Inqlings: For right buyer, boutique's a buck
Want to buy an Old City boutique? Cost you a dollar. Faye Smith, the film costume designer who opened Sevilla Smith on Third Street near Arch in June 2008, wants out of retail as she concentrates on her own clothing line. She said she and her husband, Rutgers professor John Smith, had decided that helping an entrepreneur would be the right thing to do.
Want to buy an Old City boutique?
Cost you a dollar.
Faye Smith, the film costume designer who opened Sevilla Smith on Third Street near Arch in June 2008, wants out of retail as she concentrates on her own clothing line. She said she and her husband, Rutgers professor John Smith, had decided that helping an entrepreneur would be the right thing to do.
But only the right entrepreneur, who will get Sevilla Smith's inventory, racks, computer system, and goodwill.
That person would need "vision, aspirations, and the time and finances to see the store thrive," she said, adding that she wanted to structure the "sale" so that the buyer "won't just sell everything off on eBay."
Smith said she had spent four months building the store. "It would be sad if someone had to do it all again," she said.
Should the buyer need it, Smith said, she'd offer 100 hours of her time as a consultant for $5,000.
Prospective buyers can e-mail her at Faye@SevillaSmith.com.
A change inn progress
Park
will be lopped from the Park Hyatt at the Bellevue's name, and the change will affect more than signs and stationery.
The landmark hotel, at Broad and Walnut Streets, will be marketed through Hyatt's North American division, not the international. That will open the Hyatt at the Bellevue to new markets, with the ability to sell rooms through third-party discount sites such as Priceline.com.
In other words, the Hyatt is looking for more business. Spokeswoman Molly O'Shea says the hotel will still be considered a luxury property.
Radio activity
WBEB (101.1) again topped Arbitron's list of local radio stations in the November ratings, followed by KYW-AM (1060), WDAS-FM (105.3), WOGL-FM (98.1), and WMGK-FM (102.9), in the share of the total audience ages 12 and up.
Although these "12-plus" numbers level the playing field for instant comparison, stations aim for certain demographics.
Some highlights:
WYSP-FM (94.1) was tied for fifth among men 25 to 54, its best showing since Howard Stern left, and Danny Bonaduce finished seventh in the morning.
The syndicated Elvis Duran morning show has gained traction for WIOQ (102.1); Q102 had its best month since June 2008, when Chris Booker was let go.
WDAS-FM enjoyed its third consecutive month of rising ratings; it finished second, behind B101, among listeners 25 to 54.
Ratings share continues to slide at WISX-FM (106.1), the rhythmic-hits station.
Sports-talk WIP-AM (610) was No. 1 among men 25 to 54 for the fourth consecutive month. Every show was up from a year earlier; the largest rise was Glen Macnow and Anthony Gargano on middays.
November was the first full ratings period for the new WPEN-FM (97.5 The Fanatic), the FM counterpart to WPEN-AM (950ESPN). Though both stations carry most of the same programming, Arbitron does not combine ratings. The FM side was tied for seventh among men 18 to 34 and was 10th among men 25 to 54, the strongest showing in four years of sports talk. Its top-rated personality, Mike Missanelli, led all afternoon shows among men 25 to 54.
Briefly noted
Marc Summers
and a crew from the Food Network show
Unwrapped
will stop Wednesday at Old City's Franklin Fountain to tape the opening to a segment. The shoppe now makes clear toy candy, a Victorian treat indigenous to Pennsylvania Germans.
DailyCandy, the Comcast-owned daily e-mail newsletter aimed at women, will cease seven of its 12 local editions, including Philadelphia's. That puts Meredith Lindemon out, effective Jan. 1, but she says she has more work coming her way.
The tear-soaked Cross pen that Allen Iverson used to sign his contract with the 76ers on Thursday is being auctioned on Sixers.com to benefit Sixers Charities and the Comcast-Spectacor Foundation.
Going out on 'Top'
Jennifer Carroll
, chef at 10 Arts restaurant in the Ritz-Carlton, won't move on to Wednesday's finale of the Bravo cooking series
Top Chef
. On last week's episode, judges sent her packing after grumbling about an oversalted goat-cheese dish. Northeast Philly-bred Carroll, 34 and a graduate of Mount St. Joseph Academy in Flourtown and the Restaurant School in West Philly, said 10 Arts executive chef
Eric Ripert
had urged her to go for Top Chef. It can be a launchpad for bigger things, but "I'm definitely not leaving the Ritz-Carlton and 10 Arts," she says. "I'm happy where I am." Long-term, "I definitely want to have a restaurant of my own here in Philly."
Foodstuff
Police Commissioner
Charles H. Ramsey
handed out 130 meals to police officers stationed at Lincoln Financial Field last Sunday. It bothered him that he had one left over. He turned to
Kal Rudman
, the philanthropist who footed the bill for the Chinese meals from Sang Kee, and said he was taking it with him. Rudman figured it would be dinner for Ramsey. Rudman followed Ramsey's car down Darien Street and across to Packer Avenue - where Ramsey pulled over and handed the meal to a cop. "You'll love the shrimp," Rudman said Ramsey said, driving off.
While you snarf down cup after cup of eggnog, consider the feat by Royersford competitive eater Bob Shoudt, who spooned down 2.4 gallons of salmon chowder - 23.4 pounds of the stuff - in six minutes Thursday to set a pro record for nonsolid food intake. Shoudt, whose nom de guerre is Notorious B.O.B., won the contest, sponsored by Manhattan's City Crab & Seafood Co. restaurant and sanctioned by the International Federation of Competitive Eating. Shoudt, tied for third in IFOCE's rankings and a vegetarian when not competing, told The Inquirer's Peter Mucha: "That flavor got old really quick."
Inqlings: November Radio Ratings
Station Share Weekly
audience
1. WBEB-FM 7.7% 1,611,600
2. KYW-AM 6.7 1,116,900
3. WDAS-FM 6.3 703,800
4. WOGL-FM 5.6 1,253,000
5. WMGK-FM 4.9 936,400
6. WIP-AM 4.5 660,200
7. WMMR-FM 4.4 843,800
8. WPHT-AM 4.2 808,700
9. WXTU-FM 4.1 639,000
10. WRFF-FM 4.0 934,300
Arbitron ranks stations according to the overall share per quarter-hour, based on listeners 12 and older. Sampling dates were Oct. 15 to Nov. 11. EndText