Good Morning and Hello Friday!

So much to report this week from the return of office happy hours (#2 below) to a very weird study on Hipster cities (#4) to Brad’s fab installation at Sculpture Milwaukee (#7).

1. [watch] video: What’s Up this week?

2. OFFICE happy hours are back!

• Groups of young office workers are more than eager to get together and reconnect after the pandemic. Many are meeting co-workers in-person for the first time.
• I’ve also noticed, in Midtown, increasing numbers of young workers out in groups getting their Sweetgreen on. From what I’ve seen, young men are leading the charge, back in droves, generally in the banker uniform of white shirt and brown dress shoes.
• This is all great news for small businesses reliant on office workers, e.g, shoe repair stores, dry cleaners, coffee shops.
• I’ve been surprised by how dug in “The Office Resistant” have become. Very similar to the “Vax Resistant” and in somewhat similar numbers.
• The whole “never going back to the office” thing rankles me. Why one group can demand the right-to-work-from-home while others, e.g., those in healthcare, the trades, service workers, delivery people, etc., are denied that privilege and expected to show up and cater to the “stay at home” crowd sticks in my craw!

3. TRENDSPOTTING: Lots of skin & LOTS OF SHOPPING BAGS

Top trends:

1. Short shorts!!
2. Cowboy boots (anyone know why?)
3. Backpacks – especially on guys

The #1 shopping bag spotted on NYC streets is ZARA but Nike, Kith and Everlane are tops with the more stylish crowd.

4. 2021’s Best Cities for Hipsters per Lawnstarter

I’m a bit skeptical of this lawn care and pest control company’s findings.

• Nevertheless, stumbling across it did make me aware of how much less influential hipsters have become over the last few years, especially since the pandemic.
• I wrote about the future of hipster culture in 2019 and included my best bet as to which sub-culture would emerge as the most influential. I was pretty spot on. (Link here.)

Highlights from the LawnStarter study:

1. Comparison of the 150 biggest U.S. cities based on 23 anti-mainstream factors, e.g., access to thrift stores, farmers markets, record stores, urban gardening, and biking-friendliness. (Question: How many of us consider thrift stores or biking anti-mainstream?)
2. Their top 5 hipster cities are San Francisco, Portland OR, Oakland CA, Fort Lauderdale and Jersey City.
3. Texas is the least hipster state with even it’s most hipstery city, Austin, coming in at a lowly #64.
4. NYC comes in at #67 while Rochester, NY, lands at #25.
5. Key attributes of hipster cities per LawnStarter include most art events per 100K residents: Yonkers (that’s bonkers!!) and most yoga studios: Oakland.

5. Bravo for extra stylish Scrubs!

As they say, “once is a phenomenon, twice a circumstance, three times… that’s a trend.”

1. First noticed this earlier this month when I visited Dr. Ryan Turner for my botox shot. He looked very cool in his new, fitted black scrubs. I was impressed!
2. A few days later, George Hahn, who also works for a dermatologist mentioned how the staff at his office are all newly outfitted in very sharp-looking Figs scrubs.
3. And then this past Monday, amNY ran a story on how two New York City-based companies (Care+Wear and luxury fashion designer Josie Natori) teamed up to create a new line of scrubs to celebrate healthcare workers. An especially meaningful collaboration for Josie Natori:

“When I saw how the COVID-19 pandemic was taking a disproportionate toll on healthcare workers, many of Filipino descent like myself, I was determined to find a creative way to give back to my community and my culture while creating a project that helped support those who are committed to helping all of us each and every day.”

Josie Natori

6. Shout-out to Erik Griffin for getting JGOD on his podcast! MAJOR!

This is one of my favorite episodes of “Riffin with Griffin“

• Even if you’re not into gaming, there’s a good chance you will find Erik’s interview with JGOD fascinating.
• In the gaming world, JGOD is a legend, the stat geek of all stat geeks. He has over 1MM subscribers on his YouTube channel.
• I absolutely LOVED this interview – have watched it twice already.

7. Check out Brad Kahlhamer’s “Super Catcher: The Hard Weave” at Sculpture Milwaukee

• Now in its fifth year, Sculpture Milwaukee is guest curated by Chicago-based artist Theaster Gates and Milwaukee’s Michelle Grabner.
• The exhibition will be up through Fall 2022.

8. Private security is booming

Big in my neighborhood and growing nationwide.

1. Most recently on my street, a mural to promote a new Fortnite game was protected by private security, around the clock, for 7 days (3 shifts per day). Have never seen that before! It worked. The “bombers” and taggers were kept at bay for an entire week. The minute security left, somebody was brought in (presumably by Epic Games) to completely paint over the mural. I imagine it was to protect the brand from being tainted by graffiti.
2. In Oregon, cannabis dispensaries and downtown businesses have become primary targets for burglars and shoplifters. They’re now resorting to private security to protect them from this onslaught of crime. The newest twist: make private security more cost-efficient and less intimidating by training security guards to also serve as budtenders, hosts and barbacks. Basically have them do double duty. (Source: Oregon Business)
3. In Nashville, security companies are reporting a huge surge of calls for their services after a recent spate of smash-and-grab car-break ins and other violent incidents in the city. (Source: News4Nashville)

And finally: The Citizen app is reportedly ‘actively testing’ on-demand private security force services. It begs the question of whether the Citizen on-demand product indicates a broader trend to private security contracting in the U.S. similar to the situation in South Africa and Brazil where private security forces are prevalent. (Source: Protocol.com)

9. Colleges now offer construction worker certificate programs

This is EXCELLENT!

• Two-year colleges in Montana are teaming up to provide a job site readiness certificate program for people interested in joining the construction trades as demand for workers in that field increases.
• Instructors say the need for carpentry and other trade skills is growing and some companies are using the program to train new workers, while other companies are recruiting graduates.
• In the fall, Gallatin College will also offer a heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration program, all fields with growing demand.
• Source: Bozeman Daily Chronicle

10. Quote of the Week

“University degrees are the new taxi medallions.”

Naval Rafikant, July 17, 2021

And that’s a wrap for this week.

I’m planning to do some shopping this weekend. Joining these throngs of happy people out and about in Soho. Hopefully I will come away with an update or two for my wardrobe.

And with that, have an amazing weekend everyone!!