He opened his shop on Christopher Street, a crime-ridden area with cheap rent.

FORBES: Spy store vs. spy store

This was flooded out, so they upped sticks and moved to the mid-Wales town of Machynlleth where they opened a shop on the main street.

BBC: Laura Ashley shop

There is simply too much "negativism" here, says Ms. Barry, co-owner of the Wharf Shop, a toy and gift store on Main Street.

WSJ: Looking for a Happy Place? Maybe Skip Sag Harbor

To date, his highest profile work has been a collaboration with handbag designer Anya Hindmarch, and spray painting the entire alphabet on the shop shutters of a street in Spitalfields in his signature ice-cream palette.

BBC: A painting for the President

The current number one rental on the UK YouTube service is the movie "Exit Through the Gift Shop" by well-known street artist Banksy.

BBC: YouTube to offer film rentals in the UK

Yang Yeng, a shopkeeper selling batteries, candles, and flashlights on the street in front of his still darkened shop in the East Village, said his T-Mobile phone was useless in the area.

WSJ: Outages Expose Wireless Carriers' Backup Plans

British billionaire Laurence Graff, the man jewelry business insiders call the new Harry Winston, swears this story is true: A woman and her husband walk into Graff's shop on London's swanky New Bond Street and ask to see the stunning diamond-and-ruby necklace in the window.

FORBES: King of Bling

The deal calls for expanded production of McQueen's womenswsear and menswear lines by Gucci's manufacturers, a rollout of McQueen boutiques in London (a flagship store on Bond Street), Tokyo and New York (near Stella McCartney's shop by the semi-gentrified meatpacking district) and for Alexander McQueen ready-to-wear collections to be shown in Paris.

FORBES: Fashion's Hard Case

Lodged in a subterranean shop on South William Street, it focuses on heritage Irish styles that are tweaked to ensure up-to-date functionality.

BBC: A wave of independent shops in Dublin