Beijing Boyce

Lace 'em up, Milwaukee!

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Stuck stateside and unable to snap up some spiffy Septwolves socks, slacks, and shirts*? This may be one of the brands available to American shoppers when a  mall called Amesia Plaza, funded by a Beijing company, opens in Milwaukee. So reports the China Daily:

A Beijing company has purchased a shopping mall in the US, marking the largest overseas acquisition of commercial property by a Chinese enterprise to date.

Beijing’s Toward Group said it will open the mall in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in August 2010 when 40 percent of tenants are expected to have moved in. The company announced its acquisition of the property on Dec 24.

“August is the warmest and most beautiful month in Wisconsin,” Wu Li, CEO of Toward, told METRO. “For the first six months, we will waive the rent for our tenants.”

More than 200 retailers are expected to open shops in the center, most coming from Beijing and Ningbo, a coastal city in Zhejiang province, Wu said.

The project will be funded by drug money, kind of:

“We made a small fortune by making antibiotics in 2000,” Wu said while preparing to give a presentation on the Milwaukee shopping mall to a clothing factory in Beijing.

A few tips to Chinese brands considering the move to Milwaukee:

• Remember that your American customers will tend to be “bigger-boned” than their Chinese equivalents: triple clothing sizes accordingly.
• Wisconsin has a large German-American population: start shipping in the Tsingtao and playing up the German history behind that beer.
• Leverage that Ningbo-Milwaukee cooperation agreement so that people from Milwaukee actually know where Ningbo is.
• Bone up on the local culture by watching reruns of Milwaukee-based TV shows such as Happy Days and Laverne & Shirley.

Seriously, though, this is an interesting project. I mean, it can’t go any worse than some of the “Western” projects we have seen in Beijing, can it?

Soon the hottest game in town?

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Lots of hype about Foursquare these days as the “next killer app”. Below, regular contributor Shane Crombie aka DJ Chunky provides a primer on this new feature. (By the way, you can follow me on foursquare here and on Twitter here).

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“Interweb geeks like me tend to get over excited when we see something new on the market and proceed to bore our friends and family senseless with the ‘its the next myspace/facebook/twitter killer app’ pronouncement. This is so that if it does happen, we can always say ‘see I told you so‘ over and over again and reign supreme.

“Foursquare is being referred to by trend spotters as the ‘next twitter‘; it’s the first popular application of location-based mobile messaging, an idea that empowers people to use their phone to enrich their experiences when they are out and about. Foursqare is a pretty simple mobile website and iphone/android app that allows users to ‘check in’ whenever they visit a bar or restaurant — in doing so you collect points each visit which earn you virtual ‘badges’ that enhance your social status amongst other participants.

“Hence if you go out a lot you can get ‘credit’ for your pursuits and potentially even earn ‘mayor’ status at a venue. The mayorship is the ultimate prize in the game as you get bragging rights on a popular destination and also will likely receive special privileges from the institution. For example Chad Lager offers all night happy hour prices to the Mayor of Fubar. Keep in mind that to keep the title you need to be checking in more than your cohorts each week – the counter gets reset every Sunday at midnight.

“The other core component of foursquare is you can link with fellow members and get updated on their location — hence if you see a bunch of your friends at a bar you can go join the party (or find new friends because they didn’t invite you). The long-term potential for businesses is the ability to target specific promotions to potential customers — for the punters, going out gets more organized, with keeping score part of the equation. There is 140 characters for you to add your comments so you can vent/rave in real time about a venue, which can also be posted on twitter (when its unblocked)

“As with all new social media platforms, its only becomes fun when a lot of like-minded people start using it. With winter upon us it’s a good time to make more out of your weekly jaunts to escape the cold and CNN

The Stumble Inn, which gained a loyal following in the eight months it lasted on Lucky Street, is set to re-open in Sanlitun North – it will take over the former Boutique / Mingle space below Luga’s Villa.

Glenn Phelan, formerly of Pavillion, Browns, Frank’s Place, Paddy O’Shea’s, the first Stumble Inn, and Danger Doyle’s, will be among those backing the place. “This one will have a better location with the same Stumble Inn fun,” he says. “It’ll have a pool table and a dartboard, comfortable surroundings, the same great selection of drinks and beers, and a good feel.” He says The Stumble Inn will be open in about 10 days. Look for Phelan to be involved in a few other projects in the coming months.

Sometimes fantasies become nightmares, right Pats fans?

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Know your Brady from your Brees, your Peyton from your Peterson?

City Weekend is hosting playoff fantasy football contest — that’s the kind of “football” that uses a pointy, not a spherical, ball. Your NFL team can include a quarterback, a kicker, a tight end, and a defensive or “special teams” player as well as two running backs and three wide receivers.

The entry fee is RMB100, the top prize is RMB1500 in vouchers from Tim’s Texas BBQ, Luga’s Villa, and Danger Doyle’s, and there are runner-up prizes of RMB900, RMB600, and RMB200 in vouchers (see this poster for details). All entry fees will be donated to CAI.

You need to submit you team and entry fee to City Weekend by January 8 or, according to the comments sections of the CW site, this rep from the Beijing Fantasy Football League at Luga’s Villa tonight – look for the guy in the Chiefs sweater. You can also get more info by emailing BeijingPlayoffFF@gmail.com.