Transcript of Fast Five Episode : Walmart’s Super Agents, Vogue’s AI Models & Bed Bath’s Rebirth (Discounted, Of Course) | Fast Five Video

00:00:11 Intro
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00:01:58 Anne
Hello, you are listening to Omnitalk’s retail Fast 5 ranked in the top 10% of all podcasts globally and currently the only retail podcast ranked in the top 100 of all business podcasts on Apple Podcast. The retail Fast 5 is the podcast that we hope makes you feel a little smarter, but most importantly, a little happier each week too. And the Fast 5 is just one of the many great podcast you can find from the Omnitalk Retail Podcast network alongside our Retail Daily Minute, which brings you a curated selection of the most important retail headlines every morning and our Retail Spotlight series, which goes deep each week on the latest retail technology trends. Today is July 30th, 2025. I’m one of your hosts Anne Mezzenga.

00:02:37 Chris Walton
And I’m Chris Walton.

00:02:38 Anne
And we are here once again to discuss all the top headlines from the past week making waves in the world of Omni channel retailing. And Chris, we are here. We are in the grandest of Rapids, Grand Rapids, MI and we are, we are doing our last show before we break for vacation. So quick listener note, there’s no Fast 5 for the next two weeks. You’re going to have to watch and listen to all the greatest hits because we will be back for you with another Fast 5 on August 20th. Chris, you got any big vacation plans while while we’re gone here?

00:03:12 Chris Walton
No, no big vacation plans. You know, Mother Omni Talk had her hip replaced. And so I’ve been Nurse Omni Talk for the past two weeks. So I’m kind of probably staying, stay inside, staying, taking a stay vacation in Minneapolis. But yeah, no content for two weeks. Not just the Fast 5, but no content in general. It’s where we shut down the headquarters and vacate, as my freshman English teacher used to say. And vacations are meant to be vacated. So what are you doing?

00:03:37 Anne
Well, we we’re taking the last minute trip down to Playa del Carmen, Mexico. We do all mix changes, yes. And and our, our home exchange plans were were rerouted we’ll say rather last minute. So we’re going to, I mean really I don’t think it’s going to be any more hot or humid than Minneapolis is right now. So there is a pool there and an ocean and we’re just going to kick back with the family for for a week down there. So it’ll be great.

00:04:09 Chris Walton
Sounds fun, sounds fun, sounds very Midwestern too. So kudos to you for that. You know, and I got to give a shout out to the AC Marriott Hotel before we get started here, here at the AC Marriott, Yeah, in Grand Rapids, MI. But I got a question before you, before we get going here today because this has been, this has been bugging me. It’s kind of a little picadillo of mine. Where do you stand on all the new hotel designs where the sink is outside the bathroom? Like do you, are you, are you pro that or are you?

00:04:35 Anne
Con that very much pro you’re.

00:04:37 Chris Walton
Pro. That why I’m so decidedly con.

00:04:41 Anne
Probably because you’re not somebody that wears makeup and needs the ability to use the bathroom. When somebody is using, I mean, you put everything in the bathroom. You can’t what, brush your teeth? You can’t get ready if the toilet and the sink are in the same vicinity. It eliminates every possibility. Like you, all you need when you were on the toilet is just the toilet and you shut the door. You don’t need to lock everybody else out of of all of those things. Especially when you’re like travelling with kids. My God, that’s terrible.

00:05:10 Chris Walton
OK. OK. So you’re saying when it’s it’s it’s a user experience design benefit for when you’re travelling with other people or that you can still use on your own? That’s interesting. I’ve never thought about that.

00:05:20 Anne
What’s the benefit?

00:05:21 Chris Walton
Of water everywhere. I just get water everywhere. It’s just, it’s just awful.

00:05:25 Anne
It sounds like a Chris Walton problem. I mean you have towels like what’s?

00:05:29 Chris Walton
Happening Chris Walton problem and yeah, with that’s for sure. That’s without a doubt. All right, let’s get.

00:05:35 Anne
I mean, I don’t understand why you’re getting water.

00:05:37 Chris Walton
Everywhere. I mean, where’s the water coming from? You know, I just RIP and, you know, just, it’s just bad news bears like and then the sigs out in the closet and I sprayed water all over my clothes on the closet.

00:05:48 Anne
It was OK. OK, that’s making more sense.

00:05:51 Chris Walton
There’s a whole, there’s a whole host of collateral damage that comes at me, probably particularly when.

00:05:56 Anne
Maybe less aggressive hand washing? Less aggressive hand washing.

00:06:00 Chris Walton
Right. Yes, yes. And maybe less germophobia would help something. Yeah, all right. And we’ve got this podcast started off in the right way. And in this week’s Fast 5 News, folks, we’ve got news on Vogue’s AI model backlash, Bed Bath and Beyond, Brick and mortar return Ty Haney and her attempt to relaunch Outdoor Voices with a confident, bold and sexy look. And I like saying those 3 words together. Confident, bold and sexy. Three things that have never been said about me and Abercrombie and kids is also partnering up with Macy’s for Back to School. But we begin today with a headline that calls to mind that great song, or at least kind of that great song. And ready for it. Super agent man, Super agent man, take it away.

00:06:43 Anne
Yeah, Yep. I don’t know how I possibly follow that up. Headline #1 Chris, Walmart is overhauling its approach to AI super agents. According to the Wall Street Journal, Walmart is overhauling its AI agent strategy as it aims to simplify their user experience. Agents refer to artificial intelligence tools that can independently take some action on behalf of a user, and Walmart in recent months has built dozens, maybe too many as a matter of fact. And things were starting to get a little confusing for their users, Walmart told the Wall Street Journal. Now the retail giant is taking a step back and consider consolidating all of those agents into 4 discreet interfaces it calls Super Agents. That is a direct quote, folks. Super Agents. One is for customers, one is for employees, one is for engineers, and one is for sellers and suppliers. Walmart said the Super Agent for each group will tap the capabilities of a number of behind the scenes agents, all in a single unified experience. Chris, are you pro or con? Walmart’s aggressive use of super agents.

00:07:53 Chris Walton
Oh, yeah. I mean, I think I’m lauding Walmart for this one. And I mean, I laud them for being, I laud them for being so public with their AI intentions in general. I think that’s notable for a retailer particularly, especially when you look back 30 years ago at the dawn of e-commerce and how retailers reacted to that. So, you know, most people dismissed it back then. And so Walmart’s being the first to jump into it. So, so for that, I think it wins March with me. Secondarily, I think unlike many other retailers, again, it also appears that there’s a well thought out deployment strategy around AI to keep everyone on the same page. So I think that’s also good versus having, you know, because I’ve seen a lot of approaches too. You and I were talking about this yesterday on the plane. We’ve seen a lot of approaches too, where just individuals are just like acting Willy nilly with AI and whatever use cases they want inside organisations. But you know, Walmart here is being very thoughtful and breaking down in a bucket. So I like that. But the third question I have to ask, yeah, which this one’s kind of interesting to me is why 4 super agents? Like doesn’t the argument for the Super agent kind of go against having four? Shouldn’t there just be 1 super agent that everyone can interact with at the end of the day? So I don’t really get the logic of this. But with that said, there’s probably somebody out there that understands AI better than I do that can answer that to say if to tell me if I’m sniffing up, sniffing up the right track. But but maybe that’s where the other point about it too is. Maybe that’s where they ultimately go. But first they have to acculturate the organisation to to AI and hence they’re using the buckets to do that to get everyone on the same page. So I can buy into like the step stepwise approach to super agents, but in theory, there should just be 1 super agent. I would.

00:09:31 Anne
Sure. Yeah. I mean that makes sense to me. I think what is more most important here are two things. One that you know they are, it does sound like in the consolidation of multiple agents down to just four that they’re really invested in listening to all of the stakeholders involved in using these AI agents. So they are, you know, maybe there’s value to highly specialising each agent based on, you know, a customers needs, based on the associates in store needs, the suppliers needs, etc. So I think that to me that just shows, like you said, Walmart has a very well thought out strategy and is light years ahead of a lot of other retailers in terms of how they’re going to apply this technology. And the second thing that I think is really important to to note is their CTO Kumar said his last name is Kumar. I forget his first name, I’m sorry, Suresh Kumar. I think there’s a great quote that he said in this Wall Street Journal article. He said the shift is a natural evolution based on the fact that the company found so many different use cases for AI agents. The technology has buy in at all levels at Walmart, starting with the leadership at the very top. And that’s the other thing that’s really important here. Not only are they specialising each of these agents to the right people for now, hopefully building up to 1 super agent, but they have buy in from their leaders at the very top of Walmart going down. This is a direction that they’re heading in, a technology that they’re investing in. And I think that, to me, is one of the key parts of what the future success looks like for Walmart and these agents.

00:11:14 Chris Walton
Yeah, your point about the leadership is really good, too. And the other thing I saw over the weekend, I saw Doug McMillan talking about this on LinkedIn. And Doug McMillan, if he’s talking about it, right, that means the CEO is focused on it. And that’s very rare for a CEO to be talking about this type of thing that overtly as well. So it’s a great point. All right, line #2A guest, a guest ad, A guest ad, Not a guest ad. And maybe it’s a guest ad, too, but a guest ad featuring an AI generated model appeared in Vogue magazine’s August issue, and critics say it looks, quote, cheap and desperate. Sounds like my kind of model. According to Fast Company, in the hottest print edition of the magazine, a guest advertisement features an almost 2 perfect model wearing a striped dress and a floral play seat from the brand Summer Collection. In very small print, there’s a note saying that she was created using AI. While Vogue states that the AI model was not an editorial decision, the fashion magazine has still faced considerable backlash online. Some critics have gone so far as to call it the quote downfall of Vogue. And do you think the critics of Vogue surrounding their AI models need to take a chill pill, or do you think they have a point?

00:12:27 Anne
I don’t, I don’t know that that’s the question I would ask. I think what you have to think about when it comes to AI models and when and where those are appropriate. You have to think back to something that Chad Lusk said on our show a few weeks ago and that is, is it right for your brand? AI models do not make sense for every brand. In fact, a lot of brands, especially high fashion brands, it will be important and almost necessary for their success for them to use real models to show diversity, to show their commitments to, you know, keeping these photo shoots and these product shoots pure and truly representative of their whole brand mission. It will have to be unreal models. That said, there are some use cases where this makes sense. I think there, you know, I don’t know that there’s a binary answer to this. I think there’s some, especially smaller retailers who it’s, it’s the choice between, you know, a lay down on a white where you don’t get to see the product on anyone or an AI model that may be representative of a multitude of sizes, you know, or, or forms or figures or 3D models. So they’re trying to show it on somebody as a real body. So, and they can’t, those brands can’t afford to do photo shoots and can’t afford to hire models. And this is the direction that things are going in. So I, I think that in this particular use case, the guest brand thought that it was appropriate. They’re paying Vogue money. Vogue didn’t have to take their money. Vogue could have said, no, you can’t use AII models in here. That’s an editorial decision based on Vogue. And I think readers will support Vogue or support the brands that choose to use AI models or not. And that’s the real thing here that people have to be thinking about. So that’s, that’s my, my assessment of this. I I don’t like it, but, but that’s my personal opinion, so I don’t have to support that brand. But what do you think about AI? Yeah.

00:14:29 Chris Walton
Well, so I want to make sure I understand too. So going back to the question, so if you were Vogue, would you be allowing AI models in your advertisements?

00:14:37 Anne
I don’t.

00:14:38 Chris Walton
Or in your magazine at all.

00:14:39 Anne
I don’t think you can ask that question like Vogue is a there’s a there’s so much to that. Like can Vogue withstand of being a magazine if they don’t allow it? Like can they need this, this advertiser revenue? So I, I don’t think that and I think an advertisement is different than Vogue actually using AI models for their editorial content. Like that to me seems fraught with error because that is an art. Vogue is an art form, an art magazine, showing style, showing fashion. I think if you are going to start using AI models for that, then no, that doesn’t work for you as a platform and I don’t think you have success as a magazine if you if you start going in that direction.

00:15:24 Chris Walton
So you’re OK if they use it as an advertisement, You’re not OK if they use it in their own generated?

00:15:27 Anne
I don’t think they have a choice. I think they have to allow people to use it as an advertisement because they need advertisers to keep a magazine going. That’s, you know, an industry that’s slowly, slowly dying. Interesting.

00:15:39 Chris Walton
Interesting. I go in the opposite direction. No, I mean, I think your point about brand is right. And you know, that’s ultimately what the decision you have to make. And so I think if you’re Vogue and you’re celebrating high design and real beauty, then you can’t, you just can’t do this. And that’s how you separate yourself. And that’s why you get people to come to Vogue and you’re very overt about it and you talk about it ’cause if you don’t do it, somebody else will. And there’s niches for everything. So, and if you’re like, but to your point, I hear what you’re saying too, like if your guests and this works for you or the countless other retailers out there in which people can’t tell the difference anyway, then sure, why not? But if vogue, if vogue is what it is, you know, in my opinion, they shouldn’t be letting that type of advertisement in. But you have to go at the ultimate end of the day, you have to go with your brand. Now there’s all these complexities of this too, Like what is an AI model? Is it the person? Is it the background? You know, where do you draw the line? I think that’s where there’s a whole host of other questions that come surrounding this. And, and you know, I’m not as, I’m not as big as a, as a, what’s the word I’m looking for? I’m not as big of a, of a stentorian, I guess, for lack of a better way to say it, or a rule follower on the like the backgrounds and stuff. But if you’re using the real people and you’re celebrating real beauty, I think so it depends though. Like if you’re like a travel magazine, you shouldn’t be using AI backgrounds in your travel magazines really either, you know, at the end of the day, so.

00:16:59 Anne
Well, and I think I think where do you draw the line at AI like is Photoshop considered AI? Are you is that if you Photoshop an image on a shoot from travel and leisure magazine like every one of those photos, real human or not, in the majority of cases are retouched and that’s in today’s world a use of AII think the most important thing then we’re.

00:17:21 Chris Walton
Going down the chill pill. We’re going down the chill pill. Ave like these critics need to take a chill pill.

00:17:26 Anne
I mean, I, I think, I think the real line is when you are showing what we appear to think is a human being that is not a real human being. I think that’s where you start to draw the line. And I think the most important takeaway from me of this whole thing is just actually applauding Vogue for noting that this was an AI image. I think that’s the biggest thing to take away here. Like in for I, I guess my I’ve I have less of a.

00:17:53 Chris Walton
Problem with it.

00:17:54 Anne
Because they’re noting that they’re watermarking this picture as this is an AI generated image. You.

00:18:00 Chris Walton
Decide what you want as the reader of this 100.

00:18:03 Anne
Percent. But I don’t think Vogue can get away from it. I think they need their advertisers too much.

00:18:07 Chris Walton
Interesting, interesting. Yeah. And I don’t know that business model economics of of vogue in terms of how important that is. But yeah, those are those are really strong points.

00:18:14 Anne
All right, let’s go to headline #3 something that Chris, hopefully you are much more well versed in than AI models in vogue. Bed Bath and Beyond is set to return on August 8th, complete with its iconic coupons. According to Retail Touchpoints, the two year absence of Bed Bath and Beyond from brick and mortar from the brick and mortar landscape will come to an end on August 8th in Nashville, TN when the brand opens its first Bed Bath and Beyond home store following its 2023 bankruptcy and sale. The store and those that succeed it will be operated by the Brand House Collective, which recently rebranded from its former name Kirkland’s under that company’s Investment Partnership with Beyond, Inc. The partnership also includes plans for a physical Buy Buy Baby and Overstock store coming at a later date to honour the brand’s history. Guests are invited to, yes bring their legacy Bed Bath and Beyond coupons to the store. God knows what kind of stains and discussing things are on those things from being at the bottom of a drawer. And if they would like they can exchange it for a fresh version which will be available when they come into the store. Chris, are you buying or selling the second coming of Bed, Bath and Beyond stores?

00:19:35 Chris Walton
And I’m selling this one. I’m selling it really, really hard. And funny enough, before this headline even broke this week, I was actually talking about Bed Bath and Beyond with my with one of my former bosses and one of my biggest mentors out there. As he was in town. I was having breakfast with him on Friday, and he was telling me this story about how he was taking his daughter to college and how previously Bed Bath and Beyond had been such an important part of the going back to college experience. That’s where a lot of people went to get all the things they needed. And he was going through it with her. And he’s like, wow, yeah, Bed Bath and Beyond just gone. I don’t miss them at all. And so. So we got into the discussion. I was like, yeah, you’re right. And he’s like, and then he’s like, do you miss Kmart? And I was like, do you miss Toys-R-Us? Do you miss Sears? No. So there’s all this nostalgia that we have for the brands when at the end of the day, no one really, really misses them all that much, you know? And that’s the key thing here. So, so like it’s a fun headline, but and Congrats on the opening. It’s cool, but like long term, I don’t see this going anywhere because it’s still a really crowded space. There’s a lot of unbranded merchandise, There’s a lot of private label merchandise in this space. It’s hard to break in. It’s hard to create the reason for being in the home furnishing space, you know, especially in the physical world. I mean, wayfarers trying to do it, they haven’t cracked the code on it either. And then the other part that really annoys me. And just as a merchant in my core.

00:20:58 Anne
Yeah.

00:20:59 Chris Walton
Is the coupons as the hook you’re using the coupons, the nostalgic, the nostalgia of coupons to get people in the door. So you’re discounting your brand from the get go to get people into the door. You’re saying come to us to get a deal versus like come to us because of what we are in home furnishings and what we stand for and why you want to come shop here day in and day out, not because you want to get the old junkie coupons out of your drawer. And by the way, whoever has those coupons still, like, I mean, my, Oh my God, like, come on. I mean, I would have thrown those out a long time ago. But anyway, that’s my take.

00:21:33 Anne
That’s what you said.

00:21:34 Chris Walton
Merchandising strategy, I think it’s a actually it’s a starting point for a merchandising strategy to open a store. I think it’s a terrible idea, horrible idea to to leverage the coupons.

00:21:43 Anne
Yeah, I I think it’s so funny. We have two major AI related headlines this week that are kind of shifting things in the retail industry as far as we know it. And then we go to Bed Bath and Beyond, reopening a physical store, accepting printed coupon.

00:21:58 Chris Walton
Anachronistic. Yeah.

00:22:00 Anne
I know, but you know, I was really trying to think about this and the only, the only thought I had of like where this could kind of carve out a niche is that there really aren’t any like high quality goods at middle of the road price points all in one spot that are like there’s multiples of. So like, I’m thinking, if you do decide you, I want to step above like an Amazon IKEA or Target sheet for your back to college, you want something that’s a little bit nicer, but not like, you know, department store prices or, you know, 1000 count, you know, thread count sheets. This could be the place that you could get that. But I just worry again, which I think is why they’re using the coupons so significantly is like, I worry that there’s the price point is still going to be a little bit too high than what people are willing to pay. I think that they’d rather go to a HomeGoods or TJX or something and be like, well, I’ll just deal with these like striped printed sheets. I don’t care. They’re, they’re that high quality at the price point that I’m willing to spend instead of, you know, having that variety. So I’m I’m selling too. I don’t think that this is going to be long for this world, unfortunately.

00:23:10 Chris Walton
Yeah. And the point I would add on what you said about the middle price point, however, is having spent a lot of time in the home furnishings business and spending majority of my time in my career in the home furnishings business. The difference in quality between like even like Target’s best Target or maybe not Walmart’s, but like Target’s best quality products and say like like the best towels at Target or the best sheets at Target, at least back in the day. I don’t know now because not in merchandising there now, but back in the day versus like even Pottery Barn or West Restoration hardware is almost negligible. So there’s, there’s really no, if you actually look at the product, there’s not that much you can get for the increase in make. You’re just paying for the brand at that, at that, at that point and smart home furnishing shoppers get that, which is why the prices have have migrated down so much over the years. And you know, and those particular retailers have done so well in in garnering the market wafers, Target, Walmart and bed bath beyond is gone because bed bath beyond was kind of playing that position that you just talked about already. But you’re like, well, what’s the real value here ultimately? And so that’s that’s the dynamics of how the category works. It’s kind of true in apparel too, because you’re just just taking so much margin for what is, you know, essentially brand on top of quality. So anyway, all right, Anne, let’s keep going on this. Let’s let’s keep going into into stories that used to be cool, but maybe still are, but maybe they still aren’t. So. And Ty Haney Ty Haney is back at Outdoor Voices, relaunching the activewear brand with a confident, bold and sexy look. According to Glossy, Ty Haney is officially back at Outdoor Voices after a four year absence, bringing a fresh, confident, bold and sexy vision to the activewear brand she originally founded in 2013. Consumer brand investment firm Consortium Brand Partners acquired Outdoor Voices in June 2024 and specifically wanted Haney to return as founder, partner and co-owner to lead the brand’s revival. The relaunch kicked off with the dramatic social media with dramatic social media fanfare as Outdoor Voices wiped its Instagram grid clean and followed just one person, Haney herself. The first product drops will be a limited edition Diamante Adorn sweatshirt reading. Doing things, Yeah, aren’t we all? The brand is positioning itself as the quote uniform for doing things, expanding beyond pure athletic functionality, and the design philosophy now embraces what Haney calls an intersection between designer and activewear, with Elevated typically reserved for high end fashion and tiny coming back to outdoor voices. Sounds a little Messiah ish to me if I got to be honest. But this is also our put you on the spot question or and put you on the spot question of the week. So here it is. Bringing back Haney as the OG outdoor voice in quotes could reignite the brand’s magic and thinking about whether this will work for the brand. When is the founder still the right leader years into a brand’s journey? And how do you know when it’s time to hand the reins to new leadership, as Outdoor Voices may have done prematurely?

00:26:17 Anne
Oh, I mean, wouldn’t we all be wealthy if we knew exactly when the right time was to get rid of the founder and bring in some new leadership? I mean, I think that the Outdoor Voices, I think, missed out. I think as, as A&M suggests, Outdoor Voices released Thai Heaney prematurely as a brand that is, you know, originally direct to consumer and is really based on the influence of one person being Thai herself. I think that the future of Outdoor Voices and whether or not this will be successful really depends on who the demo is that’s going to latch onto this brand. I mean, if it’s millennials from their early days in 2020 when they were, you know, really thriving as a brand, maybe this is enough to get them to come back. But I worry about whether or not that’s going to be enough to sustain the brand. Because I think if you look at this younger demographic, you look at, you know, Gen Z and Gen Alpha, I don’t know that Ty Haney means anything to them. I don’t know that her coming back is really going to to bring the following that Outdoor Voices saw in previous years. So I mean, to answer A&M’s question, I think, you know, it was not the time to release her. They were still doing well. They probably should have managed us better from who’s doing the merchandising, who’s in charge of the store launch plans and store openings and that kind of thing versus, you know, versus putting, putting her in charge of that. And, and her real talent is leading the concepting, the design, the, you know, the, the social commerce element of this, as she’s done clearly with her other two brands that she’s also still a part of Joggy, the energy drink and her loyalty business that she spun up. So I think she’s a really smart individual. They let her go too soon. Can she bring awareness back to this brand in a very crowded athleisure space? Verdict still out for me, But what about you? What do you think? I mean, do you think that you can? You know, when is it time to let go of the founder, Chris?

00:28:31 Chris Walton
Yeah, Well, I, I do think you can be smart about how you evaluate that 100%. I mean, I think to me it’s, it’s, it comes down to two things. It’s based on the results that you’re seeing and the cultural assessment of the organisation with which that that person is leading. You know, and I look back at what happened, I would disagree a little bit that they got rid of her too soon. I think they’re just bringing her back. I mean, they got, they got rid of her for a some good reasons, like they, they tried to grow too fast. They built all these stores out. They didn’t end up working. They’ve shut them all down and now the business is online only. I also get a little worried too when I hear when I hear people say like, you know, she is the business. Well, if she’s the business, then it’s not a business because it doesn’t work with her when she leaves. And a business needs to work whether the people are there or not ultimately. Now I know in fashion that can be a little a little of a tricky thing, but then it gets into what are what is that person tasked to do? Should be she be tasked to lead up the marketing and the creative product design? Yes. Should be she be tasked with leading the business? I don’t know. So, so that’s the thing. And so I’m for that reason, because it’s unclear how this is going to work. I’m a little sceptical of the headline and as it sounds like you are too, because one, the space is so over saturated right now compared to what where it was 10 years ago when the DTC money was just flowing rapidly into this space. And and she left the first time. So, you know, why is the second time going to be any better? It’s not like Steve Jobs coming to resurrect Apple. Apple was Uber successful already at one point. Outdoor Voices was, was it successful or was it just riding the DTC curve and the athlete athleisure trend curve at the same time? So so that is those are the questions that I have outstanding for me right now. And you know, the ego. The one thing I do like is I like the ego of the social media move. Like I think that is pure baller to try to do that. But by the same token, it potentially pisses off a lot of people too, because there’s a probably a lot of people are like, oh, now I just like this brand and now you’ve unfollowed me because you’re so cool, but you know, so you’re going to alienate some. But Jeanette, net net net. I think I like that move, Anne, but that’s the only saving grace from this. I think that’s a cool mark tactic that they’d deployed.

00:30:42 Anne
Yeah, I think there’s more to this story. And like we always say on the show, you got to follow the money. I wouldn’t be surprised if there were ties from this investment group to other things that she has going on. And they’re like, well, since we’re going to do a deal for Joggy or your leader, you know, like your loyalty app or something like, could you, would you come back and we try to bring this brand back, you know, Outdoor Voices And could you be, you know, the face of this brand again so that we can try to see if we still have name recognition and value to acquire new customers and more customers? But I, I don’t know, I, I, I think she could have been much better off starting an entirely new. I think if you’re going to scrap and start from the beginning with your Outdoor Voices followers, I think you could have done a much better job just going off and and doing something entirely new, especially with the product line too. I don’t.

00:31:35 Chris Walton
Know that was the point that was that was the other point I had that I was going to bring up, which I’m glad you did, which is like if, if, if you’re really that good, why don’t you just start this up on your own without all the legacy? Like you’ve already shut the stores down, you’re DTC only. What do you get at this point? You know, why don’t you just go into the space on your own and start over?

00:31:51 Anne
You get elevated dresser dresses between designer and activewear Chris that you can wear while you’re swinging nunchucks around.

00:31:58 Chris Walton
It can be cool, confident and sexy or whatever it is.

00:32:00 Anne
Whatever it is, old, confident and sexy with your nunchucks sexy, go check out. I love that the photo shoot included a woman swinging nunchucks around. I wanna know where I can get my hands on some as part of my designer slash activewear apparel. OK, let’s go on to headline #5 Chris, Macy’s is now selling an assortment from Abercrombie Kids as part of its back to school merchandising, according to Retail Dive. The collection of jeans, T-shirts, dresses, skirts, sweaters, outerwear and accessories will now be available in sizes 5 to 18 in stores and online, according to a Monday press release. Chris, what do you think of this Abercrombie Kids and Macy’s partnership?

00:32:44 Chris Walton
Wow. I and you know, I think net, net, I like it for both sides. I really do. I think numbers wise, you know, numbers wise, I was looking at the numbers last night. There are approximately 100 Abercrombie kids stores. There’s 350 Macy’s stores in the US approximately. So that’s like three times the distribution, 3X the distribution for Abercrombie. So I like that for Macy’s. I like the back to school hook. It gives people a reason to want to go to Macy’s, which I’ve said has been a consistent problem for the department store in general, Macy’s particularly. And so it gives them a hook over the next couple of months. Abercrombie also gets wider distribution for their inventory at this period of time, which is also important, especially when you look at the macroeconomic conditions. And it also will get an understanding of where it’s selling and what markets it’s selling, you know, in the Macy’s stores where it doesn’t have its own standalone stores. So that could be advantageous in terms of understanding, you know, how it looks as it looks to redefine its store strategy in the long term. And Macy’s, you know, at the end of the day, The funny thing about this story too, Macy’s is only doing what it’s always done, which is buying brands wholesale from companies that thinks are relevant for the time period. So, you know, and, and does Abercrombie kids, Hollister, Abercrombie itself become also a long term digital marketplace partner of Macy’s too, based on the success of this? Maybe it’s something I wouldn’t take off the table given how the industry is consolidating and there’s strange bedfellows emerging every day. But this could be proof point #1 to that concept potentially over time too. So, so net, net, I don’t, I don’t think there’s, there’s anything not to like about this partnership. But what do you think?

00:34:22 Anne
Yeah, I agree. I mean, I think especially for Abercrombie and Fitch kids like it gets them space inside demos that they’re going to want to be in without worrying about the overhead and staffing a whole store and doing all the things at peak times when they want to be there. This is back to school is one of the biggest times they’ll you know, I could see them doing something for holiday. This, this makes complete sense. And we also significantly reduced their stores not too long ago too. So this is really giving them the ability to find, you know, give people give me people a reason to go to Macy’s and for Abercrombie to be able to to learn from their presence in these Macy’s stores without that that concern about overhead. I think this is actually I’m really curious to see and maybe we’ll ask ask Ethan Chernofsky at Placer to see what kind of traffic Macy’s gets from that. Because right now we just shot a back to school video for fashions missing middle and Abercrombie and Fitch kids is definitely the most on trend assortment of product right now based on on price. Like it’s a great like product. It’s driving. There’s tonnes of people in those stores. And so I think we’re going to see a lot of people end up going into Macy’s to find this. Plus it’s a better place for product mix. They can also get shoes there, they can get basics there. They can get all the things they need while they’re inside that Macy’s stores, but our store, but are really driven there because of the Abercrombie and Fitch kids being in that market. So I think it’s it’s going to benefit everyone all around. And I’m curious to see where Macy’s takes this next in with what brands they bring in, maybe even Abercrombie and Fitch, the adult version like you suggested.

00:36:11 Chris Walton
Yeah, who knows? I mean, you can be very smart about that, you know, depending on where the stores are located. And you could, you could use Macy’s or other avenues to put them in products where you don’t want to build stores, you know, or put them in the online sphere too. You know, I think the the online sphere is particularly interesting part of this story to me in terms of how it evolves, like, you know, next year, do they just put it online? Do they put it in store again? And like, who knows?

00:36:32 Anne
Yeah. And we just saw like JC Penney just acquired Aeropostale, Brooks Brothers, some of these other. So I’m almost wondering if this starts to be a trend that we start to see with the department stores bringing in some of these mall brands to kind of, you know, just consolidate the space during those peak times when it makes sense to.

00:36:50 Chris Walton
Department stores become mini malls in and of themselves in a lot of ways, yeah. Which actually, from a convenience standpoint would make a tonne of sense if you could do it all right.

00:36:58 Anne
Yes, absolutely. Chris, let’s go to the lightning round here. Question number one, ALDI and other retailers are rolling out a range of summer ween, summer Ween products, bridging the gap between Midsummer and Halloween. What Halloween products release would you like to see moved up to Midsummer?

00:37:19 Chris Walton
Oh wow, that’s a tough question. The only thing I can think of Anne is I I I love when they bring out the chocolate Twizzlers at Halloween, but I feel like those have now been available year round near me so. So I don’t know if I can think of 1. I feel like all the candy that I like to partake in is available year round. Is there something on your mind that spurred that question?

00:37:40 Anne
I mean, I wouldn’t mind candy corn being I do love candy corn, but but yeah, I don’t I’m not I I can’t get into Halloween until it’s at least like very cold out and pumpkin spice latte. It’s too early when it’s 99° out. You. I’m not I’m.

00:37:58 Chris Walton
Not I definitely don’t need a pumpkin spice latte in July, that’s for sure. All right, yesterday was National chicken wing day one, did you celebrate? And two, what is your favourite cut of the Buffalo wing? Is it the wing or the drumstick?

00:38:13 Anne
I did not celebrate. I did on Friday. I guess last Friday had we had wings. So close enough, close enough. But I would say definitely a drummy. You’ve got to go for the drummy.

00:38:25 Chris Walton
Oh wow, I like the wing. I’m a wing guy.

00:38:27 Anne
The flats. You’re a flat. The flats. Yeah. OK, OK. Chris. New data suggests that in an effort to support our happiness, health and careers, Americans need to attend more parties than they are currently, as party attendants in our country has gone down 50%. What was the very best party that you’ve ever attended?

00:38:50 Chris Walton
Oh wow, that’s easy. And so when I in 1999, it was a called a Christmas party thrown by the investment bank Robertson Stevens, and my buddy, a woman I knew from college, invited me to the party. Her name was Evan Dogan and and I went and it was in the City Hall of San Francisco. You want to talk about opulence and wealth on display in the height of money just rolling into a city? Oh my God, it was unbeatable and unbeatable.

00:39:20 Anne
What was there? What was it?

00:39:22 Chris Walton
Oh, they had like orchestras there and like just all these different rooms serving drinks and and food and and dance floor. And it was, it was great. It was like if you’ve ever seen the movie Milk, it was like filmed right there. And we’re like all standing in there just like having this wild party. It was, we’re all dressed up, ties, evening gowns. It was great. Such a good time. And yeah, it was, it was a blast. All right. This one’s a fun one. Katy Perry and Justin Trudeau stepped out for dinner in Montreal one month, just one month after she announced her split from Orlando Bloom. Of the two, who do you think levelled up the most?

00:40:02 Anne
So just so I understand this question, you’re saying like is did Katy Perry level up or did Justin Trudeau level up? Yes. OK, so I’m going to say Justin Trudeau for sure because Katy Perry is stunning. He’s fine, but he’s no Orlando.

00:40:22 Chris Walton
Is on an echelon higher than Justin Trudeau even though Justin Trudeau leads a country okay, I’m just making.

00:40:28 Anne
Sure LED LED a country LED a country. Now he’s now he’s a D list celebrity. So yes, I do think that Katy Perry is definitely in a much higher like he got.

00:40:42 Chris Walton
A sphere.

00:40:43 Anne
He got lucky.

00:40:44 Chris Walton
Yeah, yeah. I would not disagree with you.

00:40:46 Anne
I cannot believe she, Yeah, I don’t know what Orlando Bloom’s deal is, but I would say Orlando Bloom all day every day over Justin Trudeau. Sorry, sorry Canada.

00:41:00 Chris Walton
Oh Canada, Happy birthday today to Arnold Schwarzenegger, Christopher Nolan and to the man who first mesmerised me as the bad ass bicycle messenger Voodoo in the Kevin Bacon flick, Quicksilver, the great Laurence Fishburne. And remember, if you can only read or listen to 1 retail blog in the business, make it Omni Talk, the only retail media outlet run by two former executives from the current top ten US retailer. Our Fast 5 podcast is the quickest, fastest rundown of all the weeks 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 special content that is exclusive, exclusive to us and that Ann and I take a lot of pride in doing just for you. Thanks as always for listening in. Please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to your podcasts or on YouTube. You can follow us today by simply going to youtube.com/omni Talk Retail. We will be back with our next edition of the Omni Talk Fast 5 on August 20th. So until then, as always, be careful out there.