Hope you didn't make the big mistake of taking Michael Bloomberg's investment advice yesterday! The mayor singled out three companies, telling reporters that General Electric, Macy's and Saks were all "irreplaceable brands" and were undervalued in the current market. But with the exception of GE, which is about where it started, both Macy's and Saks are down big today. Guess a career as an investment advisor probably isn't in the cards if his re-election campaign doesn't pan out this November.

Macy's announced plans earlier this week to lay off 7,000 workers as well as cut back on employees' retirement benefits. Last month, the struggling retail chain said it would shutter 11 of its 850 stores in the U.S. But the cutbacks don't appear to be impinging on company chief Terry Lundgren's jet-set lifestyle. Although Lundgren took a $2.5 million pay cut last year, the board helped make up for it by granting him a larger chunk of stock. (He earned a total of $14.4 million in compensation.) And despite Lundgren's claim to the press this week that "this is a time when nothing should be considered a sacred cow," his perks continue to cost the company a small fortune.

• Fashion Week will move from Bryant Park to Lincoln Center beginning next year. [NYT]
• Former frenemies Rachel Zoe and Nicole Richie kissed and made up at a party in LA last week. The hugfest went down in front of a cameraman filming footage for Zoe's reality show, though, so a bit of skepticism may be in order. [WWD]
• Macy's is eliminating 7,000 jobs. [BN]
• Jonathan Adler is launching a Barbie collection in 2009; it will include "designer pottery, pillows, decorative objects." [SW]
• Douglas Hannant tells the WSJ he's traveling the country and hosting events to sell his label. He also shaves five years off his age, but who's counting? [WSJ]
• Last week, Karl Lagerfeld said the recession wasn't having much of an impact on him; today he says he's fully embraced the "New Modesty." As for why he eliminated the VIP section at the Chanel show last week, it was to "create equality in an unfair world." Thanks for doing your part, Karl. [WSJ]
• The hot, new trend from Stockholm Fashion Week? Shaved heads! [Pipeline]

• Can Michelle Obama single-handedly save America's fashion industry? Here's hoping! [NYT]
• Following the horrific holiday season, Macy's says it plans to close 11 stores in nine states. [AP]
• Communist chic is in. And just in time for the collapse of the capitalist system, too! [NYT]
• William Rast, the brand backed by Justin Timberlake, will make its Bryant Park debut next month. JT will not be performing, though. [WWD]
• Peter Som and backer Creative Design Studios have parted ways. Because of the split (and the economy), a Som show during Fashion Week is not in the cards. [WWD]
• Eight designers you need to know in 2009. [Refinery29]
• Obedient Sons & Daughters is closing its doors. [Style.com]
• New York magazine's fashion-centric biannual spinoff title, New York Look, has been discontinued. [WWD]

So yes, today is Black Friday, the day when big stores roll out big, one-day-only bargains in the hopes of setting a high sales bar for the all-important Holiday Season (Christmas! And, to a much lesser extent, Chanukkah!) Good savings are especially urgent this year, with the economy in the crapper and everyone needing to buy things for as cheap as possible (just short of not buying it at all. That would be ludicrous!) Every year, people line up super, super early in the morning. And in some cases, store employees get trampled to death when the doors open and crazed shoppers try to push their way in. (Un)Fortunately there is no photo documentation of that particular melee, but Getty managed to snap some shots at Macy's in New York City and at a Best Buy electronics store in Los Angeles this morning and the madness is palpable. Click after the jump for a gallery.

Rolling Stone, America's most frustrating magazine (yay, Matt Taibbi; boo, excruciating music coverage) has been having some trouble selling ads lately. So to help revitalize its "iconic and revolutionary brand," the magazine has slapped some of its classic covers on t-shirts. They're for sale at Macy's for $36 each. Eh, not really worth it. Oh, wait: each shirt comes with a free subscription to Rolling Stone. Eh, still. Better idea: make the magazine better so it sells. "The new collection of Rolling Stone tees appeals to today's cross-channel lifestyle, bringing together the influences of fashion, music, celebrity and entertainment," says a Macy's exec. "Macy's is honored to be exclusively bringing back these covers in a new, wearable way." OH NOW I GET IT. [via Ad Age]

Macy's is closing nine stores in six Midwestern states, the department store giant said today. Don't worry, the legendary flagship Manhattan store and the crowds it draws will continue to plague every New Yorker trying to traverse Herald Square during the holidays. Or rush hour. Or lunchtime. Or in the rain. Or when cabs change shifts. Any time at all, really. [WSJ]

Eavesdropping on the gays is the surest way to find out what products and people are hot and what are not. This summer, Rod Townsend will record the gays in and around their natural environment of Fire Island and report back. All dialogue 100% verbatim.

The other day, we learned that "flashing and groping have long been problems in New York." You don't say! Of the 556 arrests for public lewdness in 2006, there were 29 made on the subway as part of a sting operation called Operation Exposure. (Hee!) But perhaps cops should consider expanding it to the city's mid-range department stores.