Chief Marketer Staff

• Agencies

  Brookstone Narrows Losses

  Brookstone Inc. posted a net loss of $11.2 million for the first quarter, compared to a net loss of $11.3 million in the prior-year period.

• Digital

  Drugstore.com Cuts Losses in Quarter

  Drugstore.com Inc., reported a net loss of $3.8 million for the first quarter, compared to a net loss of $5.3 million last year.

• Harvey Mackay Back in Envelope Business

  Seven years after he sold a majority share in his namesake envelope company, Harvey Mackay has returned as a 50% partner, according to the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

• Short Cuts

  MSC Industrial Direct Co. Inc., an industrial supplies direct marketer, has leased the 16,400-square-foot facility at 13599 Merriman Road in Livonia, MI.

• MySpace, Mark Burnett Offer $1 Million to Political Contestants

  Social networking site MySpace.com is teaming up with TV producer Mark Burnett to launch a new reality show in search of an independent political candidate.

• Drug-Free Campaign Brings Parents Online

  Parents get their own social networking site this summer as part of a new push from the Partnership for a Drug-Free America.

• Disney Marketing Exec Joins Stardoll

  Former Disney executive Matthew Palmer has joined Stardoll, an online entertainment destination for girls, as executive vice president and general manager.

• Agencies

  Kid Chic: KooKoo Bear Targets High-End Children’s Furniture Market

  All moms want their children’s bedrooms to be special. For some, that means taking the tykes to Target and letting them choose between the Spider-Man, Dora or SpongeBob sheets.

  But for style conscious moms, that means outfitting the room in fully coordinated high-end furniture, bedding and accessories. These upscale mamas, who might not blink at spending $30,000 to deck the halls, are the target audience for Roswell, GA-based KooKoo Bear Kids.

• Agencies

  Forget About Money – Kids Change Everything

  Sure, there are oodles of events that alter your habits as a consumer. Graduating college, getting married, buying a pet, moving to a new city.

  But the big honkin’ mother of all lifechanging events is, well, becoming a mother. Or a father, of course.

• Agencies

  Toddlin’ Online: A Real Kid Surfs in Real Time

  Kid-focused television networks like Noggin, Playhouse Disney and PBS offer online presences designed to engage, educate and entertain their preschool audiences.

  How well do they do their jobs? I enlisted my son Jacob, age 4, to put the sites to the test. One recent afternoon we sat down at my laptop, to see what piqued his interest.