Cityfile: New York's Most Notable and Influential

Ebay Descends on Midtown | In what may be the clearest evidence yet that New York's real estate market is royally screwed, Ebay is opening a pop-up store on 57th Street tomorrow just a few yards from Louis Vuitton and Bergdorf Goodman. Fortunately, it won't be filled with junk that an old lady in the Midwest has been keeping in her garage for the past two decades. It'll be selling brand-new stuff (like Michael Kors handbags, M.A.C. cosmetics, and Anthropologie dresses), and the company says it will match whatever is spent in the store and donate it to charity. But if the idea of a Ebay store still horrifies you, do remember it's temporary. It will disappear from sight on November 29. [WWD]

Sy Syms Never Missed a Good Sale | Sy Syms, the founder of the Syms discount clothing chain and the man responsible for imprinting the company's slogan in all of our brains thanks to a million TV commercials ("an educated consumer is our best customer"), is dead at 83. Syms was a savvy showman till the very end, clearly: He died on the very same day the company's 50th anniversary sale ended. [AP]

The gigantic new Apple store on the Upper West Side will open its doors to the public at 10am tomorrow morning, so if you happen to be in the area and you see a line of people stretching down Broadway, you'll know what they're all there for (as well as how far some people will go for a free Apple t-shirt).

The UWS Gets Its Very Own Apple Store [Gothamist]
An Insider's Guide To An Apple Store Opening [Racked] 

Costco Hits Manhattan | Manhattan's very first Costco opened its doors this morning. Located on 116th Street off the FDR—and encompassing 105,000-square-feet—it's a slice of the suburbs in the middle of the city. Oh, and the bargains to be had: three pounds of almonds for $9.69; a five-liter jug of olive oil for $19.99; 40-pound bags of dog food for $23.39! Although when you factor in the cost of renting a storage unit—you won't be able to keep all that crap in your tiny Manhattan apartment, will you?—you can continue to buy your groceries at your local deli for twice the price and you'll still come out even in the end. [NYP] 

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