#and it was similarly priced/less expensive than Taylor’s

[sampilled]

I can defend Taylor for a lot but I cannot!!! Defend her merch

[perksofwifi]

Chevrolet Blazer vs. Chevrolet Traverse: What’s the Difference?

We’ve tested the Chevrolet Blazer extensively since it was released in 2019. At our SUV of the Year competition, the RS trim impressed us with good road manners and a high-quality interior, but we were disappointed that those traits didn’t extend to the base offering. More recently, we had another go in the Blazer RS, and instead of comparing it to the competition, we thought it best to look within Chevrolet’s own extensive lineup of SUVs to see how it stacks up against the larger but similarly priced 2019 Chevrolet Traverse Premier FWD (front-wheel drive).

The Blazer and Traverse are not direct competitors, and as such, this isn’t a classic MotorTrend comparison test. We typically try to match cars up within their segments. That’s why the Ford Mustang gets matched up with the Chevrolet Camaro, not the Alfa Romeo Giulia. But Chevy recently ditched sedans in the United States, meaning that, like Ford, it’s going to be filling our streets with SUVs of all shapes and sizes for the foreseeable future. As such, you might want to know which sub-$50,000 Bow Tie–badged SUV is right for you.

The Traverse is a pair of Chuck Taylors—easy to live with and use every day but clearly not the best choice for any kind of exercise. By the end, your feet will be calloused, and you’ll sure wish you would have strapped on something more suitable. The Blazer, on the other hand, is a more purpose-built pair of trainers. It’ll easily help you tackle that 5k and won’t leave you rubbing your soles at the end of the day, but its uses are more limited as a result.

Even though they are different, they share one very important commonality: price. The Traverse Premier I tested in January rang in at $47,990. The Blazer RS Chevy gave us totaled $48,170. The Blazer RS is the second-priciest trim you can buy, and this car was optioned up from its base price of $44,595. That means less than $500 separates these two very different vehicles. But which one is best for you? Well, that all depends on how much running you do.

Chevrolet Blazer vs. Traverse: Which has a nicer interior?

The Traverse can get more expensive with different option packs and trim levels, and if your price cap is the nice and round $50,000 figure, then this is very nearly the most Traverse you’re going to get for the money. The same is true for the Blazer. Its price can be pushed north of $50,000, but not by much.

Despite their closeness in price, their interiors are markedly different. Most important, the Traverse has three rows and seating for up to eight (seven in higher trims like this Premier thanks to a pair of captain’s occupying the second row); the Blazer, however, has only two rows and seating for five. The inside of the Traverse is decidedly previous-gen Chevy. Its interior is loaded up with rough plastics, and the climate controls are nothing if not difficult to fathom. The physical controls for everything in the Traverse are all too small for a car with so much interior space to work with, and that’s because entire center stack is shared with smaller cars like the Malibu.

The Blazer, on the other hand, is a properly modern place to sit. The massive Camaro-style air vents stare at you as you drive around, but the climate controls in the Blazer are much easier to get the hang of. They’re laid out in a straight line instead of being bunched up, and that makes it much easier to operate the system without looking down at it. Also, even though controlling the temperature of the air via the vents themselves isn’t necessarily the best way to do it, the trim ring that acts as the temperature control knob is so massive it’s hard to miss.

The gauge clusters in both the Blazer and the Traverse feature customizable displays, but the gauges in the Blazer are sportier and more purposeful. The steering wheel also looks much newer in the Blazer, with a more angular four-spoke design as opposed to the fanned out four-spoke look of the one in the Traverse.

Traverse vs. Blazer: How do they drive?

Those steering wheels control surprisingly dynamic machines on the road. In this case, they’re both powered by 3.6-liter V-6 engines mated to nine-speed automatic transmissions. The Blazer makes 308 hp to the Traverse’s 310, and the Blazer also has a teeny advantage when it comes to torque, edging out the Traverse’s 266 lb-ft with 270 of its own. A front-wheel drive Traverse weighs in at 4,346 pounds—heavier with all-wheel drive. An all-wheel-drive Blazer is just a little bit lighter that its bigger counterpart as 4,274 pounds.

On the road, however, the difference feels like it’s much more than 72 pounds. The Blazer is much easier to control than the Traverse, and that’s all down to the lower weight and the smaller size. Behind the wheel, you feel as though the car will do whatever you tell it to. It’s both more responsive and easier to drive at speed—like on the highway or, dare I say it, on a twisty road you’d take sports cars on. It must be said, however, that even though it’s endowed with sporty looks and a tough demeanor, the Blazer RS is not a car in which you grow horns and drive too quickly when you’re behind the wheel.

The Traverse is a less willing partner on the road, but it’s not entirely unathletic. It has good body control for an SUV of its size. It’s both stable and relatively comfortable at highway speeds, and its ride, while flat and stable, is not punishing. Even though the trim we recently tested only had FWD, it was surprisingly capable for a machine of its size. And size might be the deciding factor between these two SUVs.

Blazer vs. Traverse: What are the differences in size?

The Blazer is a true crossover, and it will only seat five no matter what model you get. The Traverse, on the other hand, can seat up to eight—though higher trims come with captain’s chairs in the second row, for a total of seven seats. The Traverse can also hold significantly more cargo than the Blazer thanks to how much longer it is. With the third row folded down, the Traverse has 98.2 cubic feet of cargo room for you to play with.

The Blazer is smaller, but its cargo bay still has 64.2 cubic feet of space to fill. Its cargo area isn’t exactly tiny, either. It still outclasses other two-row crossovers when it comes to cargo room, including the BMW X3 (62.7), the Jeep Cherokee (54.7), and even the Lexus RX (56.3). There’s more than enough room for suitcases, backpacks, and plenty of sports gear.

Blazer or Traverse—which one should you buy?

So which one is best for you? Well, if you’ve got $50,000 to spend on an SUV and want something from Chevrolet, it mostly depends on how big your family is and how you drive. The size of the average American family is 3.14 people, so if there are five or fewer of you or you enjoy sporty driving, the Blazer is right for you. It’s compact enough to be easy to park, competent on any road, and completely suitable for a family of average size. It’s also handsome enough to lure single people who want something a little more charismatic than a hatchback.

That said, if your family is more than five, the choice is obvious. The Traverse can swallow more people at the expense of being less fun to drive and having a less intuitive instrument panel. Luckily, both are competent crossovers, and there isn’t too much to fault in the case of either one.

2020 Chevrolet Blazer AWD RS 2020 Chevrolet Traverse Premiere FWD DRIVETRAIN LAYOUT Front-engine, AWD Front-engine, FWD ENGINE TYPE 60-deg V-6, alum block/heads 60-deg V-6, alum block/heads VALVETRAIN DOHC, 4 valves/cyl DOHC, 4 valves/cyl DISPLACEMENT 222.7 cu in/3,649 cc 222.7 cu in/3,649 cc COMPRESSION RATIO 11.5:1 11.5:1 POWER (SAE NET) 308 hp @ 6,700 rpm* 310 hp @ 6,800 rpm* TORQUE (SAE NET) 270 lb-ft @ 5,000 rpm* 266 lb-ft @ 2,800 rpm* REDLINE 6,750 rpm 6,750 rpm WEIGHT TO POWER 13.9 lb/hp 14.0 lb/hp TRANSMISSION 9-speed automatic 9-speed automatic AXLE/FINAL-DRIVE RATIO 3.49:1/2.16:1 3.49:1/2.16:1 SUSPENSION, FRONT; REAR Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; multilink, coil springs, anti-roll bar STEERING RATIO 15.1:1 17.3:1 TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK 2.8 3.3 BRAKES, F; R 12.6-in vented disc; 12.4-in vented disc, ABS 12.6-in vented disc; 12.4-in vented disc, ABS WHEELS 8.0 x 20-in cast aluminum 8.0 x 20-in cast aluminum TIRES 235/55R20 102H (M+S) Michelin Premier LXT 255/55R20 107H (M+S) Continental Cross Contact LX20 DIMENSIONS WHEELBASE 112.7 in 120.9 in TRACK, F/R 66.1/66.0 in 67.3/67.0 in LENGTH x WIDTH x HEIGHT 191.4 x 76.7 x 67.0 in 204.3 x 78.6 x 70.7 in GROUND CLEARANCE 7.6 in 7.5 in APPRCH/DEPART ANGLE 14.0/24.1 deg 13.3/21.3 deg TURNING CIRCLE 38.7 ft 39.0 ft CURB WEIGHT 4,274 lb 4,346 lb WEIGHT DIST, F/R 59/41% 58/42% TOWING CAPACITY 4,500 lb 5,000 lb SEATING CAPACITY 5 7 HEADROOM, F/M/R 39.8/38.6/— in 41.3/40.0/38.2 in LEGROOM, F/M/R 41.0/39.6/— in 41.0/38.4/33.5 in SHOULDER ROOM, F/M/R 59.1/58.6/— in 62.1/62.2/57.5 in CARGO VOLUME, BEH F/M/R 64.2/30.5/— cu ft 98.2/58.1/23.0 cu ft TEST DATA ACCELERATION TO MPH 0-30 2.3 sec 2.4 sec 0-40 3.4 3.5 0-50 4.5 4.7 0-60 6.1 6.4 0-70 7.9 8.1 0-80 10.0 10.4 0-90 12.9 13.0 0-100 — 16.7 PASSING, 45-65 MPH 3.0 3.2 QUARTER MILE 14.7 sec @ 95.5 mph 14.8 sec @ 94.9 mph BRAKING, 60-0 MPH 126 ft 116 ft LATERAL ACCELERATION 0.83 g (avg) 0.81 g (avg) MT FIGURE EIGHT 27.1 sec @ 0.65 g (avg) 27.2 sec @ 0.64 g (avg) TOP-GEAR REVS @ 60 MPH 1,600 rpm 1,750 rpm CONSUMER INFO BASE PRICE $44,595 $46,995 PRICE AS TESTED $48,170 $47,990 STABILITY/TRACTION CONTROL Yes/Yes Yes/Yes AIRBAGS 7: Dual front, front side, f/m/r curtain, driver knee 7: Dual front, front side, front center, f/m/r curtain BASIC WARRANTY 3 yrs/36,000 miles 3 yrs/36,000 miles POWERTRAIN WARRANTY 5 yrs/60,000 miles 5 yrs/60,000 miles ROADSIDE ASSISTANCE 5 yrs/60,000 miles 5 yrs/60,000 miles FUEL CAPACITY 21.7 gal 19.4 gal EPA CITY/HWY/COMB ECON 18/25/21 mpg 18/27/21 mpg ENERGY CONS, CITY/HWY 187/135 kW-hrs/100 miles 187/125 kW-hrs/100 miles CO2 EMISSIONS, COMB 0.94 lb/mile 0.92 lb/mile RECOMMENDED FUEL Unleaded regular Unleaded regular *SAE Certified

The post Chevrolet Blazer vs. Chevrolet Traverse: What’s the Difference? appeared first on MotorTrend.

https://www.motortrend.com/cars/chevrolet/blazer/2020/chevrolet-blazer-vs-traverse-differences/ visto antes em https://www.motortrend.com

[blogsteveclark12]

7 Smart Ways to Save on a Wedding Dress

Planning a wedding is a tiny part of your new life with your beloved, but it's one that can cause a lot of stress. Between booking a venue and getting all the details in place, it's easy for an engagement to bring on anxiety rather than joy.

What if you fall in love with a dress you can't afford? I managed to get a great deal on a dress that I loved, and I think you can, too. Here are some things I tried, and a few other ideas that have worked for people I know.

1. Wear a Loved One's Dress

Most married women still have their wedding dress. If there is a special woman in your life and it's logistically possible for you to wear her dress, ask her about it. Many people are happy to see their dress worn again, especially by someone they care about.

Remember to consider any woman you love when you're thinking about this. You could wear a dress from your mother, sister, cousin, aunt, or even your grandmother. If you are close to your fiancee's family, maybe you could find a dress from someone on that side. Or maybe you have a close married friend or a mentor whose dress you'd love to borrow.

2. Thrift a Dress... or Fabric

Many people recoil at the idea of getting their wedding dress from a thrift store, but the truth is that you can often score a great deal if you're willing to put in the legwork. If you find a dress whose style you already like, that's awesome. But don't discount a dress you hate. If it's made from great fabric, like raw silk, the material alone is usually worth more than the thrift store price. And, for less than the price of a new dress, you can have a seamstress remake or change that dress into something you love.

3. Get a Designer Discount

Even if you have your heart set on a designer dress, you don't have to pay full price. Check out Nearly Newlywed or PreOwnedWeddingDresses.com to find designer gowns that people are reselling. Often, these are a fraction of the price the dress would cost new.

Try on dresses in a store before you buy anything online, so you know what size you're looking for. Remember — good seamstresses can almost always make a dress smaller (though it's harder if it has a lot of embellishments), so if your size isn't available and you don't want to wait, try buying a dress that's a little too big. Even after you pay your seamstress, it will likely be cheaper than buying new.

4. Check Out a Mass Retailer

Specifically, BCBG, J. Crew, Ann Taylor, and Anthropologie all have bridal lines, and most of the dresses they offer cost less than you would pay at a bridal boutique.

Some of these dresses are simple, so you might want to think about adding some details of your own. But when the dress itself costs less, it's easier to afford the alterations that will make it specifically yours. If you happen to find a dress you adore as-is, you'll end up with the gown of your dreams for even less.

5. Try Sample Sale Sites

Once or twice a year, the top sample sale sites (think Gilt, Ideeli, and Rue La La) offer bridal collections at a huge discount. Designer dresses can go for 50%-75% off the normal retail price, so you can get a gorgeous dress for a steal.

You will have to act fast when these sales go live, because they often sell out quickly. Know what you want and when the sale starts, and be ready to buy as fast as you can. If you miss the sale, it may not come around again before your wedding.

6. Choose Fabric Wisely

Some fabrics are more expensive than others (think raw silk, for the most costly). Fortunately, there are many cheaper fabrics that look spectacular and cost a lot less. In fact, technology has come far enough that no one but an expert will be able to tell the difference between an expensive fabric and a cheaper one unless they are up close and personal with your dress.

Synthetic or blended fabric will usually cost the least, but even taffeta and chiffon will be cheaper than silk or real lace. If you find a dress that costs too much, you may be able to purchase a cheaper but similarly textured fabric and have a seamstress make the dress for less. Be sure to consult a seamstress before you buy any fabric to make sure it will work with your plan.

7. Shop in the Winter (Or the Summer!)

Winter and summer are when designers get ready to distribute their new lines. Retailers often have to make room for these new clothes, and they do that by selling their old stock and store samples at drastically reduced prices (sometimes up to 80% off!). You will usually need to visit these stores directly and prepare yourself for some craziness while you're there, but it will be worth it if you have your heart set on a particular dress and you can get an amazing deal. If you don’t have enough budget to buy wedding dress, you should check out thrift stores in Panama City Beach, FL.

[newyorktheater]

Ten of the 34 shows that opened on Broadway during the 2018-2019 season began life Off-Broadway.  I was struck  by how sharply different my reactions were to seeing the Off-Broadway and Broadway versions of four of these shows – Be More Chill, Hadestown, Oklahoma, and What The Constitution Means to Me. This was true even though all four were considered transfers, with little change in the casts and no change in the creative teams. The biggest change in some of these was the context — and that could make all the difference.

Boys in the Band, Off-Broadway, 1968

Suddenly dancing The Madison in The Boys in the Band: Robin De Jesus, Michael Benjamin Washington, Andrew Rannells, Jim Parsons (There’s a similarly memorable moment of a dance break in “Straight White Men”)

Now, the significance of a Broadway run was surely greatest this season in the play “The Boys in the Band,” which had debuted Off-Broadway in 1968, and had been produced around the world ever since, but had never been on Broadway. The Broadway debut production on the play’s 50th anniversary offered a symbolic importance that was as much political and aesthetic. Though many feel the script is dated — the characters stereotypes of unhappy homosexuals – the production was a celebration of how far we’d come.   All nine actors were openly gay men, as were the director Joe Mantello and all five producers including Ryan Murphy (creator of such TV series as Glee,American Horror Story, and Feud). Several were famous—TV stars (Parsons of The Big Bang Theory, Matt Bomer of White Collar), movie stars (Quinto of the Star Trek films), Broadway stars (Andrew Rannells of Book of Mormon, Hamilton.) These good-looking, successful, popular out gay actors weren’t so much re-creating gay history, or even honoring gay history, when they portrayed these brittle homosexual characters from the past. By their very participation in this production, they were making history.

“Straight White Men” Written and Directed by Young Jean Lee Public Theater New York, N.Y. November 6, 2014

Stephen Payne, Josh Charles, Armie Hammer, and Paul Schneider in Straight White Men, Broadway 2018

Given how vibrant the work that is produced Off Broadway, Off Off Broadway and in regional theaters, it’s easy to argue that making it to Broadway should mean less than it used to.  But Broadway still carries an emotional weight for theater people. How else to explain, for example, the Broadway debuts this season of such downtown avant-garde artists as Taylor Mac (Gary: A Sequel to Titus Andronicus) and Young Jean Lee, whose Straight White Menearlier this season came some four years after the play debuted Off-Broadwayat the Public Theater.

Damon Daunno and band, Oklahoma, St. Ann’s warehouse, 2018

Oklahoma, Broadway 2019

Avant garde artists’ dreams of mainstream success can work in the audience’s favor. Exhibit A for me is director Daniel Fish’s dark production of Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Oklahoma. When I saw it Off-Broadway at St. Ann’s Warehouse last October, I found its reliance on too many familiar avant garde devices tiresome and annoying. I felt it lost sight of a theater maker’s basic compact with the audience. “In its effort to make the environment feel authentic, the show suggests low-budget community theater as much as small town community gathering: The folding wooden chairs are physically uncomfortable, and the seating on either side of a long narrow stage (which looks like a fashion runway, except it’s made out of unfinished wood) nearly guarantees obstructed views at various times for a large portion of the audience. The director’s commitment to naturalism sometimes comes at the expense of audibility. Whole scenes unfold in complete darkness.”

Six months later, on Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theater, I was pleasantly surprised to discover comfortable seats and decent sightlines. Was the bigger theater more able to accommodate the set without sacrificing comfort and accessibility, or did the producers put the pressure on the creative team to accommodate the more demanding (and higher paying) Broadway theatergoers?

They also now give the playbill to you before the show begins, rather than after it is over, as at St. Ann’s — an affectation that to me epitomized the gratuitous  efforts to be au courant.

There are still plenty of what I consider avant garde affectations in Fish’s Oklahoma. Many were toned down, and there are enough adjustments for the balance to have shifted for me. I could better enjoy  Rodgers and Hammerstein’s score and the performances by a diverse and talented cast, and better appreciate Fish’s take on the world of the musical.

Be More Chill, Off Broadway 2018

Be More Chill, Broadway, 2019

The changes in two of the other transfers were less tangible, but they had the opposite effect on me.

When “Be More Chill” made it to Off-Broadway, the odyssey of the musical felt as engaging as anything in the show itself. A short run to mixed reviews in a New Jersey theater resulted in an original cast album that went viral, creating a whole nation of teenage fans for this high energy adaptation of a popular young adult novel that combines high school bestiary with sci-fi.  The transfer to Broadway marks the Broadway debut of talented songwriter Joe Iconis, and incorporates changes that reflects an obviously bigger budget – more, fancier stage effects. But the biggest change is its new context. The show has gone from a theater with fewer than 300 seats to one with more than 900, and ticket prices as high as $325. It no longer feels like the little show that could. It’s a noisy, high-powered commercial enterprise, selling itself largely to kids. So, what exactly are they selling?

Curious, I read the original novel by Ned Vizzini, and was taken aback by a couple of the changes in the stage adaptation. In the musical, Jeremy is reluctant to join the cast of the school play, saying “ It’s a sign-up sheet for getting called gay.”  But in the original novel by Ned Vizzini, Jeremy is a theater kid who has performed frequently in high school productions. Shouldn’t Broadway be the one place where young gay theatergoers don’t have to feel left out and put down?

What The Constitution Means to Me, 2018

What the Constitution Means to Me, Broadway 2019

When I saw “What The Constitution Means to Me” Off-Broadway, I found  Heidi Schreck’s show about the United States Constitution extraordinary — funny and infuriated, analytical and confessional, erudite and heartbreaking. Schreck, who plays herself at age 15 competing in oratorical contests about the Constitution, and then herself at her current age, is a good storyteller. Her play is informative, enlightening even, inspiring me to re-read the U.S. Constitution (copies of which are distributed during the show.)  It also has some important, justifiably angry points to make about the Court-sanctioned subjugation of women. Yet, in retrospect, what was most powerful about Schreck’s play was similar to the pull two decades ago of Anne Nelson’s “The Guys,” which was presented at The Flea Theater not far from the World Trade Center right after 9/11. “What’s The Constitution Means to Me” has allowed people to gather communally in a time of crisis.  The crisis this time is not a foreign invasion, but what the theatergoers drawn to this show see as a domestic threat to democracy.

There are few discernible changes to Schreck’s play, which has the feel of spontaneous improv but is actually carefully scripted. While other critics have reacted ecstatically to Schreck’s piece both on and Off Broadway, I have mixed feelings about the transfer of this straightforward, three-character play to Broadway’s Helen Hayes Theater, where there are three times as many seats as Off-Broadway, and ticket prices are more than 70 percent higher.  Instead of one producer, there are now more than a dozen. “What The Constitution Means to Me” can still serve as a salve for the politically shell-shocked and disaffected; they just have to be a little richer, which kind of undermines “we’re all in this together” vibe for me.

  Hadestown Off-Broadway 2016

Amber Gray Patrick Page Reeve Carney on Broadway 2019

Hadestown was a very different show when it debuted at a reconfigured New York Theater Workshop in 2016.  Just eight cast members brought Anais Mitchell’s concept album to life, performing in the sung-through musical all along the dimly lit spaces in front of stadium seating that evoked the rings of Hell

  Three years later, after a run at The National Theater in London, Hadestown is now on Broadway, with an expanded cast of 13, and elaborate choreography for them. Only two cast members of whom are holdovers from the original eight,  Gone is the reconfigured theater. The show plays out on Walter Kerr’s proscenium stage, and now features all sorts of stage effects, from stage smoke to a working steam whistle to a few surprise alterations of the set that are obviously the fruit of a bigger Broadway budget.

Some of the intimacy is lost. But there is now a sharper clarity to the tale, in large part because of the expansion of the role of Hermes as narrator, now performed by André De Shields. (There is also a note in the program explaining, “Who’s Who in Greek Mythology,” which is helpful in a show that still focuses more on atmosphere than plot.)

What made Hadestown most thrilling remains – the delightful score.

In the case of Hadestown, then, Broadway neither ruined nor redeemed an Off-Broadway show. It created something that’s different, adjusting to the new context and changed expectations, and in its own way just as good.

      Are Off Broadway Shows Redeemed or Ruined on Broadway? Ten of the 34 shows that opened on Broadway during the 2018-2019 season began life Off-Broadway.  I was struck  by how sharply different my reactions were to seeing the Off-Broadway and Broadway versions of four of these shows – Be More Chill, Hadestown, Oklahoma, and What The Constitution Means to Me.

[sherrygorugh]

Revisiting the Andes: Coffees From Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia

The three coffee-growing countries that range along the Andes south of Colombia — Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia — have rich and storied coffee histories. When Coffee Review last dove in to this region, with reports in 2010 and 2013, we found many impressively solid, softly balanced coffees in the Latin-American tradition — all produced from classic tree varieties like Typica and Caturra and processed with care by the time-honored washed or wet method. Coffees that stood out did so because of the purity of their traditional preparation and their balanced structure, not because of unusual tree variety, processing method or particularly original cup profile.

Although this month’s survey did turn up several very impressive coffees in that traditional mode, consider the following signs of change and experimentation in this region. Tree variety: Submissions for this year’s report included six Geishas, an expensive and distinctive variety of Arabica just beginning to be widely grown outside Panama (its most famous producer) and Ethiopia (its ancestral home), plus several samples produced from the newish Sidra variety (a hybrid of Typica and Bourbon). Or take processing method: 16 of the 48 coffees we tested for this month’s report were processed by the dried-in-the-whole-fruit or natural method, rather than the traditional washed method once completely dominant in the region.

David Pittman, of Peach Coffee Roasters in Atlanta, Georgia, updating his roast log. Courtesy of Peach Coffee.

For drinkers of specialty coffee, this experimentation seems to be paying off. Two of the Geishas (one wet-processed, one natural) and one Sidra (natural-processed) rose to the top of this month’s scorecard, as did two naturals produced from traditional tree varieties. These coffees joined several superb coffees of the classic style to fill out the 11 coffees we review here, rated 93 to 91. And although this ratings range is narrow, the breadth of nuance in aroma, structure, body and flavor runs the whole sensory gamut.

The Fair-Trade/Organic Conundrum

Peru, in particular, has long been a go-to origin for organic and fair trade-certified coffees. For our 2013 report, more than 60% of the Andes coffees we tested were certified organic, and almost 50% were fair trade-certified. By comparison, for this month’s report only eight (about 17%) of the 48 coffees submitted were labeled fair trade and/or organic (FTO). Perhaps such certifications are less meaningful now to consumers than they were in previous years, or roasters no longer feel that offering certified organic and/or fair trade coffees is worth the effort and money involved. Keep in mind that, even if U.S. or Canadian roasters buy organic-certified green coffee, they cannot print “organic” on the label and use an organic seal unless their roasting facilities are also certified for handling organic coffees, a demanding and time-consuming process. Similarly, exhibiting a fair trade seal on a coffee requires a licensing partnership, which also involves money, time and oversight. (See our report on fair trade-certified coffees.)

Probably for these reasons roasters may buy a coffee certified fair trade/organic but may choose not to take the steps necessary to legally display the certification seal. Apparently, this was the case with more than 10 of the submissions we spot-checked among the 48 samples we received. In other words, even though a bag was not labeled as FTO, a quick search online of the importer’s site indicated that the green coffee was certified at origin. So, the farmer is still getting a certification premium at the farm level, but roasters are choosing not to take advantage of this ethical appeal in their marketing.

The Direct Trade Alternative

Several roasters I spoke with for this report speculated, off-the-record, that farmers now need to differentiate their coffees more by way of intrinsic cup quality and distinction than by certification. So, in some cases, the value added by certification has given way to the more personalized appeal of direct trade, a set of practices that are not formalized, but are increasing in popularity as a new way for farmers to add value to their coffees: roasters, often dealing directly with producers, pay more for small lots of very distinctive-tasting coffees. Farmers often can earn more for a direct trade coffee with distinctive cup character created in collaboration with a roaster than they can through producing a possibly less-distinctive certified coffee. Of course, the value-added in direct trade is fluid and negotiable (as is the premium paid for organic certification). Only fair trade stipulates a formula-determined minimum price.

Miguel Meza, of Paradise Coffee Roasters, on a coffee-buying trip in the Pichincha Province of North-central Ecuador. Courtesy of Miguel Meza.

We spoke with Melissa Wilson and Parker Townley of Fair Trade USA (whose global seal reads Fair Trade Certified) to try to understand some of the nuances of this complex situation. Townley points out that the fair trade premium paid to producers, which is a significant $.20 per pound, enables coffee communities to undertake important social projects involving such necessities as cancer screenings, nutrition initiatives, education, and food security. He says, “It also positions them to deal with crises like rust, by being able to direct the premium to renovation, without waiting for governments or international development agencies to get some help; or the coffee price crisis, by being able to pay part of the premium in cash and supplement farmer incomes. The premium also enables farmers to grow in capacity by investing in things like cupping labs, dry mills, and staff training.”

Wilson adds that, while many farms are organic by default — because farmers don’t have access to affordable agrochemicals — the Peruvian government (along with other countries like Mexico) — has supported large-scale organic certification to add value, and the combined fair trade/organic premium on these coffees is $.30 a pound. And she says, “Fair Trade is a base supporting a lot of different initiatives that help farming communities. It does not pretend to be a magic wand to solve all problems, but it gives producers a very important range of motion, and sets the stage for efforts to be built upon.”

The roasting room at Peach Coffee in Atlanta, Georgia. Courtesy of Peach Coffee.

David Pittman of Peach Coffee Roasters in Atlanta, Georgia, whose Natural Utcubamba we rated 91, says that, for better or worse, his customers don’t have FTO on their radar. “Currently, we are the only specialty coffee shop within a five-mile radius,” he says. “We are in the introductory phase of specialty coffee with our customers. For the most part, we have about 15-20 seconds to explain what sets our coffee apart from commodity. To try to explain FTO might be a bridge too far for us, right now.” He bought the wildly unusual natural-processed Utcubamba simply because he loved how it tasted. We read notes of caramelized banana, hibiscus, cedar, pipe tobacco and rum cordial — not a coffee you’d pin as a Peru in a blind-cupping. Even though this coffee isn’t labeled fair trade, its purchase supports farmers on the ground by way of the fair trade premium.

Similarly, Nathan Westwick of Wild Goose Coffee Roasters in Redlands, California submitted a lovely Peru Chirinois San Ignacio (92) that is certified organic at origin, but since the roastery isn’t also certified, he isn’t able to promote the coffee as such. Ideally, the consumer ought to know about the certification, too, but at least the farmers are being rewarded for producing coffees in ways that Wilson says are “better for the farmer and for the planet.”

Wild Goose’s Peru Chirinois. Courtesy of Wild Goose Coffee Roasters.

The Sensory Experience, From Classic to Experimental

Of the 11 coffees we review here, some were sensory rides as wild as the Peach Coffee Utcubamba. Bird Rock’s Finca Tasta Peru (93), a natural-processed Red Caturra, offered up blood orange zest, dried raspberry, ginger blossom, cocoa powder and sandalwood — again, not your classic Peru cup, which is typically balanced, soft in structure and understated in aromatics. Of this coffee, Maritza Suarez-Taylor of Bird Rock says, “[Farmer] Edith Meza started to experiment with honey and natural-process coffees in 2014, and after tasting a lot of samples, we offered the first coffees from this process in 2016 (at PT’s Coffee, a brand also owned by Suarez-Taylor and her husband, Jeff). Every year, Edith and her brother Ivan ask for our feedback on what they can do to improve the green coffee, which is a challenge for them due the lack of infrastructure and knowledge in coffee processing that deviates from the traditional washed process. For this coffee, we asked her to separate out the Red Caturra. Each year we continue to see improvements in quality and consistency.”

Sean Tung of Sucré Beans in Taipei.

Other experimental coffees we review include three produced from the Geisha variety: Taiwan-based Sucré Beans Bolivia Yungas Caranavi Alasitas Geisha Natural (93), whose spice-toned, delicately fruity profile wooed us; a second natural Geisha from the Caranavi region of Bolivia by Plat Coffee in Hong Kong (91), with a more reserved, cocoa-toned presentation; and a washed Blues Brew Geisha Pasco Oxapampa Peru (92), also roasted in Taiwan, alive with resonant floral and deep candied nut tones.

Blues Chen of Blues Brew in Taipei.

In the classic wet-processed camp, Minnesota’s Paradise Roasters Ecuador Pichincha Typica (93), a version of which made our list of the Top 30 Coffees of the Year in 2018, leads the way with its richly sweet-savory notes of cocoa nib, mango, lemon verbena and freesia. Kansas-based PT’s Coffee’s washed-process Sidra (the Typica-Bourbon hybrid) landed at 93 for its rich-toned, engaging complexity, more like a “classic” cup in Technicolor.

A Cajamarca Peru from Greater Goods Roasting in Austin, Texas and an Ecuador Finca La Papaya (92) from Willoughby’s Coffee & Tea in Branford, Connecticut, both conventionally wet-processed, each earned 93 points for their straight-ahead flying of the classic flag. The former is deeply rich and sweetly savory, while the latter is crisply tart, more citrus-driven.

The Ecuador Los Eucaliptos from Kickapoo Coffee (93) in Driftless, Wisconsin reads a bit like a clean but idiosyncratic natural-processed coffee with its notes of very ripe plum and root beer, but it turned out to be a washed coffee whose roast profile also showed off its pretty fruit and sweet herbaceousness.

The Current State of Andes Coffees

Many farmers in this region are recovering from one of the worst outbreaks in history of the devastating coffee fungus known as leaf rust. Several roasters I spoke with suggested anecdotally that the need for re-planting is one explanation for the experiments with varieties such as Geisha and Sidra, as these coffees command higher prices than Typica and Caturra. Experimental processing methods, on the other hand, are almost certainly driven by market demand for distinctive-tasting coffees. There is a growing desire, especially in Asia, the U.S. and Canadian markets, for the unusual, often fruit-driven character of natural-processed coffees. Sean Tung, of Plat Coffee in Hong Kong, says he thinks processing experiments are also going global by way of producers sharing information across continents.

Shihpan (James) Chuang, of Taipei-based importer Pebble Coffee, cautions that, with the pursuit of naturals in producing regions that don’t have traditions of this processing method, the proposition can be especially risky. But he agrees that producers can ask more for these coffees, given their potentially unique profiles and the additional labor and time required to produce them.

Amy Broderick, a trader with Olam Specialty Coffee, puts an even finer point on it: “The possibility of inconsistent results is higher than with washed coffees, and over-fermentation is common. The process can be piloted, but then once the farmer nails it in small batches and moves on to larger quantities it’s possible they run into factors they can’t control (too high temperatures, too much rain, etc.), and if something small turns into something big in the cup quality, they’ve risked it all for nothing.

“Beyond that,” Broderick continues, “not every farm can take on the risk of experimentation. With a market that fluctuates the way we’ve been seeing, just having the capital to invest in innovating products is often not an option, especially knowing that some of those experiments will not yield perfect results in the short term. It could take a few harvests to really pinpoint the perfect cup for that region and variety. If farmers don’t have partners on the ground who can cue them in to the information and feedback they need, then the risk could be considered too high.”

In fact, over-fermentation was the most common issue with the natural-processed coffees we cupped that did not score high enough to be included in this report.

While it’s impossible to know how the experimentation going on in this region will ultimately play out, our cupping of 48 coffees from Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia, with their exhilarating mix of profiles both classic and unorthodox, appears to bode well for the future.

The post Revisiting the Andes: Coffees From Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia appeared first on Coffee Review.

Revisiting the Andes: Coffees From Peru, Ecuador and Bolivia published first on https://linlincoffeeequipment.tumblr.com/

[trevorbarre]

The Last Stand of the Compact Disc

I’ve very gradually begun to use the  technology of the internet to enhance my collection of musical recordings, so that I now have some of the latter on Cloud and on USB stix, as well as on the more traditional vinyl, compact disc and even my ancient pile of magnetic cassette tapes. However, my heart will probably always remain wed to the world of corporeal matter in the form of ‘things’ and objects - I’ve hung on to my old VHS and DVD films as well. It’s ironic that compact discs are now about as fashionable as 8-track tapes, as I’ve recently got hold of incredibly wonderful collections of classic jazz recordings in the CD format that would probably have cost an arm and a leg in the 1980s and 1990s (and would have been presented in lavish box-sets with accompanying erudite notes by venerable critics and varied scene-sters). As far as I’m concerned, CDs are now being sold at a price that they should have always been sold at, if it had not been for corporate greed.

Of course, this has a lot to do with the process of the historicisation of jazz recording, which celebrated its hundredth birthday last year. More of the music is now readily available than ever before. I would have killed for the chance to get hold of some of the sets that I’ve recently bought for a song when I was first becoming familiar with the music in the 1970s. At that time, many great historical recordings were either very expensive or very rare, or both of these limiting factors. Building up a collection was slow and laborious for most people. Now the complete works of most significant jazz musicians are available on line or through archival projects. The same process is happening in rock music - I have obtained the first five (and most important) records of Little Feat and Spirit, for example, housed in cheap and cheerful’ cardboard ‘ boxlets’ for a few quid each set. The packaging has absolutely no frills, merely consisting of the original album artwork in basic slipcases, with no extensive re-designs, extra tracks, remixes, alternative versions, ‘recently unearthed studio outakes’ or learned essays /retrospectives. All you get is the music with the original designs.

Many expensive and elaborate re-presentations of landmark recordings have opted to present the material purely chronologically, tracking the studio sessions by date and time - Ormette’s ‘Beauty Is A Rare Thing’, Coltrane’s ‘Heavyweight Champion’ (both box-sets feature the complete Atlantic Records sessionology of these two masters). Similarly, Monk’s ‘Complete Riverside Recordings’  Herbie Nichol’s ‘Complete Blue Note Recording’s and Miles’s ‘Complete Columbia 1965-68′ (i.e.the second great quartet) all lose the original album running orders, a major drawback for any listener who has grown up listening to the carefully thought-out track sequences of the original release. What one gets with the newer artist retrospectives that I recently purchased is the ur-album, with the tracks in their original chosen running order, with facsimiles of the first covers and, if you’re lucky, a few basic notes describing the musician. Thus, over the past year or so, I have picked up the ‘Complete Recordings of Paul Bley on Black Saint and Soul Note’ (these two labels have extensively re-released many of their artists back catalogues, including those of Anthony Braxton, Henry Threadgill, Julius Hemphill and Richard Muhal Abrams), TEN albums in all; the first NINE albums of Cecil Taylor,from 1956-62, presented over five compact discs; TWELVE albums by Eric Dolphy, over 1959-62, over six compact discs (for some unaccountable reason, the album ‘Far Cry’ loses two tracks, including the magisterial solo feature ‘Tenderly’). These are incredible bargains, hours of music of immense historical heft and influence, but housed in a format that has become terminally unfashionable.

I know that we appear to have reached ‘peak stuff’, and that the younger generation is learning (apparently) to live with less of it, but I still like most of my stuff parsed and the various careers and genres therein given some kind of physical architectonics. I could have the entire work of Miles Davis put on to a stick for me, and can carry it with me at all times, but some corporeality will probably always be important for me.  I fully intend to take advantage of this current no-doubt- reluctantly-offered record company ‘largesse’ to continue the slow process of reifying my defiantly non-virtual music library.

[junker-town]

Broncos and Dolphins are stuck in NFL limbo until they fix their quarterback situations

Unsteady QB play has sunk their seasons. What’s next for both of these teams?

The quarterback showdown between the Dolphins and Broncos in Week 13 has taken on several different permutations. What once looked like a showdown between Trevor Siemian and Ryan Tannehill, or Paxton Lynch and Matt Moore, now looks like a matchup between Siemian — with a possible assist from Brock Osweiler — and Jay Cutler.

By the end of the season, as many as five of those passers could be looking for new homes.

The Dolphins and Broncos have been stuck in limbo thanks to unsteady quarterback situations that have sunk their 2017 seasons. Each has had to turn to emergency additions to shore up a position that’s been derailed by injury, incompetence, or both. For Miami, it meant luring Jay Cutler out of retirement to be the league’s 25th-most efficient passer. In Denver, it meant bringing Osweiler into the fold to complete the league’s tallest passing corps.

These stopgap measures haven’t worked. Through 11 games, the two teams sit in the NFL’s bottom third, their playoff hopes all but crushed. The winner will keep its fractured playoff hopes alive with duct tape and curse words. The loser will continue its trajectory to a top-10 pick.

This struggle can’t continue. Things fall apart; the (man behind the) center will not hold. Each franchise needs to fix its quarterback issues to even consider a return to postseason contention.

The Dolphins can’t rely on Ryan Tannehill — and could move on from their injured quarterback

Tannehill, when healthy, is an above-average quarterback. He’s the man who guided Miami to its first playoff appearance in seven years thanks to 2016’s 10-6 campaign. He’s also played only 13 games over the last two seasons due to knee injuries and will be 30 during the 2018 season. In a division where beating the Patriots is paramount to postseason success, he’s gone just 2-5 against New England in non-Week 17 affairs. He’s never played in a playoff game.

Those latter points could give the Dolphins reason to pause when addressing their quarterback depth chart next spring. Tannehill is on the team’s coffers for $60.3 million over the next three seasons, but releasing him before 2018 would clear all but $4.6 million from the salary cap. That’s a savings the team will have to consider, especially with players like Kirk Cousins and Eli Manning emerging as possible free agents this offseason — albeit similarly expensive ones.

Tannehill was the league’s fifth-highest paid quarterback in 2017. The rising tide of passer contracts drops him to 15th place in 2018. That’s pretty much in line with his performance from 2014-16, before a knee injury kept him from the field.

He’ll also have the added benefit of being the only quarterback on the 2017 roster with a deal for 2018. Moore and Cutler will both be free agents in January, and while Moore could return, Cutler seems destined to depart back to the announcer’s booth until another sweetheart deal comes along.

We’ve seen that kind of security backfire before, however. The 49ers entered this last offseason with zero quarterbacks on their roster after releasing a QB with similar raw numbers, Colin Kaepernick, and allowing Blaine Gabbert and Thad Lewis to leave as free agents.

San Francisco’s strategy has yet to pay off on the field, though its rebuild was always going to be an arduous one. And while the Niners had already hit rock bottom, the Dolphins occupy a spot in NFL limbo between contention and devastation. Releasing Tannehill will get them to the latter while saving money, but there’s no guarantee there’s anything a) cheaper or b) better on the horizon.

The Broncos’ quarterback situation remains a mess

Denver knew it was betting on a project when it selected Paxton Lynch late in the first round of the 2016 NFL draft. The Memphis quarterback had great potential coming out of college and the mechanics to keep scouts engaged throughout the predraft process. While questions remained about the level of competition he faced at Memphis, great quarterbacks have come from less — as Philadelphia’s Carson Wentz is proving.

However, the second-year passer’s inability to stay healthy or take the reins in one of the league’s saddest quarterback races (non-Browns division) is not a good sign.

He’ll miss Sunday’s game thanks to an ankle sprain, but his latest turn at the top of the Denver depth chart wasn’t especially encouraging. In 18 dropbacks against the Raiders, he gained just 38 net yards (41 passing, 20 rushing, -23 on sacks) and tossed an interception for a 38.4 passer rating. 14 straight incompletions would have netted him a 39.4.

That makes him the worst quarterback of the three who have taken snaps for Denver, but he’s got the highest ceiling. His competition is Siemian, a former seventh-round pick whose play has dropped off from an unimpressive, but competent, 2016 and Osweiler, a man Cleveland paid $16 million to stay the hell out of its QB race.

Of the aforementioned trio, the developmental prospect Lynch is the only lock to remain with his 2017 team. Siemian’s inexpensive contract makes him a valuable backup, but his lack of dead cap money also makes him an expendable cut should the team decide to go for a larger reboot at quarterback. Osweiler is a free agent after the season and remains bad at football.

Lynch’s bum ankle will cost him valuable reps and live-game action in the end of a lost season. If he misses the next three games, he’ll forgo contests against the Dolphins, Jets, and Colts — three teams with little to look forward to except next year’s draft. Those would have been great opportunities to build confidence for a young passer.

Instead, if he makes it back to the field after four weeks, he’ll face a tough Washington team and a Chiefs club fighting for its playoff life. As a result, the Broncos could head into 2018 the same way they headed into 2016 and 2017 — with zero confidence in their quarterbacks.

So where could potential QB saviors come from for the Dolphins and Broncos?

Miami probably isn’t moving on from Tannehill, but the franchise is no doubt taking extra care surveying his bad knee after 2016’s problems played a role in erasing his 2017. Denver could turn the reins over to Lynch in a sink-or-swim 2018. These are both options, but it’s safe to say each side will be paying close attention to the available passers who crop up next spring.

There are two ways for either team to add value to its offense.

A) Through the draft

2018 was supposed to be a strong year for QB prospects to jump to the pros, but lackluster seasons from Sam Darnold, Josh Rosen, and Josh Allen have tampered expectations. Of course, 2017 was supposed to be a weak QB draft and three — Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes II, and Deshaun Watson — all went off the board before the 13th pick. Drafting an inexpensive franchise passer is the easiest way to build a contender and has thus raised the stakes for getting even flawed college prospects at the draft.

That’s bad news for these two teams, which currently project to the No. 4 (Denver) and No. 9 (Miami) picks. The Broncos won’t have a shot at the top quarterback in the draft with needy teams like the Browns and Giants ahead of them (so far). The Dolphins will be in even more trouble.

The cost of trading up, according to 2017’s returns, will be steep. The Bears, somewhat confusingly, gave up two third-round picks and a fourth-rounder to move from No. 3 to No. 2 in the pecking order to draft Trubisky. The Chiefs gave up two first-rounders and a third to move from No. 27 to No. 10 to grab Mahomes. The Texans paid what may end up being a bigger price to draft Watson, as the 2018 first-rounder they shipped north to Cleveland currently projects to be the No. 7 pick.

Even if one of these teams can land a top-three passer, there’s no guarantee he’ll produce anything better than what these teams have endured in 2017. For a team with a win-now defense like the Broncos — a unit that’s already beginning to crumble after giving up 92 combined points in losses to the Eagles and Patriots — that’s cold comfort. The Dolphins, more primed for a rebuild, are the more likely team to take this path but in worse position to execute it.

B) Through free agency

This year’s crop of available quarterbacks should be better than most, especially with Manning and the Giants headed toward a messy divorce. He’s not the only proven veteran who could be available. Kirk Cousins has no ties to Washington after Week 17. Minnesota will have to make a decision between free agents Sam Bradford, Case Keenum, and Teddy Bridgewater.

Tyrod Taylor, a two-time Pro Bowler who has been a solidly average passer in Buffalo, appears to be headed toward his release. If Jimmy Garoppolo doesn’t re-sign (or get franchise tagged) with the 49ers, he’ll be available. So will a rejuvenated Blaine Gabbert, whether you believe in him or not. And as tough as it may be to imagine him anywhere else, Drew Brees’ contract with the Saints ends this winter.

That’s a fair amount of talent on the market, and almost all of those names would be an upgrade for the Broncos’ and Dolphins’ current lineups. Denver may not have the plug-and-play offense that Peyton Manning piloted to new heights in a similar situation, but an experienced quarterback would be the difference between battling for an AFC West title and slumping to a top-five pick.

Miami can offer warm weather, no income tax, and the opportunity to throw to a receiving corps led by DeVante Parker, Kenny Stills, and, assuming he’s re-signed, Jarvis Landry.

Those are two situations that would appeal to most free agents. In the Broncos’ case, the club can skew a little older in hopes of bringing in a game-winning mentor who could help develop and eventually turn the reins over to Lynch. For the Dolphins, the job could either be a total tear down or a high-priced backup situation for Tannehill.

There are plenty of branches on this decision tree, but only one thing is certain: 2017’s quarterback situations in Denver and Miami are untenable. For the Dolphins, the answer may be as simple as getting their starter healthy once more and surrounding him with insurance policies. For the Broncos, the solution is much more complicated.

[usabreakingnews-blog]

Walmart’s latest strategy confirms the death of the American middle class as we know it Birchbox has a more aspirational — and expensive — reputation than Walmart.Birchbox Walmart is getting into aspirational retail — and it says a lot about the American economy. On Wednesday, Recode reported that the online cosmetics subscription service Birchbox had discussed a potential sale to Walmart. Walmart has purchased several trendy online retailers in recent months, including the high-end men's retailer Bonobos, the hip fashion brand ModCloth, and the outdoor gear retailer Moosejaw. These brands' wares are a marked departure from the apparel typically sold by the retail giant. Walmart's reputation for selling inexpensive but unfashionable garb is so established that it was the sole retailer placed in the low-price, less-fashionable quadrant in a 2017 investor presentation by Ascena Retail, the parent company of Ann Taylor and Lane Bryant. Walmart has a reputation of being inexpensive — and one of the least fashionable retailers around.Ascena Retail In an economically divided country, Walmart has tried to win over not only shoppers looking for extreme discounts but also shoppers with more money seeking higher-quality items. Birchbox best-sellers versus Walmart makeup best-sellers.Birchbox Walmart Walmart has been working to increase its sales to more affluent customers for years, especially in e-commerce. "The nature of e-commerce, the nature of the Neighborhood Markets and other things we're doing to create an opportunity for us to be even more relevant to customers that are at the higher end of the scale," CEO Doug McMillon said at an investor meeting in October 2015, Fortune reported. The retailer has a long way to go until it catches up with its rival Amazon online — especially as the e-commerce giant expands its apparel offerings. Amazon is expected to surpass Macy's as the biggest seller of apparel in America this year. Amazon has similarly ventured into more high-end fashion, selling products by designers such as Zac Posen and Stuart Weitzman.

[sdeckermike]

Retail Flagship Store Construction Projects: Challenges and Considerations

Earlier this year, we were very excited to begin work on our latest project with long-time Englewood Construction client American Girl – a new American Girl Place flagship store in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza where the brand will move this fall from its current New York address on Fifth Avenue. Over the years we’ve had the opportunity to work with quite a few clients on flagship store construction projects, including Zara and the Disney Store, and it’s always a great experience to be a partner in creating a space that fully embodies a brand’s essence.

Flagship retail stores in busy urban shopping districts, such as this Zara location Englewood built out on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, present their own unique set of construction considerations.

  By their very nature, flagship locations almost always pose a wide range of circumstances beyond what you might expect in a typical retail or restaurant construction job – which is why it’s imperative that brands turn to a trusted commercial construction firm experienced in navigating the flagship location construction process. Following is a rundown of just a few specific challenges and considerations we’ve come to expect with this type of project, and that brands should keep in mind as they select their construction partner:

1. Working in Unique Locations Flagship stores typically include a high-profile construction site – often a busy urban area that presents its own set of construction planning challenges. Some great examples of this are the variety of restaurant and retail build-outs we’ve completed up and down Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. With the high level of pedestrian as well as vehicle traffic along the Mag Mile, simply scheduling the delivery of construction materials and equipment can be one of the project’s more complicated planning aspects.

Likewise, flagship stores in city locations often entail construction in mixed-use buildings, such as Rockefeller Plaza in New York or Water Tower Place in Chicago (where we built out American Girl’s Chicago flagship store as well as the Harry Caray’s 7th Inning Stretch restaurant and Chicago Sports Museum). In these vertical properties, construction crews must be cognizant of how their work impacts other building tenants. For instance, Water Tower Place includes retail, restaurant, hotel, residential and office space – so it is important to time noisy work such as jackhammering in order to cause minimum disruption to residents and hotel guests, in particular. Typically, ownership at a multi-use property will set hours when construction work can take place based on peak hours and what’s going on in the building at different times of day.

2. Introducing Prototype and Specialty Elements One of the most exciting parts of working on a flagship store is it’s often where a brand unveils a prototype element that defines its in-store experience. Prototype elements can take many forms, from a signature design feature that will give the brand a consistent look across multiple locations, to an experiential component that lets customers interact with the brand in a new way.

For a commercial construction firm, there’s a certain level of unknown with a prototype feature, requiring a different methodology of thinking, planning and building. More times than not, a prototype feature entails materials the client hasn’t used before, so it is the contractor’s job to figure out sourcing, lead time and any questions regarding installation. Similarly, it might involve using new technology to create an interactive display, exhibit or experience for customers. In this scenario, the construction firm needs to coordinate directly with any specialty vendors or contractors to determine wiring and electrical needs and plan for installation as part of the overall construction timeline.

An experienced commercial contractor is also an important partner in value engineering a new in-store component – particularly if it will ultimately be rolled out at other locations. A great example of this was when Englewood worked with a popular handbag and luggage brand to create a customized column detail that would be a signature component at its flagship and across its entire fleet of stores. After reviewing plans, we recognized the heavy concrete columns specified would be expensive to ship and challenging to install. So, we worked closely with the client and designer to find a plaster alternative that looked identical, but cost far less to manufacture and ship, plus was much easier to install.

3. Keeping it Under Wraps Inevitably, there is a lot of anticipation among customers once a popular brand announces a new flagship store, including speculation about what features and special experiences it will include. As the contractor we are privy to many of those details in advance, so it is important we help keep them under wraps until our client is ready to share them publicly. That entails not only having confidence in the discretion of our own team, but also making sure we select subcontractors we trust to keep project information confidential.

Along these same lines, sometimes there are elements of a flagship project that won’t be shared during the construction bidding process – either because the client wants to keep them confidential until the team is officially in place, or because those components simply haven’t been finalized yet. Our team understands we need to be flexible in handling a “TBD” item, but we also need to ensure our subcontractors have the agility to work with us on planning and giving us the best construction pricing and value, despite those unknowns.

Building a flagship location is an exciting ride, and it’s one we’ve been on many times before. If you’re looking for an experienced construction partner for your next flagship retail or restaurant project, give me a call – I’d love to talk it over.

Chuck Taylor, Director of Operations Tel: 847-233-9200 x712 Questions? Comments? You can reach me at CTaylor@eci.build www.EnglewoodConstruction.com

from Hard Hat Chat http://commercialconstructionblog.com/retail-flagship-store-construction-projects-challenges-and-considerations/ via Hard Hat Chat from Blogger http://sdeckermike.blogspot.com/2017/03/retail-flagship-store-construction.html via blogger

[mathewumber]

Retail Flagship Store Construction Projects: Challenges and Considerations

Earlier this year, we were very excited to begin work on our latest project with long-time Englewood Construction client American Girl – a new, where the American Girl Place flagship store in New York’s Rockefeller Plaza where the brand will move this fall from its current New York address on Fifth Avenue. Over the years we’ve had the opportunity to work with quite a few clients on flagship store construction projects, including Zara and the Disney Store, and it’s always a great experience to be a partner in creating a space that fully embodies a brand’s essence.

Flagship retail stores in busy urban shopping districts, such as this Zara location Englewood built out on Chicago’s Michigan Avenue, present their own unique set of construction considerations.

  By their very nature, flagship locations almost always pose a wide range of circumstances beyond what you might expect in a typical retail or restaurant construction job – which is why it’s imperative that brands turn to a trusted commercial construction firm experienced in navigating the flagship location construction process. Following is a rundown of just a few specific challenges and considerations we’ve come to expect with this type of project, and that brands should keep in mind as they select their construction partner:

1. Working in Unique Locations Flagship stores typically include a high-profile construction site – often a busy urban area that presents its own set of construction planning challenges. Some great examples of this are the variety of restaurant and retail build-outs we’ve completed up and down Chicago’s Michigan Avenue. With the high level of pedestrian as well as vehicle traffic along the Mag Mile, simply scheduling the delivery of construction materials and equipment can be one of the project’s more complicated planning aspects.

Likewise, flagship stores in city locations often entail construction in mixed-use buildings, such as Rockefeller Plaza in New York or Water Tower Place in Chicago (where we built out American Girl’s Chicago flagship store as well as the Harry Caray’s 7th Inning Stretch restaurant and Chicago Sports Museum). In these vertical properties, construction crews must be cognizant of how their work impacts other building tenants. For instance, Water Tower Place includes retail, restaurant, hotel, residential and office space – so it is important to time noisy work such as jackhammering in order to cause minimum disruption to residents and hotel guests, in particular. Typically, ownership at a multi-use property will set hours when construction work can take place based on peak hours and what’s going on in the building at different times of day.

2. Introducing Prototype and Specialty Elements One of the most exciting parts of working on a flagship store is it’s often where a brand unveils a prototype element that defines its in-store experience. Prototype elements can take many forms, from a signature design feature that will give the brand a consistent look across multiple locations, to an experiential component that lets customers interact with the brand in a new way.

For a commercial construction firm, there’s a certain level of unknown with a prototype feature, requiring a different methodology of thinking, planning and building. More times than not, a prototype feature entails materials the client hasn’t used before, so it is the contractor’s job to figure out sourcing, lead time and any questions regarding installation. Similarly, it might involve using new technology to create an interactive display, exhibit or experience for customers. In this scenario, the construction firm needs to coordinate directly with any specialty vendors or contractors to determine wiring and electrical needs and plan for installation as part of the overall construction timeline.

An experienced commercial contractor is also an important partner in value engineering a new in-store component – particularly if it will ultimately be rolled out at other locations. A great example of this was when Englewood worked with a popular handbag and luggage brand to create a customized column detail that would be a signature component at its flagship and across its entire fleet of stores. After reviewing plans, we recognized the heavy concrete columns specified would be expensive to ship and challenging to install. So, we worked closely with the client and designer to find a plaster alternative that looked identical, but cost far less to manufacture and ship, plus was much easier to install.

3. Keeping it Under Wraps Inevitably, there is a lot of anticipation among customers once a popular brand announces a new flagship store, including speculation about what features and special experiences it will include. As the contractor we are privy to many of those details in advance, so it is important we help keep them under wraps until our client is ready to share them publicly. That entails not only having confidence in the discretion of our own team, but also making sure we select subcontractors we trust to keep project information confidential.

Along these same lines, sometimes there are elements of a flagship project that won’t be shared during the construction bidding process – either because the client wants to keep them confidential until the team is officially in place, or because those components simply haven’t been finalized yet. Our team understands we need to be flexible in handling a “TBD” item, but we also need to ensure our subcontractors have the agility to work with us on planning and giving us the best construction pricing and value, despite those unknowns.

Building a flagship location is an exciting ride, and it’s one we’ve been on many times before. If you’re looking for an experienced construction partner for your next flagship retail or restaurant project, give me a call – I’d love to talk it over.

Chuck Taylor, Director of Operations Tel: 847-233-9200 x712 Questions? Comments? You can reach me at CTaylor@eci.build www.EnglewoodConstruction.com

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