Anne Mezzanga:
Hello, you are listening to the Omni Talk Fast Five brought to you in partnership with Microsoft, the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Takeoff and Sezzle. Our Omni Talk Fast Five Podcast is the podcast that we hope each week makes you feel a little smarter. And most importantly, a little happier each week too. Today is March 10th. I’m your host Anne Mezzenga.
Chris Walton:
And I am Chris Walton.
Anne Mezzanga:
And we are here once again to discuss all the top headlines making waves in the world of omnichannel retailing. Chris, hi.
Chris Walton:
Anne, hi. Yes.
Anne Mezzanga:
People really seem-
Chris Walton:
That was ominous.
Anne Mezzanga:
Really seem to be liking the podcast from last week. Do you have any idea why?
Chris Walton:
They did. No, honestly, it is the most listen to podcast to date, in the first five or six days, that we have ever had.
Anne Mezzanga:
I’d like to take credit for it, but I’m pretty sure it’s the headlines and maybe-
Chris Walton:
No. And you know what? I don’t think it was the headlines. I think the headlines were part of it. We bring the insights every week. We try to talk about the things most important in news.
Anne Mezzanga:
Good topics last week.
Chris Walton:
And there were good topics. Yes. But I think based on the chatter in social media, that it was due to my Grover voice that I dropped with Cozy as fluff.
Anne Mezzanga:
Definitely not.
Chris Walton:
Yes.
Anne Mezzanga:
Definitely not.
Chris Walton:
No. Why not? Why not? Definitely not. I think it totally was.
Anne Mezzanga:
Just because some people commented on the Grover voice and how uncomfortable they were with it does not mean that they liked it and are more prone to listen to the podcast.
Chris Walton:
Two things about that. Is one, I actually thought I was doing an Elmo voice, and I said it was Grover voice. So Dan, I know you’re listening. Yes, I got that wrong. It was actually an Elmo voice. But it got me thinking that I should actually dazzle this Omni Talk audience with my ventriloquist skills, Anne.
Anne Mezzanga:
No.
Chris Walton:
But then I got thinking, you know what doesn’t work on a podcast, Anne? Ventriloquism.
Anne Mezzanga:
Or the opposite. It works very well.
Chris Walton:
Right. Yeah, right? With all these people joining, making podcasts, the one area of entertainment that’s not getting into podcasting is probably ventriloquism.
Anne Mezzanga:
But I feel like ventriloquism and guests on podcasts, which again makes this… Like, hasn’t Jeff Dunham been on Howard Stern or something?
Chris Walton:
He has this little pickle. He could do the pickle with the podcast and you would never know-
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh my God.
Chris Walton:
He could move his mouth. It would be like that much better. But anyway, all right. We digress, we digress. I will save my ventriloquism skills for another day, Anne.
Anne Mezzanga:
Or forever. Just save them. Keep them in the vault. Don’t don’t open that Pandora’s box, Chris.
Chris Walton:
All right. You got it, Anne. All right. I think we should get to the headlines without further ado, Anne. Because we got some hum dingers again, Anne. Some real hum dingers, borrowing some parlans from my grandfather from 1950. All right, Anne, in this week’s Fast Five, we’re going to talk about Lululemon launching into footwear.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yes.
Chris Walton:
Dollar General getting into banking.
Anne Mezzanga:
Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chris Walton:
Walmart has some new fit tech. And Chewy’s co-founder, Ryan-
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh man.
Chris Walton:
Cohen is getting pretty activist with Bed, Bath and Beyond. But first, we’re going to take off with news out of Amazon. Anne, if you will please.
Anne Mezzanga:
Of course. What would a Fast Five Podcast be without some Amazon news to kick us off, Chris?
Chris Walton:
I don’t think it would be a Fast Five Podcast.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yes, it would not. So late last week, Amazon announced plans to close 68 stores across the US and UK. According to Chain Store Age, the planned soon to be closed locations include all Amazon Books and Amazon 4-Star locations and some random Amazon popup sites. A spokesperson from Amazon told Chain Store Age, “We’ve decided to close our 4-Star, books and popup stores and focus more on Amazon Fresh, Whole Foods Market, Amazon Go and Amazon style stores and our just walkout technology.” And… That’s not all. “That we remain committed to building great long term physical retail experiences and technologies.” Chris, no surprise there, I don’t think. But what are your thoughts?
Chris Walton:
Well, I think this story’s really interesting. I think it’s a really important one to lead with again. Comes off the Whole Foods discussion that we had last week. But there’s been a lot of people on social media taking a victory lap with this announcement. And using the phrase, which I freaking hate, I almost swore there.
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh my God. We’re trying to keep you down.
Chris Walton:
Yeah, we are trying to keep down.
Anne Mezzanga:
Keep the PG rating.
Chris Walton:
I think I’ve got like two episodes of not swearing, so it’s pretty good.
Anne Mezzanga:
Let’s keep that rolling.
Chris Walton:
But there’s a lot of people using the phrase, they don’t get physical retail. This is proof they don’t get physical retail. And I would argue that nothing could be further from the truth. I think the move is totally shrewd. These store concepts were never meant to have staying power. I mean, Amazon Bookstore? Come on. Right?
Chris Walton:
They’re the ones that made the physical bookstore obsolete. They were just early pawns. And I use that word intentionally, pawns, on the chess board to help them understand how to get their just walk out technology ready for scale.
Chris Walton:
You think about books. Books, first test of Amazon’s computer vision technology. The first thing that they did, I remember we were working Store of the Future at Target. We went and checked it out because they were using scan technology through the phone to get the book that you wanted. And that was the first stage where you’re doing that in a physical environment.
Chris Walton:
And then 4-Star, God knows what they’re doing with 4-Star, but I think it was the early experiment to understand returns, pick up behavior in the store, out in the world. And so now all that comes together in the glory of Amazon Fresh. What is it now? 30-40,000 square feet. It’s now in a Whole Foods as well. And the other thing I’d say too, last point. It is the perfect Amazon Deke. And I know you’re a Mighty Ducks fan being from Minnesota, the triple D. Let’s throw some deflection here, like we don’t know what we’re doing and makes the stupid people kind of think that we don’t know what we’re doing. But then we’re going to show you that we really do know what we’re doing.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yeah, exactly. Yeah, no, I completely agree. I mean, there’s always something brewing at Amazon for sure. But I think especially like the last couple weeks and with this announcement, it feels like we have another pop. This is kind of pre just walkout technology again.
Chris Walton:
It does, right? Yeah.
Anne Mezzanga:
Where it’s like, something’s going on. These store closings are exactly what you said, I think. Just taking what Amazon’s learned from their experiments and focusing efforts. I kind of feel like there’s other news, like this Amazon is shifting their gig workers for shopping into Whole Foods employees. There’s another thing going on with just employees, especially with all the union conversation. But the only thing I’d add on to what you said, Chris, is that I think what they learned in 4-Star is also that people will shop at Amazon store even if the merchandising is total crap, like it’s not a good experience. But people are going through and shopping in Amazon 4-Star in a mall and buying stuff. You don’t need to go to an Amazon store to buy stuff from Amazon. In most cases, it’s much more convenient to have it delivered to your house in an hour or a day or whatever. But people are shopping there.
Chris Walton:
That’s a really good point. We’ve never talked about that. Like all of our times in Amazon 4-Star at the Mall of America, particularly, it’s always busy.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yes.
Chris Walton:
It’s like one of the more busy stores in the mall.
Anne Mezzanga:
Exactly.
Chris Walton:
And it’s the worst goddamn merchandising in the history of the world.
Anne Mezzanga:
For sure.
Chris Walton:
Like you can’t find anything in it.
Anne Mezzanga:
There’s nothing you’re like, I need to go to the Amazon store because I need to pick this up. I need to get more batteries. I need to do whatever. It’s like, that store is… It reminds me of the store at the airport that my dad loves so much called Frivolous. Do you need anything in that Amazon 4-Star store? Probably not. It’s simply a destination, but people want to go.
Chris Walton:
Last point on 4-Star. The other thing they learned how to do, palm payments. You know?
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh God, yes.
Chris Walton:
Palm payments, palm payments. I’m telling you folks, it’s awesome. We’ve had folks that have watched our videos try it out. And they all resolutely tell us it is the coolest thing ever and it’s so easy to use. All right. Let’s keep moving.
Anne Mezzanga:
All right, let’s go.
Chris Walton:
Headline number two. Lululemon, I mentioned it before, is launching a new footwear line, Anne, called… wait for it, wait for it. Blissfeel. Blissfeel.
Anne Mezzanga:
Bliss, bliss.
Chris Walton:
According to CNBC, Blissfeel, the company’s first ever running shoe for women, will be available in select markets on March 22nd. It will come in two types of women’s cross trainers, both priced at $138 and $148 each to start. And then, Lululemon also has plans to follow this on with a slide on shoe.
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh, God.
Chris Walton:
Meant for post workout wear at $58 and another training sneaker with a more supportive mid sole at $128. I don’t know why I’d want a more supportive mid sole to pay less. But anyway, that’s another topic for another day. The company also says it is planning to launch in a men’s footwear, with my favorite statement of all time, sometime next year. Which means, we’ll wait and see how this works and decide if we’re going to go into men’s footwear. Anne, my question for you, are you going to be shelling out $148 for a new pair of Lululemon kicks? And how many people do you think will?
Anne Mezzanga:
So I would need to try them first. That’s going to be my biggest thing. I may consider purchasing them, but I’m a little bit more selective about my footwear decisions than I think the average person is. But I got to share some insight with you. So I’m part of this Lululemon Sweat Collective, which is essentially they’re a group of like trainers and gym owners and people who work in the industry.
Chris Walton:
Right. Because you own a gym, for those who may be not familiar with the show.
Anne Mezzanga:
Exactly. So like a brand advocate for the brand. I went to a virtual event that they held a couple nights ago. 7,000 people were on that virtual event, Chris. And that was one of two events. So they had to like close this off. So if you just consider that you have 14,000 people that are getting discounts on the $148 pair of shoes, but then are going to wear that in every gym in north America. Yes. This is a great move by Lululemon. It makes so much more sense for them than I think expanding the personal care line that they were looking at and some other stuff. Yes.
Chris Walton:
Or mirror, like as a good example. I think this makes more sense than mirror, quite honestly.
Anne Mezzanga:
For sure. For Lululemon proper, like as the brand and just the expansion of it, I think this will see a ton of adoption. It’s not about whether this is going to be the best cross training shoe or is even comparable to like an Adidas or Nike product. It’s a continuation of the line. Like, now, I have my footwear that has the Lululemon symbol on it. And my trainer’s wearing it, so I’m going to wear it.
Chris Walton:
Yeah. So you’re big on this. That’s in a nutshell.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yes.
Chris Walton:
You think it’s a good move, smart move. Yeah. I’m a hundred percent with you. I think my take would be, why the hell not?
Anne Mezzanga:
For sure.
Chris Walton:
And in a lot of ways I’m like, why haven’t they done this before? Like why has it taken so long?
Anne Mezzanga:
That’s a good point.
Chris Walton:
The margins are high. But actually, I was thinking about it. I actually think it’s good that they haven’t done it so quickly. Because it probably means that they’ve actually been testing this to make sure that it hits the level of quality that they want for their brand. So them going slow with it, in reality, when you step back and think about it, is probably a good idea. So I’m with you. I think this is going to go gang busters. I’ll tell you what, you know what I have my eye on because I saw it in the promo photo?
Anne Mezzanga:
What?
Chris Walton:
The slide. That slide is so hot and it’s going to take me back in to 1994 when braided belts and Adidas soccer shoes were all the rage amongst the boys to impress-
Anne Mezzanga:
This means more men’s.
Chris Walton:
To impress the ladies, Anne.
Anne Mezzanga:
This means-
Chris Walton:
That was me in 1994. Slides and braided belts. It’s going to happen.
Anne Mezzanga:
This means more men’s toenails out in the public eye, which is terrible.
Chris Walton:
No, you can wear slides with socks. You can totally wear slides with socks.
Anne Mezzanga:
Okay. Well, we’ll see.
Chris Walton:
Hundred percent. Okay. All right. Well, let’s keep moving.
Anne Mezzanga:
All right, Chris. Story number 3. Dollar General wants to become a bank. This is one of the coolest stories that we have for you all this week, I think. According to Chain Store Age, again, Dollar General is launching a series of new financial services, which include the introduction of Dollar General’s proprietary Spend Well banking platform. Also, a Buy Now Pay Later test program with Sezzle and new FIS Worldpay card rewards points for payment options. Now, Spend Well is perhaps the most interesting concept here. The Spend Well bank account and visa card is issued through MetaBank and is now available at Dollar General’s 18,000 plus stores, as well as through a dedicated online platform and mobile banking app. All Spend Well accounts will also include free features and services such as direct deposit with early access to wages, ability to add cash at Dollar General and online bill payment. Chris, I’m going to you for-
Chris Walton:
I’m first?
Anne Mezzanga:
Yeah. You’re first-
Chris Walton:
You want my take?
Anne Mezzanga:
I want your take because you and I have been talking about this quite a bit as of late, I would say, within the last three months, especially.
Chris Walton:
We have. We have a hundred percent. You guys give me crap for throwing this around a lot, but this to me is potentially headline of the year are running.
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh God.
Chris Walton:
And it’s in the running for that again. It is. It’s a gangster move.
Anne Mezzanga:
It is a gangster move.
Chris Walton:
It’s a total gangster move.
Anne Mezzanga:
It’s a major headline. You got to stop using that superlative because it’s driving me crazy.
Chris Walton:
Gangster move or headline of the year?
Anne Mezzanga:
Headline of the year.
Chris Walton:
HOY?
Anne Mezzanga:
For sure.
Chris Walton:
All right. But here’s the thing. It comes-
Anne Mezzanga:
You’ve got like 25 already and it’s only the… like we’re in March.
Chris Walton:
I have two. I don’t even remember what the other one was. But anyway, the other thing, comes the same week the company says it plans to add 10,000 jobs this year too. Which is-
Anne Mezzanga:
Massive.
Chris Walton:
Massive amount of people and distinctly different than the rest of the industry. We talked about this before, but this company sits at the intersection of so many positive attributes macro economically and has been playing its hand so well. Because what this speaks to is the trend that we’re going to see more and more of. And that is what the industry’s calling now, embedded finance.
Anne Mezzanga:
Explain that for the listeners.
Chris Walton:
Put simply, embedded finance is the idea that anyone can become a bank.
Anne Mezzanga:
Anyone or any company?
Chris Walton:
Anyone, really. Anyone, if you want to go after it. Anyone can do that. And the technology is such that becoming a bank is becoming much easier through software, essentially. And this is why Walmart is going hard after this idea too, because when you do it right, it makes your customer relationships very sticky. And you can also save a ton of money that goes right to the bottom line, through all the lower banking fees that you don’t have to pay anymore because you are your own bank.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yes.
Chris Walton:
And I’ll name drop a company, which I almost never do on this podcast, but it’s the coolest company that I’ve come across lately. And it’s called Alviere. It’s A-L-V-I-E-R-E. And you should check it out because it’s all about this idea, which is that Target, Walmart, Home Depot, whomever can become their own banks. And that consumers can start interacting with them in that way. So for that reason, I think this is huge. When you think of the store footprint Dollar General has, becoming the now local bank for everyone in America, massive, massive impact. You start connecting this with payroll and all that kind of stuff. Super awesome move.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yeah. I totally agree. I’m going to be doing a panel at Shop Talk about the future technology that will change the retail industry. And this was one that just in serving the group that we’re going to be talking with, people just still aren’t really aware of this yet in the industry. And so I think it’s important for us to call out this story, especially. But I think it’s only a matter of time. Especially when you’re talking about Dollar General, that is such a large presence, especially in the US. And a larger presence, they’re expanding to more stores. They have-
Chris Walton:
The pop shelf concept’s coming.
Anne Mezzanga:
Right. Dollar General alone has more customers than most banks do. And then when you think about them adding other features to the store, they’re adding produce, they’re adding other mass retail items, pop shelf you mentioned. But being able to offer their customers a form of flexible payment still that benefits Dollar General and benefits the customer. That’s going to have a major impact, and I think really be one of the north stars in retail in the next couple of years, just what they’re putting together right now. We did a podcast with Sezzle this week, a live event on LinkedIn to check out if you guys haven’t, but talking about how having these kinds of options is going to dictate where people are choosing to do their shopping. And when you are a Dollar General adding all of these things that we just talked about and you’re competing with the Walmarts of the world, this is something that could change those shopping behaviors and increase those trips to Dollar General.
Chris Walton:
Yeah. I’m glad you brought that up too because I didn’t talk about it, but the fact that their Buy Now Pay Later is a paying option in a dollar store. That’s crazy. But it’s now happening. I mean, my last thing I would say on this is, I think what we’re looking at here is Dollar General is solely becoming Walmart back in like 1985. Where it’s becoming the pillar of the local communities. And I said this before about, I think, a year and a half ago, two years ago. Don’t be surprised if this is a top 10 retailer in the next five to 10 years by volume. It’s going to happen. These guys are that good at what they do.
Chris Walton:
All right. Headline number four. Walmart this week. Oh, this story is tailor made for you, Anne. And I used the word tailor made intentionally, the phrase.
Anne Mezzanga:
I know what you did.
Chris Walton:
Walmart this past week rolled out a new fit technology on its website called “Choose My Model.” And here is how it works. According to CNBC, the new tech allows shoppers to pick someone who resembles their height, shape and skin tone. And then it shows how a clothing item would look on a person with a similar body type. The tech, it should be noted, comes to Walmart from a company called Zeekit, which Walmart acquired last May.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yes they did.
Chris Walton:
And in true Anne Mezzenga fashion, you actually went online and tried this out this week.
Anne Mezzanga:
I did.
Chris Walton:
Which is perfect because I am afraid to tell you, you are getting the A&M put you on the spot question this week. Are you ready for it?
Anne Mezzanga:
Can one ever truly be ready for an A&M put you spot question?
Chris Walton:
Probably not, actually. No, probably not. Because it’s usually a very thoughtful and thought provoking question. All right, here it is, Anne. Are you ready? Let’s do this. The question from A&M is as follows. Better fits and minimizing returns is critical in apparel retailing. And we’ve seen a few brands introducing new tech here. And you just also favorably, some might say, favorally, favorably… Whoa.
Anne Mezzanga:
Do you want to add a Grover voice to that while you’re at it?
Chris Walton:
I don’t know what the hell just happened there. Whoa. Favorably, demoed and reviewed what Savage by Fenty introduced. But coolness factor side, what do you think has the potential to make a bigger impact? Walmart’s Choose My Model, which works from the comforts of your home, or the Fit Match tech you tried at Savage by Fenty, which requires a more intimate in person experience. The floor is now yours.
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh, well, I’ll start this off by, I got to give Walmart points for trying to do this. It’s still in the early stages, but it needs a lot of work. You cannot compare these two experiences, A&M.
Chris Walton:
Apples and oranges.
Anne Mezzanga:
Apples and oranges. So let me just go through quickly, side by side. So right now on the Walmart app, you can only use this experience, from what I can tell, with Walmart owned brand products. Like if you search for a dress on Walmart, you’re getting all of the Walmart marketplace providers and Walmart plus. So this is not like every single product in the Walmart universe is going to be given you these options.
Chris Walton:
I want to say too, is a great point. Because you have to have all that item data to be able to do this.
Anne Mezzanga:
Exactly.
Chris Walton:
That’s great. Because it automatically makes this a limiting feature. That’s interesting.
Anne Mezzanga:
Exactly.
Chris Walton:
Great catch.
Anne Mezzanga:
It doesn’t quite work the way that the press release teases it. So when you do find an item, you get to the product, it lets you choose up to four alternate models. But it’s not like you get to choose my skin color type and my body type. It’s just four models that you get to choose from based on like-
Chris Walton:
Really? You still have to choose your body type. You get limited in terms of like-
Anne Mezzanga:
Yes. You can only choose four people that are the same fit as you. And then to see what skin tone is, you have to pick a different model and go back. So the experience is very choppy.
Chris Walton:
Wow.
Anne Mezzanga:
Now Fit Match, the Savage by Fenty experience, that is right now an associate taking an iPhone. And check out the video if you haven’t seen it already. It goes into much deeper depth into how this works. But in seconds you have a 3D scan of my body, not one of four models, my body. And the idea is that I can take that avatar and use it across retailers as it continues to expand eventually. But not just with one retailer, not just with Walmart products. And eventually it will be something that the consumer can use at home. That’s what Haniff Brown, the founder, is saying. It’s already on a mobile device. It’s already on an iPhone. They just need to scale up the number of retailers to make that worth my while as a consumer at home to be like, I’m going to scan my own body. And now I can use my avatar at all of these retailers.
Chris Walton:
Right, Anne. It’s the same thing you’ve hypothesized that Amazon is going to do you at their style store, right?
Anne Mezzanga:
Exactly.
Chris Walton:
Like the same general principle idea here.
Anne Mezzanga:
Exactly. They’ve already been collecting that data for the custom T-shirt fit that they have. And so to answer A&M’s question, I would say, one, you can’t compare the two. But undoubtedly, the Fit Match example, that technology has much more potential to solve the problems that they’re talking about. Minimizing returns and improving the customer experience overall.
Chris Walton:
Well done. Well done. What I’m going to say.
Anne Mezzanga:
Thank you.
Chris Walton:
I actually disagree with you.
Anne Mezzanga:
What?
Chris Walton:
On one key point. I know, right? I disagree with you that I actually don’t give Walmart any credit for this.
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh, okay.
Chris Walton:
Yeah.
Anne Mezzanga:
For a sec-
Chris Walton:
No, I agree. I actually fundamentally agree with everything you said.
Anne Mezzanga:
Let’s see you get down to your skibbies and see then give this a try.
Chris Walton:
Fair poody. If you haven’t watched a video online, Anne is fearless in demoing this fit technology at Savage by Fenty. But no, I agree with everything you said a hundred percent. Except what you said to open, which is that you give Walmart credit for this. I don’t. I think this story is so lame. This falls into website widget bucket for me, which is good alliteration for all you Omni Talk fans.
Anne Mezzanga:
It is. Great alliteration.
Chris Walton:
It’s nothing more than a website widget, which you’re putting in. Sure, it might help conversion on the very limited items you’re able to do it on because I thought you brought up a great point. You have a third party marketplace. I tried to find it for men’s, I couldn’t even find it. I gave up. It’s it going to have a minimal impact at best. And that’s if people can use. It probably drives conversion on the people that are using it, but how many people are actually using it. And so the fact that Walmart is pubbing this, and pubbing it extensively. Like I saw it a lot.
Chris Walton:
It’s nowhere near as great as the AI computer vision capabilities that we’re talking about, which have a lot more staying power. And so I honestly think if I’m Walmart, I’m embarrassed to be publicizing this as much as I was last week. I just think it’s such a lame… the way you’ve described it, it’s such a lame widget eCommerce experience that I just don’t get it.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yeah. Just to close, it makes me wonder, there’s got to be more to the Zeekit platform, I would hop. Again, it’s just in the early stages, so they haven’t launched it. But you’re right. I think the fact that Walmart’s just blasting this out there, like this is going to change things. They’re using AI to do this. There’s a lot in there that is a little early or premature, I think.
Chris Walton:
And the AI componentry, the first shot of this makes me very skeptical when you have to pick four body types that you can even match. So yeah, it makes me question, what did they get with this acquisition again? Which has been the historical track record of Walmart that we’ve questioned on the show a lot.
Anne Mezzanga:
Well, speaking of questioning large retailers.
Chris Walton:
Yeah.
Anne Mezzanga:
We got to go to headline number five. Chris, Chewy co-founder Ryan Cohen has taken an almost 10% stake in Bed, Bath and Beyond. And this guy is out for blood. He is pushing for some major changes at Bed, Bath and Beyond. So you guys, you have got to read this article, full article, dive in, get yourself a cocktail on a Friday night and enjoy because it is spectacular. According to the Wall Street Journal, Cohen’s plan for Bed, Bath and Beyond is simple. He urges the company to take two main steps, one to narrow the focus of its turnaround plan and maintain the right inventory mix to meet demand. And two, to explore a separation of the Bye Bye Baby chain, or a sale of the entire company. Chris, you brought this to my attention. I am so thankful you did. Bring us your whole collective world of thoughts and your opinions on Mr. Cohen here.
Chris Walton:
For sure. Yeah. It was funny. For those listening, Anne came to me this morning, she’s like, “Oh my God, I read this shareholder letter. It’s amazing.” Yeah.
Anne Mezzanga:
It’s so brilliant.
Chris Walton:
I got to tell you, when I first read the headline, Anne, I was like, okay, here we go again. Mr. Cohen and his ego thinking he can sweep in with his retail genius from Chewy and save another dying brand, after what he’s currently trying to do at Game Stop. But then I read his points that were laid out in the Wall Street Journal. And then I read his letter to the Board, and I got to tell you, this guy is my new hero.
Anne Mezzanga:
It’s like the Martin Luther 99 thesis. It’s like crazy. Like, all right, Bed, Bath and Beyond, let’s do this.
Chris Walton:
It was so great. There’s one point where he basically boldly asks, how can the exec team at Bed, Bath and Beyond pay themselves $36 million a year last year given their performance? And I’m like, yes, fair point. Great point. And then he goes on to question what we have questioned numerous times, which is the underlying strategy of the Bed, Bath exec team and how it has no real teeth. Which it doesn’t. I’ve said that thousands of times. We’ve argued it on the show, with countless people on social media. Private label is not a strategy. It doesn’t work. And then the point that I love too is what he says about spinning off Buy Buy Baby just makes a ton of sense. Like that space, there’s no one that occupies the baby registry space, especially with the dissolution of Babies-R-US. Your, really, only options now are Target and Walmart-
Anne Mezzanga:
And Amazon.
Chris Walton:
And Amazon. And for a physical experience with baby registry, there’s still an important aspect of that.
Anne Mezzanga:
Absolutely.
Chris Walton:
As a first time mom-
Anne Mezzanga:
Linda still wants to buy a baby shower gift in person.
Chris Walton:
A hundred percent.
Anne Mezzanga:
And many other grandmothers and-
Chris Walton:
Grandma Omni Talk does that a hundred percent.
Chris Walton:
And so, yeah. It makes me go back to his thesis too. They’re probably using it as a cash cow to pay themselves handsomely. I freaking love it. I think where there’s smoke, there’s going to be even more fire on this story as we’ve been going along. We’ve been on this topic for quite a while, actually give us credit for being one of the first people to see what’s really going on here. And Mr. Cohen, I got to hand it to you, man. You are my new favorite activist. And I don’t think I have a favorite activist. So you’re in a category of one.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yeah. He’s like the John Oliver of Board member. He’s just like coming at people. It’s amazing.
Chris Walton:
It’s a great analogy.
Anne Mezzanga:
Not much that I have to add here, Chris, other than, we need to get this guy on more retailer boards. Because when he speaks people, listen. I mean, Game Stop is a great example. The market responds too. I think that especially given his Chewy background, I love that he’s saying like, look at what we did. I understand the psychology of humans and what they’re willing to spend on their fur babies. Let’s make Bed, Bath and Beyond and it spinoff. Bye Bye Baby, how do you make that the ultimate destination for baby purchasing? And like you said, there’s still a huge gap in the market there. So there’s a lot of potential.
Chris Walton:
Yeah. That’s great. And I don’t know if people know this too, but I ran the baby department for Target for a couple years. And God, that’s actually one job that I would think about coming out of retirement if he ends up pulling this off.
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh yeah.
Chris Walton:
Like to head that up. Oh my God, that would be fantastic.
Anne Mezzanga:
Absolutely.
Chris Walton:
All right, let’s do this. Let’s close this up.
Anne Mezzanga:
We’ve done it, Chris. Another week of five headlines in the books. Now to the lightning round. Chris, Fanatics is launching a digital trading card platform that will deploy the blind Dutch auction model in order to acquire new cards. If you were someone unfamiliar with auction models, what would you assume the blind Dutch auction model is?
Chris Walton:
The blind Dutch auction model. That’s what you’re asking me?
Anne Mezzanga:
Yes.
Chris Walton:
Oh my God. Off the top, I’m go for stereotypes here. But I’m thinking dudes in orange Adidas jumpers wearing blindfolds, eating French fries with mayonnaise, arguing over the price of a 1985 Pete Rose tops baseball card. Am I close, Anne? Is that what a blind Dutch auction model is?
Anne Mezzanga:
It’s not. I actually had to look it up. It like started in the 1700s. And apparently, it’s the model where the market sets the price. So you might say I’m willing to pay X number of dollars for this card, but you start at like $600. But then, if nobody’s offering $600, then the auctioneer goes down to like $500 goes down to $400, goes down to $300, until the market establishes what’s the base.
Chris Walton:
Somebody comes into the-
Anne Mezzanga:
Yup.
Chris Walton:
Okay, got it. All right. Got it. That’s very helpful. See, you learn a little something on every Omni Talk Fast Five show.
Chris Walton:
All right, Anne, Kroger opened up three more automated spoke facilities this past-
Anne Mezzanga:
Holy cow.
Chris Walton:
Three again.
Anne Mezzanga:
I know.
Chris Walton:
That’s crazy. Anne, are you partial to spoke more as a verb or as a noun?
Anne Mezzanga:
Noun. And preferably on my bicycle.
Chris Walton:
All right.
Anne Mezzanga:
I like my spokes where I like my bicycles. I don’t know. I don’t even know how… I was trying to make a really bad statement there. Okay, Chris. Walmart is giving six months of free Spotify to Walmart plus members because, and I quote, Walmart plus members have told us they’re passionate about music. Okay. Is there a song that you’re passionate enough about that you would get a Walmart plus membership?
Chris Walton:
I didn’t realize that before, but that is a pretty vague reason to give people this as part of their employee benefits.
Anne Mezzanga:
People are passionate about music?
Chris Walton:
People are passionate about music, so we’re giving them this free Spotify.
Anne Mezzanga:
Imagine that.
Chris Walton:
Which is probably true, actually, ultimately, at the end of the day. It’s probably going to… All right, to answer your question. What song would I be passionate about enough? Well, Anne, it would be Save Tonight by Eagle-Eye Cherry.
Anne Mezzanga:
My God, you and that song.
Chris Walton:
Because when I was in RA at Stanford, I used to play that song on repeat for hours at a time. It used to drive my buddy [Evan Bonsil 00:29:10] crazy. Crazy.
Anne Mezzanga:
That sounds like my own personal hell. Like hell for you, Anne, is just a repeat of Save Tonight by Eagle-eye Cherry. We just put you in a room.
Chris Walton:
It’s such a good song though. All right. Kohls, reportedly has plans to build a whole host of new 30,000 square foot Kohls stores. And my question for you is, what does a 30,000 square foot Kohls store conjure up in your mind?
Anne Mezzanga:
So we’re basically talking about a Sephora with a larger pickup area or returns area for Amazon returns. Right?
Chris Walton:
Right. It just sounds like Kohl’s [inaudible 00:29:43] on it, but everything else is everything you do outside of a Kohls.
Anne Mezzanga:
Maybe a holiday display for like blankets, heated blankets. I don’t know.
Chris Walton:
Doilies, doilies and crockery, if you’re a big Omni Talk fan from back three, four years ago. All right. But yeah, it just seems like that’s where Kohl’s is going with their strategy. I read their report this week that they gave to investors. It is God awful. If you get a chance, it’s out there in the public, you guys should read it.
Anne Mezzanga:
Ryan Cohen, you out there?
Chris Walton:
Yeah. Ryan has a-
Anne Mezzanga:
You want a new client?
Chris Walton:
I don’t think he even wants to touch that.
Anne Mezzanga:
I don’t think he has time.
Chris Walton:
All right. Happy birthday today to Carrie underwear… Underwood. Jesus.
Anne Mezzanga:
Carrie Underwear.
Chris Walton:
Olivia Wild and the Walker Texas Ranger himself, who is forever solo flexing in my mind, Chuck Norris.
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh yeah. That’s this one, right? Solo flex.
Chris Walton:
Yeah. The solo flex.
Anne Mezzanga:
Yeah.
Chris Walton:
That was so good. I think he was solo flex. I don’t know.
Anne Mezzanga:
Boflex?
Chris Walton:
It doesn’t really matter. It’s all the same thing. Whatever commercial, you can place it in your mind if you’re a fan of the eighties.
Anne Mezzanga:
Oh my God.
Chris Walton:
And remember, you can infomercial. And remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, make it Omni Talk. Our Fast Five Podcast is the quickest, fastest rundown of all the week’s top news. And our twice weekly newsletter tells you the top five things you need to know each day and also features special content exclusive to us and just for you. And it fits all within the preview pane of your inbox. You can sign up today at http://www.omnitalk.blog. Thanks as always for listening in. Please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to your podcast or on YouTube. And of course, as always be careful out there.
Anne Mezzanga:
The Omni Talk Fast Five is a Microsoft sponsored podcast. Microsoft Cloud for retail connects your customers, your people and your data across the shopper journey, delivering personalized experiences and operational excellence. It’s also brought to you an association with the A&M Consumer and Retail Group. The A&M Consumer and Retail Group is a management consulting firm that tackles the most complex challenges and advances its clients, people, and communities toward their maximum potential. CRG brings the experience, tools and operator like pragmatism to help retailers and consumer products companies be on the right side of disruption. And Takeoff. Takeoff is transforming grocery by empowering groceries to thrive online. The key is micro fulfillment. Small robotic fulfillment centers that can be leveraged at a hyperlocal scale. Takeoff also offers a robust software suite so that groceries can seamlessly integrate the robotic solutions into their existing businesses. To learn more visit takeoff.com. And finally, Sezzle. Sezzle is an innovative Buy Now Pay Later solution that allows shoppers to split purchases into four interest free payments over six weeks. To learn more, visit sezzle.com.