1) Soho: The revamped Banana Republic flagship store officially reopens tomorrow at 550 Broadway, but the brown paper on the windows started coming down last night. It bills itself as a "concept" store, but the concept seems to be pretty much the same as usual.
2) Midtown West: Shoe lovers have got their laces all in a twist because someone made public the usually secret time and location of the Manolo Blahnik sample sale. Will organizers switch the time and place to preserve exclusivity? Or will there be a stampede of plebeian Manolo-coveters?
3) New York City: Ubiquitous drug store chain Duane Reade has launched a new magazine as part of its city-focused rebranding. The name? The Duane Reader. (Heh.) Check out the current issue for, among other things, a brief history of the Five Points tenements.
· Racked [racked.com]