First Look
Microsoft will open its first flagship store five stories, six years in the making on October 26 (677 Fifth Ave.).
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Illustration by Jason Lee
(Photo: Courtesy of the vendor) |
1. Answer desks: Complimentary PC tune-ups; personal training for all Microsoft software and hardware.
2. Community center: Two 30-person theaters for Girls Who Code classes and NFL-player talks.
3. Video games: Xbox One (from $350) with games like Halo ($50) to play on video walls with surround sound.
4. Video screen: A massive Microsoft monitor 30 feet and two stories tall displays new products like the Microsoft Band 2 fitness band ($250).
5. Laptops: Microsoft Surface Books ($1,499) and Lenovo ThinkPad touchscreens ($1,099).
6. Phones: Lumia 950 ($550) and 950 XL ($650), the first to support Windows 10 software.
7. Tablets: Surface Pro 4 (from $899) available for the first time on opening day.
2x2: Sophisticated Halloween Candy
Trick or treat for the Goop set.
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(Photo: Courtesy of the vendors) |
Sweet:
Reese’s alternative: Unreal milk-chocolate peanut-butter cups, $5 per bag at Whole Foods.
Starburst alternative: Torie & Howard assorted-flavors fruit chews, $5 per bag at torieandhoward.com.
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(Photo: Courtesy of the vendors) |
Savory-sweet:
Reese’s alternative: Wild Ophelia smoked-salt peanut-butter cups, $4 at Gourmet Garage.
Starburst alternative: Flaver popcorn candies, $14 per case at flavercandies.com.
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(Photo: Courtesy of the vendor) |
Moving In
On November 24, Jean-Marc Gaucher, the CEO of French ballet-inspired brand Repetto, will open its first Stateside shop (400 W. Broadway).
We were thinking about the days when we would custom-design shoes for Brigitte Bardot and Serge Gainsbourg. The store presents our first line of heels, which includes the fringed Virgin Tutu ($895), with ’60s-inspired ostrich feathers. We’ll still have the ballet flats that we’re known for there will be an atelier where people can customize them in 250 colors and the rest of the shop is ballet-inspired, too. We’ll also have taffeta skirts and shop clerks who are professional dancers.
Three in One
Astoria’s new Chateau Le Woof (30-02 14th St.) is a pet shop that offers happy hour for dogs and also a café for humans.
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(Photo: Courtesy of the vendor) |
1. Eat: Single-origin La Colombe drip coffee ($2), and tuna niçoise salads ($9) and hummus-avocado sandwiches ($7) packaged off-site and served at a countertop café.
2. Feed: Weruva gluten-free canned steak-frites ($2.50) and the Honest Kitchen’s Icelandic catfish-skin dog treats ($13) in an outdoor faux-grass-covered dog dining area.
3. Play: In-store doggy frolicking from seven to eight every evening (from $3) and weekend birthday parties (from $35 per hour), plus private training sessions (prices vary by trainer).
Deconstruction
Launching in November: the $995 flat-pack Campaign sofa (campaignliving.com).
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(Photo: Courtesy of the vendor) |
Velcro-bound pure-cotton covers are layered with foam, for easy cleaning or switching among five color options.
Back cushions have a 50-50 mixture of pillowlike down and supportive polyester.
A no-tools-necessary assembly allows for the couch to be broken down and rebuilt in minutes, should you be moving into a new apartment.
The recyclable-steel inner frame, manufactured by the company that creates Tesla parts, connects the arms, back, and base like Legos.
Seat cushions are filled with a high-density, sag-resistant, two-pounds-per-cubic-foot polyurethane foam.
Solid maple legs and straight lines are inspired by American mid-century furniture.
Top Five
Wanderlustre (419 Court St., Carroll Gardens) carries scrap-metal birds and shell-covered chests that Katy Grogan Ivanfy finds in her travels.
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(Photo: Courtesy of the vendor) |
A street artisan who works in a parking lot in Johannesburg makes these metal bird sculptures (from $200). They look glamorous, which is ironic considering their origins.
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(Photo: Courtesy of the vendor) |
This quilted patchwork flag ($700) was made by the Fante Asafo community in Ghana. I think it would be cool thrown over a chair or hung on the wall in a kids’ room.
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(Photo: Courtesy of the vendor) |
This Kuba box ($950) is encrusted with beads and cowrie shells. I’ve been scanning the internet for another one, but I haven’t been able to find anything like it.
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(Photo: Courtesy of the vendor) |
The underside of this chandelier ($960) has a star pattern, so the light shines through little tiny holes that have a textured effect.
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(Photo: Courtesy of the vendor) |
A combination of two of my favorite things: gemstones and fragrance soap (from $12). The pink looks like rose quartz and smells like grapefruit.