We don’t mind spelling it out again: in an age of abundance, curators rule! Riding the CURATED CONSUMPTION trend in all its glory is Japanese Ranking Ranqueen, a Tokyo chain selling only the top 3, 5 or 10 items in a bewildering range of categories. Rankings are based on sales data from big Tokyo department stores and independent research.
Think best-selling lists for bath powder. Tooth picks. Pasta sauce. Cell phones. And so on. Rankings are updated every week, mercilessly replacing the out of favor with the Next Big Thing.
There are eight Ranking Ranqueen stores in total: five stores in Tokyo (Shibuya, Shinjuku, Otemachi, Jiyugaoka, Kitasenju), two stores in Yokohama (Azamino, Kamiooka), and one store in Fukuoka (Fukuokatenjin). The company is owned by Tokyu Corporation. (Spotted by Ray Collouch, Springspotter Network.)
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Remember trendwatching.com’s being spaces trend? This third-room phenomenon (commercial living-room-like settings, where catering and entertainment aren’t the main attraction, but are there to facilitate small office/living room activities like watching a movie, reading a book, meeting friends and colleagues, or doing your admin) continues to evolve. From an entrepreneurial point of view, Springwise particularly likes the following being spaces spottings:
New York’s Paragraph and The Village Quill are members-only centers catering to writers who need a space to be away from it all and actually get some writing done.
Paragraph (“providing an affordable and tranquil working environment for writers of all genres”) occupies a 2,500 square foot loft space near Union Square, divided into a writing room and a lounge area. The writing room has 38 partitioned desks, while the lounge area contains a kitchenette, a large round table and smaller café tables. There’s a refrigerator and cabinets to store members’ food and beverages, as well as a microwave, toaster oven and coffee maker. The space has a laser printer and wifi throughout, and is open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
Members are assigned a pin code to access the space, and don’t need to be published authors: a strong drive to write is enough. Monthly access fees range from USD 80 to 132 (EUR 67-110/GBP 45-75). So far, Paragraph has signed up 120 members.
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Kozmo! Urbanfetch! Food.com! Ordering a pint of Ben & Jerry’s and a video from your East Village studio in your underwear. Ah, those were the days! But as predicted (SECOND .COMING), beautiful flowers now grow on the graves of many a failed dotcom. In Istanbul, After 9 started delivering stuff to demanding Istanbulites in need of urban necessities like condoms, beverages, cigarettes, diapers and sandwiches. Orders are placed online or over the phone, and are delivered by motorbike or car in 45 minutes or less. Opening hours are 9pm–6am. For this urban luxury, customers pay a 25-30% premium compared to regular supermarket prices. The minimum order size is USD 7 (EUR 6/GBP 4), but the average order is closer to USD 20 (EUR 17/GBP 11.50).
Additional services since the September 2005 launch include Nite-Porter (a chauffeur service which takes customers wherever they like in their own car) and Pill-Porter, an all-night pharmacy delivery service. Geographical expansion plans include more outlets in Istanbul, including the Asian side, and adding the cities of Izmir and Ankara to the list.
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