While your humbled (by Sandy) editor's NYC apartment is still without power, I've made it to a power outlet and Wi-Fi and finally catching up with some of the impact of the storm on the U.S. and Canada, with 107 people dead and an estimated $20 billion in damages and $30 billion in lost business:

• FCC estimates that storm took down 25% of cell towers in 10 states
• FTC warns consumers to avoid home repair and charity scams
• JFK and Newark airports have reopened for some flights as airlines pin hopes on Thursday flights
• NYC mayor Mike Bloomberg reopened the New York Stock Exchange in first post-Sandy trading day
• NYC subway stations in lower Manhattan are still underwater as MTA estimates it's losing $18 million/day
• NYC schools remain closed
• President Obama stops at FEMA en route to New Jersey to assess damage
• Ford Motor Company donates $50,000 to relief efforts
• Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac vow to aid those whose homes were damaged or destroyed
• NYC-based tech startups including Foursquare grapple with keeping their businesses going
• Con Edison is working around the clock to restore power, as calls for free public Wi-Fi increase
• Some NYC stores, restaurants and businesses (at least above 23rd Street) see surge in business, along with e-commerce sites
• Fast food restaurants and other businesses in Sandy's path struggle in aftermath
• American Apparel criticized for hosting Sandy online sale, while Urban Outfitters offends with Sandy tweet

"Hipster Disney Princess: The Musical" has been going viral on social media and YouTube since it was posted on Oct. 1. Shot in Times Square (a la Enchanted) and dropping Urban Outfitters, Kombucha tea, Starbucks and Twitter references, the musical-a-week wags at AVByte present a quartet of geek-framed, F-bomb dropping, post-Disney princesses just in time for Halloween. Starring: Elizabeth Oldak (Belle), Tiger Darrow (Snow White), Molly Gallagher (Ariel) and Tanja Nagler (Cinderella).

Comedy Central partners with Urban Outfitters on Indecision 2012 collection.

7-11, Walmart, Target and other big retailers team up on mobile wallet to combat Google Wallet.

Apple reportedly in talks with U.S. cable operators to develop a set-top box; and takes a swing at Amazon.

Johnson & Johnson launches ingredient transparency website for baby and beauty products as J&J removes formaldehyde from products.

Bumbo foam child seats recalled following injuries.

Calvin Klein sued by Lululemon for alleged patent infringement.

Chick-fil-A uproar may have inspired gunman.Continue reading...

One trick of the high-school set when writing what they believe to be a ridiculously long paper is to just change the margins. Push things in a little and it makes it that much easier to achieve the required number of pages. Some never leave this little trick behind. A judge in Manhattan, Paul A. Engelmayer, who is hearing a trademark suit involving Gap Inc.'s flagship Gap brand, requires that all documents put before him be double spaced. But lawyers represent the mega-retailer have been accused of adjusting the spacing in such a way that they achieved “four extra lines per page,” the Wall Street Journal reports. 

The lawyers in question work at Fross Zelnick Lehrman & Zissu PC and they are working on a case about “a trademark dispute involving T-shirts labeled with the phrase ‘Lower East Side’ and ‘LES NYC,’” the Journal notes. Their adversaries, the legal team at Patterson Belknap Webb Tyler LLP, took a recent brief sent by Gap lawyers and “used a computer program to determine that the line spacing on Fross Zelnick’s reply brief was ‘1.75’ instead of double spaced.” Because of this, the judge allowed Patterson Belknap to “file a 30-page, instead of 25-page, brief on Thursday” so that the two sides would be given equal space to express themselves. 

As for the suit itself, it was filed by New York-based designer Robert Lopez of LES Clothing Co, who has quite a track record taking on big brands.Continue reading...

As a fast-fashion retailer that relies on highly visual looks to hook fickle youths, Urban Outfitters seems to step on a lot of toes as it rolls out new items at a rapid clip. Having already offended the Irish with its "Irish yoga" trucker hat and St. Patrick's Day t-shirts, the retailer is proving to be an equal opportunity offender.

Now you can add the Navajo Nation to the list of aggrieved parties finding UO's designs to be culturally insensitive.

The Philadelphia-based retailer has shown an affinity for the Navajo in recent years, identifying a number of its products as being Navajo or Navaho. And that has irked the actual Navajo that they are taking Urban Outfitters to court.Continue reading...

• Go ahead, customize that 2013 Mustang — but watch out for the little ballerina with the inner Black Swan.

• "For sale - a willing and able permanent or temporary employee." Unemployed woman auctions herself on eBay.

• "Eyevertising!" Unemployed Londoner offers ad space ... on his eye.

Below, check out Funny or Die's Kia Optima spoof with Blake Griffin and Jeff Goldblum; Salma Hayek's midnight run for the Milk Mustache campaign; will.i.am drives buzz for Chrysler; and more.Continue reading...

One of the first things Ted Marlow is getting to do as the new CEO of Urban Outfitters is spend some time thinking about brides. The Philadelphia-based apparel retailer started selling wedding clothes online a year ago — on Valentine's Day 2011 — and opened its first bridal shop, called BHLDN, last summer in Houston.

Now, the Chicago Tribune reports, it has just opened a second BHLDN store, in the Windy City, and it “resembles a 19th century European townhouse with 15-foot ceilings, grand windows and a spiral staircase with wood risers and travertine treads."

If this all sounds way old-school, don't forget the Urban Outfitters sensibility (meaning BHLDN's bridal fashions are bohemian and vintage-inspired) and target demographic (hip women in the 20's and 30's). Its second bridal store embodies that slightly rebellious, hip chic, including iPod docking stations in the dressing rooms so shoppers can listen to their own tunes while decking themselves out in bridesmaid dresses and wedding gowns.

Is building out a bridal business, as a separate brand no less, a smart move? The Trib points out that the retailer isn’t alone in saying "I do" to the concept.

“J.Crew was among the first chain stores to spot an opportunity to sell bridesmaid dresses, introducing its collection online in 2004 and opening its first free-standing bridal boutique in 2009 in Manhattan.” Ann Taylor, White House/Black Market, Nordstrom, Costco, and Target are other U.S. retailers who have made similar efforts.

Marlow, who spent nine years as brand president of Urban Outfitters, left the company in 2010, but took his place behind the big desk on Feb. 6th after former CEO Glen Senk resigned to take over the same role with David Yurman.

“This is a blast from the past that is giving investors hope that prior management that was successful will bring success back,” Randal Konik, an analyst at Jefferies & Co. in New York, told Bloomberg. “In our view there are still challenges from slowing growth and rising competition.”

Outfitters, Inc., the parent company of Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie, among others, had a 9% increase in net sales to $731 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012, Reuters reports.

Amazon expands into original programming for web and TV, while Senate bill may close Virginia's "Amazon loophole."

Angry Birds lands on Facebook.

Apple shares close above $500, breaking more records, while brand announces iPad 3 release for March 7, testing "iPad Mini" tablet with smaller screen.

Burt's Bees launches spinoff aimed at Gen Y.

Chipotle steals buzz at Grammy's with Willie Nelson/Coldplay commercial.

Ford may have last laugh over Chevrolet with Super Bowl truck ad.

Google sees Motorola Mobility acquisition approved by EU and US.Continue reading...