(FORTUNE Magazine) – History lesson: Preservationists who delight in the past are often portrayed as woefully ignorant of today's free-enterprise realities. But historic preservation, it turns out, is an awesome economic engine. Or so concludes a study by the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Not only does it save landmark buildings and add jobs, but in addition it creates cozy cradles for nurturing startups. Rescuing an old structure creates more jobs than spending the same amount on new construction (on a $1 million project, as many as 14 more construction and other jobs). And the one-of-a-kind spaces are well suited to one-of-a-kind businesses, says Kennedy Smith, director of the Trust's Main Street Center, which has created 47,000 new companies in renovated downtown areas since 1980....

Ahhhbsolutely fahhhbulous: Edward Vincent, 26, looks as though he's just eye candy, romping up and down the runway for Benetton, Tommy Hilfiger, or Nautica. But at a fitting last spring he had a revelation about the fashion industry. "I saw how crappy the system works," he says. "Everyone just does what sells and copies the major designers; it all looks like Tommy, Donna, or Calvin." Figuring that a virtual runway could work, Vincent and some pals created citystuff.com. He pulls together the work of small independent designers, like those in Manhattan's eclectic East Village, who don't have the resources or distribution power to attract the big retailers. Citystuff has expanded beyond the Big Apple to check out what's hot in San Francisco, Philadelphia, and LA. "Fashion's been the same for 50 years," says Vincent. "Buyers fly to a city and go to a fashion show and don't see the independents. Here they can sit at home and check out 60 small designers at once." Pretty good for a moonlighting model, right? Well, full disclosure: Vincent's also an ex-investment banker. And if he was able to figure out how to run a real estate appraisal company out of the dining room of his fraternity house, he may be able to figure out how to break open the fashion industry on the Web....

All-pro venture front: Who says investing isn't a contact sport? Former San Francisco 49ers Harris Barton and Ronnie Lott have created Champion Ventures, a $40 million fund-of-funds open only to pro athletes. The fund invests in Silicon Valley's hottest funds, including Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital. The ex-jocks have proven themselves kickass fundraisers. At last count, the huddle totaled 70 pro athletes, including most of the NFL's quarterbacks, at $250,000 to $2 million a head....

Cuban cola: For years, America Vaughan, a 48-year-old mother of four, has been tinkering with a bubbly brew on her stove in her home in Orlando, trying to come up with a tangy soft drink like those she used to drink in her native Cuba. Six years ago she finally perfected her recipe, and Havana Cola was born, but it didn't hit the market until last year. Vaughan's concoction is proving a big hit with Hispanics, who like the cola's splash of lime. Havana Cola is now on the shelves of dozens of small grocery stores and specialty stores from Florida to New Jersey. Before her soft drink hit the market, Vaughan had to fight the rum maker Havana Club for four years to win the right to use the name Havana Cola. It cost her $50,000. "This is a real long shot--it's like playing Lotto," says Tom Pirko of BevMark Associates. Havana Cola is no longer in the red, and its founder is cooking up a slew of new products. This fall Vaughan introduced diet Havana Cola. After that comes a line of tropical fruit juices called Havana Nana....

Wham, bam, insurance scam: Buying insurance from an unlicensed broker could save you a buck. But save yourself grief. Some 300 companies and individuals bought insurance policies from Paul J. Pereira of Fall River, Mass.; prosecutors say he was pocketing most of their $1.6 million in premiums. Pereira is facing trial for fraud. His lawyer didn't return calls. Says one victim, Paul Cote of CAC Mechanical Services in Salem, N.H.: "We had no inkling he was running such a large-scale scam." Unfortunately, you never do....

Farewell: Barry Shipp, the creator of Jovan Musk, the hottest perfume of the psychedelic generation, died last month at 62. As a Revlon sales rep in the '60s, he noticed a crowd gathering outside a Greenwich Village head shop. The attraction? Musk oil--an alleged aphrodisiac.

--with Shelley Emling, Heidi Ernst, and Anne Ashby Gilbert