想想我真的是很肤浅哦。

 

发现我越来越向往那种高楼大厦，宽阔的街道，闪烁的霓虹灯。我喜欢玻璃楼房，不喜欢那种古老的房子。老房子要引起我的好感它必须本身很漂亮才行，比如巴黎圣母院，比如凯旋门这种。像Texas的alamo这种什么遗迹，还是算了。大部分老房子，像下面芝加哥这种，我看了就恶心，一点也不会appreciate他有多少年历史。对我来说，一座房子至少要四面都是polish过的，美国那种侧面三合板一样的房子我真的受不了。不厚道的说，我一直觉得艾菲尔铁塔不亮灯的时候难看死了。那些铁架子生锈了吧已经。艾菲尔铁塔跟东京塔比起来我当然喜欢的是东京塔。不要告诉我艾菲尔铁塔的历史有多么悠久，我不care的，在我眼里要么就是好看，要么就是难看，这个对我的眼睛是直接的效果，我管你什么时候建的呢。所以我就是很肤浅。

 

 

我喜欢看车水马龙的景色，但是我不喜欢开车，尤其不喜欢在美国的高速开车。我一开车就担心他在半路上坏掉了怎么办。美国的高速那么荒凉，要是车坏掉了，附近除了树和草屁都没有，我真的不知道该怎么办。而且平时养车真得很烦。开的时候时时要注意听车有没有问题，要检查轮胎，要防止漏电，要记得换油，唉，想想就烦死了。要是坐地铁，一班车坏了可以换班车，还可以出去打的，想想真好，嗯。所以我就是很肤浅。

#	Building	City	Height	Height	Floors	Year
1.	Taipei 101	Taipei	509 m	1,671 ft	101	2004
2.	Shanghai World Financial Center	Shanghai	492 m	1,614 ft	101	2008
3.	Petronas Tower 1	Kuala Lumpur	452 m	1,483 ft	88	1998
4.	Petronas Tower 2	Kuala Lumpur	452 m	1,483 ft	88	1998
5.	Sears Tower	Chicago	442 m	1,451 ft	108	1974
6.	Jin Mao Tower	Shanghai	421 m	1,380 ft	88	1999
7.	Two International Finance Center	Hong Kong	415 m	1,362 ft	88	2003
8.	CITIC Plaza	Guangzhou	391 m	1,283 ft	80	1997
9.	Shun Hing Square	Shenzhen	384 m	1,260 ft	69	1996
10.	Empire State Building	New York City	381 m	1,250 ft	102	1931

 

Oct. 19, 2007

Staples Inc., the nation's largest office-supply retailer, plans to make its long-awaited Twin Cities debut next spring.

The Framingham, Mass.-based retailer, which already has stores in Austin and Rochester of Minnesota, has received city approval for a store at Fischer Market Place in Apple Valley. The company also is working on several other deals throughout the metro area, including one for the former CompUSA space at Westridge Market along Interstate 394 in Minnetonka, according to multiple sources with knowledge of the situation who asked not to be named in order to protect professional relationships.

Staples is the nation's 19th-largest retailer, making its market entrance the most significant in the Twin Cities since CVS Pharmacy in 2004 and Lowe's Home Improvement in 2003. Minneapolis is one of the largest markets that Staples has not yet entered, and the company has flirted with expansion here several times in the past few years.

The Apple Valley City Council approved plans for the Staples store at Fischer Market Place in August. Staples has a "fully executed lease" for that site, said Lee Hoffman, special projects coordinator for Capital Growth Madison Marquette, the Minnetonka firm representing the property owner, Des Moines, Iowa-based Principal Life Insurance Co.

Construction on the build-to-suit store is scheduled to begin soon, and the store should be open next May.

Hoffman wasn't aware of other planned Staples locations, but said the company clearly plans to add more. "Staples is in a multistore rollout."

Several sources confirmed that Staples is close to a deal for the former CompUSA space in Minnetonka. Lisa Diehl, a broker for Minneapolis-based CSM Corp., which handles leasing for Westridge Market, would not comment on prospective tenants.

"I can tell you that we are working with somebody who would replace CompUSA," she said, adding that she hopes to have a deal within the next couple of weeks.

A Staples spokesman would not comment on the company's plans here, saying only that it "has not signed any leases and has nothing to announce at this time." A broker for Bloomington-based Welsh Cos., which is representing Staples in its local site search, declined to comment, referring questions to the office-supply chain.

The company's desire to enter this market is no secret, though.

"Frankly, we think Staples will be everywhere in the U.S. in the foreseeable future," Staples President and Chief Operating Officer Michael Miles said at a September analyst conference. "So, as we look at markets like Minneapolis and St. Louis and Houston and Las Vegas and Kansas City that we're not in yet, it's not a question for us of if, it's a question of when."

Staples began offering its delivery service in the Twin Cities in August 2006. That move often precedes the company's retail expansion into a new market.

Staples has entered one major market in each of the past few years, adding Chicago in 2005, Miami in 2006 and Denver in 2007. The company now has 36 stores in Chicago, 14 in Miami and nine in Denver.

'This will be a bloodbath'

Twin Cities consumers can expect to see Staples grow at a similar rate here, said Mitchell Kaiser, retail analyst at Minneapolis-based Piper Jaffray & Co. "I'd certainly look for them to put four of five [stores] in, then establish the market and get up to the double-digit range shortly thereafter."

In this market, Staples will face competition from Delray Beach, Fla.-based Office Depot Inc. and Naperville, Ill.-based OfficeMax Inc., both of which are well-established in this market. Office Depot has 12 stores here; OfficeMax has approximately 35.

"This will be a bloodbath here," said Dave Brennan, co-director of the Institute for Retailing Excellence at the University of St. Thomas. "It's set up kind of the same way as home improvement, with Home Depot, Menards and Lowe's, and that's tough for three competitors in a market of 3.1 million. Something's going to have to give."

Joe Feldman, retail analyst for Telsey Advisory Group in New York, thinks Staples will be successful in this market, though, because its stores are the nicest and easiest to shop. Also, the company has overcome similar competition in other new markets, even Chicago and Miami, where its chief rivals are based.

"They're able to compete very well, and I think pretty quickly," Feldman said. "Within a year or two years, they'll probably become the No. 2 player at a minimum and then potentially the No. 1 player. Part of it is just store density, but they pretty quickly can shoot right into the fray as a top office-supply retailer."

And even though Staples doesn't have retail stores in the Twin Cities yet, most consumers should be familiar with the company thanks to the company's aggressive national advertising campaign, he said. "I mean everybody knows about the Easy Button, right?"

Staples stores also offer EasyTech computer-support services that challenge Best Buy's Geek Squad and a full-service copy and print center that competes with FedEx Kinkos.

Staples' retail presence also should boost the company's delivery business here. Its catalog and Internet sales are up 60 percent in Denver and Miami since adding retail stores in those markets.

"I think far and away they have the best delivery service of any of the office-products retailers," Piper Jaffray's Kaiser said. "They've been growing, taking market share very nicely on that side of the business the past couple of years."

Staples also has another tie to the Twin Cities market. The company bought Brooklyn Park-based Medical Arts Press for $385 million in 2002. The 57-year-old business sells office supplies to doctors, dentists and veterinarians.

嗯，正常点的店越来越多了，Lacoste, Levi's啥的，本来就该有的嘛。还有papyrus, 哈哈，以后买pp贺卡不用去Galleria了。

With Minneapolis and St. Paul struggling to keep retailers downtown, the Mall of America solidified its place as Minnesota's retail hot spot Friday, announcing nine new tenants -- most of them new stores to the area.

Two are new concepts from Abercrombie & Fitch Co., including an underwear line that is the second store in the world to open, though others are scheduled soon for Australia and New York. The first Gilly Hicks store opened outside Boston last month, and the MOA store opens today.

The mall also said its stores posted a 7 percent sales gain in 2007, compared with 2006, though it doesn't break out specific financial figures. The mall's renamed amusement park, Nickelodeon Universe, is scheduled to open March 15. The Peanuts characters that once graced Camp Snoopy will be replaced with Dora the Explorer and SpongeBob SquarePants.

Among the new stores:

• Geox -- an Italian shoe company for men, women and kids -- had 669 stores worldwide as of September, including 15 in the United States. This is its first store off the coasts.

• Pandora Jewelry, which opened in November, is the second U.S. store for this Danish jewelry company known for its huge selection of charms.

• Ruehl is Abercrombie & Fitch's attempt to keep their customers who've outgrown the teen chain. Target age: 22- to 35-year-olds. There were 21 stores as of December.

• Janie and Jack, from parent Gymboree Corp., opens its first Minnesota store (even Wisconsin beat us to this fairly established chain). The stores sell kids' clothing, from $34 jeans to $52 rain jackets, up to size 6.

• Lacoste, with 61 boutiques in the United States, opens its first Minnesota outlet for the "alligator" line of tennis, golf and sailing clothes.

• Levi's officially only has 45 stores around the country, (those Dockers-Levi's outlets don't count) and the closest one is in Chicago.

• Best Buy, which has several stores and its corporate headquarters nearby, should open by early fall in the former Sports Authority store on the third level.

• Papyrus, a premium stationery retailer, also opens in the mall.