00:00:08 Chris
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00:01:59 Anne
Hello, You are listening to Omni Talk’s Retail Fast Five ranked in the top 10% of all podcasts global, globally and currently the only retail podcast ranked in the top 100 of all business podcasts on Apple Podcasts. The Retail Fast Five is the podcast that we hope makes you feel a little smarter but most importantly a little happier each week too. And the Fast Five is just one of the many great podcasts you can find from the Omnitok 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 Technology Spotlight series which goes deep each week on the latest retail technology Trends.
Today is January 21, 2020. We are on the road Again bringing you some of the most important topics that are top of mind from retailers coast to coast. We’re kicking things off this week at FMI where we are now in San Diego and where we’ll be broadcasting over the next several days from the Simbi booth. Chris Last year at fmi Food is medicine was a big topic of conversation. Retail media and obviously Instar Robotics. But if you had to guess, what do you think will be the most talked about topic at FMI this year?
00:03:08 Chris
Oh wow, that’s a good question. This is a very different show than, than we typically go to, you know, from the NRFs to shop talks to grocery shops of the world. You know, this is a, this is a conference where, where the, the real, all the retail executives for the most part the big guys really come come to come to the conference and try to connect with each other, especially the regional guys too. So and the brands are here as well. So it’s more of a brand merchandising show.
And so to that point, if I was to think about what topic is going to be most top of mind, I think it’s probably in the merchandising sphere. So the food is medicine, the impact of GLP1s on assortment on space plan. There’s probably going to be a lot of new products. There’s always new products on display here. There’s probably going to be a lot of new products with protein added to them would be my guess that they’re trying to get the merchants to take a look at. So that’s my hunch. I mean, do you have any takes on what you think you’re going to see here over the next two to three days?
00:03:59 Anne
I mean I, I think it’ll be interesting to hear from people, like you said, how much this new assortment of product has changed the footprint of stores. Especially when, you know, you have a lot of, of retailers that we talked to when we were at the Simbi booth at the Spartan Nash conference just a few months ago this past summer. I’m interested to see like now six months down the line, what does the store footprint look like? What are some of the technologies that they’re having to invest in? Because you know they have more produce sections or more refrigeration sections because they have more of those high protein snacks and treats and beverages that, that have become more important to consumers. So I’m really, I’m really looking now, you know, like really one year in. I’m curious to hear what some of these retailers and brands are saying about what’s actually happening versus kind of what we anticipated were happening. So that will be fun. We’ll keep everybody posted over the course of the next, the next few days.
00:04:58 Chris
Yeah, and my hunch, man, my hunch is it’s not happening as quickly as we all think it is too, because a lot of that stuff takes a lot of capital. And you start talking about refrigeration and freezers and putting that in stores, it’s, it’s pretty intensive. So we’ll, we will see. But all right, well, let’s get to the headlines. And before we do that, I want to give a programming note for next week. Ann is on vacation next week and so my guest host is going to be Jen Hahn of the J Recruiting Services. Jen is going to be our resident talent expert here. Going forward, she’s going to appear once a month as a guest host and she’s even going to help us name this month’s Omni star. So stick around, pay attention, keep your eye out for that. All right, in today’s Fast 5, we’ve got news on Kroger launching on Uber nationwide, Walmart taking its home business upmarket fanatics and Gap both embarking on entertainment strategies. And we’re going to ask who is wearing the strategy better. And Simbi launching tally 4.0 with advanced physical AI. But we begin today with what could be big news out of ChatGPT.
00:05:59 Anne
ANN headline number one say it isn’t so. Chris, but ChatGPT actually has announced they are beginning to test ads. According to Marketing Dive, the ads will appear for logged in users on ChatGPT’s free level as well as on ChatGPT Go, an $8 per month option that has been available in some markets and is now rolling out to the US and other areas. ChatGPT’s Plus Pro, business and enterprise subscription levels will not carry ads. OpenAI said that it would implement several protections to assure users that the information they reveal would not be shared with advertisers and that what ChatGPT provides would be driven by what’s objectively useful rather than advertising. Chris, this is also the A and M Put yout on the Spot question and humble brag, I might add, by Chad Lusk to note that after his appearance on the year end pod where he predicted this exact happen, he wants to know in what might have been such an inevitable headline that it only took one month to manifest this 2026 prediction on the year end podcast. What are you most focused on in terms of seeing how things play out with ad testing on ChatGPT Wow, man.
00:07:14 Chris
I keep getting all these and I put you on the spot questions right up front at the show when it’s like 7:30am in the morning here in San Diego at the Gaylord Pacific Resort and Hotel with the worst coffee in the world. But with that said, I think my answer to that question is I’m actually not at all concerned with what the article says about people worrying about like, you know, them being served up ads. I mean, do people really care about that? I mean I’m served up advertising all the time. I’m walking up the escalator here at the conference and there’s ads for Coca Cola.
So like I’m used to that. So I think that’s just a bunch of malarkey. I think the big question is what is, what is the UI here? You know, like what is the user interface? How much do people like it? Does it get people to product? And then what happens when people click on the product and how easy is it to buy and all that kind of thing? That’s, that’s going to be where the rubber meets the road in terms of the search engine battle here for what we’re talking about. But I think the more important angle to this storey is kind of what Chad alludes to in his question, which is this happened a lot quicker than I think even Mr. Lusk, you know, in the year end show predicted. And for that reason it reeks of desperation to me. I don’t understand why you’d muddy the waters so much when you have a product that people are so happy using right now. And the answer, I don’t know, is the answer. Money.
Everything in life always comes down to money, doesn’t it? And so like it could be the trillion dollars that, you know, ChatGPT or OpenAI needs to make the investments necessary to remain competitive against Google. That’s probably what it is. That’s what the article postulates. I probably agree with that but, but let’s not forget too that there are still so many other use cases for generative AI and we haven’t even touched on the agent e commerce side of this conversation yet. So the battle is going to rage on. But wow, it is really interesting to see OpenAI going to advertising this quickly.
00:09:00 Anne
I’m actually not that surprised. I mean, I think when you saw Sam Altman put out a red alert when Google launched Gemini, their latest Gemini, a few months before the end of the year, a few weeks even before the end of the year, I think we all saw the writing on the Wall and we knew that they’re burning cash and they need to figure out a way to make money. And I don’t actually have a problem with it, especially with how they’re doing it based on the tiered subscriptions that you have. I think as consumers we’re used to this with everything from Hulu to Spotify to all our other subscription services. I mean you gotta pay if you want to get some value out of things and if you’re not going to pay the full amount, then you’re going to have ads like Google’s likely going to continue to do this as well.
They are working hard to make sure that they’re, you know, securely and without divulging any information about the consumers allegedly here they are making sure that they’re giving me personalised ads and I just, I don’t think it’s going to be as big of a deal as, you know, the media and I think that people are making it out to be. Yes, it was started in one way and we thought it was going to continue as the Internet for all or, you know, this, this platform that was meant to do good, but at the end of the day it is about money and pay for what the real value is for the service that you’re getting and this is a way to do that. So I think this is not at all surprising to me. Chad’s prediction was right on and yeah, I think we’ll continue to see people use the platform and really not, not be bothered by this or just come to expect it.
00:10:35 Chris
So if you go back to a question though, like what, what would you be most focused on in terms of seeing how things play out with, you know, ad testing on chat, GPT, what are you most, what are you most curious to see how they do or what they do or what the implications are? Long run?
00:10:48 Anne
I guess I’m curious to see what, what customer engagement is and if they actually see value from it because I think they might. I mean I think getting a sponsored ad when you’re at the product, it’s kind of the equivalent to me of, of like a shelf talker on a, on a shelf, you know when you’re looking at 15 different cans of soup and which one you’re going to buy? If I’ve, if I’m looking at the same product and my search is across the board but there’s a five dollar off thing for the Walmart. If I buy the product at Walmart, I’m gonna buy it there because I don’t care where I’M getting that product from once I’ve determined what the product is. So I’m actually curious to see what, what volume they get and what kind of engagement they get with, with some of these personalised ads.
00:11:31 Chris
Right, that makes sense. So you were, you were very big on Google’s announcement last week. Do you think this scares Google at all to any greater degree? Or are you still pretty bullish on Google, relatively speaking, given that, you know, chat?
00:11:41 Anne
No, I still think, I still think Google, the. I still think Google’s in a, in a good position here. This helps. But Google’s been using funds for that. They’ve.
00:11:52 Chris
Google’s been doing this forever, search forever.
00:11:54 Anne
So I don’t think that this really challenges them. It might keep ChatGPT afloat for a little bit longer as a stronger competitor, but I don’t, I wouldn’t be that concerned about it if I’m Google. I think ChatGPT and OpenAI are really the ones that are trying to make up ground here.
00:12:10 Chris
Yeah. The only other thing I can think about too is like the brand side of this. You know, we’re at the FMI conference and we know that these searches convert higher.
00:12:17 Anne
Right.
00:12:18 Chris
We’ve been seeing that throughout the data over the last six months. So my question would be too, like, how do the brands respond to this? And do they. I bet they jump into this with Chat GBT to see if they can convert higher. But again, it’s going to depend on the ultimate user experience and where those products land on, on those recommendations.
00:12:34 Anne
So.
00:12:34 Chris
Wow, fascinating topic. All right, second headline today. Kroger has launched fast, convenient delivery through Uber’s apps nationwide, making nearly 2,700 stores available on Uber Eats, Uber and Postmates.
00:12:48 Anne
God.
00:12:48 Chris
Remember Postmates, Ann. Jeez, it’s been a long time since they came up. According to a joint press release, customers can now shop from Kroger banners including Ralph’s, Fred Meyer, King Soopers, Smiths, Fry’s, Harris Teeter and Mariano’s, with On Demand and same day delivery. To mark the launch, Uber is offering customers discounts of up to 50% off their first order. Uber One members will receive $0 delivery fees on eligible orders. Kroger already expanded its partnership with DoorDash to 2,700 stores nationwide last fall and has offered delivery through Instacart for several years, showing the grocer is aggressively pursuing all delivery channels. This also intensifies competition among major grocery delivery platforms and comps as Kroger looks to expand its digital footprint. While food prices remain the most Frequently cited source of stress for consumers. And does Kroger need both Doordash and Uber? How do you think about that?
00:13:42 Anne
Yeah, I don’t see why they wouldn’t be on every platform possible, especially with the changes that they’ve been making with Ocado and their, their distribution centres with them. I think, you know, look, it gets people access to groceries and to food delivery and to essentials delivery. They, it’s, it’s really just beefing up the Uber platform. It’s a reason for me as a consumer to join Uber. Now what I think is going to be interesting about this is what kind of adoption they’re seeing. Do they start to see beyond fill in trips like are people going to, to their Uber platform to do full on grocery orders? And is this something that makes sense for, for Kroger to keep in operations and have to manage having multiple delivery drivers working with them? But I do think it’s valuable and it’s certainly worth the test. This is something they could turn off at any given time if it’s too complicated or not working.
And I also like that it opens up Kroger to a larger pool of drivers that are on the Uber app because you’re not just limited to the one company that you have contracted with if somebody wants to get groceries delivered. I mean I have uber, I have DoorDash, I have all the apps. If I can’t get it on one I’m going to the next one. So I think as that becomes, I think an increasing problem for a lot of retailers who are you know, just using, you know, Target, just using Shipt or you know, Walmart, just using their own third party, you know, white label drivers that, that causes some potential friction if you can’t find those drivers. And now I think Kroger’s got, you know, any Uber driver can take any order at this point in time and that’s giving them the most flexibility. So I think it’s a really smart move from, from Kroger and shows that they’re going to experiment across the board. But what do you, would you, what would you recommend for Kroger to be doing when they’re kind of evaluating this situation in the post ocado world?
00:15:39 Chris
Yeah, I mean I, I think I, I think I agree with you in, in the short term. I think I agree with you in the short term. I mean I think it’s a smart short term play. In reality 100 you could be on as many of them as you want and I want to be careful how I Say this. I mean, who gives a shipped and shipped with a, with a T or actually with a P? With the P. Because like, you know, be on ship too if you want, like I don’t care. Or be on any other random one, be on Gopuff. Who cares? You know, like at the end of the day, you’re just putting your products on more marketplaces for you to sell. So I don’t see, you know, if you’re on one, you might as well be on them all in a lot of ways. I mean, I don’t really see the downside. And I get why they’re doing it because they’re still feeling the sting of the Ocado announcement.
And for that reason it’s this safe move. No, and here’s the other thing that someone said to me at nrf. No one is going to lose their job over expanding third party delivery, but they are going to lose their job for deploying billions of dollars in capital and failing like they potentially did with Ocado. But long term, Walmart. Here’s the thing though. Long term, this is still a road to nowhere because Walmart and Amazon will beat them and are already beating this strategy. And Kroger is eventually going to get squeezed if it doesn’t evolve. And I plan to ask Richard McKenzie of the Lock that exact question when I have him on Confessions of a Supply Chain podcast with me next month is like, you know, how should people like Kroger, the regional grocers, be thinking about this when Amazon and Walmart are going directly at them through their own means? So that’s the fascinating question to me.
00:17:06 Anne
All right, well, I’m excited to hear what Valak has to say. They are the only ones doing this profitably, so they should have a good perspective on the best route to online grocery delivery. Let’s move on to headline number three. Walmart is leaning into trendier, more upscale home goods as part of its push to attract more more high income shoppers and better compete with Amazon. According to the Wall Street Journal, items now include an ochre velvet swivel chair for $238, a $1600 DeLonghi espresso machine, and a $79 lavender crock pot showing Walmart’s move up the value chain. Apparently, apparently that’s all it takes to move up the value chain is an ochre velvet swivel chair.
Amazon’s share of the U.S. furniture and home furnishings market hit 20% as of last fall, more than double its 9%. Walmart’s share fell to 7% down from 9.3% in the same period. Walmart has been revamping its home goods since identifying it as an area for improvement nearly a decade ago, bringing in brands like Yankee Candle, Nespresso and Drew Barrymore’s Beautiful line. The retailer’s internal research shows shoppers equate stylish designs with better quality. And the strategy aims to, quote, democratise style, end quote, while improving margins beyond its tight margin grocery business. Chris, do you think consumers will shop Walmart for high end espresso machines, ochre swivel chairs and lavender crock pots?
00:18:38 Chris
Yeah, believe it or not, I actually do. And actually when you read the statistics like that, it actually makes me go, jesus, I’d love a chance to run the home furnishings business at Walmart like I did for Target. Like there’s a lot, lot happening here. So you know, we said at the beginning that, you know, everything always comes down to money. Well, the sibling of that is everything always comes down to price and in E commerce and is a search game, I know that firsthand, the best price always wins out. And I can remember fighting perceptions like this like the article describes when I was running home furnishings for Target.com and people thought I was nuts for selling $5,000 sofas via Dropship. But then you know what, we sold one and then we sold more and more and more and more and by the time, at that time we were winning because, because of the Target brand and what it represented to people and the extra 5% off you got from red card savings. So there was a huge value play and so Walmart can do the very same thing with Walmart plus but now also with 2026 E commerce principles at its back, particularly with its incredible available to promise shipping speeds and capabilities. So yes, yes, 100%. This is all just low hanging fruit in my mind for Walmart and they’re smart to go after it, particularly when you cite those share numbers that you just did.
00:19:51 Anne
Yeah, I mean I think it goes back to what we were talking about at the beginning of the show. Chris, with ChatGPT, people are using these search engines to get information about products to figure out what’s going to fit in their house. I mean, do customers care? At the end of the day, whatever Chat, GPT or Gemini spit out about the espresso machine, do they care where they buy it from? No, it’s coming down to where can I get this the quickest or most conveniently on my terms for the best price possible? And might they be surprised that Walmart is That location possibly.
But then you have to look at all the other things that come into play from buying something like this from Walmart too. You have 4,000 locations across the lift. Something goes wrong, you can return that simply. What does that look like for Amazon or Wayfair? No, not good. Not a good experience. I’m waiting in line to do that. They there’s a lot more to this that I think Walmart stands to gain for little to no risk for them to start to carry out. And I think we’re already starting to see customers getting more familiar with this with some of the partnerships that they did last year. They announced last year with Rebag and Stock X and other who knew categories. I mean their whole who Knew campaign was you can get a sauna from Walmart, who Knew. But it works. And if it doesn’t work, you have a lot of convenient options to remedy that. And so I think this is a brilliant move. And if I were Walmart, I’d continue to push this, especially as they have more and more high income consumers who are interested in the products that they have to have and especially in home and fashion categories. So I, I think it’s a really smart move.
00:21:28 Chris
Oh my God, you just gave me like Vietnam like flashbacks and to my days at Target when I was like saying the exact same thing that you just said about returns and everything to the leadership in the boardrooms being like, this is why we need to do this guys, because it, it makes sense strategically. And now here we are talking about it again and you’re right. Like, I mean you’ve got, the studies have already shown that people are using Walmart and Walmart plus to buy their groceries. Walmart’s winning with the 100 plus 100,000 plus household income crowd. So like, yeah, if they can find a cheaper option here, they’re gonna do it like this. It’s just no brainer. So, all right, headline number four, Entertainment is this week’s buzzword or is it retailtainment? I can’t wait to get producer Ella’s take on this one because I have a feeling I know where she’s going to go at the end of the show, but maybe she’s going to throw me for a loop. But Entertainment is the week’s buzzword with Fanatics launching Fanatics Studio and Gap Inc. Creating a Chief Entertainment officer role. According to CNBC and PR Newswire, Fanatics launched a joint venture with OBB Media to create content at the intersection of sports and culture with projects including ESPN’s ESPYs a Tom Brady documentary. Oh yeah, you know, I’m going to love that one. And partnerships with WWE, MLB and the 2028 Olympics. Gap Inc. Also appointed Pam Kaufman, former president of Paramount’s international markets and consumer products, as its first ever chief entertainment officer to lead its quote, fashionment strategy. Gap Inc. Is also opening a Los Angeles office on Sunset Boulevard to embed itself in the entertainment ecosystem, building on partnerships like Gap’s Better in Denim campaign with Cat’s Eye and Old Navy’s Disney collaboration and Crystal Ball Time. If you look into the future, who will wear its entertainment strategy better? Fanatics or Gap?
00:23:14 Anne
I think this is a really easy question. I mean it’s fanatics, it’s sports. This is America. They have the flywheel. I mean sports might be the only thing left to unite us as a people anymore. So I think that Fanatics has the best, best, the best forecast for this. And especially if you, I think if you look at like just all the success that even independent sports creators have had on, on their own platforms. Look at barstool sports for example. Like it doesn’t take much to be successful when sports is your groundwork, is the, the groundwork that you’re working off of.
So I, yeah, I think that that goes without saying. I’m a little surprised it took them this long to do that. But I have no doubt that they will figure out how to create just as quality of content and be more flexible. They’re not working like backward like ESPN is or some of the other sports networks to try to move into a new way of creating entertainment. They’re starting with a clean slate with brand new consumers across multiple demographics because of all the other sports betting that they have the, you know, the apparel, they have data from what people are buying. Like they are just in a perfect position to make this work now. The only thing I will say, Gap obviously is in a totally different spot. I think you really have to look at them differently. I don’t think that you can compare. I’m not surprised to see them taking a page out of the Mattel book with Richard Dixon still at the helm.
But I think that this is, this is going to be a valuable role for Gap. But I think it’s actually just this generation or this era’s creative director when it comes to marketing. I don’t think this is going to be like we’re going to be seeing full on episodes that are, you know, inspired by, you know, Gap apparel or a sweatshirt or something. The way that fanatics I think can do this. I Think it’s really going to be about, you know, how are they getting Cat’s Eye in to create unique content in this studio. I think it’s just going to be like a new, a new photo studio or a new creative studio that Gap is using to create some of their own organic content that will help drive marketing traffic to the brand. So I don’t think that they’re the same thing, but if I have to pick a winner, it’s 100 fanatics.
00:25:31 Chris
Oh, 100 it’s fanatics. 100 it’s fanatics. I mean the tie ins are endless sports. You even mentioned the memorabilia side of this too, which is a play that Fanatics is all in on. So. But yeah, and, and, and gap, like I, I 100 agree, but I want to ask you a question too because like I, it feels like I had success with Barbie and I’m gonna replicate that kind of thing with Gap. But like do you need a whole LA division on Sunset Boulevard to do this? And like that’s seems like a gigantic waste of capital to me because I’m with you. It just seems like, you know, even the cited examples in the press release, those are just garden variety marketing. So I’m not seeing how an entertainment office on Sunset Boulevard is necessarily going to soup that up in a way that’s going to pay back with ROI over the time. It just seems super expensive.
00:26:17 Anne
Yeah, I think it’s be, I would say, you know, do brands have their own photo studios and video studios to save money on fees that they’re paying? Absolutely. So if they got a smoking deal in la where all of the talent is that they’re going to want to do collaborations with instead of, you know, expecting people to fly through to San Francisco like that, that it just, again, it’s marketing. It’s not about a content studio and like massive, you know, Paramount Productions, this is about how they’re thinking about. We had success with Cat’s Eye, we had success with this choir. Now what can we do? We can have it in LA and we can shoot it all ourselves on our property without having around the people. Like this is just making their marketing better. And so I don’t hate it. I think it’s just how it’s being. It’s. I think they’re trying to capture this like chief storyteller role, this, you know, this director, this fashion tainment thing. Like they’re trying to gather PR for that. But I don’t think that’s what this ultimately is about.
00:27:18 Chris
That’s interesting too like, you know, I keep going. I actually, I text our buddy Simeon Seal the other day when I was at NRF and I said to him, what was the number you said? Remember when he, we interviewed him and he said, there’s, there’s a number that, you know, that specialty retailers just can’t get above. And he said it’s like 3 billion to $4 billion. And like that’s when I started thinking about these strategies where I’m like, these strategies, they only work for a time when you leverage the marketing up because you’re just the payroll retails are just simply shifting the share amongst themselves each and every year based on what the trends are. And so, yeah, I mean, I can buy into what you’re saying, but like, at the end of the day, like, I don’t know, it’s just, it’s not going to move, it’s not going to move the needle long term from a differentiation perspective. But who knows? Yeah.
00:27:58 Anne
Wow. All right, let’s go on to headline number five. Simbi has unveiled tally 4.0, the most advanced generation of its autonomous shelf scanning robot, featuring major upgrades in AI runtime and vision capabilities. Simbi, as we mentioned, also one of the sponsors of our coverage for FMI today. So we’ll be hearing more, I’m sure on this from the SIBI team later. All right, so according to the Packer, this is an actual news outlet covering grocery. That’s the Packer, like the football team, but one member of the football team.
00:28:33 Chris
Yeah, right.
00:28:34 Anne
Yes. All right. Tally 4.0 introduces up to 12 hours of runtime, ultra high resolution cameras, expanded 3D and 360 degree coverage and Nvidia’s full stack AI infrastructure platform. The robot can now scan hard to reach areas like top stock, upper steel, produce aisles, coolers, freezers, hooks and now bunkers, providing retailers with real time data on what’s in stock pricing and product placement. Simbisa’s tally 4.0 delivers the foundational data layer for physical stores, connecting shelf conditions to decisions around availability, pricing, planogram compliance, forecasting and omnichannel fulfilment. The platform will be available to Simbi customers starting mid-2026, marking a decade since Tally 1.0 debuted as the world’s first autonomous shelf scanning robot. With Brad Begolia and his co founders in China with their first prototype, which is one of the best photos you’ve ever seen, go to the Simbi website. I think they have it posted there, but they’ve come a long way. Chris, are you buying or selling Tally’s 4.0 upgrade.
00:29:43 Chris
Yeah, I’m not, this is not going to surprise anyone, but I’m 100% buying this and I’m not buying it. And just because, as you alluded to correctly at the outset, because we’re here at this FMI conference about to do a tonne of interviews with retailers via Simbi sponsorship of us. But I, as I’ve said before a thousand times on this show, I’m all in on robots. It’s the, it’s the quickest, fastest way to the idea of a connected store. And here’s the cool thing about this announcement. The addition of produce and freezers into the arsenal, along with the other capabilities you mentioned, you mentioned, excuse me, means the tech is almost, almost at the level, if not already there, at full store coverage, which is, is just enormous. As you think about this from a retail operator, meaning store employees, here’s what I’m going to say to everyone listening. Store employees never have to scan out incorrectly ever again because a robot can do it the same way every day. I said 2025 was the year of the robot and it was. So now my prediction is look for even bigger announcements from Simbi and In Store robotics in general in 2026. And so. Yep, tally 4.0. Yep, all in.
00:30:53 Anne
It’s not a surprise that, that I am in agreement. I think you have the full stack now of offering when it comes to In Store robot, an in store robot like Tally 4.0. That eliminates some of the concerns that I think retailers may have had before where it’s not doing the full store coverage. I think now that you have especially areas like produce that have the lowest margins, the highest spoilage of any other products in the store. Now that those are included in this, I think it makes the, the return on investment pretty undeniable from the perspective of a grocery retailer. So I think that in conjunction with longer battery life, higher resolution and 3D image capturing across, you know, up in the stacks like we heard, gives it more applicability across the types of retailers too that it can be in. So to me, this is just onward and upward for Simbi and for In Store Robotics. All right, Chris, let’s go on to the lightning round. Question number one. Tactile activities ranging from writing letters and typewriter clubs to TikTok communities showcasing calligraphy skills and wax seals are giving retro writing instruments a resurgence. Chris, when was the last time you penned a letter?
00:32:15 Chris
Oh man.
00:32:16 Anne
Or typed, I guess, I mean, like.
00:32:18 Chris
No, like pen a letter, like wrote a Letter. Yeah, no, this is a great storey. I don’t know if I told you this storey. I probably have, but Prusa Ella is probably going to want to ask me some follow up questions on this one too. But I remember it vividly. And the last letter I ever wrote. It was summer 1995. I was abroad in a study abroad in Spain. And I wrote said letter to a girl that I asked out in my high school graduation speech in front of everyone. Her name was Carrie Culac. Two K’s. As you know, I’m a big fan of alliteration. But sadly, sadly there was, there was no spark. There was no spark. Got home, never worked out because you.
00:32:56 Anne
Asked her out in front of your entire graduating class. Shocker. That’s like, no, no, no. No embarrassment there or having to expose your.
00:33:06 Chris
Oh, it’s so great, it’s so great I came, I get, you know, everyone’s milling around. We’re at the stadium, everyone’s there. The, you know, everyone’s like after the ceremony, everyone’s like on the field, they’re, you know, high five and hugging each other. And her mom comes up to me, she’s like, you can date my daughter anytime, Chris. And I was like, okay, sweet. And yeah, it didn’t work out. Makes for a great storey though. But yeah, it was, it was. But yeah, that was the last letter I ever wrote. And not surprisingly, unrequited love storeys. All right, number two, Brooklyn Beckham said Victoria Beckham, AKA Posh Spice, quote, hijacked his first dance at his wedding. Whoa. Which was in front of 500 guests at their Palm Beach, Florida nuptials in 2022. He said Mark Anthony called him to the stage at the time when he was scheduled to dance with his wife. And instead Victoria was waiting for him at the stage for a dance. How upset would you be if your mother in law got the first dance?
00:34:03 Anne
I don’t know. I mean I’m on my, I, I like it’s my, gonna be my 10th anniversary this year and I, I think we, we were all about everybody dancing. Like, I think that, that there should not be like we should just do away with the first dance. So I think everybody should be dancing at one time. I don’t think it should be with a mother in law. I don’t know that it should be with a couple, I think, or with a mother in this case. But I, I think like, let’s just get do away with first dance. Everybody jump in, just get the party going right away. It’s like when you sit and people sing happy birthday to you, and you just have to look at them and the candles, like, it’s just awkward. Why are we doing that and that? Let’s just get everybody going. Stop making people sit around and stare at you and just get out on the dance floor. Victoria, Brooklyn, the wife. Everybody get out there and party. That’s my. That’s my thought.
00:34:54 Chris
But what if you were in this situation, like, you thought you were getting the first dance with your husband, and then the mom sweeps in to take it? That would kind of piss you off, wouldn’t it?
00:35:03 Anne
I don’t know. I think it’d be. I think she’s showing who she is, so I don’t think I need to do anything. I think people show who they are on their own. And if she did that, that. Go ahead. You want. You can. You can go. Victoria, you just. You want it to be about you, go for it. I will. I think everybody, and clearly the media is feeling the same way, too, in response to this. Storey.
00:35:26 Chris
Probably nobody’s surprised that she did that, actually. Yeah, right. Okay.
00:35:30 Anne
All right. Italian fashion designer Valentino died at age 933 this past week. If your wardrobe, Chris, was outfitted in one designer brand, which one would you choose?
00:35:41 Chris
Does Hugo Boss count? I think it does, right?
00:35:44 Anne
Yeah.
00:35:44 Chris
Yeah, I think I picked that. I was talking. Who was I talking to last week at nrf, they said Hugo Boss fits them. I was like, yeah, it does. Me too. I think I need to give them another try. So, yeah, that would be my answer. All right, and last one. Magic Mike Live is coming to Broadway, courtesy of Channing Tatum. Do you already have tickets for 2027 NRF? Like, what are you thinking? Magic Mike Live, Is that going to hit your. Is that going to hit your travel itinerary next year?
00:36:09 Anne
I don’t understand how they’re making this a Broadway play.
00:36:12 Chris
Like, oh, you don’t?
00:36:14 Anne
Is it. No. Like, is it Magic Mike? Like, is it the Vegas show? Is it the movie version? Like, I don’t know. This is one that. I mean, I’ve got five or six Broadway shows ahead of this one, I think. Think that I’d like to see before Magic Mike takes the stage on Broadway. Just. I don’t know. You’re talking about moves of desperation in the earlier. About ChatGPT and OpenAI. I think this is a move of desperation for Broadway, especially if it’s just the Magic Mike version. That’s like the Vegas show Magic Mike Live. All right.
00:36:49 Chris
I have so many questions for producer Ella on this show. Oh, my God. Ella, be ready. All right, Today’s podcast was, of course, produced by producer Ella Ella Sirjord. Ella, come on in here and tell us first. First tell us which headline won the show for you, and then I’m gonna do some follow up questions for you.
00:37:04 Ella
Well, Chris, I actually have so many questions for you about the lightning round question, but I think to shock you, I’m gonna lean towards Walmart picking trendy products.
00:37:14 Chris
Wow. Okay, go for it. Yeah, let’s do it.
00:37:17 Ella
Yesterday, I was at Walmart shopping for groceries, and I found myself, per usual, like, in the home decor, in, you know, just wandering around the planters. You guys, it is like anthropology in there. I’m not kidding. Like, the patterns, the textures.
00:37:33 Anne
So good.
00:37:35 Ella
And I mean, who doesn’t love accessibility? Like, if I can go get my groceries and then also get, like, my dream espresso machine. Obsessed with it.
00:37:42 Anne
Yeah.
00:37:43 Chris
All right, so you’re. So you’re all in on that strategy too, Especially online, right? Like, online for sure.
00:37:47 Anne
101,000.
00:37:49 Chris
All right, so, okay, so where do you fall. Two questions. Where do you fall on Magic Mike Live? And then where do you fall on the mother in law question? Because you’re recently engaged, so I’m curious. Like, how do you think about that?
00:38:01 Ella
The Magic Mike Live is very terrifying to me. I’m not going to that. Absolutely not. And to the mother in law question, you know, I have a soft spot for first dances, so I think. I mean, Ann, I understand getting the party started and, like, just, like, jumping in, but I think I would want my solo dance. No. No mother in law involved.
00:38:24 Chris
Yeah, me too. You said you have questions for me. What are your questions for me?
00:38:28 Ella
The speech and asking that girl out in front of everyone. Chris, I want to know what was going through your head. I feel like that’s like my biggest nightmare.
00:38:35 Anne
Had you ever talked to her?
00:38:36 Chris
Oh, yeah. I’d actually been flirting with her pretty heavily for the previous two or three weeks before the speech even. And, well, the gist of the backstory of the speech was I did this speech where I said, like, I just did this list of all the things I wanted to remember about high school. And so I listed, like, a bunch of people’s names. And. And then, like, so we got this one part, and there was one part in the speech. I remember Jenny Dorsett was her name. And I said, I’ll never forget the look on every guy’s face whenever Jenny Dorsett would walk by. That look of God. What I wouldn’t Give to date her. So I said that and then I said, but for me, I’ll never forget the look on my face whenever I saw Kerry Culac.
The look of God, what I wouldn’t give to date her. And so that’s how I set it up. And, and the speech actually killed it. Like my brother, who was like 10 years younger than me, he said like when he was doing, when he was a senior, like the, the, the teacher like gave them like an example of a great graduation speech and they pulled out mine and so he’s like, oh my God, they talked about your graduation speech like 10 years later. So, so, yeah, so it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. It wasn’t as surprising as it sounds. And actually, and actually we did kind of like each other too. We tried to make a spark, but just didn’t happen. And so now we see each other at the reunion and it’s always a fun time where we always slag each other off about it. But that’s kind of the storey there, Ella.
00:39:59 Ella
Yeah, at least it wasn’t a complete surprise to her. I’m happy you guys flirted Prior. And it wasn’t just like, hey, by the way, that’s, that’s where my concern came about.
00:40:07 Chris
But yeah, I’m not the psycho with the binoculars up in the tree like George McFly and back to the Future. Yeah, no, definitely not that. Definitely not that. All right, on that note, the psycho with the binoculars. Happy birthday today to Anne’s favourite Yellowstonian. Ann. Yes. Did you know it’s Luke Grimes birthday today? Anne, how are you celebrating?
00:40:27 Anne
I don’t know who Luke Grimes is.
00:40:29 Chris
He’s the guy you like on Yellowstone. The, the younger brother. The, The Horsemen. The Horsemen. They’re all Horsemen. I don’t know. Anyway, Gina Davis. And to the star of my favourite 1970s basketball movie, the one and only star of one on one, Robbie Benson. And remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, Make It Omni Talk the only retail media outlet run by two former executives from a current top 10 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 special content that is exclusive to us and that Ann and I take a lot of pride in doing just for you. I’m not going to get through this after that horseman joke. 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. You can follow us today by simply going to YouTube.com omnitalk retail. So until next week, I’m back. Of all of us here at Omnitok Retail. On behalf of Ann, myself, producer Ella. Be careful out there.
Omni Talk® is the retail blog for retailers, written by retailers. Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga founded Omni Talk® in 2017 and have quickly turned it into one of the fastest growing blogs in retail.