Uniqlo’s U.S. Expansion

[Flickr/Ricecake That!]

It’s been confirmed by Women’s Wear Daily – Fast Retailing (the parent company behind Uniqlo) announced during the National Retail Federation’s convention and expo that the Japanese clothing brand will be opening more U.S. stores  and taking it’s business online. W00t! W00t!

Let’s hope that one of these new brick-and-mortar locations includes San Fransisco – I can see the store fitting nicely in Union Square or even next to the New People mall in Japantown. But if they skip over us Bay Area peeps, at least, we’ll be able to shop online.

Filed under: Breaking News, Fashion, Retail, Fashion, Japan, Retail, San Francisco Bay Area, Uniqlo, Web Site

Link of the Week: iiStix

 

Chopsticks, originally uploaded by sonictk.

Asian/Asian American entertainment and community site, iiStix (pronounced “two sticks”) has been around for quite some time now (circa 98 or 99…..I am not quite sure based on the “about us” page). However, when I first discovered the site in 2006, it was under construction. While I had heard that the site was quite popular, I really couldn’t tell from the “under construction” page that was left up. So I left and would occasionally check back, but was only greeted by that “under construction” page again and again.

Two years later (i.e. earlier this week), I noticed a little bump in traffic for my post, The Face Shop + Walgreens, was coming from iiStix. Could it be I thought? Is the site actually up and running? I looked and it was…..since December 2007 apparently.

Looking around, I have to admit that it looks pretty impressive. Their front page blog is basically a running compilation of Asian/Asian American related entertainment, consumer and lifestyle stories gathered from other news sites and blogs with some interesting original articles by their core team of editors and contributors. Their forum is also pretty active with the most popular topics being (1) general chat, (2) love, sex & relationship, (3) tech, gadgets & gaming and (4) entertainment. They have a few, sporadic podcasts with the promise of some video casts, which should be interesting.

Check it out and see for yourself!

Filed under: Web, Asian-American, Entertainment, Forum, Publication, Web Site

Link of the Week: Hong Kong Hustle

Beautiful Hong Kong, originally uploaded by cblee.

Hong Kong Hustle
Hong Kong nightlife, street fashion, culture and cool
(www.hongkonghustle.com)

This is probably one of my favorite blogosphere finds in recent weeks. With this blog, you and I can live in HK vicariously and pretend that we part of the cool crowd….one of the people who always know where and when all the “it”parties are happening. Since 2005, Hong Kong Hustle has been offering an alternative glimpse into HK’s urban life and nightlife, very different than the often cutesy and squeaky clean image (though Edison Chen pretty much shattered that earlier this year) that is portrayed in the media. The unnamed blogger covers everything from art & design, food, local culture, music & DJs, parties & events and people.

Hong Kong Hustle screen capture, originally uploaded by hongkonghustle.com

Side Note: As I do my usual, sit at home and find an interesting blog to read routine, I’ll be sharing my favorite finds each Friday beginning today. As you can probably guess, I am trying to add a little more structure (i.e. editorial calendar) to my blog; however, I am still working out what I will be posting on the other days…..just like Disneyland, this blog will always be under construction. Enjoy!

Filed under: Web, Art, DJ, Entertainment, Events, Fashion, Food, HK, Hong Kong, Links, Music, Nightlife, Street Fashion, Web Site