RETAIL DETAIL | Chic boutique Elisa Wen is set to open up in Danville’s Rose Garden Lifestyle Village sometime later this spring or summer.

Elisa Wen, one of few independent retailers in downtown Walnut Creek, offers upscale and designer merchandise for men and women from brands like Hudson, Splendid, Catherine Malandrino, D & G, Miguelina, Rebecca Taylor, L.A.M.B. by Gwen Stefani, Twelfth Street by Cynthia Vincent, True Religion, Rock & Republic, Susana Monaco and Michael Stars.

The Rose Garden is a “lifestyle center” that will also include a  Navlet’s Nursery and Burke Williams Day Spa along with a variety of restaurants, home furnishings stores, apparel retailers and specialty stores. 

RETAIL DETAIL | Retail chains of all kinds open new stores in Bay Area, but not that many blanket us the way Fresh & Easy Neighborhood Markets plans to do.

The chain, owned by U.K.-based Tesco (the Wal-Mart of England), will open 18 new stores here next year and is still looking for locations.
F & E started opening stores in Southern California, Arizona and Nevada late last year. They are about one-fifth the size of a Safeway and yet their CEO, Tim Mason told me this morning shoppers “can definitely do all of their shopping there.”

Sounds cool, but will people like it? Selling food is one of the most competitive segments of retail and the profit margins are plastic-wrap thin, but novelty can go a long way and I think that will be one of F & E’s biggest strengths. Also, small stores usually take less time to peruse, which is a big plus for all of us time-challenged types.

Here’s a list of F & E’s confirmed locations with cross streets:

Antioch
Somersville & Buchanan
Lone Tree & Golf Course

Concord
Clayton & Ygnacio Valley

Danville
Diablo & Hwy 680

Fairfield
Beck & West Texas

Hayward
Mission & Rousseau
A & Hesperian

Mountain View
Middlefield & Rengstorff

Napa
Jefferson & Imola

Oakland
73rd & Bancroft

Oakley
Laurel & Ohara

San Francisco
3rd  &  Carroll
Silver & Goettingen

San Jose
Bird & Minnesota
Almaden & Curtner

Sunnyvale
Tasman & Fair Oaks

Vallejo
Oakwood & Springs

Walnut Creek
Ygnacio Valley & San Carlos

RETAIL DETAIL | Consumers and animal rights groups are up in arms that some retailers and designers discovered they were selling coats lined with dog fur even though labels on the items said the fur was fake. Read more in a story by the Associated Press.

The mislabeling problem is one issue, but the outrage over the use of dog fur is a separate matter. The story contends that most of the fur came from China, where a species called racoon dogs are killed for their fur. People on this side of the Pacific are upset because in America, dogs are meant to be treated as pets, not attire.

I would never consider wearing one of my pets, but if the racoon dogs in China aren’t even domesticated, then what’s the big deal? We use all kinds of animal skins for clothes and accesories, so why make a big stink over this case?

I definitely see the ick-factor of sporting a coat lined with fido, but not the argument that dogs or doglike creatures shouldn’t be used the way cows, ostriches, snakes and alligators are. What makes one animal more sacred than another these days?

AT THE SCENE | I think I just waited longer than I ever have for a sandwich. I am attempting to grab a quick bite at a French themed café-bakery called Cocola. The line is way too long and the staff needs to double. Other restaurants have waits longer than an hour. Let’s not even talk about the food court… it’s swarming. I read about some of the new restaurants in the program and walked over to them only to find out they are “coming soon.” Unlike what one of the mall’s slogans says, “foodies and fashionistas unite,” it seems more like, “foodies prepare to wait.”

Some people would call crowds energetic. For me, they are draining and loud. I need to be able to think when I shop, otherwise I end up with too much hot pink.

RETAIL DETAIL | With 170 stores including the biggest Bloomingdale’s West of the Mississippi, Westfield San Francisco Center aims to become the Bay Area and Northern California’s prime shopping mall.
I’ll be out there bright and early to cover the opening tomorrow and drool over the denim and shoe departments at Bloomie’s. Check out the blog throughtout Thursday for updates.

CONSUMER CRUSADER: During a recent trip to Florida, I had a bad customer service experience while having a meal with four other friends. My food was great, but three others had cold and hard mashed potatoes and someone bit into a pink burger patty after ordering her meat well-done.
We complained and the waitress simply frowned and said, “I can’t control what the kitchen does.” We immediately called a manager and later shared free desserts and no hard feelings.
Bad customer service happens, but one way to approach the situation is to speak up. How do you deal with bad service?

Welcome to Shop Talk! My blog will keep you up-to-date on shopping trends in the East Bay, help you find great deals, give you the latest retail industry news and let you give your opinions on shopping and spending money.

Some people call shopping a sport; I think of it more as an art. Most everyone can find zest in it. It’s that sense of indulgence and strategy that I want to capture in this blog, with your help.

As consumers, we have choices — lots of them. Everytime you spend a dollar, a piece of you is filtered into the economy and that means our choices give us power.

Think of your money as paint and the way you spend it paints a picture of your tastes, ideas and priorities. Shop Talk is a venue to discuss where our dollars are going and what motivates our choices.