Martha Stewart Displays Go Traditional at Macy's

If you were looking forward to the mock-houses that were supposed to display the Martha Stewart collection at Macy's, sorry. They've been canceled. But the department store chain will still carry the extensive full line of products. They will just be housed in more conventional displays.

Reuters reported last week that the decline in housing sales led to the change of plans for Macy's. KB Homes was to construct the 3,000 square foot mock-up homes in the stores . . . please close your jaw, I did say 3,000 square feet.

You might remember that KB Homes has partnered with Martha Stewart on a new line of homes. Those are still proceeding as planned -- almost a dozen communities around the country are in the works.

Martha Breaks Ground on New Homes

KB Home broke ground earlier this week on the new 92-home Martha Stewart-inspired Terrane Vista development in Los Angeles County, California. Surprisingly, they hope to have the project completed by early summer. This is the first KB Home/Martha Stewart project in that area, although they are going to sprout up nationwide.

The development will feature one- and two-story homes that have rich, stone-decorated fronts and kitchen islands and prices will start in the low-$300,000 range. Compared to prices here in New Jersey, that's quite the bargain!

"It's unique," said Lancaster Mayor Henry Hearns, who attended the groundbreaking ceremony. "These aren't the kind of homes that we normally see out here." Hearns said he views the development as a potential boon for a neighborhood where business growth has been conspicuously absent. "This is going to help us economically," Hearns said. "It's going to attract retail business, it's going to attract restaurants and it's going to attract jobs. They're going to come here because of this type of community."

City Manager Bob Lasala said, "KB and Martha Stewart (Living Omnimedia) have made a good business decision. They're the ones who evaluated this and said this makes sense, and that speaks well of this city."