MEA CULPA: Target Apologizing for Cancelled Missoni Orders By Sending Them Out... For Free.

Some customers are still fuming from this past Fall's Target x Missoni website crash/order cancellation debacle, and apparently, Target is still embarrassed by the way it's biggest designer collaboration ever collapsed under overwhelming demand from the public.

In fact, the huge discount chain is still trying to make up for its logistical breakdown by shipping out some of those cancelled orders anyway, at no charge. The Cut tells the story of a would-be online customer who received the following email from Target notifying him that his canceled espresso set was on its way,

Thank you for your patience and continued support with regard to your Missoni for Target order.  Your Missoni item(s) have now shipped and we want to let you know that you will not be invoiced for the item(s) listed below.

If you do not wish to keep the below item(s) please donate them to a local charity or shelter of your choice rather than returning them to Target.

Well how's that for unheard of efforts to restore a customer's faith?

Not only was Target sending the item they cancelled without charging him a dime, but they had already sent him gift certificates earlier this year to apologize for his inconvenience. On top of that, The Cut tells us that the $39.99 espresso set is currently selling for as much as $250 on eBay. That's what we call a sweet Holiday Season surprise.

Outstanding Missoni for Target Items Are Now Being Distributed for Free (The Cut)

JON CARAMANICA GOES SHOPPING: Swedish Heritage Edition

In this week's Thursday Styles, the Critical Shopper returns to the local scene as Jon Caramanica shops for a bulk-free winter coat at SoHo's Dunderdon Workshop, a stateside outpost of what appears to be the Swedish counterpart to Woolrich, Pendleton or L.L. Bean. This store, which has been around for a couple of seasons, represents a mash-up of two trends: the recent craze for Swedish sportswear, which seems to be on the wane, or at least in a holding pattern, and the fascination with rugged heritage brands, although, in this case, the foreign heritage credibility of Dunderdon must be taken on faith.

In this case, Dunderdon has not quite calibrated its product for maximum U.S. appeal,

Some clothes had unusual proportions: a handsome navy sweater with phalanxes of red dots ($159) was about four inches longer than I’d expected, and not in a Rick Owens way. Same went for a couple of the work shirts, which could pass for smocks, if left untucked.

Actually, Swedish folks can tend to be on the tall side. Think of "True Blood's" towering vampire Alexander Skarsgard. As a matter of fact, a genuine Swedish friend of The Shophound, recently visiting from Stockholm, marveled to us recently that brands like Dunderdon (which he pronounced "DOON-der-dun") were getting the tony SoHo boutique treatment when, back home, they were considered to be kind of low-end. Who knew they were pulling off an upscale con over here?

Ultimately, Dunderdon's outerwear turn out to be a little too rugged for the citified Mr. Caramanica, who, like many of us, seems to be losing patience for new clothes that look like old ones. One suit is described as "a bit too 'Boardwalk Empire' vaudevillian", which leaves us wondering what will come along to replace these trends, and why's it taking so long?

Critical Shopper: Dunderdon Workshop: Winter’s Reality Check By Jon Caramanica (NYTimes)
Dunderdon Workshop 25 Howard Street at Crosby Street, SoHo

GLAM NETWORK SPONSORED POST: Colorful Holiday Legs From Silkies

FOOTWEAR FRENZY: Saks' Shoe Sale Shuts Down The Floor

Saks Fifth Avenue has been happy to trumpet its enormous shoe floor with its own zip code, but they may not be as pleased with the news that its shoe sale got so out of control yesterday that they had to shut down the floor before things got really ugly.

The normally refined department store repeated its day-after-Christmas sale doorbuster sale of years past in which all sale items in the store were reduced from 40% to 60% off only between 8 AM and 12 Noon. Naturally, this can lead to all kinds of competitive shopping, but reportedly, customers started panicking in the already hectic shoe department at about 11:30 when they discovered that by the time they made it to the register after waiting in the long line, it would be after 12 PM, and they would no longer be eligible for the extra discount. Saks' in-store security cleared the floor before things could get dangerous leaving hordes of would-be sale customers disgruntled o say the very least.

And this is why The Shophound stayed home on Boxing Day and watched all the episodes of "Homeland" that were filling up our DVR. After all, is it really worth losing your dignity over an extra discount on markdown Louboutins?
All right, you don't have to answer that.

60%-off shoe sale leads to melee at Saks Fifth Avenue: witnesses (NY Daily News via RACKED)

THIS WEEK ONLINE: POST-CHRISTMAS EDITION with Valentino, Riviera Club, Calvin Klein, Rodarte, Rick Owens, Christian Louboutin, Inhabit, Bottega Veneta

Here is your weekly sampling of some of the brands you can expect to find on the bigger online Flash Sale Sites this week. There is a lot of POST-CHRISTMAS clearance Action on Monday, which may do ou a favor by keeping you away from the crowded stores.You should click over to the sites themselves for a full schedule of events, and be sure to check for the correct start time for each sale. Happy clicking!

GILT GROUPE

After-Christmas Clearance Sales, Tibi/Haute Hippie/Miguelina, Clarins, EDUN, Red Valentino, Soia & Kyo, Report Signature, Rick Owens/Rodarte, Plenty by Tracy Reese, Isharya Jewelry, Elie Tahari, American Apparel, Geren Ford, Lagos, Dolce Vita, Splendid, Trina Turk —join HERE

GILT MAN

After-Christmas Clearance Sales, A. Testoni, Michael Bastian X Randolph Engineering Sunglasses, 4 Stroke Jeans, Corneliani, Equmen, Cloudveil, Vintage Boot Company, J.D.Fisk, GANT, Antonio Laurizi, Zak, Calvin Klein, Belvest, Patagonia Footwear, Caulfield Preparatory, Pleasure Principle/Rick Owens, Puma Black Station, SuperSunglasses, Inhabit, Coat Rack —join HERE

GILT HOME & CHILDREN

One-of-a-kind: Bashian Gabbeh Rugs, Couture Closet by Clos-ette, Abyss & Habidecor Bath, Jamie Young Lighting, Bodum, Bohemian Rhapsody, Classic Coffee and Tea, Elephantito, Little Pim, Melissa and Doug, Dexton, Catimini Bedding & Chairs, Lit'l Ernie by Earnest Sewn, Beetlejuice Dresses for Girls —join HERE

BELLE & CLIVE

SEE by Chloe, Christian Louboutin Accessories, Inhabit, Alberto Fermani, Tommy Hilfiger, Chan Luu, Bottega Veneta Bags & Accessories, Rebecca Minkoff, Rache Pally, Badgley Mischka, Jeffrey campbell, Pour La Victoire, Kenneth Jay Lane, Robert Graham, Canterbury of New Zealand, Céline, Salvatore Ferragamo, Brunello Cucinelli, Cinzia Rocca, 525 America, Koolaburra, Hickey Freeman —join HERE

RUE RUE LA LA

TZEN Boutique, The Total Movement, BUILT, Magaschoni, Ted Baker, Kickers, Delman, Steiner Sports, Ben's Garden, Joan & David/Taryn Rose, Theory, Men's Basics, Michael Stars, Moreschi/J.D.Fisk, Couristan, Chantal, Buffalo —join HERE

IDEELI

BCBGeneration, Harajuku Lovers, Choice Denim, Joe's Jeans, Key Sunglasses, Nambé, Prarie NY, Alex And Ani, Evan Picone, Forte, Frette, Habitual, Jag, Members Only, Naughty Monkey, Steven by Steve Madden, Tadashi Shoji, WW118 by Walter Baker, Buckyballs, Seven For All Mankind —join HERE

ONE KINGS LANE

After Christmas Sales All Week Long —join HERE

HAUTE LOOK

Vince, Barse, Tahari, Ted Baker, EcoSkin, Jewelmak, ThomasPaul Furniture, Mackage, Pino Denai Fine Art, Bootsi Tootsi, Stella & Jamie, Steve Madden,Max Studio, Classique, Skinn, Ike Behar, LDC Home, Amrita Singh —join HERE

MY HABIT

Boutique 9, Ranjana Khan, Kimberly Ovitz, Mezlan, Luciano Barbera, Oliberte, Kelsi Dagger, Bionova, Jennifer Rose, Badgley Mischka Shoes, Nuco, Fortunate Sun, Fresh, Corso Como, Adrienne Vittadini, Fiona Paxton, under.ligne by DOO.RI, Bensimon Shoes, Just A Cheap Shirt, J.Fold, Torn by Ronny Kobo, Chloé Sunglasses, Dolce Vita, ASH, Georgina Goodman, Elizabeth & James, Guats, Tallia, Grind, Riviera Club, Dorsia, OW Socks —join HERE

WAIT YOUR TURN: Another Line Bedevils Customers At Madison Avenue's Ladurée

New Yorkers have come to expect seeing people waiting in line on the sidewalk for all sorts of reasons. Maybe it's the latest iPhone, any number of sample sales, the ridiculous Bleecker Street Magnolia Bakery line or the even stupider annual UGG store line which appears like some mysterious clockwork every Holiday Season. Add to the that list, the Ladurée line, which, by all reports, has become a daily fixture at the Madison Avenue home of the famed Parisian confectioner.

A tipster has told us that this particular queue has taken on epic proportions this months as New Yorkers are now waiting around the block to pick up some of the mouthwatering macarons that have made Ladurée famous. We passed by last night at around 7 PM, and the line still reached the corner of Madison and 70th street, populated either with people who were prepared to invest some time in their macaron shopping excursion, or blithely thought they would breeze in and pick up some treats, but decided to stick it out and wait their turn. While we would remind everyone that there are plenty of places in New York that sell delicious macarons, we will admit that Ladurée's are exceptionally tasty, and the folks running the store are not taking their customers for granted. We saw hat they are periodically treated to free snacks while the wait, which is more than we can say for the poor creatures sacrificing their dignity in the UGG line.

Ladurée 864 Madison Avenue between 70th & 71st Streets
Previously:
Mysteries of the Universe: Yes, People Are Still Lining Up In Front Of The UGG Store

ALEXANDRA JACOBS GOES SHOPPING: Critical To Global Edition

Today's Thursday Styles switches up the format a bit by morphing its longstanding Critical Shopper column into the "Global Shopper". We're not sure if Chicago qualifies as all that far flung when you put it in the context of the entire planet, but, it's a start.

Alexandra Jacobs takes on the newly upgraded version of the Windy City's IKRAM, a well-regarded, independent boutique that got an invaluable prestige infusion when it was revealed that the store's owner was the mastermind behind First Lady Michelle Obama's soigné style. She calls the store "thoroughly glorious", and yet she sometimes can't seem to wrap her mind around some of its more adventurous offerings. To better understand, she enlists the assistance of the tireless Felicia whom she proceeds to torture mercilessly by trying on an abundance of staggeringly expensive merchandise with no intention of purchasing anything.

Eventually, she manages to get out of there with only a pair of $40 Sonia Rykiel socks in her bag but vowing to return when her ship comes in. We just hope she doesn't expect Felicia to be too happy to see her face again.

Global Shopper: Helped by an Obama Stimulus By Alexandra Jacobs (NYTimes)
IKRAM 15 East Huron Street, Chicago

FOOT FETISH: Louboutin Men's Store To Hit Meatpacking District This Spring

Hey guys! Not enough thousand-dollar sneakers in your life? Are you also dying to show off your profligate shoe expenditures to your friends by flashing the red soles of your overdecorated loafers? Well, cool your heels for just a few more months because Christian Louboutin is opening his second men's boutique in the world sometime this Spring. It will be located on Washington Street between Horatio and Gansevoort Streets, just a stone's throw from his already popular downtown women's store. Just think how convenient it will be when your girlfriend/beard can go shop for her own excessively embellished platform hooker shoes while you try on your precious slippers. Then you can both skip down the cobblestones to Beaumarchais to show off your flashy new shoes to all the kids at the Eurotrash Disco Brunch!

Oh, Springtime just can't come soon enough!

Christian Louboutin to Open Men's Store in NYC (WWD)

HOLIDAY SHOPPING: A Gold Star For SPACE NK ★

As the Holiday season winds down, we all have a few people we still need to pick up gifts for, and sometimes that means setting aside some time to shop around looking for inspiration. A couple of days ago, while gift hunting on Columbus Avenue on a busy weekend afternoon, The Shophound wandered into SPACE.NK.apothecary thinking, "Lets give this one a shot," and boy did they ever deliver.

It may not surprise you that, as a non-lady, The Shophound is not extraordinarily well-versed in the beauty products that keep so many women happily obsessed. We were certainly familiar with Space.NK, having posted about it several times and occasionally been asked to cover the U.K.-based retailer's openings and events. We knew enough about the place to expect special items and brands that won't be found at every Sephora, but as with many beauty and cosmetics stores, we were walking in there essentially clueless. That didn't remotely matter to the razor sharp sales associate who did everything short of take us by the hand to find just the right gifts we needed at the price we were hoping to pay all beautifully wrapped in less than 20 minutes. What a refreshing change from the all too common experience of arriving at the register holding an item or two and being faced with the usual question, "Did anyone help you with this?", which, if you need to ask it, almost always guarantees a response in the negative. By contrast, earlier in the day we visited the similarly themed Bluemercury on upper Broadway with the same goal in mind, and left the store without so much as a second glance from the staff.

Our only disappointment with Space.NK was that the best service The Shophound has received since we don't know when was in a store that at best we will probably only shop in every now and then at most. It almost makes us sorry we don't wear makeup, but perhaps we can make up for it by sending them some of our readers who do. It's been a while since we have left a store with such satisfaction at having paid full retail, so we can happily add Space.NK to the list of store we wholeheartedly recommend.

★ SPACE.NK.apothecary 217 Columbus Avenue between 69th and 70th Streets, Upper West Side
also in SoHo, the Upper East Side and in both Manhattan Bloomingdale's locations

MYSTERIES of the UNIVERSE: Yes, People Are Still Lining Up In Front Of The UGG Store

A couple of years ago, The Shophound noticed a strange phenomenon in SoHo in which people would stand in long lines in the cold outside what was then the only UGG store in Manhattan despite the fact that UGGs are widely available in over 80 stores in New York City. At the time, we thought it was some kind of fluke or a sign of a tiresome trend that had hit its peak, but no, last year there were more UGG stores and consequently, more UGG lines.

In case you were wondering (and we know your curiosity has been burning on this one) the lines are back again —at least in midtown. The above photo was taken yesterday afternoon in front of the UGG boutique at the corner of Madison Avenue and 58th Street where the line extended nearly halfway down a particularly long block. Why anyone continues to do this, we have no idea. It seems pointless on all fronts, but, as you can see, many people (tourists, they have to be, right?) in line are already converted devotées to the chunky, unflattering footwear.

We're beyond going on and on about why we can't stand UGGs at this point, but we still cannot endorse waiting in line for no reason whatsoever, so if you are hopelessly addicted to these shoes and you ust buy them from an official retail outlet, you might want to know that the third UGG boutique in New York, on Columbus Avenue between 67th and 68th street does not seem to be plagued with lines. In fact, The Shophound passes it often in our travels, and we have not noticed any lines outside since the beginning of the Holiday Shopping Season. So if you must indulge yourself, get out of the SoHo and Midtown crowd melée, and head across town to the more civilized West Side, just don't tell anyone we sent you.