Hello Omni Talk Fans! This week’s Fast Five is one for the brain, the athlete, the basket case . . . wait, sorry, I meant it is one for the fast food enthusiast, the Starbucks lover, and the geometry teacher.
But before we get into all that, I was genuinely thrilled to have Jennifer Meyers and John Benson from the A&M Consumer and Retail Group join me this week. These two do not mince words, and the result is exactly the kind of show we started Omni Talk to make. Take, for instance, when I asked John point blank if Old Navy’s latest reported new store concept is a good idea.
His answer?
You will just have to listen to find out!
In this week’s Fast Five, the three of us discussed:
- Andy Jassy’s 2026 Amazon Shareholder Letter: Jen called it the moment Amazon went from retailer to infrastructure company. When she said “AI isn’t a side bet, it’s the center of gravity,” that’s the whole letter right there. Oh, and there’s also a band analogy from down under.
- Starbucks’ Back to Starbucks Plan: Leather couches, cushy chairs, throw rugs, quarterly bonuses, expanded tipping, and weekly pay for baristas. I came in as a five on a confidence scale of 1-10 on the likely success of the plan and came out at a 6-7. John’s line about employee experience setting the ceiling for customer experience was the quote of the show.
- Burger King’s 60,000-Person Hiring Push: I went to a Burger King on spring break. It was clean. It was well-run. I didn’t know whether to be impressed or concerned about myself. John gave us the inside baseball on Reclaim the Flame and why Tom Curtis is the real deal. It all comes down to leadership. Every. Single. Time.
- Dollar General + AI-Powered In-Store Audio: Full disclosure: I advise a company in this space, so I was pumped about this one. Jen thinks it’s the most underrated retail media channel out there but warns it’ll fail if it feels like advertising instead of guidance. John asked the right question about where brand partners should actually spend their trade dollars right now.
- Old Navy Sport: Gap’s CEO Richard Dickson is a visionary (Jen worked with him, so she would know), the “Sweat Like This” campaign was genius, and Old Navy is apparently already the fifth-largest athleisure brand in the country. The opportunity is sitting right there, or is it?
And, boy, was there ever a lightning round! Jen’s DoorDash story, which accidentally outed her relationship, is something I will never forget. And we learned that John is Team Alex Cooper, while Producer Ella went full on Team Alix Earle, and I respect her for it.
Listen to This Week’s Fast Five Podcast
Be careful out there,
— Chris and the entire Omni Talk team
P.S. Why don’t scientists trust atoms?
Because they make up everything.
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.