Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Apple Will Not Be Defied by Overeager Upper West Siders | Apple has set a date for the opening of its new outlet on the Upper West Side. The doors of the massive, three-floor store will open to the public a week from tomorrow at 10am sharp. "Until then, forget about sneaking a peek behind the capacious crimson curtain hiding its innards. The Mac-istas have the front door here seriously secured." [Racked]

Fashion's Night Out Will Now Be an Annual Tradition | Fashion's Night Out, last month's "largest single shopping event in the city's history," may not have actually involved all that much shopping. But it did get people to actually step into stores (which was a nice change of pace), and did provide the city's beleaguered retail industry with a psychic boost. So perhaps it's no surprise that the city and FNO czar Anna Wintour announced today that the event will return once again next year. If you're particularly excited by this news, head over to the official Fashion's Night Out website. The site now sports a clock so you can count down the days, minutes and seconds to September 9, 2010. [WWD, previously]

All those pop-up stores opening up in unexpected locations around town aren't designed to amuse you. They're part of a devious plot to trigger certain chemicals in your brain so that you'll open your wallet and mindlessly hand over every penny you have in your wallet to the person standing behind the register. Really. More

It wasn't long ago that Louis Vuitton was scrapping plans to open glitzy new stores around the world. But times have changed! The French luxury giant opened its latest outpost this week. And it just so happens to be located in the Mongolian capital of Ulaanbaatar. (If you're headed in that direction and you'd like to stop by, ask your taxi driver to take you to Sukhbaatar Square. You can't miss it. Really.) To pay tribute to Mongolia's "strong horse riding culture," the company says it's putting some Louis Vuitton equestrian gear on sale. Does this mean residents of Beirut will finally get the LV-emblazoned falafel fryer they've been waiting for when the company descends on the Lebanese capital for the first time later this year? We will soon find out!

• Tom Ford is expanding. (Or hoping to, at least.) The designer is reportedly looking to raise $50 million in financing to expand into womenswear. [Reuters]
• Rents along Fifth Avenue have been falling, of course. But the situation appears to be particularly bleak at the empty shopping mall (or "retail collection") at the Plaza Hotel. [Bloomberg, NYP]
• The downside of diffusion: According to a new survey, consumers say luxury products are too accessible these days and have become a commodity. [WWD]More

The new Hollister store on Houston and Broadway seems to be pumping its fragrance outside its doors, and neighbors are pissed that it's stinking up the 'hood, the Post reports today. (One dissenter even allegedly set off a stink bomb outside the So-Cal wannabe-surfer palace in protest.) It's only fitting that Hollister has caused such a ruckus; it's part of the Abercrombie & Fitch franchise, whose stores are notorious for overpowering the olfactory nerves of anyone who walks within 200 yards of their front door. But this isn't the first time an NYC retailer has stunk up a street. In July, Diane von Furstenberg's store on West 14th Street reportedly offended passersby because its D Eau de Parfum scent wafted well beyond its doors.More

Below: A recap of Fashion's Night Out and the first two days of Fashion Week.More

• Is Barneys headed for bankruptcy? Once again, some are suggesting the retailer may go bust, or at least be forced to partner with another company. And once again, Barneys' owner, Dubai-based Istithmar, is reiterating that it remains "fully committed" to the chain. [BN, AP]
• Every other celebrity has a clothing line. Now news personalities are getting in on the action: Al Roker is reportedly in talks with Weatherproof to start up a line of "rain jackets, coats, footwear and cold weather accessories." [WWD]
• A PR agency staffer is accused of ripping off nearly $100K in jewelry. [NYP]More

• Some luxury fashion companies think (or are hoping, at least) that the recession has "bottomed out," and the tide is "slowly turning." Let's hope so! [WWD]
• Related: Saks is hoping to now "wean wealthy customers from discounts" and "re-educate" them to pay full-price again. Good luck! [NYP]
• How are fashion mags hoping to remain relevant during the turbulent times? By hitching their titles to TV shows, naturally. Not that the strategy always pays off as editors might have hoped, as Elle (Stylista) and Marie Claire (Running in Heels) have discovered. [AdWeek]
• Homelessness is now "having a fashion moment." Make a note of it. [Cut]More

Not Everyone Approves of Duane Reade's New Look | Duane Reade has given a number of its stores a makeover in recent weeks, turning its legendarily "cramped, dim" locations" into the sort of "lighter, airier spaces" you might find in a California strip mall. It's part of an effort to compete with all the Walgreens and CVS outlets popping up around town, and to highlight the changes underway, the company launched its first-ever brand advertising campaign last month. But maybe some people just preferred the drug store the way it was? The sign posted to the window of the LES location underwent an edit this week. You can take a look at his/her handiwork here. [Spiers]

• When you first heard the Olsen twins were breaking into fashion, you had a good laugh, didn't you? Well, it's been a few years since then and now "their success in a field as competitive as fashion is impossible to deny," says an enthusiastic Cathy Horyn today. Of course, it hasn't hurt that they're super-famous and worth a gazillion dollars either. [NYT]
• Things you didn't know about Vogue's André Leon Talley: He's partial to Juice Couture shorts at home, loves Uggs ("it's a cozy shoe"), and says The Golden Girls is his fave show on TV. [TONY]  More

Apple: No. 1 on Fifth | The highest grossing retailer on Fifth Avenue? The Apple store on 59th Street, the only one of the company's locations that is open 24/7, which generates sales of more than $350 million a year, according to real estate experts. [Bloomberg]

• Marc Jacobs' wedding to Lorenzo Martone, which the designer says will happen "soon," is going to have a ridiculously exclusive guest list. Not a single friend or family member will be getting an invite, since it's just going to be the two of them. [Cut]
• Project Runway finally returns to the air on Thursday evening. So will the Lifetime iteration be the same show you remember from its run on Bravo? Not so much, it seems. [NYDN]
• Meanwhile, Nina Garcia will be making an appearance this fall on the new CW series, The Beautiful Life. [FWD]
• The website and schedule for Fashion's Night Out is now online. The retail pep rally, which goes down on Sept. 10, will include Anna Wintour and Michael Kors signing t-shirts at a Macy's in Queens, believe it or not. More

• Cintra Wilson is not impressed with the NYC's very first JCPenney: "Why would this perennially square department store bother to reanimate itself in Manhattan—in the sleekest, scariest fashion city in America—during a hair-raising economic downturn, without taking the opportunity to vigorously rebrand itself?" Making matters worse, she says even the mannequins are obese: "It's like a headless wax museum devoted entirely to the cast of Roseanne." [NYT]
• Contrary to recent rumors, Kanye West is not interning at the Gap. [FWD]
• It looks like Escada is the latest fashion house to go bust. [Bloomberg]
• Anna Wintour will appear on Dave Letterman's show on August 24. (Set your DVR!) In other Anna-related news (and despite recent budget cuts at Condé Nast), the Vogue editrix will be making the trip to London Fashion Week. More

• Great news for those of you who have been dying to get your hands on Miley Cyrus' clothing line for Wal-Mart: The retail giant is scouting for a NYC location again. [Crain's] 
• Rich parents aren't buying super-expensive designer clothing for their bratty kids quite like they used to, not surprisingly. [WSJ]
• First the Calvin Klein billboard on Houston Street was targeted by people who objected to its raciness; now it's been targeted by vandals. [Jezebel]
• The Calvin billboard isn't the only victim. Calvin Klein became a crime statistic himself when a thief ripped the East Hampton beach parking sticker off his Porsche. The police are now conducting a thorough investigation. [NYP] More