Actually, one of the first to use this cluster approach was Sir Terence Conran. He opened Bluebird in 1998 in the picturesquely named World's End, once a very desolate Chelsea neighborhood. The Conran's design shop off the courtyard sells, among other things, chef's equipment. And a steady stream of traffic heads to the restaurant upstairs, with its blue-lit, futuristic interior. Futuristic, yes, but personal.
Mass marketing is nowhere in sight.
Perhaps that's the point. Penelope Rowlands has written for Vogue and the New York Times Magazine. Her first book, Weekend Houses , was published by Chronicle Books last fall.