The world around us

Ikea’s new stores are running on schedule and will be opening to the delight of fans in West Chester in Ohio. The new store is set to open in the spring and the construction site is humming with activity, with the company’s trademark blue facade coming into place now. The brand of Ikea has become such as icon that it has extended itself from just a brand to an entire look. Ikea lovers are across the world and there are even lots of fans of Ikea products who buy them just to be able to change them around a bit. It’s a whole different ballgame with Ikea.

Even though I work from home, I make every effort to create as professional an environment as possible. The emphasis is actually on being productive rather than just having a set up that resembles an office, so the right kind of office furniture makes all the difference. I certainly don’t want my home to look like an office, I want it to be more personal and unique, and it is easily done by selecting the right furniture. I am particular to having a desk that does not look boring and must always be neat and tidy, in the sense that there must be a place for everything to go to, which also makes it easy to find things later on. It’s really quite simple, one has to figure out how one works best and get something to fit that.

The sky rocketing rentals are causing several retailers to slow down on expansion plans. Mayur Toshniwal, vice president and business head for the northern region for Pantaloon Retail, says that the company’s plans for expansion to new cities is facing a lot of problems due to few good properties available at viable rental prices. Jones Lang LaSalle estimates that rentals in prime locations in metro cities in India were the fastest to rise in the Asia Pacific region. Delhi rentals increased by 40% from a year before and Hyderabad rentals increased by 76.5% over the previous year.

There are a lot of fans of nutritional supplements these days, with so much emphasis on looking good and being healthy. Everywhere you go, they seem to be newer brands and varieties coming up, to appeal to a wider audience of consumers. At one time, these only used to be for the weight-lifting set of people, but now they are for everyone. It’s really a case of following the trends.

Martha Stewart’s merchandise at Kmart will have a new collection after nearly 10 years. Sales of the Martha Stewart line never really took off and contract tussles made everything worse. The new line that is to be launched next week will have a higher quality of bed and bath linens at lower prices than before. Interestingly, her new collection will also be debuting at Macy’s, which might well be the reason for its relaunch at Kmart after so many years of decline and neglect.

Kmart’s contract with Martha Stewart expires in 2009, so the emphasis is to attract consumers with a discerning eye for good quality and low prices. Along with its Martha Stewart launch, Kmart will also be introducing a new brand Abbey Hill, which is a private label of the company and will offer a better mix-and-match of colors and patterns for customers.

“There has been a lot of disruption” over the years in Kmart’s relationship with Martha Stewart, admits Bill Stewart, the Kmart executive. But “we worked very collaboratively with the Martha Stewart team on this project,” he said in an interview Tuesday.