eBay to Set Up Shop in NYC

eBay is joining the countless pop-up retailers who have constructed temporary shops in New York. In fact, come November 20, the online auction site will host a 57th Street location for just over a week; inside, it will stock exclusive fashions from the likes of Norma Kamali (who's doing a line especially for eBay this season), "L.A.M.B. shoes, handbags from Michael Kors and Dooney & Burke, Anthropologie dresses, cosmetics from M.A.C., Smashbox and other brands, and the Dolce & Gabbana Light Blue and Vera Wang Princess fragrances," says Women's Wear Daily. There will be electronics too, as well as some furniture and toys. Altogether, the collection -- at least sartorially speaking -- is a weird smattering of designers that will likely appeal to the masses descending upon midtown come holiday shopping season.

Sales at the 5,500-square-foot store won’t be solely for eBay’s profits; in fact, “dollars spent in the holiday shop, up to $200,000, will be matched by eBay to support Global Giving, Grammy in the Schools, Oxfam America, Right to Play, Save the Children, Share Our Strength, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Starlight, Toys for Tots, U.S. Fund for UNICEF and YouthAIDS EBay,” adds WWD. The Awl’s Mary HK Choi makes a solid point in stating, “‘shoppers will have access to the entire eBay marketplace via Internet kiosks.’ So wait, you get to go all the way outside so you can stand thick in the pig-flu riddled shit and GO ON eBAY? Do these people really exist? Are they waiting for Wikipedia to come out with a hardbound?” At least there’s a nominal good cause for dollars spent here, be they forked over online or smeared with H1N1.