Consumer advocates praised the Obama administration's proposal to create a Consumer Financial Protection Agency in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee yesterday, Brady Dennis reports, countering a chorus of negative comments from financial and business interests the day before. "It targets the most significant underlying causes of the massive regulatory failures that have harmed millions of Americans," according to Travis Plunkett, legislative director for the Consumer Federation of America. Critics of the plan say it will add another layer of government regulation, increase costs, stifle innovation and curtail choices for consumers. But Ed Mierzwinski, consumer program director …

15th Avenue Coffee and Tea -- the first of at least three remodeled Seattle-area stores that will bear the names of their neighborhoods rather than that of mother ship Starbucks -- is opening next week in the chain's "new rustic, eco-friendly style," Melissa Allison writes. The new names are meant to give the stores "a community personality," says Tim Pfeiffer, Starbuck's svp of global design. Bags of the company's coffee and other products will be rebranded with the 15th Avenue Coffee and Tea name. And they will serve wine and beer, host live music and poetry readings and sell …

Procter & Gamble's purchase of high-end retailer The Art of Shaving represents more than an experiment, which characterizes its previous forays into direct sales, writes David Holthaus. "This seems like more of a strategic, long-term investment," Karen Grant, an analyst for NPD Group, tells him. "There's good, potentially strong, opportunities in retail." In the past, P&G would generally test the current and then pull the plug. Holthaus cites a home laundry service started in 2001, and a kitchen and cooking store called Culinary Sol closed in 2003. But now, P&G is also creating a nationwide chain of franchised …

Criminey, it's hard to keep up with the 77-year-old Bob Lutz, but he's sure good at generating copy (and may he stick around as long as "Around the Net" does). Now the newly dubbed GM marketing and communications chief says "never mind" about his comments earlier this week that the Pontiac G8 might be sold as a Chevy Caprice because it was "just too good to waste." (You'll recall that the Pontiac line is being phased out.) In a blog item posted yesterday, Sharon Terlep reports, Lutz asks us to "[go] back in time to, oh, …

Cliff Kuang writes that Microsoft's plan to open retail stores next to Apple stores is the "horrible idea of the day." Actually, it may be worse than that. He thinks the guys and gals up in Redmond, Wash., are just setting themselves up for public humiliation by once again trying to compete with Apple on Apple's terms. The concept store at Microsoft HQ, he says, "looks like the love child of a Circuit City and a Walgreens." The only question is how epic Microsoft's failure will be, Kuang feels. If you want to beat Apple, you've got to …

Early returns on Kentucky Grilled Chicken show heavy trial and strong repurchase intent, Emily Bryson York reports, despite widespread carping in the industry about staid creative and a seemingly botched promotion on "Oprah." "This has to be the best product launch in our history," says Yum CEO David Novak. "And I don't know of any of our product in our industry that has changed the brand so much for the good." Technomic president Ron Paul says he'd be encouraged by the numbers, too, but warns that it's really too early to celebrate. As strong as the trial numbers …