of entry into the Chilean market is through an agent or franchise. Agent/representative commissions normally range from 5% to 10%, depending on the product. Chile has low levels of corruption and bureaucracy.
Market strengths: Macroeconomic and political stability; open economy; regularly ranked 1st in the region for competitiveness; has relatively low levels of bureaucracy and very low levels of corruption; a comprehensive network of trade agreements, including an economic association agreement with the EU – 91% of EU products can be imported tariff free.
Source: UKTI

Chile"s copper standard

'There was no childhood for us': Brothers torn from their families and forced to live as slaves from the age of FOUR

2:27 PM Koomhoo No comments

Torn away from their siblings, taken to a remote farm in the dead of night and forced to live a life of slavery from the age of four.

It sounds like a horror story from hundreds of years ago.

But it happened in 1950s Scotland and the traumatised survivors say they are still trying to piece their lives back together, The Daily Record’s Marion Scott reports.

George, Jimmy and Tommy Clark were taken from their family home in Greenock and put into local authority care after their parents were ruled incapable of looking after them.

The brothers – then aged four, six and nine – say that for the next four years, they slept in a filthy chicken coop and were forced to steal dog food to survive.

Now the family are set to challenge the system to ensure Scotland’s so-called lost children are reunited with their siblings.

George, 64, said he was four years old when he was regularly chained up for hours in a freezing-cold barn. He had no shoes on his feet and only a bowl of water to sustain him.

He said: “People were shocked by the film, 12 Years A Slave. But Scotland has its own shameful history of slavery too.

“Over 100,000 kids were shipped from children’s homes to Australia, New Zealand and Canada until the late 1960s to work on farms and factories.

“There were also children like us, used as slaves and cheap labour, boarded out by local authorities across Scotland.

“We slept in a filthy chicken coop with empty potato sacks for blankets. There was no childhood for us. No Christmases. No birthdays.

“We were beaten if we dared stop working. If we stepped out of line, we were thrown into a coal cellar without food or light.

“I was beaten so hard about the head, both eardrums burst, sentencing me to a lifetime of poor hearing.”

The boys’ parents, William and Elizabeth Clark, lived in Greenock.

Elizabeth lost six of her 18 children as babies and the couple spiralled into alcohol abuse.

Social workers removed the children and Elizabeth was convicted and jailed in 1956 for neglect.

It would be a lifetime before the children saw some of their brothers and sisters again.

George, who now lives in Dundee, said: “Social workers delivered us to a remote farm.

“When they left, the farmer’s wife ordered us to take off our clothes and shoes, threw a bag of rags at us and told us to get dressed.

“She ordered us into the smallest bedroom and that was the first and last night we spent inside the house.

“Only Tommy, who was nine and bigger and stronger than us, was allowed to stay inside because he worked the fields like an adult.”

Jimmy, 67, who now lives in Stockport, near Manchester, said: “I was six and had never seen a place so remote.

“The animals were treated better than we were. We were barefoot and weren’t allowed to eat inside, or even use the toilet.

“Our food was served on metal bowls, passed to us through a kitchen window as we stood outside.

“We mucked the byre and milked the cows, dug peat, cleaned the farmyard and picked potatoes until our hands froze in the dead of winter.

“Then it was back to the chicken coop for us. We were starving and had to steal the dog’s food to survive.

“When the farmers wife wanted to go into town, she’d chain us up in the byre so we wouldn’t run away. We’d scream and cry but there was nobody to hear us.”

George said: “In the winter, the farmer’s wife would break the ice in an old tin bath and order us to wash in the freezing water.

“We always knew when the welfare officer was coming because we’d be scrubbed and given our original clothes. We were warned not to talk or we’d be beaten with a cane.”

At school, the boys were shunned.

Jimmy said: “They called us horrible names and battered and bullied us. We sat at the back of the classroom, too scared to think about lessons, too worried about where the next punch or kick was coming from.

“The only ones who spoke to us were six other boys who’d also been boarded out to farms. That’s how I know others were treated like slaves”

School bullies almost killed Jimmy.

He said: “They dragged me into the boiler room where the furnace was, stuck a tin bucket on my head and shoved me head-first into the furnace.

“I thought I was going to die. They were laughing. I heard wee George screaming for help.”

Jimmy suffered scorch marks to his face. He said: “I was taken to the local GP but the farmer’s wife wouldn’t let him take me to hospital.

“Something inside me died that day.

“I’ve been unable to trust strangers ever since and still have nightmares about being burned alive.”

The brothers clung to each other to survive but only George had the courage to break the cycle of four years of cruelty.

He said: “When the welfare inspectors came, I darted forward and grabbed one by the arm. I dragged him to the chicken coop and showed him where we slept.

“The lady inspector with him was physically sick at the filth we’d been living in.

“We were taken to Nazareth House children’s home in Aberdeen.

“Our feet were so bad after four years going barefoot, that the nuns had to cut down old plimsolls to get us used to wearing shoes again.”

George said: “As we left care, we lost touch and I spent years trying to find the rest of my family.

“I kept begging Inverclyde Council to put us in touch but they refused.

“They said I should just get on with my life and later quoted data protection laws.

“I’d even left letters to be passed to any siblings who came looking for me. But nothing happened, so I spent thousands searching birth records.

“Later, I discovered we’d spent our lives looking for each other.”

George discovered his sister Sandra, 56, just weeks before she died.

He has been reunited with brother Bernard, 59, sister Mary, 55, now deceased, Joan, 60, Jimmy, 67, and Billy, who died in Arbroath, aged 59, 14 years ago.

Brothers Peter, born 1950, Andrew, born 1958, David, born 1952, and Tommy, born 1945, haven’t been found.

George said: “They might not even know we exist.

“The council told me Sandra had been adopted and sent to Australia but I found her living near Ayr.

“It was beyond cruel we weren’t given the information we needed to reunite us sooner.”

Family lawyer Cameron Fyfe said: “Article 8 of the Human Rights Act says everyone is entitled to a family life, unless it interferes with the rights and freedoms of others.

“But if a local authority fails to at least attempt to make contact with the siblings of children placed in care to ask if they wish to be reunited, we believe they may be breaching that Act and the Clark family’s experience could change the way councils deal with this.”

A spokesman for Inverclyde Community Health and Care Partnership, said: “We have the utmost sympathy for the Clark family in their longstanding attempt to trace family members and be provided with a coherent account of their childhood.

“The inadequacy of record-keeping during the 1950s is clearly a major issue and has hampered our own efforts in retrieving files for the period which is some 40 years before our own existence as an organisation.

“Over a period of years, as is the case with every local authority, we have provided information that is permissible to do so within the ?boundaries of the Data Protection Act 1998. We continue to be willing to provide help and support to the Clarks.”

"There was no childhood for us": Brothers torn from their families and forced to live as slaves from the age of FOUR

Downtown Dresses Up for Halloween

4:48 AM Koomhoo No comments

On October 23rd, members of the Downtown Organization’s Décor Committee haunted the streets of Downtown and judged more than a dozen businesses signed up to participate in the annual Halloween Window Display Contest. And the winners are…

1st Place: Wildcat Lounge (15 W. Ortega Street): the macabre clowns adorning the entire ceiling clinched it for the winner – creepy and creative.

2nd Place: Blush Restaurant and Lounge (630 State Street) – along with a skeletal bridal couple in the front window, Blush’s skeleton-straddled carved pumpkin is gorgeous.

3rd Place: The Granada Theatre Box Office (1214 State Street) – the huge pumpkin in the box office window may seem less-than-chilling, until you realize it was made entirely from Granada Theatre ticket stubs.

Many businesses decorated in anticipation of Downtown Halloween Safe Trick-or-Treat on Thursday, October 31st from 3-6pm where businesses welcome hundreds of costumed children with treats, stickers, coupons or other goodies. With more than 60 participating locations, Downtown Halloween Safe Trick-or-Treat provides a fun and safe environment for children in the community. Children must be in costumes and must bring their own goodie bag to fill at participating businesses that display a “Trick-or-Treat HERE” sign, along with orange and black balloons.

Participating locations include: Agenda, Angl, Antique Alley, Arlington Theatre, Banana Republic, Benefit Cosmetics, Bettie Page, Bildsten + Sherwin Design Studio Inc., Blush, Brookstone, Christian Science Reading Room, Churchill Jewelers, Clarks Shoes, Cost Plus, Crossroads Trading Co., Dargan’s Irish Pub and Restaurant, Design Within Reach, Eureka! Burger, Fiesta 5, Float Luxury Spa, Francesca’s Collections, Goorin Bros Hat Shop, Granada Books: A Community Bookstore, Hallum Law, Hampstead Village, Hats Unlimited, Heavenly Couture, Hoffman Brat Haus, Imagine, Isabella Gourmet Foods, Joe’s Café, Kahuna Grill, Kitson, Lovebird Boutique, Mac’s Fish Chip Shop, Metro 4, Metro Entertainment, Metropolitan, Montecito Bank and Trust, Nardonne’s La Famiglia Pizzeria, Natural Café, Occhiali Fine Eyewear, Palazzio, Panda Express, Pandora, Panera Bread, Pascucci, Paseo Nuevo Cinema, Peanuts Maternity Kids, Persona Neapolitan Pizzeria, Reicker Pfau Pyle McRoy LLP, Renaissance Consignment, Rockin’ Yogurt, Saks Fifth Avenue, Salt, Santa Barbara Arts, Savvy on State, Santa Barbara Museum of Art Store, superChic, The Area, The Granada Theatre Box Office, The Painted Cabernet, T-Mobile and many more!

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Downtown Dresses Up for Halloween

Outlets of Mississippi mark Jackson’s arrival as ‘fashion-forward’ market

5:43 AM Koomhoo No comments

Outlets of Mississippi mark Jackson’s arrival as ‘fashion-forward’ market

48295 Outlets of Miss rgb No longer just a place to stop for a break in the monotony of interstate travel, outlet discount centers are shape shifting into destinations onto themselves.

Witness the downtown Jackson Marriott’s offering of a travel package for two days of the grand opening of the Outlets of Mississippi Nov. 15-16 a few miles away in Pearl. “Join in the enthusiasm of the occasion,” Marriott suggests in promotions for the weekend package.

Such a promotion would have drawn surprise as recently as a few years ago. But the 80-store Outlets of Mississippi complex that opens next week near the interchange of interstates 20 and 55 is not your mother’s outlet center, though she is indeed in the demographic developer Spectrum Capital is targeting with its array of designer and brand name shops.

“Our goal was to create a statewide destination,” said Karen Fluharty, a partner with New Jersey-based Strategy + Style Marketing who has been involved in the Pearl complex since its inception.

At 325,000 square feet, the Outlets of Mississippi is big for a retail outlet center, and will open as the largest of its kind in Mississippi. The complex is fully leased and is expecting an onslaught of shoppers for its grand opening Thursday, Nov. 14, and in the days that follow.

Fluharty said the crowds will be a mix of Mississippians from within a 75-mile radius and interstate travelers whom Spectrum, a developer of such resorts as Turquoise Place in Orange Beach, Ala., expects will stop for more than just a look-see.

“We know how lucrative the visitor market can be,” Fluharty said, noting Spectrum’s experience as both a retail and hospitality developer.

“When you are traveling you feel like you have more time to relax.”

Demographics and shopping patterns and preferences of metro Jackson underwent close examination before the privately held Spectrum and the major retail tenants decided to move forward on the center, according to Fluharty.

Representatives of such brands as Ann Factor Store, Chico’s Outlet, J. Crew Factory, Levi’s, Nike, Saks Off-Fifth, Loft Outlet, Under Armor and White House/Black Market came to Jackson two years ago to survey the metro area’s market potential. “They wanted to understand the geography and understand the market from a competitive standpoint,” Fluharty said.

The developer and retailers saw a need, Fluharty said, to serve a female demographic from ages 25 to 54 that possessed a sense of sophistication and fashion. The “psycho-graphic” they successfully searched for, she added, “was for fashionable women who are seeking brands… but she is also value conscious.”

Not all retailers saw the same potential in metro Jackson, Fluharty said. “There are a couple of brands that shall remain nameless. They looked at the market and for whatever reason decided to pass.”

She stressed that while women are the prime target, men will find plenty to like – and buy – at the center. The male shopper and his spending power, she said, was an essential part of the marketing analysis.

Retail Evolution

Retail development nationwide has moved away from the mammoth enclosed malls to so-called “life-style centers,” a concept that fits well within the outlet category, Fluharty noted.

“The outlet industry is truly the group that is growing fastest,” she said. “Much of that is driven by the consumers’ desire for brands and savings.”

You’ve got to bring the branded component to the consumer who is brand-centric, Fluharty added. “The outlet category brings then those brands at 25 percent to 65 percent off” compared to prices at the brands’ home stores.

Merchandise is not the irregulars and clearance cast offs that populated outlet centers in their previous incarnation. Today’s brand items displayed at outlet shops are “manufacturer-direct” or have been moved from home stores, she said.

As with all real estate, location is key as well, Fluharty said. “What makes the business model work is that by and large we are not located in a downtown. We have lower real estate costs and because we are not enclosed we have lower operating costs.”

Longtime Jackson commercial real estate broker Scott Overby, principal of the Overby Company, said he thinks Spectrum Capital made a savvy selection with the crossroads site. “It was a smart move,” he said, and noted the developer helped its cause by moving aggressively to secure sales tax refunds from the Mississippi Development Authority.

“I think the shops will do well there,” he said. “There is strong growth in Rankin and Madison counties.”

He said he also thinks the arrival of the quality brand shops reflects a maturing of Jackson’s retail market. “We have enough people. Our disposable income is good. We like to spend money,” added Overby, whose firm is reviving the ailing Metrocenter Mall in southwest Jackson as a prelude to selling it.

The arrival of the Outlets of Mississippi is a natural progression of a retail category that has seized opportunities in larger markets and is now focusing on more medium-size ones such as metro Jackson, he said.

“Size-wise this is a large center,” Overby said, adding he will be interested to see how parking capacity holds up in the early days.

What he especially likes about the development, he said, is that it refrained from duplicating stores already here. “They are not just relocating existing tenants. That is a ‘win.’”

Success for the outlet center could help to prove metro Jackson’s potential “as a fashion forward” market to other retailers, Overby predicted.

“It could be a lot like Nissan when they came. They were successful in what they did and then we had Toyota come in.”

List of stores

Aéropostale

Adidas

American Eagle Outfitters

Ann Taylor Factory Store

Banana Republic Factory Store

BCBGMAXAZRIA

Body Central

Carter’s Babies and Kids

Charlotte Russe

Chico’s Outlet

The Children’s Place Outlet

China Wok

Claire’s Outlet

Clarks Bostonian

Coach Factory

Coach Men’s Factory

Cole Haan

Converse

Corningware Corelle More

Crabtree Evelyn

Crazy 8

Direct Tools Factory Outlet

Dressbarn

Easy Spirit

Famous Footwear Outlet

Forever XXI

Fossil

Gap Outlet

GNC / Value Nutrition

Gold Toe

Great American Cookie Co. / Pretzel Maker

Gymboree Outlet

Haggar Clothing Co.

HanesBrands

Hartstrings

Hot Topic

J. Crew Factory

Johnston Murphy

Jones New York

Journeys

Kay Jewelers Outlet

Kitchen Collection

Lane Bryant Outlet

Le Creuset

Levi’s Outlet Store

Lids

LOFT Outlet

maurices

Michael Kors

Motherhood® Maternity

Nike Factory Store

Nine West Outlet

OshKosh B’Gosh

Perfumes 4 U

Pita Pit

Rack Room Shoes

Reebok

Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory

Rue21

Saks Fifth Avenue OFF 5TH

Samsonite

Sbarro

Signature Perfume

Skechers

Sunglass Hut

Sunglass Warehouse

Torrid Outlet

Toys “R” Us

Under Armour®

The Uniform Outlet

U-Swirl Frozen Yogurt

Wet Seal

White House | Black Market

Wilsons Leather

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Stitch ahead in new career

4:40 AM Koomhoo No comments

Always keen on crafts, the Glasgow-based graphic designer signed up for an evening course when she wanted to learn new techniques in sewing and embroidery.

That thread of an idea was transformed into colourful cushions made with vintage tweeds and fabrics that Katherine now sells at craft fairs around Scotland and online to the wider world, and a link with a Harris Tweed weaver in the Western Isles.

The proprietor of Canny Squirrel, a nod to her magpie-like love of amassing beautiful fabrics and her roots in Newcastle, now concentrates on new designs and fulfilling orders from her workshop in Glasgow.

“I have a shop page on the website where I offer stock cushions in a range of fabrics and designs, and I do commissions,” she explains.

“Most of my work is on commissions so every one is different.

“People e-mail photos of their dogs or cats – or cows: I was sent a pic of a belted Galloway cow to do recently – and I get to work.

“The first cushion I made was for a present and had a Highland cow on it and that’s when the animal theme started. I love tweed material and animals so why not combine the two?”

Inquisitive Highland cows, cute Scottish terriers and elegant stags feature on the cushions that line the shelves of her workshop, alongside piles of fabric and the softest tweeds in a rainbow of colours from earthy browns and sludgy greys to bright oranges and pinks.

When she set up at first, Katherine sourced fabric online. A trip to Harris earlier this year forged a working relationship with weaver Donald John MacKay, who also supplies to Nike and Clarks shoes.

It means she can now sew the all-important Harris Tweed orb trademark label onto all her cushions made with the fabric.

“I was buying vintage fabrics online but didn’t have any quality control and thought it would be a better idea if I had stock fabrics.

“I thought if I could find some Harris Tweed that would be ideal.

“I’ve been to the Outer Hebrides quite a few times and when I was there in March I met Donald John MacKay in Luskentyre. He works in a shed beside his house, he only has one loom and does it all himself.

“One of the things I like about using Harris Tweed is the fact that it is also handmade and I know the person who is making the fabric which means it is more personal and bespoke. The colours are rich, complex and natural, so compliment my animal designs well.”

Each cushion is beautifully handmade and Katherine usually asks customers to expect delivery within two weeks.

First she cuts out the felt in the animal shape, then irons it on to the tweed.

Her sewing machine has a special embroidery foot and she draws with it, using the picture for reference and painstakingly sewing lines of embroidered stitches that give the foxes, puffins, hedgehogs, cats and dogs their features.

It is worth pointing out that she does all the sewing herself, there are no computerised programmes that do all the work in this operation. When you buy a handmade item, every stitch has been made by Katherine.

Old and new traditions meet in her latest line of iPad covers and she has recently designed stylish clutch bags and whimsical shoulder bags with a trademark animal embroidered on the front.

A new range of cushions continues the Scottish theme with intricately embroidered thistles gracing the tweed background.

Prices for Harris Tweed cushions start from £60, or £45 for other fabrics. The iPad cases cost £32, and budget-friendly tweed and button brooches are just £8.

Katherine will be at the Glasgow Artist Studios residents’ exhibition at 1226 Govan Road from November 30 to December 8 and the craft fair at Cushion Cake, 35 Old Dumbarton Road, Yorkhill, on November 28.

Shops that stock her work are The Barony Centre, 50 Main Street, West Kilbride and Pippin, 30 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh.

Alternatively, visit www.thecannysquirrel.co.uk to see the range and place an order.

angela.mcmanus@eveningtimes.co.uk

Stitch ahead in new career

10:27 AM Koomhoo No comments