The Daily Telegraph reports that nine out of every ten pints drawn in U.K. pubs fall short of a pint.

So, who would you rather be over the next decade? (a) Ralph Lauren; (b) Giorgio Armani; (c)Donna Karan; or (d)  Zara, H&M, or Uniqlo [pick one]. The answer is obvious: (d).  This, from a report in Women’s Wear Daily: “Despite surviving the economic downturn better than luxury brands, fast-fashion retailers aren’t resting on their laurels. As customers’ spending patterns become unpredictable despite the receding recession, fast-fashion giants are turning to concepts that until now had been untapped or were considered marginal to their main businesses….Fast Retailing’s flagship chain Uniqlo — with the stated goal of becoming the world’s largest fashion retailer by 2020 — is both shifting upscale with its premium Jil Sander-designed collection, +J, and expanding into thrifty apparel retailing with the low-cost g.u. chain in Japan. H&M has expanded its successful one-off designer collaborations beyond apparel, with a footwear collection by red-carpet shoemaker Jimmy Choo and a lingerie collaboration with Parisian designer Sonia Rykiel. And Inditex is finally catching up with competitors by bringing its main label, Zara, online for the first time.  The decision to make Zara, which accounted for 64.2 percent of Inditex’ sales in the first half, available online has been praised as a logical step for the Spanish company, given the rising competition from pure-play European clothing e-tailers like Asos as well as the growing online operations of rivals such as H&M and New Look…. ‘Customers are shopping around more and looking for bargains before making a purchase, but they still expect style as well as value for money when buying fashion,’ said Alyson Walsh, fashion and retail lecturer at the University for the Creative Arts in the U.K.”

There are methodical shoppers, then there is Lidia Pringle, who has now looked at 298 houses in Marin County without buying one, a woman who’s never met a listing she didn’t like.