Category: stationery

Finds from The Container Store

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

Finds from The Container Store

I can go nuts at The Container Store buying cute things for storage and organization. I’m compulsive about buying things to better organize my activities, as though the mere act of buying will make me better organized – ha! I recently went on a shopping spree at The Container Store, and the picture above shows only some of what I bought.

At upper left is the To-Do pad from WhoMi. This colorful collection of note pads are spiral-bound together and there is a color-coded pad for each shop, call, and do.

At upper right is the Memo Pocket from Moleskine, best known for its notebooks. The Memo Pocket is actually a mini Accordion file folder that can fit in your handbag. It’s great for sorting and organizing receipts, coupons, and other scraps of paper.

At lower left and lower right are Post-It note pads from Russell+Hazel. The Memo Notes at lower left feature a vertical bar on the left side where you can circle the month and day. Alas, the type is itty-bitty, and the orange and pink make it even more difficult to read. The Chicklet Notes are tiny (3/4″ x 1″) Post-It note pads. The pack consists of eight pads, two of each in pink, blue, green, and orange. Many people think that Russell+Hazel is overpriced, but dang, their products are so cute!

I am Starbucks

Cold Cream 'n' Roses

Every Saturday and Sunday, I go to Starbucks for coffee (double tall latte) and breakfast breads. Starbucks very cleverly places the CD stand near the cashier as a point-of-purchase (POP). Starbucks CD compilations such as Jazz Impressionists, Prestige Jazz, and Blistering Licks! has exposed me to music I might otherwise not hear. The cashiers say that the CDs don’t sell particularly well, which was surprising, given that Starbucks has become a force in the music industry.

Starbucks’ current campaign has features about their coffee suppliers and artists from the Americas, whose items are available for purchase at Starbucks stores. For stationery lovers (like myself), there are notepads and notebooks featuring the bright and bold designs of self-taught artist Yamileth “Yami” Luna Arias. There are also coffee drinks flavored with dulce de leche, banana coffee cake with dulce de leche swirl, and mango and pineapple empanada.

However, the slogan I am Starbucks for this campaign is maladroit, especially for a company as marketing-savvy as Starbucks. It sound more like one of those damage control campaigns where a company bring out its employees to say what a great company it is (think Wal-Mart), when the company is facing a lot of bad press.