London Heathrow is the third-busiest airport in the world, moving close to 70 million people down its two runways each year. It can feel a bit cramped there and anybody who has walked its floors might tell you that all 70 million of those folks were in the place the day they were there. 

The government has threatened to scuttle a proposed third runway, which has Heathrow operator BAA threatening to sue as it's eager to expand capacity. And from the "you can't please all the people all the time" dept., one group of Brits would love the 83-year-old airport to be leveled and converted into landscaped gardens, a residential area, and a university. Yet customer surveys indicate that over 70% of passengers at the airport rate their experience as 'Excellent' or 'Very Good.'

As it looks to become more efficient and truly "make every journey better" in order to bump those customer survey results even higher, Heathrow's retail partners and shoppers are certainly happy. According to an airport spokesperson, “Heathrow has the highest retail sales of any airport in the world ahead of Incheon airport in South Korea in second place.”Continue reading...

New Yorkers hate to waste time and Bloomingdale’s new window displays are designed to save them a few minutes (while drawing a big crowd, of course). Bloomies has gone virtual in its window displays, allowing customers to try on sunglasses without even entering the store.

The New York Daily News reports that virtual-reality technology in six windows “projects designer shades onto shoppers who simply stand in front of the” the store’s windows. Customers simply align their eyes to ovals on the windows and then the sunglasses appear around them. They can tap on icons on the window to change to different glasses. And they can turn their heads and see what the arm of the glasses would like as well.

“It’s a little tricky at first, and a little weird with people walking by, but it’s neat,” 26-year-old Julia Snowden told the Daily News.Continue reading...

Coca-Cola prepares Sokenbicha tea for Whole Foods, and plans national rollout of Mexican Coke as Sierra Mist drops high-fructose corn syrup and 7Up gets reformulated.

Adobe shares soar on rumors of Microsoft bid.

Amazon is preparing an Android app store.

BP's disaster report is being questioned, reports WSJ.

Chanel and YSL designer departure rumors swirl at Paris Fashion Week.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg talks up groups feature.

Gap logo flap inspires "crap logo" app as fake Twitter feed speaks.

Hyundai reveals details of new Sonata, just ranked highest for safety with BMW 5 series.

Levi's opens its second photo-centric workshop tonight in New York.Continue reading...