When a state or a city becomes synonymous with a tragedy or urban decline, how does it move forward? 

Colorado is the latest state to face this question in the wake of last summer's mass shooting in Aurora. As the nation grapples with gun control, mental illness and public safety after a rash of gun violence, Colorado is left with an issue of perception beyond its borders. 

"When something hits the press and it may not be good, Colorado gets known for that," Jeff Donaldson, account director for the state’s new brandCO program, told the Denver Post. "Our goal as a state should be to have a brand that rises above all that."Continue reading...

Walmart launched its Walmart Express mini-store concept in Chicago in July of 2011. As the Chicago Tribune noted at the time, "The world's largest retailer, best known for its football field-size supercenters, plans to roll out 15 Walmart Express stores this year in three U.S. test markets: Chicago, Richfield, N.C., and the discount chain's home state of Arkansas."

A year later, the closure of its small-format store — "typically 10,000 to 15,000 square feet (or) one-tenth the size of a standard Walmart supercenter" which carried "fresh groceries, pharmacy and health and beauty aids" — on the South Side of Chicago indicates that the retailing behemoth still is trying to figure out its urban strategy.Continue reading...

“Verge culture,” as in young, digital, influencers and brand-savvy hip youths, is poised for a social media guerilla takeover — if Karmaloop TV has anything to do with it.

An offshoot of the Karmaloop.com retail site, KarmaloopTV.com is an online video-based network that's vying for broadband and video-on-demand distribution in the US. It aims to be a full-blown 24-hour cable TV network, and is now pitching cable and telco TV operators that it can help them “reclaim” the 18-to-34 year old audience that lives online, on digital, on mobile and on social.

In a similar vein to Vice TV, it aims to offer an in-depth look (and insights) into global street culture. The website also features exclusive interviews with designers, brands, artists and musicians — musician/producer Pharrell Williams signed on as KarmaloopTV's creative director in May.Continue reading...

The recently opened BMW Guggenheim Lab gives new meaning to pop-up art, as seen in the above video. Reclaiming a rat-and-rubble infested 2,000 square foot East Village lot between Houston and East First Street, the Lab is a social experiment in urban living.

“When people say we’re taking it to the streets, we literally are. Hopefully this will be a petri dish of ideas for the decision makers of tomorrow,” said Richard Armstrong, director of the Guggenheim Foundation.

BMW unveiled the six-year project with the Guggenheim Museum in May, described as a traveling cultural project for cultivating 21st century design and urban living ideas, while including the public with free programs and spaces. Running through October 16 in NYC, more than 100 events are planned centered on the theme “Confronting Comfort” – how to make urban life more livable.Continue reading...

The BMW Guggenheim Lab, which opens tomorrow in New York, gives new meaning to pop-up art.

Reclaiming a rat- and rubble-infested 2,000 square foot East Village lot between Houston and East First Street, the Lab is a social experiment in urban living — through October 16th, when the pop-up co-branded installation takes off on a six-year world tour to inspire eight other cities.Continue reading...