Just Fancy Footwork

Have you noticed how socially conscious retailing has become? No longer is it enough to just open for business and sell, sell, sell, especially if you’re an out-of-towner and want the hometown welcome. Kenneth Cole, a New Yorker, whose new shoe store is at Sunset Plaza, has found a way.

Through Nov. 12, to coincide with an in-store exhibition of shoes that have known famous feet--from Fred Astaire to Marlene Dietrich--a still-to-be-determined percentage of sales will benefit the American Foundation for AIDS Research. (Cole sits on the board.)

After that , Cole promises to donate a still-undecided percentage of sales to AmFAR on the birthdays of Richard Gere (Aug. 31) and Rosie O’Donnell (March 21).

Why Gere and O’Donnell? Because they volunteered their footprints for the cement lining the store’s entrance. Any other actor types who do the same will have their birthdays remembered the same way, but only when you buy a pair of shoes.

Say Cheese

Here’s a high-concept ice-breaker. Right in the midst of the chi-chi opening night action at Giorgio Beverly Hills’ “Wings of Change” photo exhibit to benefit Los Angeles Cities in Schools on Nov. 3, guests can have their pictures taken by Tina Barney (whose photos appear in the Smithsonian, the Museum of Modern Art and other institutions), George Lange (Vanity Fair, etc.) or Dan Winters (Rolling Stone, etc.).

You choose. Of course, you’ll have to pay--$1,500--and be sure to wipe off the pizza crumbs first.

Be Nice to Car Dealers

A bit of advice from Kramer Volvo saleswoman Jennifer Woolf’s self-published women’s car-buying guide touched us:

Next time you find yourself shopping for your dream van, be polite, she urges. Many car dealers are college educated, would rather be doing something else for a living and won’t make much money off your sale anyway.

“Car salespeople are human beings and respond, like most people, instinctively. . . . By being polite, yet insistent, you will make the salesperson feel good about selling you a car and thus more likely to give you the lowest price possible. If you’re rude and abusive, the salesperson may decide that your business is just not worthwhile.”