Bloomingdale's Cologne "Pre-Sale"

"Pre-Selling's" Many Guises

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet."

--Shakespeare

Anticipation, anticipation
Is makin' me late
Is keepin' me waitin'

--lyrics, "Anticipation" (Carly Simon)

There is a convention in real estate to whet prospective Buyers' appetites by doing what's called "pre-list marketing."

While the owner is typically doing any last minute repairs, finalizing the home's staging, etc., their Realtor is (or should be) networking the home to colleagues and the general public to make them aware that the home will be on the market soon.

So I had to chuckle (to myself) as a Bloomingdale's sales rep approached me today to let me know that the store was "pre-selling" a hot, new cologne that wasn't set to debut until later this month.

I guess it comes down to how you define "pre-selling" and "debut" . . . .

A Rose By Any Other Name??

Real Estate Names With -- and Without -- Cachet

Where would you rather pop for a $2 million home: a town named "Seabreeze" -- or one named "Lump?"

Or ponder this one:

Which list of city names, "A" or "B," is more suggestive of affluence and status?

List A: Sag Harbor; Huntington Beach; Boca Raton

List B: Sack; Pile; Mound

A Boy Named "Sue"

OK, so I'm exaggerating (a little).

But if you're a non-Minnesotan reading this blog, "Mound" happens to be a real Twin Cities suburb.

One that happens to have miles of shoreline on the west side of the Twin Cities' biggest and swankiest lake, Lake Minnetonka, and is home to dozens of upper bracket (as well as more modest) homes.

So here's a marketing freebie for the next Mound City Council meeting: how about "Tonka Shores?"

P.S.: my native New Yorker wife reminds me that not everyone's association with "Mound" is negative; hers is with "Mounds" candy bars.