00:00:01
The Omni talk Fast Five is brought to you in 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 Avalara. Avalara makes tax compliance faster, easier, more accurate, and more reliable for 30,000+ business and government customers in over 90 countries. Avalara leverages 1,200+ signed partner integrations to power tax calculations, document management, tax return filing, and tax content access. Visit avalara.com to improve your compliance journey and Mirakl , Mirakl is the global leader in platform business innovation for eCommerce. Companies like Macy’s, Nordstrom, and Kroger use Mirakl to build disruptive growth and profitability through marketplace, drop shift, and retail media. For more, visit mirakl.com, and Ownit AI, Ownit AI helps the world’s leading retailers advance their eCommerce shopping experience with AI. To learn more visit Ownit.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. Hello. You are listening to omnitalks Retail Fast five ranked in the top 10% of all podcasts globally and currently ranked in the top 100 of all business podcasts on Apple Podcasts.The retail Fast five is a podcast that we hope makes you feel a little smarter. But most importantly, especially this holiday week in the US, a little happier each week. And the Fast five is just one of the many great podcasts you can find from Omnitalk Retail’s podcast network alongside our retail daily minute, which brings you a curated selection of the most important retail headlines every morning, and our retail technology spotlight series which goes deep each week on the latest retail technology trends. Today is July 10, 2024. I’m one of your hosts, Anne Mezzenga.
00:02:14
I think I’m still Chris Walton, and.
00:02:16
We are here once again to discuss and debate the most important headlines from the past week. Chris, I’m going to steal a question to kick off the show from one of my favorite podcasts called fashion people.
00:02:27
Fashion people. Okay.
00:02:28
Yes, yes. We just had a holiday weekend here in the US. What did you buy this weekend that was most memorable?
00:02:37
Oh, wow. Interesting question. And, and I don’t normally buy myself a lot of stuff. But, you know, I did actually buy myself a new pair of sunglasses. And.
00:02:45
You did?
00:02:46
I went to warby. I went to Warby. Picked up a pair of hatchers. They’re supposed to get here tomorrow. And. And they have progressive lenses because I am that age and I need to be able to see things up close and far away.
00:02:58
But, uh, nothing, nothing says elderly aging than a progressive sunglasses.
00:03:03
Progressive sunglasses? Yes. Progressive, stylish sunglasses. Um, yeah, but I bet. I gotta think there’s a reason you asked me that question. What? What? Did you buy anything for yourself over this holiday?
00:03:14
No, I didn’t. I was just expecting like packages of fireworks or like, you know.
00:03:19
Oh, no. Sort of like dangerous and too dangerous.
00:03:21
True.
00:03:22
And too expensive.
00:03:23
I suppose I would probably blow off.
00:03:24
My hand with fireworks. You don’t want.
00:03:26
Definitely possible. Yes, fireworks. And most of most people should.
00:03:32
You have those videos in like, grade school we did in Arizona where they’d have like, kids play with fireworks and the kid would like lose his hand and stuff like.
00:03:40
Oh, I’m sure. Yeah.
00:03:41
Like some to try to scare you about fireworks. Cause they were definitely not allowed in Arizona.
00:03:45
No, no, no. Yeah, some after school special, I’m sure was run on repeat the week before 4 July of how.
00:03:53
Yeah, they probably started Ben Affleck or something, you know, like back in his voyage of the mimi days.
00:03:57
But yeah, I feel like the kids have a healthier fear of fireworks these days. Maybe I’m totally blind and it’s just my kids, but I feel like they know, like we. We’re going to stay back. We’re going to stay back and stay alive or whatever the expression.
00:04:10
Yeah, it’s a good point. It feels like kids have a healthier fear of all the things that we weren’t fearful of and then just an absolute unabashed desire to do all the things that we as adults are fearful of. Like that is social media and jump right into it, you know?
00:04:21
Sure, why not put yourself out there?
00:04:24
But speaking of that, why don’t we play the social media pundit role here and get to this week’s podcast? What do you say?
00:04:29
All right, let’s do it. Let’s go to the headlines.
00:04:31
All right. In this week’s fast five news on Walmart, bringing its store assist platform to co op in the UK. Circle K. Using iPads for in store training. Hy-Vee enabling online orders to be paid for via PayPal and Venmo, McDonald’s. And Walmart trying to give their workers college credit for doing their actual jobs. But we begin today with big merger news.
00:04:54
And yes, Chris, that’s right, Saks is acquiring Neiman Marcus. According to NPR, Saks Fifth Avenue’s parent company, Hudson’s Bay company, is buying Neiman Marcuse, or $2.6 billion in a merger that would create a dominant upscale department store in the US. Amazon will take a stake in the new combined company slated to provide technology and logistics as part of the deal, while another tech partner, Salesforce, will also be a minority shareholder. And the head of Saks.com, mark Metric, will run the new combined firm, Sachs Global. Chris, what do you think of this new merger between Saks and Neiman Marcus, and particularly the Amazon tech angle that comes with it?
00:05:37
Wow. You know, whenever I see these headlines, and I think I’ve talked about this on the show, but it was a while ago, probably two or three years ago, I’m always reminded of what Bob Ulrich, the former CEO of Target, told a bunch of senior buyers and me when, when Kmart and Sears got together. And he said, I’ll never forget, he said, he said, and two wrongs never make a right. And that’s kind of what I think about this. But I don’t think the two wrongs are as egregious as they were in the case of Sears and Kmart. I don’t think they’re in as dire of straights. So I think this is more like circling the wagons or strength in numbers in a lot of ways. But, you know, long term, other than like, you know, bringing, you know, two of the most, two of the most sought after luxury department stores together, I don’t really see any, you know, major value here from the combined entity. I don’t see what they’re, what, what the plus up is at the end of the day. And then on the Amazon angle, you know, last week they were copycatting Shein. We talked about that on the podcast ad nauseam. This week they’re investing in a luxury entity. I mean, you know, you got to pick which side you’re going to be on here. Amazon, you can’t play both sides of the equation. And so to me, I think that part of this story is a little bit of a nothing burger, honestly. And long term, I do wonder if Amazon ever is going to make a dent in high end fashion, which, you know, honestly seems unlikely at this point to me, given the history that we’ve seen from them over the past ten to 15 years, particularly. So, so that’s my take. I don’t know, you have anything, any unique color to add there it sounds like you might.
00:07:00
I do. I mean, I think the, the Amazon angle is less about them trying to get into the luxury space and more about them trying to sell their backend, um, like, tech platform and really using, like, even things like buy with prime being available on these sites, like Saks, Neiman Marcus, like, all these things are still taking three to five days to get to consumers for standard shipping. So I think that there’s some benefits that Amazon could provide. From a back end perspective, I really think it’s less about them being, like, a luxury destination, because I agree with you think that’s, that’s a possibility. But I do hope that with this merger, that we see them join forces and scale back. I think it goes back, to me, it’s reminiscent of, you know, what happens when you go to Paris and you go to Le Bon Marche or, you know, La Samaritaine or, like, any of these, these department stores, really kind of, I would say, echoing the only other place that we have in the, the US that’s like that. And that’s a Bergdorf that still has that, like, feeling and nostalgia and, like, it’s a destination. I’m curious if Saks and Nieman can come together and really start to scale back the number of stores that they have and the resources that they’re allocating with this merger and really figure out how to get back to, like, being that destination place, um, where you can provide the full department store experience and less about, like, spreading, you know, 85 sack stores across the country. Because I think luxury shoppers are just shopping differently. You know, they like the destination, but a lot of the stuff, they have a lot of opportunities to get that stuff online. And I don’t know that you need that many bricks and mortar locations.
00:08:38
Yeah. Or go smaller, like we’ve seen other people do. I think your point’s really interesting, because I was thinking about, it’s funny, overnight, I was thinking about, like, how, how keyed up you were to go to, like, the Gucci outlet mall in Barcelona. Remember that?
00:08:49
Yeah.
00:08:49
And, like, and I don’t think in all our travels you’ve ever been like, I need to go to Saks. You know, I need to go to Neiman’s this weekend. And so, so, you know, I think you could create that type of flagship experience, but then the day this is still publicly held companies, and, like, that’s not going to be good for growth if you consolidate that much, too. So I still wonder about the long term prospects here and me thinking about how you shop, particularly for luxury, not to say that you’re a sample size of one, of course. But, you know, I think it is emblematic of how people are thinking about this space now in terms of, you know, what drives them to places. And I just don’t think they have the cache anymore. Do you agree with that?
00:09:23
I mean, I think it depends. Doesn’t. Yeah, it doesn’t exist how, how it is currently. Like, it can’t, it’s not going to be successful how it exists currently. I think it really has to go back to, and I think I look back to Le Bon March that we went to in Paris where it’s like you have the luxury brands and you still get that experience, the browsing, the inspiration experience. But then like on the same, in the same building on the fourth floor, you have a total floor packed full of resale goods. You have the luxury consignment, like the next entry point for people to get inspired and then go upstairs and maybe like have that. But it definitely requires a strategy shift from saks and neimans. They can’t just exist as is.
00:10:04
Yeah. And extra credit to you and for trying to do the french pronunciation during that headline. That was that. That’s all. That’s always a, it’s always a, that’s always an aggressive move. So I always try to steer away from that. But kudos to you for going after it. I highly respect that. All right, headline number two co op has teamed up with Walmart to expand its online grocery offering, according to payments.com, which is actually spelled “pymnts” (or pie-mints),, if you’re being specific. The cooperative convenience store network out of the UK co op announced Friday that it will work with Walmart Commerce Technologies to implement its online fulfillment technology. Store assist Walmart Commerce Technologies store Assist Co op said in a news release, lets retailers manage pickup, third party marketplace, ship from store, and last mile delivery orders from a single platform. Quote, this streamlined omnichannel fulfillment workflow will enhance in store processes and operations, remove the need for colleagues to switch between quick commerce apps or different devices, and allows for faster delivery times, enabling co op to better serve its member owners and customers. End quote, the company said. And do you think inking a deal with co op is the first of many more wins to come for Walmart commerce technologies?
00:11:21
Yes, absolutely. Wins all around here. I remember like, immediately went back to our interview with Anshu Bhardwaj from Walmart Commerce Technologies. Her telling us, number one, this is tried and true tech that’s been stress tested to the max. It’s being updated constantly as they gather intel from their 4000 plus stores in the US. And now for co op with 200 and 2500 stores, this will help them better utilize team members time. And I just was on a panel, Chris, with scanned it where they partnered with a research agency called Coleman Parks and they did a survey of frontline workers. And I think that something that they found in that survey is really important here because it found that 61% of store ops associates said that optimized devices which this Walmart commerce technologies is going to help with at co op, they help associates ability to deliver better customer experiences, improve employee happiness and boost productivity. So I think that alone is one other reason for co op to just start to deploy this. Especially with a store like theirs that’s dedicated to everything, food, but then also things like funeral care and insurance, which I imagine take a little bit more time to uh, to help their, your customers figure out than, you know, just checking them out and making sure that they have their, their bread and milk. But Chris, what are your thoughts here?
00:12:42
Yeah, those do seem a little more complicated than bread and milk. Or maybe not, I don’t know. I’ve never thought about that. I agree with you. I do. I think it’s a big deal. I think it only takes one domino to fall or one spark to start a prairie fire. And the thing I love most about what Walmart is doing here is that we talk all the time about Amazon, its flywheel. We just started talking about it on the last headline, or it actually came up in that last headline about selling the software infrastructure that makes digital commerce go. But the last time I checked in, honestly, 80 plus, 80 plus percent of commerce still happens through a physical store. So. And you know, who gets the physical side of retailing better than anyone is Walmart. So there’s got to be a lot of software to sell to improve the physical store operations day in and day out. Which is why I personally love what Doug McMillon is doing with under Anshu Bhardwaj’s leadership here at Walmart Commerce Technologies. It just seems so smart. And I, and particularly in Europe, where this is going to take on a lot faster than here in the states and co op I think is the first domino to fall 100%.
00:13:44
Right, you’re, that’s the, I was just going to say like the european, european and UK market is huge for Walmart commerce technologies. It makes a lot of sense. And I also think this will give Walmart commerce technologies a little better insight too, into quick commerce like we did. You know, co op does have that quick commerce or that convenience angle too. So I think that’s even better. It’s just, it helps everyone. All boats rise because they also have this experience in a traditional mass retail experience, but then also in convenience and, and shorter term, uh, delivery.
00:14:15
So, yeah, it’s a great point. And because Walmart’s gonna learn from selling the technologies to other retailers to make their own technology better, which is just a really smart play. That’s why I wish more retailers would think about this.
00:14:26
Headline number three. Circle K plans to leverage iPads and games for in store training. According to Chain store Age, the global convenience retailer is replacing traditional store associate training methods via a new training approach known as my journey. My journey leverages gamified training software, delivering in store. Delivered via in store iPads designed to get new hires learning on the floor in the flow of work to help retain them beyond the six month mark. Circle K hopes to save millions of dollars in annual training costs with this approach. Chris, first of all, are you buying or selling training convenience store employees with gamified iPads? And second, this is the A and M puts you on the spot.
00:15:07
Oh, I get it. A two for ad, a two for devised once again by the A and M CRG interns. They want to know how big of a role do you think training programs play in C-Store associates desires to stick with a retailer? And therefore, do you think the bigger benefit to my journey will be higher retention or improved effectiveness on the job by the employees who do stay the course?
00:15:31
Oh, my God. Okay, so there’s a lot in both those questions. I think both are really important. Um, I think, first, the, the gamified iPads.
00:15:38
Yes.
00:15:39
Um, I guess I’m buying it because, honestly, anything is better than paper manuals, which it sounds like from the article. That’s what circle K has been using all these years. But, you know, with that said, I’m kind of like, the announcement felt a little pr heavy to me. You know, if you read it, it was very parish. And then secondly, it also feels really like 2013 is I thought, and as well.
00:16:02
Really?
00:16:02
Yeah. So I’m like, why hasn’t this already happened? Which then brings me back to my answer to the a and M question, which is, I don’t think it’s an either or. I think if you’re doing this right, you should get the benefits on both sides of this. You should get, you know, better retention and easier training because people know how to do their jobs and hopefully, that’ll move, you know, move things in the direction that you want to in the long run. I mean, that’s my take on those two answers. It’s kind of like, huh? Okay, I guess. Yeah. I mean, why wouldn’t you do this? I guess. And you can evaluate whether it works over time, but I don’t know. What do you think? You like this story? You want to include this one?
00:16:35
I do, because I think that what you just said is the most important part of this. Like, they finally have the ability to measure this across the board, and they have thousands of convenience stores. So I think, like, you’re able to see with the collection of data, what’s working, what are people getting through? Where are they struggling? Where can you improve on the training process? And it seems like an overwhelming majority, 91%, of their employees, preferred this gamified method over the old ways of e learning, which I don’t think anybody is surprised to hear. But I think it’s. It’s just you get consistency, you get compliance across the board, you get to measure engagement, and everything can be updated when there’s a new change with one app update, you’re not relying on the managers of each individual store to clip the new thing into the binder and.
00:17:22
Make, which is a disaster.
00:17:23
I’ve lived through that. It’s terrible. So I think this also, you know, it gives people flexibility to be training in the moment, can be on their mobile devices, on the iPads. And finally, I think if you look at the success of things like Duolingo, it’s. It’s taken off. So many people are using it and engaging with it. I am using it more than I thought I would be. I think there’s something to this gamification that sure, maybe feels a little 2013, like you said, but has the potential to do some good and just change the overall way that you’re approaching some of this very boring, tedious onboarding.
00:18:00
We have reached an important milestone, and Duolingo has been dropped in a retail podcast. That’s great. So. And my only question for you is, donde estala bibliotheca? Don’t answer it now. Don’t answer. Don’t answer it now. It might. It might soften your point. All right, headline number four. Oh, my God. Too much, too much fun. We have too much fun on this show. Hy-Vee has added digital payment options from PayPal and Venmo for pickup and delivery orders according to Chain store age, starting Monday, July 8, 2024. PayPal and Venmo payment options are available to Hy-Vee customers using its aisles online platform for digital grocery pickup and delivery orders. And so we’re going back to you on this one. Are you pro or con the addition of Venmo as an online payment option at Hy-Vee?
00:18:51
I love this. Listen.
00:18:52
You do?
00:18:53
Cash is still king in our country. Uh, but Venmo and PayPal are not far behind it. But I think that, you know, you were also seeing personal checks go away. We saw eBay this week also announced that they’ll be taking Venmo as payment all, like at the, the bottom line of this is that it’s just going to give more flexibility to all people, especially people who have independent businesses or small businesses. They now can take those Venmo payments that they’re getting from everybody. They can go and have access to the most convenient online grocery ordering option for them, which could be curbside pickup, in this case, from Hy-Vee. It could be grocery delivery and gives more people a reason to choose Hy-Vee. So I’m, I’m all in on it. I love it.
00:19:36
Yeah, I know. Yeah. You know, it’s crazy, too. And like, I’m, I’ve been surprised at how you alluded to the, the target not taking check story that broke last week, right? That story is like, like number one on everything. And I’m like, wow, that’s a story. Like, come on, guys. Like, I mean, it’s probably like, you know, the tiniest of tiniest percents of the business now. But, uh, I, but, yeah, we’re doing great on time on this show, too. So stick around for the lightning round because we’re going to have a lot of time to go through it and get into some fun banter, but, and I think I like this one, too. I mean, for the same reasons you did. I mean, my big question is, I would love to know what percent of orders are actually getting handled via Venmo at some point in time. Like how many people actually prefer to pay this way? You know, how, how big a proportion of the population is it that statistic? I want to know. There’s probably some studies out there I, um, that I need to dig into and look into that. But, you know, net net, I think it makes grocery shopping more accessible, like you said. Um, and it probably drives comp, you know, in a business that likely needs it, too. It probably drives comp at the end of the day because, and actually the grocery outlook, uh, just came out from a few people this week, and the grocery outlook for the next year is kind of dire. Like, there’s. There’s not a lot of growth forecasted in grocery next year. Um, people are very skeptical, and the profits are going to be thin. So, you know, anytime you can get comp on your current operating base, it’s going to be a good for your business. So I like that. And so I wouldn’t be surprised if we see more grocers go in this direction or more retailers, quite honestly, for the same reasons.
00:21:00
Right. I also love that Hy-Vee’s kind of. Their. Their expansion plans are really going into communities in the suburbs that are just starting to build and develop, too. So I think that’s even more like a reason for them to start considering alternate payment options. When you have large populations of people moving into these new communities who this might be their first home, like, this might be an opportunity for them to just kind of have a little bit more flexibility than the standard methods.
00:21:26
Yeah, and the last point I’d make, too, is people that come from Iowa are rooted in Iowa. They’re just generally really smart people. I think that’s another point that I would make here. Those Iowans, they just get things specifically.
00:21:39
Because you were born in Iowa.
00:21:41
Yes, it was Des Moines, Iowa, and. Yes, that’s right. Thank you for letting the audience know.
00:21:44
Don’t mind the fact that you immediately moved to Arizona, but yes, born in iowan roots. There we go.
00:21:50
Six months in Des Moines, Iowa, and, yes, that’s right.
00:21:53
Um, all right, let’s move on to headline number five. Walmart and McDonald’s are trying to give their workers college credit for doing their jobs. According to NPR, the new. The two companies, in addition to others, are now broaching a new frontier in higher education, ie, convincing colleges to give retail and fast food workers credit for what they learn on the job, counting toward a degree. However, many american universities have long offered credit for corporate training by companies like Google, IBM, or Microsoft, but work in retail, and fast food in the process is nascent. As a result, McDonald’s is working with several community colleges to build a path for converting on the job skills like safe food handling or customer service into credit towards degree in culinary arts, hospitality, or insurance. And Walmart also has over a dozen short form certificates and 25 training courses in tech, leadership and digital operations that translate to credit at partner universities. Chris, are you all in on retail and fast food workers earning college credit for doing their jobs?
00:22:56
Ooh, yeah. I would say 100% yes, I am, man. 100% yes, I am. Um, I think I’m generally always in favor of an approach of getting something in value in exchange for something else of value. I like that type of setup. I think things generally work when things are set up that way. And I can tell you, too firsthand, that the average part time sales floor manager working his way up a Walmart or at a target knows way more about running an actual business and how the world works than, say, someone that got his degree in economics from Stanford University. And, yes, and I might resemble that remark. I mean, heck, you get college credit for AP history and biology. Why shouldn’t you get college credit for going through the Walmart HR hiring and training processes? Those are probably so much more valuable when you get right down to it in terms of helping you live a better life and being skilled to take on the challenges of the working world. So I think these are valuable life skills. I love that Walmart’s doing this. I love that Walmart is talking about it in the media again. They’re again out in front of everything, particularly on their employee side of things, too. I mean, we’ve heard a lot of stories from them this year. So, yes, unequivocally. Love, love, love.
00:24:06
Yeah, I completely agree. I think every kid should have to work in the service industry at some point in their lives before they go into adulthood. And I think, wow, that’s a bold statement. I do. I think it’s, it gives every now, it gives these kids a pretty good incentive for them to actually go in and learn that. And I just, I like the opportunity of, it’s not AP biology, it’s not AP English. Like, there’s other opportunities and other life skills that can get you further when you start and are exposed to them earlier. I think this is something that we should even start to consider seeing, like Home Depot doing as far as their trades program is concerned. Like, they’re going into high schools and talking about it, but how are they facilitating people who are able to get into the real world to start learning trades and getting, getting actual credit, monetary credit for, you know, their, their next, you know, school year, whether that’s going into higher education, whether that’s going into a trade school, like there, there is great value, like you said, to allowing people access to these opportunities that are real world approaches and real training on life and how to deal with people and how to deal with a business, which I think is the biggest deficit right now in, in american education at least. So. So I’m huge on this. I think both McDonald’s and Walmart deserve huge kudos for this.
00:25:32
Yeah, there’s a lot of rows to hose with. Rows to hoe with this. That’s what I’m trying to say. Not roes to hoes, but rows to hoe with this. Because, you know, if you think about it, there’s a lot of ways to think about this and reinvent it and really create something that’s kind of new and cool as I’m sitting there listening to you talk.
00:25:48
So, yeah, it’s awesome and potentially solves the issues with trying to find people to work in these jobs also, which we, which we don’t, we don’t mention here at the forefront, but it does solve that problem when you were giving greater incentive, I think, which goes back.
00:26:03
To the value exchange. Right. I mean, I think that’s fundamental to, you know, how, you know, I mean, that’s fundamental to how american capitalism tends to work, too, is, you know, when you get that value exchange going, things happen in good ways, so. All right.
00:26:15
All right. Let’s go to the lightning round. Chris, question number one. Taco Bell is back at it. They are resurrecting their Taco Bell experiences for rewards members at a resort in Florida. The theme of this year’s event, for some reason, is early retirement, featuring activities like shuffleboard, golf, pickleball, and others. Chris, what senior inspired activity would you most want to go into early retirement to do?
00:26:42
This. This question is so ridiculous. First of all, I don’t know that taco Bell spurs early retirement. I think it might spur early, early something else if you eat too much of it. But. But for me, I mean, to answer the question specifically, Ed, I think I would say the thing I’m most looking forward to in retirement is day drinking and followed by naps and day drinking and naps. That’s what I want. I want the ten or 11:00 like, brunch alcoholic beverage. I mean, I’ve been talking about alcohol a lot of this show lately. I hope I’m not giving the wrong impression to everybody.
00:27:13
No, I love that idea. I think that sounds great. Like, what do you have to worry about doing? Going to water aerobics when you wake up and then you just sip on some cocktails starting at lunchtime.
00:27:24
Right.
00:27:24
Right. In bed by 530 or six sounds.
00:27:27
I can’t remember the last time I napped either. I mean, I miss a good nap. All right, next, one cup of noodles has launched its first dessert ramen. And it’s s’mores flavored, believe it or not. And you like to prepare. How do you like to prepare your marshmallows for a good s’more. What is the Ann’s secret to marshmallow s’more? Preparation.
00:27:47
I’m not a big s’mores fan. I really don’t like the. I’m not a marshmallow fan. I think that’s the problem. If I am going to eat them, though, it’s absolutely mandatory to swap out the Hershey’s bar for a Reese’s peanut butter cup, so.
00:28:04
Okay, well, that’s fine, but. But if you’re going to have one. So, like, do you like your marshmallow, like, burnt to a crisp, or do you like it, like, lightly brown, or do you even not like it? Like.
00:28:13
I think that’s the problem at all. I don’t like it when it not warm enough, and I don’t like it when it’s burnt. And I feel like you just so rarely get that perfect in between. Um, because it’s, like, all the way melted.
00:28:26
If so, you’re like the marshmallow goldilocks. And that’s what you are.
00:28:29
You’re like the marshmallow Goldilocks. I know. I’m. Wow. I just. There’s. You’re. You’re taking a very.
00:28:35
Don’t take Anne camping.
00:28:37
Yeah, don’t. In general. Right. I don’t know that the s’mores is the make or break, but yes. Don’t take me camping. Yes. I think it’s a very difficult technique that you’re requiring people of all ages to perfect, and for me, it’s not. Not there. Sorry. Let’s go to question number three, Chris, a Florida man, which is never good to start anything out with. Florida man. Florida man, recently arrested for shooting through a Walmart delivery drone. And yes, we paid it off, folks, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Did you know that?
00:29:15
No, I did not. But it kind of makes sense if you’re shooting something you’re not supposed to. Yes.
00:29:21
So, Chris, I want to know, if you were leading the drone initiative at Walmart, what’s one thing you’d put into action that would try to help prevent more drone fatalities?
00:29:30
Oh, man. Off the top of my head, I think we’ve got to figure out a way to equip the drones with the equivalent of cop body cameras as they’re flying around. Because then I think you could honestly make a show out of it. You could have, like, a new, new Netflix show or a tick tock series called crazy stuff people do to drones.
00:29:46
You know, I mean, I imagine. Don’t they have that? Isn’t that part of the drill. Like, they have to have a camera that’s like somebody’s watching, right?
00:29:53
I don’t know. Somebody should turn it into entertainment, because, you know, you probably got people coming out in their bathrooms. You probably have people coming out naked. You probably have people yelling at the drone, you know, shooting at the drone, spraying water at the drone. I don’t know, but, like. Like, the content on that is endless. I got to think, right, Anne?
00:30:11
Oh, God. Yeah. There will be. If there isn’t already, this is going to be the first thing on. On Walmart’s new Vivo tv or. Yeah. Vivo partnership or.
00:30:21
Yeah, right.
00:30:22
Like, their first content stream is all the drones getting shot down.
00:30:26
Crazy stuff you do with drones. All right, last one. A Delta flight to Amsterdam was recently rerouted to New York City because twelve passengers ate spoiled in flight meals. And my hunches, those were in first class, too, because they’re the first people that serve the food. Given this news, when offered the option of pasta or chicken on a flight, which one do you usually go with?
00:30:46
Oh, man. It’s definitely back to pasta after hearing this.
00:30:49
I think so, too, right?
00:30:50
I don’t know. I mean, they didn’t seem like they got that season there. Yeah. Everybody got off and was like, okay. No one had to be hospitalized or anything. It was like.
00:31:00
But it was violently quick. Sick, right?
00:31:02
Yeah, yeah. Guessing, like, they were just like, let me get to a bathroom pronto. I don’t need to be assessed by a medical professional. We all know where this is going. But I think that. Yeah, the pasta just, like. I don’t know. It makes me so. Feel so, like, bloated. It’s so salty and cheesy. Like, I don’t know. But it is a safe thing. It, like, sinks to the bottom of your belly so you can get a good sleep while you’re going over the ocean.
00:31:25
So you’re going. You’re going pasta from now on. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Right? All right, well, that closes us up fast. Fun show today. Happy birthday today to Fiona Shaw, Jessica Simpson, and to the man who I know at least one time, I think he probably still does, sits at the apex of Anne Mezzenga’s hall pass list. The great Adrian Grenier. Grenier or Grenay? Grenier. Right. Grenade. Okay. Grenier. I don’t know, but who knows?
00:31:54
Yes, he sits. He can sit wherever he wants.
00:31:57
He’s good.
00:31:58
Amazing.
00:31:58
He was good for one show, but anyway, doesn’t matter. I could go on a rant about Mister agent for a long time.
00:32:06
Oh, we’re not. I’m not. No one’s concerned about his acting career. No, no.
00:32:10
Just like pleasing to look at.
00:32:12
Pleasing. What a guy.
00:32:14
Yeah. But anyway, yes. So he still sits at the apex of aunt’s call pass list. And remember, if you could only read or listen to one retail blog, the business make it omnitalk, the only retail media outlet run by two former executives from a current top ten Us retailer. Our fast five podcast is the quickest, fastest rundown of all the week’s top news, and our daily newsletter, the retail daily minute, tells you all you need to know each day to stay on top of your game as a retail executive, and also regularly features exclusive content that we do just for you. And we take a lot of pride in doing so. So 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 you can follow us today by simply going to YouTube.com omnitalk Retail, which is the best way to listen and watch this podcast each and every week. So until next week, on behalf of all of us at Omnitalk retail from Anne and myself, as always, be careful out there.
Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.