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player ready...Sure, it’s a gimmick. Nothing wrong with that.
For a limited time at the Chicago location of the travel accessories boutique FLIGHT001, flight attendants (actually store employees dressed in pressed white skirt suits and wearing wing-shaped pins) will roll carts around the store, offering beverages and cashews to shoppers.
Billed as a “pre-boarding lounge,” the new store, with its narrow space designed to look like the fuselage of a 747 jet, is now selling a preview of its merchandise–a well edited stock of designer suitcases, neck pillows, cameras, alarm clocks, cosmetic bags and the like–before it closes on Dec. 24 to complete construction. It will reopen in March, making it the chain’s fourth freestanding location (others are in Los Angeles, New York City and San Francisco).
The store is “a commemorative to Pan Am Flight001, which was the first seamless flight around the world in 1942,” says Rose Loveras, director of branding and design. “It was the era when airline travel was glamorous … everybody did their hair and dressed up.”
But FLIGHT001 isn’t all nostalgia and snacks. Its products address just about every modern travel need. Here are our favorites:
For in-flight amusement: Travel Scrabble, with snap-in letter tiles that keep words in place during turbulence. $25.
For Fido: The Expand-a-Bowl, a compact, zippered pouch that unfolds into a full-sized dog bowl. $18.
For looking chic at customs: Lime-green, recycled leather passport covers by Undercover, featuring clear ID slots and snap closures. $28.
For under-eye baggage: Dr. Hauschka’s Jet Set beauty pack, including mini tubes of eye cream, plus facial toner and rosemary-scented leg and arm toner. $21.50.
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FLIGHT001 is located at 1133 N. State St., 312-944-0001, flight001.com.