Handwritten thank you cards…do you remember them? Handwritten anything for that matter? In times when tech rules, it seems as though personal touches have all but disappeared. Lately, though, I’ve noticed the thoughtful gesture popping up in unexpected places, which I hope means written thank yous are making a comeback.

Image property of Chute Gerdeman

I was recently shopping at Coach for my niece’s sweet sixteen birthday. I spent some time with the salesperson in search of the perfect gift. She was genuine in her demeanor and asked me about my niece’s interests so she could recommend the right bag for her. After sharing a little, Mallorey suggested the Kristin Hobo bag. My niece loved it, and a few days later I received a thoughtful handwritten note in the mail—from the salesperson! The message was personalized and included details from our conversation. She noted,  “It was such a joy meeting you and helping you.” Meeting me, not selling me? Wow, now this is excellent customer service! Read more…

Image via Chute Gerdeman

As CG’s resident Materials and Trend Specialist, one of my key duties is keeping our studio’s materials library up-to-date. With a focus on what’s new, there are items that inevitably get pulled off our library shelves. I’ve been hanging onto unwanted items, waiting for an opportunity to recycle them, rather than dumping everything into the trash. As it turns out, there are others outside of our industry who find value in my unused porcelain tile samples or a discontinued wallcovering binder. And IIDA has created a program to bring us together and reduce the waste.

ZeroLandfill™ is a wonderful event, hosted by IIDA in various chapter cities, where designers and architects can donate old library samples, binders and other items that are taking up valuable real estate in a materials library. This reuse program offers discarded materials to local artists, teachers, DIYers or anyone else who might be able to repurpose these products.

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Burberry’s Hi-Tech London Flagship, Niketown’s Chicago Renovation, and the C9 Active Apparel Store in San Francisco

Images via retaildesignblog.net, Nike Chicago Facebook, wwd.com

Editor’s Note: When we spot something noteworthy, our first thought is to share it with our readers. We might not have loads of research about it, but we do know it’s something we’ll want to experience at the first opportunity. Show & Tell is a collection of recent finds that makes us say, “Hey, this looks amazing, and you should know about it.”

1. Burberry’s Hi-Tech London Flagship

After two years of renovations, Burberry has unveiled its new World Live Flagship at 121 Regent Street in London. It’s a celebration of British design and craftsmanship and a hi-tech integration that brings burberry.com to life. Burberry CEO, Angela Ahrendts, explains the thinking behind the name, “Burberry Regent Street brings our digital world to life in a physical space for the first time, where customers can experience every facet of the brand through immersive multimedia content exactly as they do online. Walking through the doors is just like walking into our website. It is Burberry World Live.”

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Image via Emeco

Philippe Stark collaborated with Emeco to create a functional, sustainable and beautiful chair called the Broom Chair. For those of you who are not familiar with Emeco, they first manufactured the Navy Chair in 1944 to use on submarines, a chair that is still manufactured and used today! The Navy Chair is guaranteed for life as is the newest addition to the Emeco line, the Broom Chair.

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