How America Shops

Bling is dead, or at least immoral, retail guru Paco Underhill says. A wide swath of America is "shopping down" and renouncing the mall. If they do go to a store, they often ditch the items in their cart before checkout, says Underhill, CEO of consulting firm Envirosell. "If I were to act on a new retail concept today," he says, "I would ask, 'How do I marry the idea of a physical asset with an online world?'" TIME (2/22) Save local businesses by helping them maintain their marketing communictions consistency. It's less expensive than going out of business. Retailers survive at the demise of their competition.