Flow, Zone, Framing and Red 32

Ealing's Neighbours Paper

Sir Philip Green's stepson's company made a quick £3m profit

While I was waiting for my latest Print at the always helpful Pollyprint in Northfield Avenue I had the chance to read the local Neighbours' Paper - staggering (for me) revelations on the £3m profit pocketed by Thackeray Estates a company that has Sir Philip Green's stepson Brett Palos as a director.

Brain Activity

Very interesting to hear on the radio about a Hungarian Psychologist Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi (not the easiest name to remember or spell) - Mihaly is famed for his work looking at 'Flow'  - I think many of us have done things where time has almost stopped -been lost in the Zone.

Mihaly posits that in this happy place the ego and the goal of monetary achievements all but disappear - I would think that brain activity in this state would be fascinating to monitor, one could imagine that all sorts of Dopamine is rattling around.

A process at the end

Here is a link to 10 points that are related to that  Magic Place.

Following my recent BEAT activity and ahead of Bond Street (Ealing) Pop Up Shop session 2 in November I've been printing mounting and framing - not sure I got totally into the Zone but certainly quite enjoyable.









One of the helpers with the hanging side of things is Youtube - great instructional videos on all sorts of topics ..

Red 32

And of course YouTube has a smashing bright Red logo

A bright red logo for the dominant web video provider

One week for BHS West Ealing and Red 76

Only a bargain if ..

On Monday I went to see the remains of BHS in West Ealing the sight of a big High Street trader selling up is a sad one and this has been a rather protracted  retreat.

[But there's talk of plans for the future for the West Ealing site - more flats of course.]

Shoppers have been looking at bargains for several weeks and it's pretty much bare bones now.


The stuff is going cheap but if it's not anything you want forget it - perhaps not so  oddly following my Pop Up experience  I looked at the fittings - didn't see an immediate use.

A bargain at £15 plus parking

But then the possibility of a stall in Ealing's Night Art Market emerged and I decided to pick up a trestle table for just £15.

One way or another

In Ealing I saw this wall showing the fun of retail - liked the perspective

Red 76

and nearby rather a lot of Red bins

A parade of Bins

[see a rough cut of the ongoing project here]

Positive reactions to Ealing's Mental Health Fair and Red 152

It's a sign of how far we've come in recognising the challenges that many people face with mental health issues that over 30 organisations were able to participate in Ealing's Mental Health Fair yesterday.

Home for yesterday's Mental Health Fair

Despite a slow-ish start more than 250 people visited Victoria Hall in the Ealing Town Hall building and a fair bit of networking and 'picking of brains' went on - well done to those who organised it and
thanks to the visitors I saw at the Ealing and Hammersmith, Hounslow Samaritans Stand - the vibe was a decidedly positive one.

There's a lot of work to be done around sharing information and picking up best practices but talking to others is only going to help.

Bye bye (not buy buy) BHS

.

Sat Links truck

Preparing for a live report

By Oxford Circus today and seeing BBC Sat links truck and news crew I feared the news would not be good, it looked a tall order to find a buyer for the business as it stood.

So although sad to report that the news for BHS staff is not good - perhaps something will come form the ashes - some prime High Street locations and with the right offering  replacement  operators are bound to spring up in some of the vacant shops.

Red 152

A big red watering can

And a sunny day too

Retail and Red 168

Fading fast

Adapt or die is pretty much the mantra for the UK's High Street retail businesses - and being able to see  the difference between a fad and a trend is key.

The new Woolies

Let's face it BHS is now history a brand that's lost it as spectacularly as this is unlikely to say the least to recover credibility in the completive environment  but other shops have already filled the whole - it was let's face it  a budget M&S  and Primark does that job far better now - much as Woolworth's sector has been taken over by Pound shops and Wilko (aka Wilkinson's) - interesting 2008 piece here.




Of course it's only with hindsight we can judge the decisions of the retailers - Morrison's made an error with their 'local' stores that cost them dearly- strangely M&S appear to have benefited from having a dual strategy with food keeping them afloat while Fashion has faded, the jury is still out on Argos and Sainsbury's collaboration.

And the old one as a reminder to retailers

Red 168

A smudge of chalk and you've got a glass of Red

I think you'll find the Pope is a Catholic