Interactive News

The Future Of Email Is Mobile: Are You Ready?
Mobile open rates are rising faster than expected. If this trend continues, these rates will overtake opens on webmail and desktop email clients by the end of the year, or even as soon as this summer. Here’s what I see as the three big implications of the boom in mobile email: The explosion of devices presents senders with a design quandary. Exactly what creative should be sent to a given recipient? Should you send creative optimized for a mobile device? A careful review of which devices individuals are viewing your messages on will make the decision easier. For most email programs, there are two kinds of subscribers: a large group that views your emails only on one environment and a small group that views on multiple device types over a period of time. For the “single device” recipients, send creative optimized for the chosen environment.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/174283/the-future-of-email-is-mobile-are-you-ready.html

Skepticism surrounds Facebook’s ad model as IPO looms
No one knows the true value of Facebook, writes Elise Ackerman. An eMarketer study finds that almost half (47%) of marketers see no value in a Facebook like. But the upcoming initial public offering expected to command $86 billion-plus has industry analysts defending the social network, too. “Advertising is not always easy to measure. Facebook does not have a monopoly on this fact,” Buddy Media CEO Michael Lazerow writes, claiming that “shares” on Facebook are worth $2.10 in incremental sales. But Ackerman maintains that Facebook’s ad model is not disruptive but rather “a blast from the past.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/eliseackerman/2012/05/14/truth-lies-facebook-advertising/

Moms’ online shopping and social trends above average
Moms have become online-shopping mavens, according to a Nielsen study. Looking at their last 30 days of behavior, the study found that moms are 35% more likely to shop for clothes, 50% more likely to buy toys, 29% more likely to buy music, and 23% more likely to purchase e-books online. Their favorite social sites are Pinterest and Disney Online, and 50% said they did so through a mobile device, the study found.
http://www.clickz.com/clickz/news/2174264/moms-61-visit-pinterest

Media News

Dish Says It Will Drop ‘Mad Men’ Network in AMC Dispute
Dish Network Corp. (DISH), the second-largest U.S. satellite-TV provider, says it will drop AMC Networks Inc. (AMCX) channels including AMC, WE tv, IFC and Sundance Channel from all packages, citing poor viewership. Dish, based in Englewood, Colorado, will no longer carry the networks because AMC is demanding a “high renewal cost when compared to their low viewership,” the company said today in an e-mailed statement. AMC broadcasts TV shows including “Mad Men,” “The Walking Dead” and “Breaking Bad.” Dish subscribers can see AMC’s “very limited” programming through outlets including Amazon.com Inc., Apple Inc.’s iTunes and Netflix Inc. (NFLX), the satellite-television provider said in the statement.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-04/dish-to-drop-mad-men-network-citing-poor-viewership.html

‘Girls’ Is Surprisingly Male
Female viewers of HBO’s “Girls” might be surprised to learn they are in the minority. Four episodes in, the audience for the freshman dramedy is 60% male. Using a gross audience metric, the show is averaging 2.7 million male viewers an episode. That’s out of a total of 4.5 million, a number that combines viewing on the network; via DVRs and HBO on Demand; and on mobile platform HBO Go. Much-discussed “Girls” is about the lives and loves of four 20-something females making their way in New York. So, why such male interest?
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/174410/girls-is-surprisingly-male.html

Fox Wins Thursday May Sweeps Night, CBS Gets Closer
Closing in on the end of the season, the second week of the big May sweeps period gave Fox another Thursday night win. But second-place CBS got closer to the top spot versus the week before. All CBS shows gained versus the week before: “The Big Bang Theory” was up 12% to a Nielsen preliminary 4.6 rating/15 share among 18-49 viewers — the highest-rated Thursday show of the night; “Rules of Engagement” tacked on 8% to a 2.7/8; “Person of Interest” picked up one-tenth of a rating point to a 2.5/7; and “The Mentalist” rose 9% to a 2.4/7. All this pushed CBS up to a 2.8/8, from a 2.6/7 the week before.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/173989/fox-wins-thursday-may-sweeps-night-cbs-gets-close.html?edition=46498

The New York Times Expanding Street Style Coverage
MORE STREET STYLE: As if there weren’t enough photographers chasing fashionable people down the street to take their pictures — including Bill Cunningham — The New York Times is expanding its offering of street style and is launching a biweekly video series today. The aim is to feature a large cross section of individual style from all five boroughs. “I’ve been wanting to do this for about a year but didn’t have the resources,” said online fashion editor Simone Oliver. “We’re slowly beefing up our team, as in, now we have two people who are trying to do more all the time.”
http://www.wwd.com/media-news/fashion-memopad/more-street-style-5897802

Retail News

Fashion’s Night Out Spreads to More Cities
Fashion’s Night Out is spreading out. The annual shopping event will take place in 19 markets worldwide, and in multiple cities in countries such as Greece, Brazil and Italy. According to a statement from British Vogue, several markets made the decision to host Fashion’s Night Out in two or more cities. In Italy, there will be events in Milan, Rome, and Florence; Germany will host nights in Berlin and in Düsseldorf; and in Russia, Moscow and St Petersburg will have their own nights. Mexico, Brazil and Greece will also host nights in multiple cities. The U.S. has already announced it will be holding Fashion’s Night Out on September 6.
http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/fashion-night-spreads-to-more-cities-5902520

Aerie uses SMS list for Facebook promotion
American Eagle Outfitters’ aerie brand celebrated the occasion of its millionth Facebook fan with a free-shipping offer promoted via an SMS mobile campaign and Facebook. The weekend-long push “demonstrates why every marketer needs to be collecting SMS opt-ins. … It is like having your own TV or radio station with all of your customers tuned in, all the time,” Sumotext CEO Tim Miller said.
http://www.mobilecommercedaily.com/2012/05/15/aerie-rewards-facebook-fans-via-time-sensitive-sms-message

U.S. chains shift focus from bricks to clicks
The biggest U.S. chain retailers ended last year with 2.2% fewer stores as more consumers shifted their shopping online, and the growth of e-commerce has retailers including Lowe’s shifting capital investment to their web efforts. “The smart chains are the ones looking to grow online because there aren’t that many places left in the U.S. that warrant the cost of building another big-box store,” said industry consultant Will Ander.
http://www.internetretailer.com/2012/05/08/fewer-stores-more-digital-shoppers

Luxury fashion brands add footwear lines
High-end shoe brands will get more competition this fall from fashion designers adding footwear lines as a way to boost sales in a still-tight economy. Brands including Rodarte, Roland Mouret, Hervé Léger by Max Azria plan to step into shoes. “[Adding footwear] is a really great way for [a fashion brand] to round out its portfolio,” said Milton Pedraza, CEO of The Luxury Institute.
http://www.wwd.com/footwear-news/markets/luxury-apparel-brands-take-on-footwear-5894618

Travel News
Orbitz The travel site’s new anthem urges you to actually take those vacation days already
Don’t worry gents: Orbitz thinks you look great in that skirt. Along with its website redesign, the online travel agency is out with a new campaign encouraging all Americans to “Take vacation back”—by actually using all those days off you’ve earned grinding away at your jobs with single-minded puritanical devotion. Created by BBDO New York, the central spot marks a new positioning for the brand, shedding the old, fast-talking, slapstick sales pitch pushing its intimate knowledge of hotels for an rallying anthem urging more time in the sun—by the pool, on the golf course—or shacked up with your sweetheart in your luxe suite.
http://www.adweek.com/news/advertising-branding/ad-day-orbitz-140118

Cruise industry will rebound by 2013, UBS predicts
The most recent outlook report for the cruise industry from UBS forecasts a recovery by 2013, as the industry continues to regain momentum since the Costa Concordia disaster in January. Referring to Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruise Line, respectively, analyst Robin Farley wrote, “We believe that each of CCL and RCCL could recover at least half of net yield growth lost in 2012 due to the impact of the Concordia, on top of 2% organic growth for the year as the global economy continues to recover…. We believe 2013 will be a year of yield recovery for pricing momentum lost during 2012.”
http://www.travelpulse.com/ubs-forecasts-cruise-industry-recovery-by-2013.html

Theme cruises exist for nearly all interests
As the popularity of theme cruises continues to grow, suppliers have begun rolling out cruises designed around some of the more specialized interests out there, this feature says. “The list of possible themes runs the gamut of human interest: politics, music, lifestyle, cuisine, wine appreciation or Alcoholics Anonymous,” said CruiseMates.com Editor Paul Motter.
http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2012/05/14/three-great-theme-cruises/

Interactive News

Once Shunning Ad Promos, Google Now Flaunts Itself
After years of touting the superiority of online advertising, Google Inc. is taking a decidedly different approach to promote itself in areas where its rivals dominate. After years of touting the superiority of online advertising, Google is spending more of its own cash to promote itself through traditional ads. Amir Efrati has details on The News Hub. Photo: Reuters The Internet company is spending big sums on TV, magazine and newspaper ads to promote new services, including its Google+ social network and Chrome Web browser. Google’s ad-spending as a percentage of revenue is now almost on par with rival technology companies such as Apple Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Yahoo Inc., according to new data.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304177104577303581175364006.html?mod=WSJ_Advertising_MIDDLETopNews

Facebook’s Sequential Revenue Decline — Or, Taking The Sense Out Of Seasonality
Much has been said about the amendment to Facebook’s S1 this week, but, for the Social Media Insider, it’s still not enough.
Something has been troubling me about the newly revealed numbers in the S1, and it has a name: seasonality. That means investors should expect ad revenue to go down between the Christmas-crazed fourth quarter every year and the first quarter. As you may have read, Facebook just posted a year-on-year quarterly increase in ad revenue of 37% – from $637 million to $872 million – but, as the amendment says, “advertising revenue for the first quarter of 2011 and 2012 declined 3% and 8% compared to the fourth quarters of 2010 and 2011.”
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/173351/facebooks-sequential-revenue-decline-or-takin.html

Punch Media Wants to Redefine Tablet Advertising
There have been a few stabs at iPad-native newspapers and magazines, with limited success, but the just-released Punch is taking a different tack with its new app. It’s more of a collection of apps-within-app, wherein each one—represented as an item on the Punch bookshelf—opens into an interactive editorial feature. Hence the company’s motto: “You don’t read Punch, you play Punch.”“We wanted to create something on the tablet that was topical and relevant to the culture but could only exist on the tablet,” said Punch CEO and co-founder David Bennahum. “Creatively, the experience really couldn’t work on the Web, couldn’t work in print and couldn’t work on television.”
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/punch-media-wants-redefine-tablet-advertising-139864

YouTube mixes up programming pot to woo advertisers
YouTube has added to its programming lineup a series by Hollywood director Jon Avnet, exclusive U.S. Olympic Committee content and a Picture Show channel from the film-festival folks at Tribeca Enterprises, among many others. The Google-owned enterprise is expected to be adding as many as 25 hours of new programming a week by July in order to steal viewers from television and attract the advertising dollars that go with them. The spray-and-pray strategy recognizes that some series will fail and some will succeed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/03/business/media/youtube-channels-court-advertisers-at-newfronts.html?_r=1

Media News

TV Ad Spending Appears To Pass $70 Billion For The First Time, Sports Spending Also Growing
Total U.S. TV ad spending appears to have crossed the $70 billion mark for the first time in 2011, a year without a Presidential election or Olympics. Sports advertising also posted growth over a similar stretch, though surprisingly at about the same rate as the total market. Sports spending (for network and cable), covering the 12-month period from October 2010 through September 2011, grew at a 6% rate to $10.9 billion. That was slightly higher than the 5% bump for the full market to $71.8 billion for 2011, according to Nielsen figures. Nielsen numbers only go back five years, but 2011 looks to be the first time the market passed $70 billion.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/173472/tv-ad-spending-appears-to-pass-70-billion-for-the.html

Readership of digital edition of newspapers is on the rise
Newspaper readership trended up in the past six months, according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations. Digital-edition readership nearly doubled year over year, from 8.7% to 14.2%. The Wall Street Journal remains the most popular newspaper in the U.S., and USA TODAY held second place, though dipping slightly in circulation. The ABC warned that it is increasingly difficult to sort out readership stats, with more newspapers, such as The New York Times, implementing a pay model and subscriptions spread out across mobile devices.
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/01/newspaper-circulations-hold-steady-aided-by-digital-subscriptions/

How magazines are merging e-commerce and editorial
Magazines ranging from weekly Time Out New York to glossy fashion monthly Elle have launched new shopping features from their websites and mobile applications in an effort to boost revenue as traditional print advertising declines.
http://mashable.com/2012/04/29/magazines-ecommerce/

Hispanics are heavy users of mobile devices, survey finds
A little more than half of Hispanics in a Zpryme survey owned a smartphone and nearly 1 in 5 had a tablet device, helping to make them more likely to go online via mobile than whites. Zpryme also estimates that Hispanics will spend more than half a billion dollars on mobile applications this year.
http://www.emarketer.com/Article.aspx?R=1009010

Retail News

May Is For Miracles: Chico’s FAS, Inc. Is Committed to Making a Difference in Children’s Lives – One Miracle at a Time
To Boost Awareness Retailer Introduces a Unique, Interactive Social Marketing Campaign: Send a Smile Chico’s FAS, Inc., and its family of brands – Chico’s, White House Black Market, Soma Intimates, and Boston Proper – announce the launch of its May Is For Miracles campaign, a multi-faceted program to raise funds for the 170 Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals® (CMNH) across North America. In 2011, Chico’s FAS, Inc. raised over $500,000 for CMNH, and this year, the Company hopes to dramatically increase its contribution. Beginning May 1st, customers can donate at any of the retailer’s 1250+ boutiques nationwide, outlets and online, as well as through a unique online social marketing campaign, Send a Smile. The goal of Send a Smile is to raise funds and put a smile on the faces of thousands of children. In partnership with ePrize, the leader in engagement campaigns across mobile, social and websites, users can create their own card through a customized, mobile-enabled microsite and each brand’s Facebook page. Participants can “share” the cards they create via Facebook, Twitter, email, and Pinterest. The card will then be printed and delivered to a child being treated in the customer’s local Children’s Miracle Network Hospital. It’s completely free to create a card and Chico’s FAS, Inc. will donate $1 for every card created, up to $50,000. www.chicos.com/sendasmile
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/may-is-for-miracles-chicos-fas-inc-is-committed-to-making-a-difference-in-childrens-lives—one-miracle-at-a-time-149653275.html

New Balance Signs Hanley Ramirez
All-Star Hanley Ramirez has been signed to a multiyear endorsement contract with New Balance. The Boston-based footwear and apparel brand will become Ramirez’s official on-field footwear and off-field footwear and athletic provider. To launch the partnership, Ramirez, a third baseman for the Miami Marlins, will auction off a pair of his custom New Balance cleats worn on opening day, with all proceeds benefiting The Marlins Foundation, an organization established to improve the lives of youth through education, the arts and baseball, with a special focus on children with special needs.
http://www.wwd.com/fashion-news/fashion-scoops/batter-up-5879103?src=nl%2FmornReport%2F20120427

Report: Affluent men spend more than women online
There are about 19 million wealthy men online, and most of them are shopping, spending more than their female counterparts, according to iProspect. About half spend more than $4,000 shopping online each year, a trend fueled largely by a preference for both researching and buying clothing and accessories.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/47263732

Travel News
Cruise-line execs point out pent-up demand in market
A panel of cruise-line executives at Cruise Lines International Association’s Cruise3sixty conference remarked that the economy has generated plenty of pent-up demand that agents can capitalize on. The Jan. 13 grounding of the Costa Concordia may have affected demand some, “but the market returned quickly,” said Rick Sasso, president of MSC Cruises USA. “People saw it as an isolated incident — it didn’t change the propensity to cruise. As long as we all work together, we can tap into that pent-up demand,” said Dan Hanrahan, president and CEO of Celebrity Cruises.
http://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise-Travel/Tap-into-pent-up-demand-Cruise3sixty-panelists-tell-agents/

Cruise execs reaffirm dependency on travel agents
Travel agents remain an important part of cruise lines’ marketing and sales efforts, a number of cruise line executives said during the cruise3sixty conference in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. “You are the one who makes it all work. … I couldn’t imagine what it would be like if we all did direct business and we didn’t have our travel agent support,” said Rick Sasso, president and CEO of MSC Cruises.
http://www.travelmarketreport.com/retail?articleID=7200&LP=1

Interactive News

Google, King of Clicks and Data, Embraces TV’s Ad Metric
No one has benefited more from the web’s obsession with clicks than Google. But it made two changes this week that de-emphasize the click and will make buying display a lot more like buying TV. First, Google created a gross ratings point equivalent, which would allow advertisers to buy audiences on Google as they do TV. Second, the company announced a new standard for the “impression,” where an ad must be at least 50% visible for a second to count. We’ll let Google VP Neal Mohan explain in this snippet of his interview Wednesday with Ad Age Digital Editor Michael Learmonth.
http://adage.com/article/special-report-digital-conference/google-embraces-tv-s-ad-metric/234267/

Facebook Beefs Up Ad Analytics
Advertisers are spending a lot more money on Facebook, and naturally they want to know more about how their paid campaigns are performing. So Facebook is doing something about it. The company’s product manager for Pages Insights David Baser said that over the next couple weeks Facebook will roll out more granular metrics intended to provide a more detailed view at what sort of actions resulted from specific Facebook ads. Per Baser, the actions brands will be able to measured “could be anything [such as] liking, commenting or sharing a page post, claiming an offer, or, instead of just installing an app, actually using an app or doing things within an app.” Previously advertisers had only been able to measure page links or app installs. The new measurement system will be available for all Facebook ads but is designed for ads that direct on-site actions, said Baser.
http://www.adweek.com/news/technology/facebook-beefs-ad-analytics-139677

Hulu’s First Upfront Attracts Attention, Attendees, Hopefully TV Dollars
As Hulu’s programming slate deepens, its advertising model is also getting more intricate. Like AOL, the company is offering guarantees based on Nielsen’s new OCR (online campaign ratings) system, which purports to group digital television viewers into GRP-like collections of unique ad-watching users. The team-up makes sense, perhaps more so for Hulu than for AOL, since Hulu offers a hybrid product that is so close to traditional TV: part library content, part day-after streaming of high-profile broadcast shows—some of which fare much better on the streaming service.”We want to be a catalyst to move more marketing dollars online,” Hulu’s svp of advertising, Jean-Paul “JP” Colaco, told Adweek.
http://www.adweek.com/news/television/hulus-first-upfront-attracts-attention-attendees-hopefully-tv-dollars-139707

Online video ads hit half of all Americans in March
Americans racked up 8.3 billion online video ad views in March, which broke standing records, per comScore. Hulu led the pack with 1.7 billion, followed by YouTube (1.2 billion) and the BrightRoll network (953 million). Moreover, video ads reached more than half (51%) of the total population in the U.S.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/172956/americans-watch-billions-of-video-ads-monthly.html

Media News

Condé Nast Hires Film, TV Veterans
Magazine publisher Condé Nast named two veterans of the film and television world to help further an ascent push into Hollywood. Jeremy Steckler, most recently an executive vice president of production at Imagine Entertainment, was appointed to buy and develop film properties at the company’s recently created Condé Nast Entertainment Group. Michael Klein, who was a programming and development executive at Sundance Channel, will oversee “alternative programming,” which includes reality shows. The two will work for Dawn Ostroff, a former president of the CW Network who was hired last fall to head up the new unit.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303624004577338152889470114.html?KEYWORDS=conde+nast

Food Network’s New Side Dish
The Food Network has given millions of viewers tips about how to make dinner. Now it hopes to help diners who would rather eat out. Scripps Networks Interactive Inc., which owns the Food Network and other lifestyle channels, is offering a service that lets people make restaurant reservations online. The move pits the company against OpenTable Inc. which has offered a similar service since 1998. Called CityEats, Scripps’s reservation website prominently displays the Food Network logo. It is already operating on a small scale in Washington and Philadelphia. So far, the service has signed up only about 130 restaurants, but Scripps executives are optimistic about its growth, and said it would be extended to several other markets, including New York and San Francisco, by the end of the year. Scripps wouldn’t disclose how much it is spending on the project, except to say that it is part of a $30 million investment the company is making this year to develop international, interactive and digital businesses.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303624004577342181531532746.html

London Olympics could mean the summer of social media
The London Olympics will be the biggest test of social media in that event context, representing a potential shift from paid to shared media for many brands. Samsung, Coca-Cola, Procter & Gamble and others have already started with elaborate social media plays, taking advantage of how marketing can be extended beyond the two weeks of the Games themselves.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/18/olympics-facebook-idUSL2E8FICUL20120418

Who’s Number One? And How Long Will It Matter?
The 16-year winning streak of NBC’s “Today” as the top-rated network morning show hasn’t ended yet. Katie Couric’s week-long turn on “Good Morning America” helped ABC get the closest it has been to “Today” in seven years — within 200,000 viewers. (“Today” had 5.1 million viewers, “GMA” 4.9 million.)As we come close to the end of the season, we wonder if other reigning network shows will get a close scare, say Fox’s longtime prime-time champ “American Idol.” NBC’s “The Voice” has been making big inroads on “Idol,” the original singing competition show and still the big prime-time rating leader. For their performance shows, through April 8, “The Voice” was slightly ahead of “Idol” among the key 18-49 crowd: a 6.8 average rating versus a 6.5. “Idol,” however, is still ahead in total viewers — 20.2 million to 17.5 million.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/172445/whos-number-one-and-how-long-will-it-matter.html

Retail News

Dakota Johnson’s Uniqlo Turn
To boost its profile in the U.S. ahead of an ambitious retail expansion, Uniqlo is launching an ad campaign with actress Dakota Johnson. The latest in a series of celebrity ad campaigns that previously featured Charlize Theron, Orlando Bloom and Susan Sarandon, Johnson’s promotion spotlights Uniqlo’s easy leggings pants, which is one of the company’s core products along with denim and polo shirts. “People in the United States don’t know about those products,” said Shin Odake, chief executive officer of Uniqlo U.S. in New York. “So we need to introduce those products.”
http://www.wwd.com/media-news/advertising/dakota-johnsons-uniqlo-turn-5868282

Rue La La’s iPhone Moments
The smartphone is getting a greater share of wallet in the mobile shopping arena, according to data from Rue La La.
Steven C. Davis, president of flash-sale site Rue La La, said, “We have been heavily investing in mobile now for two years, investing in the mobile shopping experience. Today, over 75 percent of Rue La La’s customers shop Rue La La on a mobile phone. Two years ago, that was less than 10 percent.” The Rue La La customer shops via other channels as well, such as on a tablet or online via a laptop or desktop. Rue La La refers to the multi-channel approach as shopping across “three screens.”
http://www.wwd.com/retail-news/direct-internet-catalogue/rue-la-las-iphone-moments-5870699?module=hp-topstories

How millennials will fuel retail’s future
The millennial generation operates in an omni-channel world that melds the latest in digital options with tried-and-true traditions, and retailers ignore the demands of the group at their own peril, said speakers at a global retailing conference last week. “This will be the single-biggest purchasing group, bigger than the baby boomers.…We must be the place of choice for this consumer,” said Macy’s chairman and CEO Terry Lundgren.
http://www.wwd.com/retail-news/trends-analysis/gen-y-and-the-omni-channel-world-5865846

Travel News

Business for travel agencies is on the rebound
Travel agents are once again reasserting their role in the industry as the increasing complexity of online travel booking drives more consumers to reliable experts, this feature says. Travel agents have helped the recovery along by adapting to the changing times, reemerging as tech-savvy consultants who seek to wow clients with specialized services.
http://travel.nytimes.com/2012/04/22/travel/are-travel-agents-back.html

European tourist spots are freshening up
A number of popular tourist attractions across Europe are undergoing renovations to give visitors a fresh view of old, much-beloved sights. Rome’s Colosseum is receiving new lighting and guided tours are being expanded to previously restricted areas. Art lovers will be able to enjoy the pre-Classical Greek section at the Louvre in France when it reopens late this year, and Kensington Palace in the U.K. is gearing up for a grand reopening after a two-year renovation, opening a new permanent exhibit on the life of Queen Victoria.
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/04/13/TR6J1NURFP.DTL