Stores & Shopping Reviews

World's First Wonka Store Opens in NYC

by Jennifer Lawinski, Posted Sep 23rd 2010 @ 12:00PM

wonka Photo: Jennifer Lawinski

Do the snozzberries taste like snozzberries?

You can find that out and more at the world's only Wonka candy store inside the world's largest Toys R Us toy store in New York City's Times Square. With candies dangling from the rafters and bulk-candy bins housed inside mushroom-shaped tables, the Wonka candy store is like the movie and iconic book by Roald Dahl come to life -- a world of pure imagination.

"This is the only place on the planet that you can find everything Wonka makes," spokeswoman Tricia Bowles told Slashfood at the store's grand opening.

In addition to the fantastical set and larger-than-life boxes of Nerds candies, customers can find everything from sluggie gummies to the new Wonka line of chocolate bars -- Wonka Execeptionals, one of which is named the Scrumdiddlyumptious Chocolate Bar, appealing to fans of the film and chocolate lovers alike.

Filed under: Stores & Shopping Reviews

Behind the Scenes at NYC's Pop-Tarts World

COMMENTS 31

by Sarah De Heer, Posted Aug 10th 2010 @ 5:00PM

Photo: Richard Drew / AP Photo

Just when we thought Times Square had it all -- Pop-Tarts introduces Pop-Tarts World, a 3,000 square-foot sugar metropolis, which opened Tuesday. The store has Pop-Tarts merchandise, a custom T-shirt creation station, the "varietizer" machine and a Pop-Tarts Cafe. Slashfood caught up with Scott Schoessel, COO of Gigunda Group and just had to ask, "Why?"

"We saw an opportunity," said Shoessel. "We started watching what people had to say -- our Facebook fan page has close to 2 million fans. We wanted to bring their passion for Pop-Tarts to life in a tangible way, letting them create an experience of their own."

The most eye-catching contraption is "The Varietizer" machine (see photos below), which allows shoppers to build their own customized box of Pop-Tarts for $12. There are currently 23 different kinds of Pop-Tarts in the machine -- some will be switched out seasonally (Orange Cream, Blueberry Muffin, and Ice Cream Sandwich are current options) and the classics. What I found to be most interesting was the process of choosing your "tarts." On a computer screen, a customer is presented with all the possible choices. Before you make your final decision, the nutritional facts for the specific flavor appear. When I asked Schoessel for the reasoning behind this (I found seeing all those calories listed to be a turn-off), he said "Kellogg's takes nutrition very seriously -- it's also a good way to provide information if people have food allergies."

Photos and more after the jump ...

Filed under: Stores & Shopping Reviews

Whole Foods Introduces Pizza "GreenBox"

COMMENTS 8

by Jessie Cacciola, Posted Jul 19th 2010 @ 2:00PM

Photo: YouTube

Adding to the (occasional) guilt of finishing off a greasy, cheese-laden pizza is that awkwardly large, hard-to-trash pizza box -- do you bend it? Rip it into pieces? Leave it for someone else to deal with in the morning?

Whole Foods will be breaking this vicious cycle with the newly designed GreenBox, made to sustainably package, serve and store their take-out brick-oven pizza. Announced today by makers ECOvention, LLC, the boxes are manufactured from 100% recycled cardboard and are said to replace the need for paper plates (for serving), as well as plastic wrap or tin foil (for storage). The company realized that a standard 14-inch pizza box could breakdown into smaller reusable compartments, which could then be recycled more easily.

What's their secret? Clever perforation.

Filed under: Stores & Shopping Reviews, Eco-Friendly

Ben & Jerry's Exclusive Flavors at Target

COMMENTS 16

by Kristine Hansen, Posted Jun 22nd 2010 @ 11:00AM

Photo: Ben & Jerry's

Beginning this week, and available only at Target stores, Ben & Jerry's is launching two new "philanthropic" flavors, both aimed at encouraging consumers to volunteer in their communities.

Raspberry cheesecake flavor best describes Berry Voluntary, which is laced with white-chocolate chunks and raspberry swirls.

Brownie Chew Gooder is vanilla caramel ice cream loaded with pieces of fudge brownie and topped off with caramel swirl.

Both are available in either a mini cup ($1.25) or a pint ($3.50).

More details after the jump...

Filed under: New Products, Stores & Shopping Reviews

No, You're Not Crazy -- That Shelf Is Talking to You

COMMENTS 27

by Jason Best, Posted Jun 18th 2010 @ 3:00PM

Photo: photine, Flickr

As evidence that our future is shaping up to be some unholy hybrid of Blade Runner meets Mad Men (with a dash of Orwellian paranoia thrown in), here comes this: 3GTV.

As The New York Times reports, a company called Automated Media Services has developed TV screens that can be clipped to supermarket shelves. And what will be showing on those tiny screens? You guessed it: endless loops of the same commercials for cereal or soup or shampoo.

More after the jump.

Filed under: Stores & Shopping Reviews, Gadgets

Seventh Street Wine Company, Ft. Lauderdale - Ask a Shopkeeper

COMMENTS 2

by Chris Dudley, Posted Jun 9th 2010 @ 2:00PM

Photo: Seventh Street Wine Company

Chris Skillicorn, owner of Seventh Street Wine Company, should've been a character in a Hemingway story. He's a man of the sea with a passion for the bottle. Skillicorn grew up on the Isle of Man, smack in middle of the Irish Sea. As an adult, he sailed off to warmer climates, becoming an on-board food and beverage officer for a major cruise line. When it came time to settle down, Skillicorn chose Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., the widely acknowledged yachting capital of the world. In 2005, he and his partners opened Seventh Street Wine Company. Five years later, customers come from all over South Florida to shop from a selection 1,500 wines, many of which can be sampled using state of the art, computerized dispensing machines.

More from Skillicorn on what it's like to be the wine man of the sea, after the jump.

Filed under: Stores & Shopping Reviews, Drinks, Interviews

Your New Favorite Restaurant? The Supermarket

COMMENTS 22

by Nichol Nelson, Posted Jun 4th 2010 @ 5:00PM

Photo: Wegmans

Back in the '80s and '90s, grabbing dinner at the prepared foods section of your neighborhood grocery store meant picking up a rotisserie chicken, some gloppy potato salad, and maybe -- if you were feeling ambitious -- a trip through the salad bar.

While those rotisserie chickens haven't gone anywhere, these days, new high-end prepared food offerings have turned sections of the supermarket into full-blown restaurants.

Wegman's, a small supermarket chain based in Rochester, N.Y., features a Market Café that offers shoppers more than your average neighborhood diner. Pizza, sushi, stir-frys to order, homemade soups, even something they call a "large fish fry dinner." Whole Foods, the granddaddy of luxe prepared foods, goes even further. Here, depending on the store, you might find a Parisian cafe, a pizza bar, a BBQ shack, a sushi bar, a raw foods bar, a taco bar, a sandwich bar, or a full-out wine bar.

So what's the motive behind this new ready-to-eat bonanza? Profit, of course. Company execs want to keep customers returning to the store, and more visits mean more shopping overall.

Filed under: Stores & Shopping Reviews

Grass-Fed Fashion

COMMENTS 0

by Naomi Shulman, Posted May 25th 2010 @ 3:00PM

Photo: Hannah Whitaker / New York Magazine

Now locavores can also be fashionistas. Brooklyn's Marlow & Sons is a quirky gourmet eatery specializing in local, grass-fed meat; owners Mark Firth and Andrew Tarlow (Mar-low, get it?) also opened a butcher shop, Marlow & Daughters, giving them even more control over their sustainable food supply. Now, in true nose-to-tail spirit, Firth and Tarlow are taking the use-everything ethos to the next level, offering leather bags made from the skins of their house-butchered livestock.

Like the restaurant, the simple, classic leather bags are getting enthusiastic reviews. "Nice and classy," says one commenter on New York magazine's The Cut. "Brilliant idea," says another. "Very forward thinking." Perhaps most refreshing of all, the prices are reasonable (for high-end fashion) -- the most expensive bag tops out at $350.

Inquiring minds may well ask: Will it become a trend? Will farmers markets start offering an array of home-grown luggage and shoes next to their meat shares and produce? "Eh," says one jaded commenter at The Cut. "Stick to serving me oysters and bloody Marys."

Filed under: Stores & Shopping Reviews

Whole Foods Market to Recycle Customers' Wine Corks

COMMENTS 3

by Kristine Hansen, Posted Apr 8th 2010 @ 4:00PM

Photo: themooring, Flickr

This week, Whole Foods Market announced that all 292 of its stores in the U.S., Canada and England will collect customers' wine corks with the goal of turning them into really cool items. The company has partnered with Cork ReHarvest to find various ways to repurpose the corks. For example, Midwestern Whole Foods stores plan to give the corks to Yemm & Hart, a cork-floor tile manufacturer. At stores west of the Rocky Mountains, corks will be turned into recyclable cardboard shippers containing 10 percent cork. And Jelinek Cork Group, one of North America's oldest cork manufacturers, will be responsible for taking corks turned in at Whole Foods stores along the East Coast in the U.S. and throughout the U.K., and transforming them into an assortment of products for consumers. While news hasn't been announced about what exactly those products will be, Jelinek creates cork coasters, furniture, model-train tracks, fishing rods and flooring designed for yoga studios (as well as yoga blocks).

If you're like us, you have an abundant collection of wine corks. Sure, you could save them for the day when you will actually have the time to sit down and construct trivets or bath mats out of the corks. Or, you can donate them to this good cause.

Whole Foods says it's the first national retailer to offer a cork-recycling program. Only natural corks can be turned into the stores' drop boxes -- so keep those synthetic corks for an innovative D.I.Y. project, perhaps?

Filed under: Stores & Shopping Reviews

Free Breakfast at IKEA

COMMENTS 1

by Lindsay Damast, Posted Apr 2nd 2010 @ 11:30AM

Photo: rutlo, Flickr

If this weekend's sunny forecast makes you realize a good spring cleaning is in order, furniture megastore IKEA will come your rescue with their ample storage and organizational goods. In addition to offering free pencils and measuring tapes, IKEA will fill your stomach with free breakfast from Friday, April 2 through Sunday, April 4. After you exhaust yourself running through their maze of a showroom, refuel with a scrambled eggs, bacon and potatoes breakfast and one cup of coffee.

This offer is valued at $1.98, is limited to one per customer and is not available at IKEA Hicksville, IKEA Houston and IKEA Direct.

Filed under: Stores & Shopping Reviews, Events