Retail : Buzz

Those trendy lower Manhattanites are about to get a dose of Baltimore-style athletic wear.

Under Armour, which has been expanding its retail presence, has signed a lease in Soho, the New York Post reports. The 7,000-square-foot store, to open next year, is its first in New York. The company opened its first non-outlet retail store in Baltimore's Harbor East. It also recently opened a store in Shanghai and is opening a retail outlet in Tysons Corner, Va.

The company also recently opened a visitor center in Tide Point. 

New York Magazine has devoted a Weekend Travel section to Baltimore, hitting an impressive array of eclectic shops, restaurants, museums and neighborhoods. 

This isn't your grandmother's guide to Charm City. New York Mag tells its readers to "Hang with hipsters in Hampden, a popular neighborhood of galleries, bars, and boutiques that feels a little like Williamsburg ten years ago."

Whoa, a New Yorker comparing Baltimore to Brooklyn?

"Go on an art crawl in Station North, Baltimore’s newest arts district. Stroll along North Avenue, Charles, and Barclay Streets to see 23 murals and installations by 30 local and international taggers like Gaia, Momo, Vhils, and Freddy Sam," New York Magazine writes. 

It also highlights veggie cuisine at Golden West, Spike Gjerde's newly opened Shoo-Fly Diner and the comfort food cuisine of the Food Market. Read the whole story here. 

USA Today went behind the scenes of Under Armour's "Future Show" competition, in which the athletic apparel company seeks out the next great product idea from top innovators.  

The winner came up with a lighted shirt for joggers who run at night. Chris Forgey came up with Light Bohrd after worrying about his son longboarding (a longer type of skateboard) after sunset.

"The contest lures inventors from across the nation — all hoping to catch the eye of Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, who started his $2 billion company 17 years ago by innovating a shirt for athletes that pulls moisture away from the body to keep them dry," USA Today writes.

Two years ago, a contestant devised a magnetic zipper, which will show up in jackets in the fall, USA Today writes. Read the entire story here. 

A New York Times article puts the spotlight on Towson-based Mally Beauty, which is one of QVC's top five beauty vendors.

Founder and makeup artist Mally Roncal recently appeared on the shop-from-home network to tell the story behind her line of beauty of products, including a mascara made from an Italian formula, Japanese pigments and a French lash comb, the Times writes.

Baltimore sportswear maker Under Armour has unveiled a new approach to making running shoes – shoes that fit like bras.

According to Bloomberg Businessweek, the shoes will be called Speedform and will hit the market at $120. The look is inspired by spacesuit design and their production will take place in a bra factory. Bloomberg Businessweek reports that the Speedform shoes are a part of Under Armour’s campaign to triple its revenue in its footwear division in the next two years. Last year, footwear sales accounted for 13 percent of the company’s revenue.

Under Armour Senior Creative Director Dave Dombrow told investors that no shoe has ever fit so well, Bloomberg Businessweek writes.

Read the full story here.

Baltimore sportswear maker Under Armour has inked a licensing deal with Warner Bros. Consumer Products to produce a line of their famed athletic gear that features DC Superheroes such as Superman, Wonder Woman and Batman, Variety writes.

The sportswear is available now on UA.com and sporting goods retailers and will be sold through the fall, says Variety.

This isn’t the first time the two companies have collaborated, as Under Armour provided the uniforms for the Gotham Rogues in the final film of the “Dark Knight” trilogy. After a well-received spring debut for an early version of a “Man of Steel” shirt, the companies decided to unveil a more expansive line, Variety writes. 

Read the entire story here. 

Rodney Henry, the owner of Dangerously Delicious Pies, was off to a strong start in the first episode of the "The Next Food Network Star."

Henry is one of 12 contestants, which included several restaurant owners and one former model, competing for the chance to host his own show on the network. Dangerously Delicious has stores in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Giada De Laurentiis, Alton Brown and Bobby Flay host the show. 

In the first challenge, the TV hopefuls had to create a 30-second pitch tape for Food Network executives. Later, individuals in a focus group voted whether they liked or disliked the contestants. The cooks then turned up the heat by making a dish with potatoes.

The audience loved Henry's pitch and a Food Network exec said he believed Henry is "the pie guy." Though his mini potato-and-crab pies didn't turn out as expected, the judges liked the taste. Henry, however, didn't make the top three performers in the first episode.

You can watch the entire episode here. 

Baltimore's Video Americain, one of the few remaining video rental shops in a dying industry, has gotten a shout-out in the New York Times' small business blog.  

Miguel Gomez recently opened — you guessed it, a video store! — in suburban Philadelphia and told the New York Times that streaming and online video rentals can't beat the personal experience of browsing through titles and getting recommendations at a store.

"There aren’t too many video stores left in the country, but the ones that are left are all pretty great," Gomez tells the New York Times. "Baltimore has Video Americain, Seattle has Scarecrow Video, Austin has both I Luv Video and Vulcan Video, San Francisco has both Lost Weekend Video and Le Video … so there are communities still supporting video stores, as long as the video stores have stellar inventories."

Rite Aid Corp. is the latest pharmacy chain that is venturing into health care, writes the Wall Street Journal. 

Rite Aid rolled out 58 virtual health clinics in Baltimore, Boston, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh March 1. For a fee of $45, a patient can chat with a doctor via Web camera, the Journal writes.  

The pharmacy giant initially tested the concept in Detroit. You can read the rest of the story here. 

Baltimore was abuzz Feb. 16 for the opening of Under Armour's new retail store in Harbor East. 

More than half the store is devoted to ladies' apparel as the Baltimore sportswear company is hoping to woo some of the women who buy pricey yoga outfits from Lululemon, writes Bloomberg.

Under Armour is also getting ready to open a New York office so it can tap top design talent to create feminine sportswear.

Executive Leanne Fremar  "is working on opening Under Armour’s first New York office, where she’ll tap design talent," Bloomberg writes.

"She also inherits a unit that has been growing 30 percent a year and added the Studio, a yoga-inspired line, and Armour Bra brands last year."

Before Under Armour debuted its Brand House Feb. 16, CEO Kevin Plank and other executives gave New York media a preview of the 8,000-square-foot shop and what's in store for the Baltimore sportswear company. 

"The first item Plank introduced wasn’t a product after all, but a place where Under Armour will display its goods," Forbes writes about the Harbor East store.

Execs also talked about "Infrared, part of Under Armour’s innovative ColdGear line," new running shoes the company will unveil this summer, and a digital training monitor, Forbes says.

"There must be, among rival companies like Columbia and even Nike, to a degree, a bit of jealousy regarding Under Armour and its founder," writes Forbes of the company that pulled in $1.2 billion in sales last year. 

Janet Stephens makes her living as a hairdresser at Studio 921 Salon & Day Spa in Locust Point. 

But her real passion is studying the ancient hairstyles of Rome and Greece, writes the Wall Street Journal in an extensive profile of Stephens, whom it dubs a "hairdo archaeologist."

"Her amateur scholarship is sticking a pin in the long-held assumptions among historians about the complicated, gravity-defying styles of ancient times," the Journal writes. "Basically, she has set out to prove that the ancients probably weren't wearing wigs after all."

Read the rest of its hair-raising feature. 

Timonium's Festival of Trees is one of the top 10 great places to "put a spin" on the Christmas spirit, according to USA Today and Jinglebelljunction.com's creator Monica Mays.

"It includes a fairyland forest with more than 600 decorated trees, wreaths and gingerbread houses, all for sale," USA Today writes. "There also is a Harry Potter house, a toy train garden, holiday craft shopping and entertainment."

Tickets cost $13 and sales benefit the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

Other contenders on the list include a Santa pub crawl in Reno and Santa Claus, Ind., a town that celebrates Christmas all year long. 

You can see the entire list here. 

Huffington Post recently went on an expedition to Baltimore's Lexington Market. The reason? To see the tempting display at Berger cookies' stall. 

The cake-like cookie with fudge frosting has been making its way south to grocery stores in the Washington, D.C., market.

"If you've ever had Dangerously Delicious' Baltimore Bomb pie, the critical ingredient in the oh-so decadent dessert is a little not-so-healthy treat that's been a favorite in Charm City for generations: Berger cookies," Huffington Post writes. 

The article comes with a mouth-watering slideshow. 

Reality TV star and baker Duff Goldman ecently became a gastronomic diplomat, according to a CNN post. 

The U.S. State Department and James Beard Foundation teamed up to establish the Diplomatic Culinary Program which debuted last week. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asks chefs to create American dishes fused with the cuisines of other nations to be served for foreign dignitaries and serve as a culinary ambassador at kitchens around the world.

Goldman will travel to Colombia this fall to lead a cake decorating demonstration for more than 6,000. "When you're cooking with somebody even if they don't speak your language you're still cooking with them," Goldman tells CNN. “We've shared experiences in our careers, in our lives, in our passion of the things that we really believe in." 

Goldman is the former star of the Food Network's Ace of Cakes and recently expanded his bakery to the West Coast with a location in Los Angeles. 

Baltimore Magazine also lists Top Chef runner up and co-owner of Frederick’s Volt Restaurant Bryan Voltaggio as one of the 80 ambassadors.