Retail : Buzz

You might recall that Travel + Leisure recently named Baltimore the 3rd worst dressed city. 

Another travel magazine says not so, and features a rather dapper Baltimore dandy dressed in duds from area retailers. GO: AirTran Inflight Magazine enlisted "fashion-savvy stylist" Ella Pritsker, director of the Maryland Center of Fashion Design; "talented designer" Christopher Schafer and "hip photographer" Sean Scheidt to create the fashionable look for its September issue. 

"We'll be one of America's best dressed cities in no time," Pritsker tells the magazine. 

Baltimore may have shed its image as the gritty, crime-infested city depicted in the The Wire. That's according to USA Today, which credits the Four Seasons Baltimore as the watershed development that has helped Baltimore's image. It features a 44-image slideshow of the property. 

"The Four Seasons Baltimore hotel tower is the newest tower on Baltimore's skyline in the upscale Harbor East neighborhood, which contains retail shops, restaurants, galleries, apartments and office space," USA Today writes. "The hip retail shop Anthropologie will open a location in the hotel complex in late summer."

Check out the slideshow here. 

Sean Lennon, the son of late music legend John Legend, recently paid a visit to a Hampden store Charlotte Elliott. 

Lennon was accompanied by his model/actress/musician girlfriend Charlotte Kemp Muhl, writes Baltimore Fishbowl.

"The pair showed interest in an antique rug, on which [Owner Charlotte] Hays Murray’s father Fred Hays, her co-owner, offered the young man a great deal," Fishbowl writes. "His girlfriend picked up a cookbook penned by Vincent Price."

You can read the rest of the story here. 

Baltimore's coffee shops has gotten some press from the Huffington Post. The website features a slideshow of local spots to get a java jolt, including Hampden's Spro, Mount Vernon's Koffee Therapy and the Four Seasons Baltimore's Lamill Coffee.

"What is different about Baltimore's coffee renaissance is that it has percolated less through the corporate culture of selling high-end brews to rich people than through home town pride," the Huffington Post writes. "The thinking seems to be that this is the sort of economic development that can keep talented people in a city suffering from brain drain."

You can read the rest of the story here. 

"Maria. I once knew a girl named Maria."

Oh wait, wrong West Side Story.

Hutzlers. I once knew a store named Hutzlers. 

A new play that tells the story of Baltimore's west side retail history premiered March 25 at the Hippodrome. 

"The performers, part of Fluid Movement, a Baltimore group best known for its elaborate and creative water ballets, staged a play on skates commemorating the area's history as "The Hub," the center of city shopping in the era before malls," writes the Baltimore Sun in its review. 

The performances for "HOWARD & LEX: The Way We Roll!" continue March 31 and April 1. Westside Renaissance Development, PNC Bank, the Weinberg Foundation, and the office of Baltimore City Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake are sponsoring the show.

The James Beard Foundation Awards are known as the Oscars of the culinary world.

And this year the foundation has honored three restaurant stars in Maryland. 

The foundation recognized Woodberry Kitchen's Spike Gjerde, Charleston's Cindy Wolf and Volt's Bryan Voltaggio among the best chefs in the mid-Atlantic. Charleston was also honored for its wine program and as an outstanding restaurant. You can see the entire list of nominees here. 

Baltimore has a number of chocolate makers in town. And one has earned national recognition.

Complex, an online lifestyle magazine for 20-something men, has named Glarus Chocolatier the sixth best in the nation. 

"Baltimore's Glarus Chocolatier uses traditional Swiss recipes for each of their handcrafted creations," the website writes. "Think a small craft brewery, but with chocolate covered strawberries rather than pilsners and lagers. Got it? We feel drunk already."

It's the only Baltimore chocolate company to earn a spot on the list. 

A Baltimore County sports shop will be the subject of a new reality TV show, according to the Baltimore Sun's David Zurawick.

ABC will follow the owners of Robbie's First Base in Timonium in 12, half-hour episodes. You can read more about the planned TV show in Zurawick's blog.

A website that covers environmental news has recognized Baltimore as its destination of the week.

Mother Nature Network says Baltimore -- once a "victim of Rust Belt decay -- is now an "ideal East Coast destination."  The article highlights eco-friendly retail outlets, LEED-certified hotels and restaurants that serve dishes sourced from local farms.

"Like other aged East Coast cities such as Philadelphia and Boston, Baltimore has walkable historic sightseeing routes," Mother Nature Network writes. "These, coupled with the city's parks, markets and user-friendly transit options, make it a good addition to low-impact travelers' East Coast itineraries."

You can read the rest of the story here.

PR News has recognized Jamie Watt Arnold of Baltimore's Profiles among its 15 to Watch. The weekly publication bestowed the honor on budding public relations professionals under 30.

"To promote client Freshii, a quick-service restaurant, Jamie Watt Arnold coordinated a grand-opening celebration that attracted Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and secured nearly 70 media hits in outlets such as the Baltimore Sun and Style Magazine," PR News writes.

You can read more about the recognition here.

Under Armour recently unveiled plans for a significant expansion of their corporate headquarters.

From the Sun:

Under Armour is hoping to double the size of its Baltimore headquarters to accommodate additional employees, a retail store and a company museum.

The sports apparel company wants to build an additional 400,000 square feet at Tide Point, an office complex in the Locust Point neighborhood that the firm, which had rented there for years, bought earlier this year.

The company envisions a 20,000-square-foot store opening in 2013, with offices and the museum to follow. Underground and surface parking are also planned.

Read the whole story here.

Sales -- and profits -- are surging at Baltimore's Under Armour.

From the source:

Under Armour Inc.'s net income surged 77 percent in the second quarter as the company sold more athletic clothing and footwear and benefited from soaring direct-to-consumer sales and from taking its previously licensed hats and bags business in-house.

The Baltimore clothing seller also increased its full-year revenue forecast Tuesday to a range above Wall Street's expectations.

Under Armour earned $6.2 million, or 12 cents per share, for the quarter, compared with $3.5 million, or 7 cents per share, a year ago.

Read the full story here.

Baltimore's own Grasmick Lumber has been chosen to provide wood planks for Ocean City's new boardwalk.

From the source:

The Town Council voted to heed a recommendation from City Engineer Terry McGean to contract with Baltimore-based Grasmick Lumber as the supplier of more than 56,000 pieces of wood for $602,650. The company has been supplying lumber to the resort for more than a decade.

The figure works out to 52 cents per foot of board, an amount McGean and Grasmick Executive Vice President Kirk Hammonds both called "historically low." In 2008, the town paid about 84 cents per foot for the southern yellow pine it uses on the Boardwalk.

Read the whole story at delmarvanow.com.