Retail Trade

Vapor Nozzles On Their Way Out at St. Louis Gas Stations

They've been around for well over a decade, but now the accordian-like bibs on gas nozzles at metro St. Louis gas stations are headed toward extinction. Last year the EPA determined that the vapor-trapping nozzles are no longer needed because most cars on the road these days come equipped with dev ... More >>

Local Record Store Day Wax from Tim Rakel's Extension Chord Records, Cassie Morgan, and More

It's one of the perks of this gig that, sometimes, Record Store Day comes a little bit early. The Vinyl Fairy has been making stops at my doorstep and leaving advances of this weekend's local wax offerings, which are every bit as exciting as, oh, the 1,000-quantity Todd Rundgren picture discs (or wh ... More >>

St. Louis Record Store Day 2013: A Comprehensive Guide

Mark your calendar and prepare your wallet: This Saturday, April 20, marks the sixth annual Record Store Day. Originally begun in 2008 as a way to pull music fans away from their computers and back into the already-dwindling brick-and-mortar shops, Record Store Day has grown larger with each passing ... More >>

IKEA! Why Hast Thou Forsaken Us?

Dear IKEA, You bastard! String us along. Tell us how you know we'd make a good market for your crappy furniture stores. Say how flattered you are when we express our love for you on Facebook. And then, what? Shit all over us by announcing you've chosen Kansas City over us!?

Report: Johnny's Market in Sappington Closing

Evan Benn of the Post-Dispatch reported last night that Johnny's Market (11555 Gravois Road, Sappington; 314-843-5760) will close after nearly seven decades in business.

Six Most Exciting Record Store Day Releases

It's April and the smell of vinyl is in the air. Record Store Day is this weekend, that annual celebration of those places where the things you illegally download live. This equates to a wealth of exclusive releases and reissues, some of which are made in such small quantities they are practically o ... More >>

Vinyl Sales Rose by 71 Percent in 2011

​It's not often that the world of music sales numbers brings us good news these days, so savor this moment. In the U.S last year, overall music sales rose nearly 7% -- that includes albums, singles and downloads (both audio and music videos). Vinyl was up 71%, digital song sales were up 10% an ... More >>

The Last Space Shuttle Launch And Obsolete Music-Delivery Systems

​Friday morning's scheduled space shuttle launch, the last of 135 missions flown by the orbiters, marks the exact moment at which a space-travel technology from 1981 finally becomes obsolete. That's right: If you'd just overbuilt your music collection like NASA did with Atlantis, you could s ... More >>

Band of Bookstores: Facing extinction, indies unite to show us everything they bring to St. Louis that Amazon can't

Subway Passes McDonald's in Total Locations Worldwide

​Why has Ronald McDonald gone missing? Maybe he's ashamed that Jared has supplanted him. That's right: The Wall Street Journal reports (via Eater) that Subway has passed McDonald's for the most locations worldwide as of the end of 2010: 33,749 vs 32,737.Actually, what caught my eye in the WSJ stor ... More >>

St. Louis Officially Nation's Ninth Most Literate City

image via​Rejoice, St. Louis! There's been another list ranking America's cities and this time we didn't totally embarrass ourselves! Central Connecticut State University has released its annual rankings of the nation's most literate cities and this year, we've tied with Portland, Oregon, for ... More >>

Photos: Fresh Paint II at 2720 Cherokee on Black Friday, November 26

On Friday night, November 26, the music and art scenes converged for Fresh Paint II at 2720 Cherokee. Sarah Rusnak attended and brought back a slideshow of photos from the festivities. View all Fresh Paint II: Black Friday photos here; a sampling can be found below.Sarah Rusnak​View a slidesho ... More >>

Build-a-Bear is Suing East Coast Company for Trademark Infringement

flickr.com/photos/hagleitnBuilding a lawsuit​One of St Louis' most prominent (and furriest!) businesses seems to be approaching settlement with an East Coast company it sued last February for trademark infringement.The locally-based Build-A-Bear Workshop -- recently listed in Fortune magazine's 10 ... More >>

Is Anybody Really "Tarballing" BP Gas Stations?

Image viaGone tarballin'!!!!​When Unreal heard a rumor that St. Louis BP gas stations had seen an uptick of people pooping on their restroom floors -- apparently in protest for the worst environmental disaster in American history -- we called up quite a few of 'em. Most said there was no increase ... More >>

St. Louis Designer Starts Up Plus-Sized Clothing Line

Image sourceLisa Holmes in her signature "Lisa" dress.​Even if you're a size 2, clothes shopping is not always fun. But at least you have lots of options. If you're plus-sized, retailers seem to expect you to be happy with a small range of cheap, badly-fitting polyester things originally inten ... More >>

Vampire Weekend and Beach House are Playing in St. Louis...at the Chaifetz Arena!

Annie ZaleskiVampire Weekend's Ezra Koenig at the Pageant, September 2008​Well -- talk about an upgrade: The indie-pop band everybody has an opinion about, Vampire Weekend, just announced a show at the Chaifetz Arena on Sunday, October 3. Beach House and the Very Best are opening. Says the Cha ... More >>

Johnny Londoff Sr.: Legendary St. Louis Chevrolet Dealer Dies at 85

​KMOX radio host Charlie Brennan just reported on his show that long-time St. Louis auto dealer, Johnny Londoff Sr., passed away this morning at the age of 85. Brennan, a personal friend of the Chevrolet dealer, says that Londoff had been suffering a long illness. Londoff may be best remembered fo ... More >>

Titus Andronicus

4 p.m. Sunday, March 14. Vintage Vinyl, 6610 Delmar Boulevard, University City.

Walgreens To Soon Stock the Ultimate Drug: Booze

Add to those bargains beer and wine.​This blogger still recalls when Walgreens outlets in St. Louis had their own liquor departments separated from the main store with turnstiles to keep the kiddies out. Then suddenly, a decade or so ago, Walgreens abruptly stop selling booze. Rumor had it that th ... More >>

Does the Holiday Spirit Involve Shoplifting?

The Associated Press reported yesterday:Parish priest Tim Jones says it's OK to shoplift at times as long as you don't take more than you need - but British police, retailers and clergy disagree. Jones says people in desperate need may at times be justified shoplifting items from large chain stores ... More >>

Parlour the Course

Top Sellers at Area Record Stores: Week of November 30-December 6

Late reporting from record stores this week, sorry! As always, as the asterisk means someone is coming to town. Euclid Records 1. Blackroc- Blackroc 2. Them Crooked Vultures - Them Crooked Vultures 3. David Rawlings Machine - A Friend Of A Friend 4. Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Live Anthology 5. ... More >>

And Now for 5 Black Friday Videos That Will Make You Want to Shop Online

Ah, the rush of finding deals! The thrill of getting discounts! The exhilaration of putting your thumb in the eye of somebody over the last flat-screen television.Here are some of the more popular documentaries found on YouTube from Black Friday. The first video is the awful one you may remember fro ... More >>

St. Louis Geeks Rejoice! We have a Micro Center!

The last CompUSA went out of business in 2007 and left a giant gaping hole for a decent computer store in the St. Louis retail market. Some might argue that the hole existed even when CompUSA was still in business since we've never been lucky enough to have a really good computer store. You know, th ... More >>

FoodWire: More on New Balaban's

As I reported on Monday, Steve McIntyre, who owned Balaban's in the Central West End for a good portion of its 36-year run, is opening Balaban's Wine Cellar & Tapas Bar this November at 1772 Clarkson Road in Chesterfield.Today I received the official press release announcing the opening, and it ... More >>

Ballpark Pillage...or...Why Didn't We Think of That?

Photo by Jennifer SilverbergOur bait stand remains the first retail business in Ballpark Village.We admit it. We struck out. Over the past  couple years the brain trust here at RFT has come up with some unusual proposals for the scorched earth next to Busch Stadium, a.k.a. "The Future Home of B ... More >>

Ludacris and T.I. Play Chaifetz Arena on Thursday, February 19

T.I. and Ludacris are playing the Chaifetz Arena at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, February 19. Says Chaifetz: Tickets to see the Atlanta-based artists are $47, $67, $77 and $127 and go on sale on Saturday, January 17 at 10 a.m. at MetroTix.com, MetroTix outlets at select Schnucks and Macy's stores, charg ... More >>

Gut Check Christmas* Gift Ideas: Foodie Fight Trivia Game

As part of the Year-End Bonanza, here are some Christmas* gift ideas for the foodie in your life. These are personal favorites, and these posts in no way imply an official RFT endorsement. The makers of these products didn't pay for my "endorsement," either.Foodie Fight Trivia GameMy wife and I sp ... More >>

National Record Store Day at Euclid Records, Vintage Vinyl on Saturday, April 19

Chris Brown

7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 31. Scottrade Center, 1401 Clark Avenue.

Loop Chained

The arrival of Noodles & Company and Chipotle has some Delmar business owners wondering where it will end.

Yo! RFT Raps

Week of August 31, 2006

Local Motion: DJ Mike Gow

Thursday, March 9, at 9:30 p.m. Miso on Meramec (16 North Meramec Avenue, Clayton)

High (Fashion) Tea

Thunderbirds Are Now! and Rahim

Sunday, August 21; the Hi-Pointe (1001 McCausland Avenue)

Best Hardware Store

Biener Hardware

Hot Wees

These hot miniature cars make RadioShack seem cool. Really.

Best Local TV Commercial

Becky's Carpet and Tile Superstore

For the Record

Big-box stores deal big blow to old-time music retailers

Best New Wine Bar

33 Wine Shop and Tasting Bar

Best Record Store

Vintage Vinyl

Best Name for an Auto-Repair Shop

Nader and Sons

Best Mall

St. Louis Galleria

Best Diction in a Used-Car Commercial

Dave Sinclair

The Hummer King

Jim Lynch rules in the world of boy toys. Will he keep his throne now that GM has moved in?

Booknonsense

Untangling the confusion surrounding Left Bank Books' involvement in BookSense.com

Down in the Trenches

Dave Thompson's Blue Sky Distribution may be the best thing that's ever happened to local artists

ERROR CONDITIONING

Righting the wrongs of Post columnist Greg Freeman

Of Wetlands and Wal-Marts

One development at a time, Missouri has lost 87 percent of its wetlands. And that means more floods, more damage, more levees, more bucks. The story of one Supercenter and how progress comes at a price.