Tell a STORY and Drink Some Wine

Macy's retailt stores return with a fresh, new concept called STORY. While the rainbow colors seem perfect for Pride, each of the colors sticks to a color scheme and worked well with my ADHD.

Last May, Macy's acquired STORY, which is a concept store based in Manhattan's Chelsea neoghborhood. The retail model will change its theme throughout the year, every four to eight weeks.

The bright idea certainly has perfect timing this month for the spring and the boutiques average about 1,500 square feet with the Manhattan flagship store about five times that size.

Crayola will run workshops there and MAC Cosmetics is a key vendor to encourage traffic in this area of Macy's.

I recently took a road trip out to Macy's in Orland Square to explore their bargain section and found some great deals. Shoppers have to dig a bit in the Last Call area, but it's certainly worth it!

Somm Madness 2019 sold out this year on the afternoon of April 14 and was held at Builders BLDG attached to Prime & Provisions. The place was packed with wine selections with a wide range of quality and veritals. Blackbird Vineyards took me back to my bartending at the restaurant Carnivale days with it's high end price and memorable taste.

There were fun opportunities to play games, have your face painted or take home wine accesssories at the various vendor tables.

The food selection to accompany the samplings were top notch with the truffle cream sauce gnocchi from Siena Tavern being simply outstanding.

After the 4 p.m. Tailgate Tasting, the 6 p.m. Somm Madness Tournament began with the champion taking home $10,000.

The DineAmic Group created an event that not only had an interesting layout to it, but also made room for ticket buyers to explore a mutlitude of wine selections within the floors and rooms.

Look for information about future endeavors from the group at SommMadness.com.