Shownotes
In this special year end edition of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Ownit AI, Avalara, Mirakl, and Ocampo Capital, A&M’s Chad Lusk and David Ritter join Chris and Anne to look back on 2024 and to salute everything that stood out in retail this past year.
Who will win retailer of the year? CEO of the year? And which retail headline would you most want turned into a feature film?
You will just have to tune into find out!
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Transcripts
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Sam Mazinga:You are listening to Omnitalk's Retail Fast Five, 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 Podcasts.
Sam Mazinga: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.
Sam Mazinga:And the Fast 5 is just one of the many great podcasts you can find from the Omnitalk Retail Podcast Network alongside our Retail Daily Minutes 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.
Sam Mazinga: ,: Sam Mazinga:I'm one of your hosts, Sam Mazinga.
Chris Walton:And I'm Chris Walton and we're here.
Sam Mazinga:Once again to discuss all the top headlines from the past year.
Sam Mazinga:Chris making waves in the world of omnichannel retailing because it's our annual awards show episode and today Chris, we are joined by the one and the only David Ritter and filling in as a last minute understudy.
Sam Mazinga:Thankfully for David Brown, we have Chad Lusk, the Lusker of the Alvarez and Marcel Consumer and retail group.
Sam Mazinga:Welcome.
Sam Mazinga:Welcome to you both.
Sam Mazinga:Dave Ritter, it's been a minute since we've seen you.
Sam Mazinga:What have you been up to?
Speaker A:You know, I have been consulting and consulting and consulting but as our practice has grown we've, we've intentionally had more partners come on, come on your show and flex our collective muscle in a different way.
Speaker A:So it's caused me to not kind of step back and not be as, not be as forward but, but you.
Sam Mazinga:Need to take a minute to introduce yourself to our audience.
Sam Mazinga:For those who might be joining us, we've had, we've got a lot of new subscribers since the last time you were on but you really kicked this off this partners between amitok and A and M.
Sam Mazinga:So give the listeners a quick background on why you are our go to for the end of the year awards show.
Sam Mazinga:David.
Speaker A:Well, I have the green jacket.
Speaker A:I think I've been on this show six, seven, maybe even eight.
Speaker A:This might be my eighth time without a doubt.
Speaker A:Obviously when I joined A and M about five years ago, I kicked off the partnership with you and Chris and it's been a wonderful partnership.
Speaker A:Do all my work in retail.
Speaker A:I tend towards fast moving consumables, grocery drug kind of if you can buy it fast and eat it, I tend to help my clients sell it.
Speaker A:So look forward to the discussion today.
Sam Mazinga:And Chris, I forgot to mention Dave's nickname.
Sam Mazinga:Dave also has a nickname on the show, Lumberjack Dave because he always comes festively prepared in his finest flannel for this end of year award show.
Chris Walton:He fits apart today.
Chris Walton:He fits apart today.
Chris Walton:He did a good job with that ad.
Sam Mazinga:In other apparel news, we have the Lusker Chad Lusk back on the show.
Sam Mazinga:And Chad, you are for not being prepared for this podcast and just filling in last minute.
Sam Mazinga:You look very holiday ready right now.
Sam Mazinga:How are you doing today Chad?
Chad Lusk:Well, speaking of dressing the part, yes I am, I am geared up.
Chad Lusk:And you are Batman ready.
Chad Lusk:I am Batman, the dark knight of retail.
Chad Lusk:So I am ready to, ready, ready to engage here.
Chad Lusk:You know I feel like I'm, I'm stepping all over a bit of tradition based on Dave and David having done this show over the last couple years.
Chad Lusk:But in true good consulting, consulting fashion, David got hung up on a few uh, few plane reroutes and, and is in the air and couldn't do it.
Chad Lusk:So you know at the Oscars people accept awards on, on someone's behalf.
Chad Lusk:Today I will be giving awards on, on someone's behalf.
Chad Lusk:So I will be doing my desk.
Chad Lusk:David Brown.
Chad Lusk:And what do you call these?
Chad Lusk:Do you call these the, do you call these the Omnis?
Chad Lusk:Do you call them, what is the name of these awards?
Chris Walton:We have a name for them yet, Chad?
Chris Walton:I don't think we have a name for it.
Chris Walton:We just call them the Omni Talk Awards.
Chad Lusk:You know, that seems like a missed opportunity.
Chad Lusk:Yeah, I'm gonna go with the Omniscient, but I will say so.
Chad Lusk:So David did expedite and send me his award envelopes.
Chris Walton:Oh my God.
Chad Lusk:That's right.
Chad Lusk:So I will be opening these sealed envelopes on behalf of the Omnis.
Sam Mazinga:Oh my God.
Chad Lusk:No one has seen these except for a small collection of A and M auditors.
Chad Lusk:And so we'll be revealing these real time.
Sam Mazinga:Hopefully not the Macy's auditor.
Sam Mazinga:Right.
Sam Mazinga:I mean that's, that's not somebody we want in charge of our, our envelopes.
Sam Mazinga:Well, Chad, thank you for coming prepared.
Sam Mazinga:Thank you David Brown, for making sure that they get, they get to Chad so that he can open them live in front of an audience.
Sam Mazinga:Chad, quick background on you for those who might be meeting you for the first time too.
Chad Lusk:Yeah, absolutely.
Chad Lusk:So I've been with A and M now for about four years.
Chad Lusk:Partner, Managing director out of Chicago, diverse background in both consulting and industry, multi time chief strategy officer, chief Marketing officer in CPG and retail environments.
Chad Lusk:And now spend most of my time kind of at that intersection between consumer and commercial transformation.
Sam Mazinga:Amazing.
Sam Mazinga:Again, thanks to both of you for joining us.
Sam Mazinga:Chris, I think it's time to get to the award.
Chris Walton:Time to get this show started and.
Sam Mazinga:I feel like it is.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:And I can't think of two better people to share the stage with to hand out this year's awards.
Chris Walton:And this year's show is always a big thank you to everyone that's followed us as well.
Chris Walton:We try to have a lot of fun.
Chris Walton:We try to bring the insights.
Chris Walton:But of course, like Ann said at the outset, we try to make everyone feel a little bit happier too.
Chris Walton:All right, so before we get started, a quick, quick read here.
Chris Walton:The countdown is on to Manifest.
Chris Walton:Manifest.
Chris Walton:The future of supply chain and logistics is just around the corner.
Chris Walton:You can join an and me along with 350 plus top speakers across 150 sessions in Las Vegas in February at the Venetian Resort and Casino.
Chris Walton:What is everyone waiting for?
Chris Walton:And you can save 200 on the current registration rate which is 600 off the on site rate by visiting manifest vegas.com save with OmniTok.
Chris Walton:Yes, if you're going to the show and trying to register at the show and paying those fees.
Chris Walton:That's insane.
Chris Walton:Don't do that.
Chris Walton:Save money with Omnitok.
Chris Walton:All right, let's get to it, guys.
Chris Walton:All right, I'm gonna go to Ritter first, since he's the incumbent here on the award show.
Chris Walton:This is his third year in a row doing it.
Chris Walton:8th time he thinks on the show.
Chris Walton:We're gonna start off with retailer of the year.
Chris Walton:David.
Chris Walton: David Ritter, who was your: Speaker A:Drumroll, please.
Speaker A:So I think what all the rest of you are gonna say is Walmart and Costco, and I want it to be interesting.
Speaker A:So I'm going to pivot and I'm going to say Publix Supermarkets.
Speaker A:Whoa.
Sam Mazinga:Dark horse.
Sam Mazinga:What?
Sam Mazinga:Why?
Speaker A:In a world where grocery has just been a bit in upheaval with the Kroger Albertsons deal, Publix has put their heads down and really just focused.
Speaker A:They achieved a 49 increase in net earnings.
Speaker A:They reached $4.3 billion in sales.
Speaker A:They are rocking a 24 market share in the areas where they operate.
Speaker A: new stores in: Speaker A:So they're thought of as the southeastern grocery magnet, but they're expanding beyond it.
Speaker A:And it's not just the subs and the sandwiches they're rocking.
Speaker A:So they're my vote for this year.
Chris Walton:That's right.
Chris Walton:They kicked, and they kicked Kroger's digital play out of the state too.
Chris Walton:Right.
Chris Walton:That's a good pick.
Chris Walton:All right.
Chris Walton:All right, Chad, who is your pick?
Chris Walton:You seem to be very appreciative of that choice by David there.
Chris Walton:I saw you.
Chris Walton:All right, here we go.
Chris Walton:You've got the envelope.
Chad Lusk:If I were voting, I love.
Chad Lusk:I love the grocery space.
Chad Lusk:I really like that call and what they've done to stave off a lot of competitive threats in the.
Chad Lusk:In the southeast.
Chad Lusk:So one wonderful play on that one person too.
Chris Walton:Remember Carson when he put the envelope?
Chad Lusk:Yes, exactly.
Chad Lusk:Oh, you know, I'll say so before I read this.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:You do have to remember that David Brown is our resident kind of luxury apparel fashion beauty expert.
Chad Lusk:So I have a feeling that things are going to slant in that direction.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:So first off the bat here for retailer of the year, we have.
Chris Walton:Wow.
Chris Walton:Wow.
Chad Lusk:So here's.
Chad Lusk:Here's what I'd say to supplement his choice.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:So first, you know, first choice in my closet, obviously, for my fashion get up today.
Chad Lusk:But you know, Dave mentioned kind of grocery a segment and upheaval, like certainly here.
Chad Lusk:This is really one of the very few luxury fashion brands and players doing well.
Chad Lusk:You know, they have a nice secret sauce that they understand luxury differentiation, personalization, customer intimacy in a way, you know, way more than kind of max max luxury players like LVMH and others are kind of doing so Talk about a dark horse.
Chad Lusk:But yeah, David in with French luxury.
Chris Walton:Yeah, the luxury of the luxury.
Chris Walton:Okay, wow.
Chris Walton:We've got some, two very different picks here so far.
Chris Walton:And where are you going to go this year?
Sam Mazinga:I had to give it to Walmart this year.
Sam Mazinga:I did talk.
Sam Mazinga:I think, I think the real tipping point for me, Chris, was when we signed up for our Walmart plus membership.
Sam Mazinga:Uh, and I started to see firsthand the value that a retailer that I, I didn't, I wasn't really, it wasn't my go to before, but the value that it's bringing to my life and how much has changed it personally.
Sam Mazinga:And then all of the headlines, obviously them bringing in a higher income demographic.
Sam Mazinga:They did the fashion reboot this year.
Sam Mazinga:They've got Scoop New York and all the stuff they did for New York Fashion Week.
Sam Mazinga:They were first on the scene with Jenny.
Sam Mazinga:I search the first big retailer I'm seeing back in, in January.
Sam Mazinga:Launching that you got the merging supply chains with Sam's Club this year, the StockX partnership, increasing salaries for store managers to $400,000 a year.
Sam Mazinga:Commerce Technologies, that whole division in the store assist they're doing.
Sam Mazinga:Plus like gotta love the Buster Rhymes creative this holiday.
Sam Mazinga:If anybody hasn't seen it already.
Sam Mazinga:I highly encourage you to watch anything on your streaming services because you'll see that commercial about a billion times.
Sam Mazinga:But I, I just think there's so much that Walmart has done this year to just totally launch it off and be even more of a household name than they already were for people.
Sam Mazinga:So Walmart hands down, got to give it to them.
Chris Walton:Walmart wins it, huh?
Chris Walton:Yeah, go ahead.
Sam Mazinga:Where do you.
Sam Mazinga:What about you?
Sam Mazinga:Like what do I.
Sam Mazinga:Yeah, yeah.
Chris Walton:So I think all three.
Chris Walton:I thought this was the toughest year that we've ever done this show to hand out the retailer of the year.
Chris Walton:Like I thought you could give it to Abercrombie, you could give it to Walmart.
Chris Walton:Tractor Supply could be in the mix.
Chris Walton:Even Dick Sporting Goods and Dave mentioned Costco too.
Chris Walton:But for me, actually my winner is Sprouts.
Chris Walton:Sprouts stock price was $48 at the beginning of the year.
Chris Walton:It peaked at 155, now stands at 147.
Chris Walton:They've doubled down on their smaller, more productive Format, I think opening.
Chris Walton:I think they opened 35 new stores, and we got to see one of those smaller stores when we toured, toured their stores in Phoenix with their real estate team, and we were really impressed with that.
Sam Mazinga:It was.
Chris Walton:Yeah, yeah.
Chris Walton:And the other crazy thing about Sprouts is they're only in 24 states.
Chris Walton:So Jack Sinclair and his very strong leadership team, both on the merchandising and the real estate side, can take this small format, format, prototype and put it in a lot more places.
Chris Walton:So I think the growth here is still.
Chris Walton:There's still a lot more to come.
Chris Walton:So that's why they get my vote this year as the retailer of the year.
Chris Walton:Sprouts.
Chris Walton:Congrats.
Chris Walton:Sprouts.
Sam Mazinga:That's a great pick, Chris.
Sam Mazinga:You're totally right.
Sam Mazinga:I.
Sam Mazinga:I mean, Sprouts, like, when you look at.
Sam Mazinga:We talked about last week, tractor supplies, you know, total addressable market here in rural communities.
Sam Mazinga:Sprouts has so much further to go, too.
Sam Mazinga:So I love that pick.
Sam Mazinga:Well done.
Chris Walton:Food's just been dropping the ball, too.
Sam Mazinga:Oh, God, don't even.
Sam Mazinga:We'll save that for later in the show.
Sam Mazinga:All right, let's go next to headline of the year.
Sam Mazinga:And Chad, you get to start this one.
Sam Mazinga:Open the envelope, please, sir.
Chad Lusk:Here we go.
Chad Lusk:Headline of the.
Chad Lusk:Very intrigued in what.
Chris Walton:I love the sound effects we've got going on for this show.
Chris Walton:We've got actual envelopes opening.
Chad Lusk:All right, interesting.
Chad Lusk:Okay, so US retail store closures up almost 70% this year.
Chad Lusk:Wow.
Chad Lusk:Yeah.
Chad Lusk:Kind of like a collection of headlines versus a singular one.
Chad Lusk:Yeah.
Chad Lusk:This year has had an alarming number of retailers continue to de store in the U.S.
Chad Lusk:you know, according to Coresight, which was footnoted on.
Chad Lusk:On this envelope.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:There's been over 3,100 store closures through.
Chad Lusk:Through end of November.
Chad Lusk:That's up, you know, almost 70% versus last year.
Chad Lusk:45 retailers have filed for bankruptcy.
Chad Lusk:There were 25 last year.
Chad Lusk:And a lot of these companies, you know, had years of just store proliferation only to see their value proposition threatened by a lot of channel blurring occurring in retail more broadly and.
Chad Lusk:And are now scaling back in order to reset and really align on kind of strategically where they're going to compete.
Chad Lusk:So you have discount players like Family, $99 cents, Big Lots, the whole pharmacy retail space.
Chris Walton:Right.
Chad Lusk:CVS, Walgreens, and Rite Aid all alone.
Chad Lusk:Even the convenience store chain, you know, 7 11, to a lesser extent, Circle K, and then, you know, some fashion brands, Route 21, among others.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:Those are really the areas kind of driving it so it's a, it's a real sign of, of struggle, but, you know, indicative of this cumulative retail network which is, you know, very overstored and is going through some, you know, level of course correction.
Sam Mazinga: rethinking or reinvesting for: Sam Mazinga:So, yes, closing some down, but really getting hyper focused on what they're going to do to make the stores itself still exist.
Sam Mazinga:Really worth driving traffic to.
Sam Mazinga:Great pick.
Sam Mazinga:Chad and David, let's go to you, Dave Ritter.
Sam Mazinga:What's your headline of the year?
Speaker A:My headline of the year is that Walgreens is in talks to sell itself to private equity firm Sycamore.
Chris Walton:Ooh, it's a good one.
Sam Mazinga:Why?
Speaker A:About a decade ago, Walgreens was worth $100 billion and had 12,000 stores.
Speaker A:Earlier this year, they announced that over a quarter of its stores are unprofitable.
Speaker A:Between headwinds from PBMs and slowing retail sales, its stock has slid 70%.
Speaker A:I think if this is a follow on to Chad's point about the kind of winds of change in certain segments of the industry, but for Walmart or for Walgreens to offer themselves up for sale to a private equity firm is pretty insane.
Sam Mazinga:Yeah, definitely kind of indicative of what we were talking about earlier with store closures.
Sam Mazinga:Just, you know, the times for those businesses are changing, especially with a lot of retailers moving into online pharmacy this year to stealing some of that share.
Sam Mazinga:That's a, that's a great one, Dave.
Sam Mazinga:Chris, I want to hear yours next.
Chris Walton:You want to hear mine?
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Sam Mazinga:Of the year?
Chris Walton:Yeah, I don't think mine's as good as Dave's actually, so.
Chris Walton:And I've actually been wondering if we should vote at the end of like who had the best pick.
Chris Walton:But, but right.
Chris Walton:So right now Dave gets my vote, but I'll share mine just in case, you know, somebody else likes it.
Chris Walton:They want to, they want to pick it over days.
Chris Walton:But mine is that Amazon walked away from its just walk out technology in its grocery stores and in place of smart cards too.
Chris Walton:I think that's an interesting angle to the story.
Chris Walton:You know, the computer vision system, it held so much promise and it still does in my opinion.
Chris Walton:But, but the walkout angle, just consumers don't care about it.
Chris Walton:You know, that's what we learned about it.
Chris Walton:They just, it's not that big of a differentiator to make the investment in the technology work.
Chris Walton:You have to get something else out of it, which I think we'll start to see.
Chris Walton:But we'll start to see it come through different manifestations of it, like robots in store or other applications of cameras throughout, throughout the store.
Chris Walton:It's just, but it, you know, it's just, it's for Amazon.
Chris Walton:It's going to work in stadiums, like the video you just shot out at Lumen Field and you just released this weekend.
Chris Walton:For those that haven't seen it, it's going to work in environments like that.
Chris Walton:Environments that are high throughput, hard to staff, but at the end of the day, no one cares about just walking out in a grocery store.
Sam Mazinga:Yeah.
Sam Mazinga:Chris, who are we talking to this year?
Sam Mazinga:I remember we did an interview with somebody and I remember you specifically calling out like if they change the name from just walk out Technology to just strictly computer vision for inventory accuracy, like that would be that, that in itself is like, that's the technology angle.
Sam Mazinga:It's just the wrong focus or wrong emphasis.
Chris Walton:Right.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:Right.
Chris Walton:I think, I think it was a fast five weekly Fast five.
Chris Walton:Might have been with Ben Miller, Joe Laszlo too, I don't remember.
Chris Walton:But yeah, no, that was the point.
Chris Walton:Yeah, I was like, I think they just marketed this thing the wrong way, honestly, you know, because.
Chris Walton:And then you don't, you don't also need the degree of accuracy that you need to actually make sure that the transactions are happening the right way too.
Chris Walton:So that's got to be cheaper as well if you were to pitch it that way.
Chris Walton:But I don't know.
Chris Walton:And what was yours though?
Sam Mazinga:Well, no one's going to be shocked if they've ever listened to our show on my retail headline of the year because it is the Google Shopping updates.
Sam Mazinga:I think that this is a huge thing because it's changing the way that it's.
Sam Mazinga:I think we saw this year the beginning of a waterfall of events that change how we start shopping and how we search for products online.
Sam Mazinga:And yes, you have other retailers, Walmart's doing this.
Sam Mazinga:You have other AI platforms like Perplexity and OpenAI that are also, you know, really enabling language based search.
Sam Mazinga:But I think that Google still owns so much of search.
Sam Mazinga:They're still the first place that we go as consumers when we're looking to find something.
Sam Mazinga:And then now you add in Google Lens as a secondary option using the visual search and large language based search.
Sam Mazinga: we're going to be shopping in: Sam Mazinga:Plus you also add in some of the Other things that they, they've added like tracking information at the top of your Google or your Gmail inbox to know exactly when products are coming and real time pricing, display and availability on that first search page when you're searching for something.
Sam Mazinga:I just, I think we have to give huge kudos to Google this year for the, these strides that they've made in shopping.
Chris Walton:All right, so, so I think so.
Chris Walton:I don't.
Chris Walton:I.
Chris Walton:So that's a pretty good one too.
Chris Walton:I think it's between David and Chad.
Chris Walton:You get the tiebreaker here.
Chris Walton:Who wins retail headline of the year.
Chad Lusk:Anna always wins.
Chris Walton:Anna always wins.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:The thing I love about my partner, she's.
Chris Walton:She's nothing if not dyed in the wool.
Chris Walton:Consistent with her, with what she loves and talks about.
Sam Mazinga:So yes.
Chris Walton:All right, let's keep moving.
Chris Walton:So next one up, retail technology of the year.
Chris Walton:Ann, let's go back to you on this one.
Sam Mazinga:Oh boy.
Sam Mazinga:I was not ready.
Sam Mazinga:I will, I did cover Jenny in my last two headlines.
Sam Mazinga:So I'm going to go away from that this year.
Sam Mazinga:So I have my, my retail technology of the year.
Sam Mazinga:You mentioned it earlier, Chris.
Sam Mazinga:In Store Robotics.
Sam Mazinga:I think you have everything from the robotics that are happening, help with automation and picking and back of house.
Sam Mazinga:We talked about with Dometics Kim Beaudry early on just about how that's really getting smaller and smaller to simbi raising another $500 million to presumably kind of support the expansion for more retailers of tally in stores.
Sam Mazinga:Even our visit last week, Chris, we went to SPS Commerce here in Minneapolis and we went into their DC and that was a really big light bulb moment for me not having spent a ton of time in DCs but just to see the room for error in packing facilities, especially when you and I are in charge.
Sam Mazinga:But really just understanding like this is the real place where robotics, you know, in the back of a grocery store or something where they really can help speed things up and make, make things safer for the employees that are in the back of house.
Sam Mazinga:So that robots, Robots are my robots is our.
Chris Walton:See I've been saying robots is 20, 25.
Chris Walton:And so you're preempting me.
Chris Walton:You're kind of coming in early on the robot headline.
Chris Walton:That's interesting.
Chris Walton:Interesting play there, my friend.
Chris Walton:Chad, what about you?
Chad Lusk:Well, let's go to the envelope.
Chad Lusk:So let's go to the envy of the year.
Chad Lusk:Let's see what David had to say.
Sam Mazinga:Doesn't get old, Chad.
Sam Mazinga:Doesn't get old.
Chad Lusk:I'm really glad there's like seven more of Them so I hope.
Sam Mazinga:All right.
Chad Lusk:Invisible barcodes.
Chris Walton:Oh, that was close on my list too.
Sam Mazinga:Me too.
Chad Lusk:Really interesting.
Chad Lusk:I mean still, still early stage being piloted.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:But I think what digimark and Walmart have been putting together as a combination in order to speed up checkout and you know, stem shoplifting as a, as an ancillary benefit could be really, really game changing.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:You know, for, for an n of 1, I still hate self checkout.
Chad Lusk:My wife can't believe it.
Chad Lusk:But like going in and like the, the way of scanning every single item at checkout, like I actually think a cashier can do it faster than me.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:It's the, it's the cue is the only reason I would use it.
Chad Lusk:But this mechanism to, to create speediness in that, in that self checkout delivery could really, really amplify that.
Chad Lusk:And any element in order to be able to, you know, stem that, that theft, loss of people not SC in their pocket, whatever, you know, just avoiding everything we can do to lock up the store has the potential to be a real game changer.
Chad Lusk:So there you go.
Chad Lusk:Tech Tech announcement of the year.
Chris Walton:Yeah, that's a good one.
Chris Walton:That's a good one.
Chris Walton:It also has a lot of backroom applications too, as you think about finding product quickly for employees too over time.
Chris Walton:So yeah, that's an interesting one to keep an eye on.
Chris Walton:All right, I'll go next.
Chris Walton:So for mine, mine this year was, I thought the easy one to do was like a generative AI play, you know, like you could easily do something like that, but I didn't want to do that either.
Chris Walton:Plus I didn't know the exact application yet, which I think is something we've been talking a lot about on the show.
Chris Walton:The retailers don't know exactly what application is the best one yet.
Chris Walton:So for me, this one might surprise you.
Chris Walton:3.
Chris Walton:I'm going with marketplaces.
Chris Walton:Marketplace platforms.
Chris Walton:Walmart is killing it with their marketplace.
Chris Walton:Like it's driving a ton of their retail media growth.
Chris Walton:And then you saw companies like Lowe's, Macy's, Nordstrom's, they've all started to build their own versions.
Chris Walton:And all for the very same reason.
Chris Walton:Right.
Chris Walton:You can expand the assortment, but it also gets you the ability to scale your retail media ad doll much more efficiently.
Chris Walton:So with all the first party data that retailers have out there, I think you're starting to see that marketplaces are going to be the way that you help scale that retail media effort.
Chris Walton:So that's why marketplaces wins for me.
Chris Walton:David, close us out.
Speaker A:All right, so mine devstell is on chats.
Speaker A:Shrink is one of the biggest issues retailers are facing today.
Speaker A:And frankly, shrink in many situations is one of the reasons they're closing stores because they just can't control the shrink.
Speaker A:And when your shrink is higher than your sales, it just becomes untenable.
Speaker A:So this, this technology has not yet been fully rolled out.
Speaker A:But the most effective way to prevent shrink is to lock stuff up.
Speaker A:But locking stuff up is an awful consumer experience.
Speaker A:In comes Walmart with if you have the app and you are a loyalty customer, you can open it yourself.
Speaker A:I don't know exactly what it's called the loyalty phone unlock for locked up goods.
Speaker A:In terms of theft prevention is I think the wave of the future, especially in high theft areas and will enable some stores to stay open if we get widespread adoption.
Speaker A:That's my tech of the year.
Chris Walton:Wow.
Chris Walton:Wow.
Chris Walton:So you like that idea, David, huh?
Chris Walton:That's interesting.
Chris Walton:And just for clarification too, Walmart so far for those listening is only testing that with employees.
Chris Walton:They haven't rolled it out to customers yet, but people are hypothesizing that they could do that.
Chris Walton:But David, do you like that from a customer experience standpoint and an overall retail sales standpoint?
Speaker A:Well, I think there's just places where you have to lock stuff up.
Speaker A:There's organized retail crime.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Speaker A:The only real way that has been proven to reduce that, you can't have a security guard like it is locking this stuff up.
Speaker A:So in a world where that has to happen, I think having an app where the customer can do it themselves rather than wait for someone to come from the back room to do it for them is a much better customer experience.
Speaker A:I also think there's a secondary benefit of driving people to your loyalty program because if you do it once or twice, waiting on someone suddenly that if it's your corner store or the store that you shop the most, you're incentivized to join their loyalty program.
Speaker A:So I think it's a two prong, reduce shrink but also drive additional customers to your loyalty plan.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:Wow.
Chris Walton:Yeah, it's a great, that's a great, great call because yeah, we see a lot, we and I see a lot of companies that are really talking about detection, but prevention is a whole nother ball game.
Chris Walton:So you like this on the prevention angle?
Chris Walton:All right, Chad, who, who won, who won the award here?
Chris Walton:Who takes home retail technology of the year?
Chris Walton:Oh, man.
Chad Lusk:I continue to be the.
Chris Walton:You guys on your toes today.
Chad Lusk:I mean, I like, I like David's David Brown.
Chad Lusk:All right, so Go with, go with the invisible barcodes.
Chris Walton:All right, all right, Very nice.
Chad Lusk:I love Marketplaces, though.
Chad Lusk:That is not, that's not an angle that I thought of for this question or.
Sam Mazinga:I know, I know.
Sam Mazinga:That was a good pick, Chris.
Sam Mazinga:Okay, well, next award is Retail CEO of the Year.
Sam Mazinga:And Chris, we're just going to get it over with, so I'm going with you first.
Sam Mazinga:Who is for the eighth year in a row, your retail CEO of the year, Doug McMillan.
Chris Walton:And honestly, there isn't even a close.
Chris Walton:There isn't even a close stacker, like, I'm not even going to say him and somebody else.
Chris Walton:I'm just, I'm giving it to him for the simple fact that 75% of Walmart share gates are coming from households that make over $100,000.
Chris Walton:That is staggering and a credit to him and his leadership team.
Chris Walton:And it all comes down to the story.
Chris Walton:I've told this story before, but I'm going to tell it again.
Chris Walton:I was at my reunion, my college reunion, 20 year college reunion with a friend of mine.
Chris Walton:He's a CFO in Vegas.
Chris Walton:And he told me that he's like, chris, I love Walmart plus because I never have to go into a Walmart store.
Chris Walton:And he's kind of hoody toity.
Chris Walton:He won't mind me saying that.
Chris Walton:But now he shops via Walmart plus regularly and sees the benefit just like you did and in the beginning of the show.
Chris Walton:So that's why McMillan wins it for me.
Chris Walton:And yeah, and he'll get it next year too, probably.
Chris Walton:But yeah, I love the guy.
Sam Mazinga:Hard not to pick Doug this year.
Sam Mazinga:I actually, Chris, I also picked him.
Sam Mazinga:I know, I know, Chris, I'm telling you, like from actually, you know, another point when Walmart, when somebody from Walmart picked up a return for me the other day that, you know, something didn't work, like in I could pick somebody that day.
Sam Mazinga:They came to my house because they have Walmart plus they picked up a return.
Sam Mazinga:I didn't have to box it or anything.
Sam Mazinga:I was like, this is changing the game.
Sam Mazinga:And probably for the reason that you just mentioned with your, your college friend who's like, I don't have to deal with that errand at all.
Sam Mazinga:And that is a huge, huge time savings.
Sam Mazinga:And I think people are going to become even more loyal to Walmart this year because of that.
Sam Mazinga:But the reason also, Chris, that I picked him that you didn't ment is because I think he made the very bold decision to bring teams back to Bentonville this year.
Chad Lusk:Yes.
Sam Mazinga:And I think that that's going to have a huge impact.
Sam Mazinga:That's a really difficult decision to make as a CEO and he's doing it.
Sam Mazinga:And I think that it's going to really continue to help Walmart be the biggest retailer of, of the year probably next year and years forward because he is bringing people in.
Sam Mazinga:It's an action focused culture, minimal bureaucracy when you're all in person and you're making those decisions quickly.
Sam Mazinga:And he is, I think, the ex of a fearless, humble leader who's pushing his team to take risks in the right way.
Sam Mazinga:So I got to give it to him.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Chris Walton:And that's a great point on the return to office because, you know, I wrote an op ed for the Star Tribune this week about Target and whether it's losing its mojo.
Chris Walton:And the number one question I got in response to that article was how much do you think Target's return to office policy is hurting them from a merchandising and inventory planning standpoint in terms of the training and tutors that they need to give the to the people working in those areas?
Chris Walton:And so I.
Chris Walton:Great call, Great call out.
Sam Mazinga:Okay, Dave Ritter, you're next.
Sam Mazinga:Retail CEO of the year.
Sam Mazinga:Is it going to be.
Speaker A:This is a little bit out of character for me.
Speaker A:Oh, with Fran Horowitz.
Sam Mazinga:Yeah, she's my runner up.
Speaker A:Yeah, she's my runner up too.
Speaker A:To be honest.
Speaker A:There's not that many fashion brands that have gone from hot to not and then have gone from not too hot.
Speaker A:And she has managed to make them credible and cool again with a totally different demographic.
Speaker A:Like they were cool with the four of us probably when we were, you know, teenagers and maybe into college.
Chris Walton:And now like five years ago they're cool with us.
Chris Walton:Like five years ago.
Speaker A:No, but now they're cool again with, with teens.
Speaker A:And you know, I, I think that is, that's almost a case study of one.
Speaker A:I think it would be really tough to, to come up with other examples of a brand that has struggle that.
Speaker A:And I think she's done a wonderful job.
Sam Mazinga:Yeah.
Sam Mazinga:Especially with the allegations against the former CEO this year and all the other challenges that she's faced dealing with.
Sam Mazinga:Like, and it's not just teens.
Sam Mazinga:Dave Ritter, I am a new Abercrombie fan.
Sam Mazinga:This year I've spent, I'm a loyalty member.
Sam Mazinga:I've spent lots of money at that store this year.
Sam Mazinga:It's not just for teens anymore.
Sam Mazinga:But that's a fantastic pick.
Sam Mazinga:Chad.
Sam Mazinga:We're wrapping it up.
Sam Mazinga:Open the envelope and tell us who the retail CEO of The year is.
Chad Lusk:Please.
Chad Lusk:I peaked already because this one, I, I had heard from the Academy that David had a couple nominations, including Tarang Amin from Elf Beauty, who is just kind of nailed marketing on TikTok and Roblox to attract audiences.
Chad Lusk: s are up some ridiculous like: Chad Lusk:David likes to play oddball lifestyle person.
Chad Lusk:So he actually had some consideration from Mark Zuckerberg for integration of AI into advertising.
Chad Lusk:Plus just kind of always great for a headline and how he's changed his whole image with his like gold chain, wearing wrapping, custom cars, kickboxing.
Chad Lusk:Yeah, yeah, just kind of nerdy chill, right?
Chad Lusk:But I had to edge David over and I'm glad that to, to say that the Omni goes to nickel and Brian gets a two.
Chad Lusk:Wow.
Chad Lusk:He gets, he gets a twofer because you know what he's done with Chipotle.
Chad Lusk:Incredible, right?
Chad Lusk:His, his track record in kind of building growth there through innovation and delivering exceptional customer experience.
Chad Lusk:Just absolutely nailing mobile ordering and pickup, just crushing it.
Chad Lusk:And now he's come in and laid out a plan very clearly for Starbucks, right?
Chad Lusk:And we've talked about this before in the podcast, like what Starbucks needed was investor confidence, right?
Chad Lusk:There wasn't acknowledgement of there being problems, why they existed, what they do to fix them.
Chad Lusk:And like after two months Brian was very clear, right?
Chad Lusk:It's about speed, it's about great product, but at the right value, it's about a great in store experience for those who want it.
Chad Lusk:Yes, proof will be in the results.
Chad Lusk: u know, win the OMNI again in: Chad Lusk:So he's given that investor confidence that Starbucks needed.
Sam Mazinga:And yeah, that's only a few months in and Brian Nichols already getting your award, CEO of the year.
Sam Mazinga:Yeah, yeah.
Chris Walton:Talk about tailwind.
Chris Walton:And yeah, yeah.
Chris Walton:But I gotta think, because he, because two of the four picked up, I think Doug wins and.
Chris Walton:Right, Doug wins.
Sam Mazinga:I think so.
Chris Walton:You know, I mean two of them.
Chris Walton:4.
Sam Mazinga:Give it to your, Give it to your guy.
Sam Mazinga:Give it to your guy.
Chris Walton:I'm no math guy, but I think that means he wins.
Chris Walton:But.
Chris Walton:All right, all right, let's keep rolling.
Chris Walton:Most.
Chris Walton:This one's great.
Chris Walton:This one's fun every year.
Chris Walton: verhyped retail technology of: Speaker A:Just to be clear, it was retail technology or trend.
Speaker A:And I'm going with trend as opposed to technology in this case.
Speaker A:Yeah, I actually think tariffs and it's not because I think tariffs are not going to be a big deal.
Speaker A:I think that retailers have not adjusted their, their cogs have not adjusted, their prices have not yet truly adjusted based on these tariffs.
Speaker A:And I think we've got two years of tariff negotiations before any thing is truly implemented.
Speaker A:So in some ways I think, I think tariffs are a bit of a overstated in terms of their immediacy of importance.
Chris Walton:Got it.
Chris Walton:So tariffs is a red herring.
Chris Walton:Yes, that's right.
Chris Walton:And good call out.
Chris Walton:Yes, it's retail technology or trend?
Chris Walton:Most over hyped retail technology or trend.
Chris Walton:And what was yours?
Sam Mazinga:You know, mine's still the caper cart.
Sam Mazinga:Chris.
Sam Mazinga:I have to say like, I still feel like this year we, I definitely saw a grocery shop more use cases for it, but I still feel like it's very cost prohibitive for the majority of grocers.
Sam Mazinga:I think it's going to be a lot longer rollout than we, we even anticipate.
Sam Mazinga:I just, I don't see a lot of retailers investing the money in caper carts especially like chain wide.
Sam Mazinga:I think it's still experimental and they're still too cost prohibitive.
Sam Mazinga:So that's mine.
Chris Walton:Interesting.
Chris Walton:Interesting.
Chris Walton:Chad, I might, I might want you to rebut on that one a little bit.
Chris Walton:I actually think they're properly rated at this point, especially with the retail media play.
Chris Walton:I don't, I don't think they're as overhyped as we used to think they are.
Chris Walton:But, but Chad, what was yours?
Chris Walton:And if you want to comment on any of the things that Ann said about smart cards, because I know you're a big fan with a lot of personal experience in the space, I'll let.
Chad Lusk:Dave Stack down at Schnucks provide the, the rebuttal.
Chad Lusk:All right, over hype tech, let's see what David had to say here.
Chad Lusk:He said okay, interesting.
Chad Lusk:He said device AI which is, which is, which is, which is an interesting one.
Chad Lusk:Right?
Chad Lusk:I mean I think we all, we all know that AI and gen AI is going to be huge, but it's just not, it's just still not ready on consumer devices.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:I mean Apple intelligence isn't really useful yet.
Chad Lusk:Same with Gemini.
Chad Lusk:Like the hype train is early.
Chad Lusk:You know, it's like spending fantasy football draft capital on, you know, rookie Jonathan Brooks this year.
Chad Lusk: w it's gonna be good but just: Chad Lusk:But anyway, that's, that, that was David's.
Chad Lusk:I mean honestly I, I wrote on the back of the envelope, it was, you know, just walk out technologies.
Chad Lusk:You know, I, I, you know, personal vote on that one to, to, you know, compliment what you said earlier.
Chad Lusk:Chris.
Chris Walton:Nice, Nice.
Chris Walton:Well, mine's just a quick one.
Chris Walton:Mine was, mine was Target's CarPlay integration, which I think in general, you know, people would be like, yeah, whatever.
Chris Walton:But Target actually singled that out in their earnings call as one of their key achievements in the third quarter, which I just thought was laughable, especially considering their, their digital growth was 11% against Walmart's 20% and Costco's 13%.
Chris Walton:So to say that CarPlay is what you're talking about technologically is just hilarious to me because if it's true, like, why are you still lagging behind in those, against those competitors?
Chris Walton:So that, that was mine.
Chris Walton:And, but what's the next.
Chris Walton:What's the next category?
Sam Mazinga:And retail headline of the year that you most want to see turned into a movie?
Sam Mazinga:Chad, since you're wearing a Batman sweater, I'm going to go to you first on this one.
Chad Lusk:All right.
Chad Lusk:Headline to movie.
Chad Lusk:So David likes good character play.
Chad Lusk:There's no doubt about it.
Chad Lusk:I already talked earlier about his, you know, kind of image overhaul for, for Zuckerberg.
Chad Lusk:And yeah, he's, he's, he, he likes the thread of the Jeff Bezos story, you know, and, and here he is again with what he's calling.
Chad Lusk:I don't know if you can read it, Jeff Bezos from geek to mob boss mentality, which is, you know, kind of like a Walter White to Heisenberg transformation, maybe even.
Chad Lusk:Yeah, should play him.
Chad Lusk:I don't know.
Chad Lusk:I'm not going to explore that one too deeply.
Chad Lusk:Personally, I'd love to see an action comedy about a gang of porch pirates and how one neighborhood community with an NFL player as their leader decided to strike back.
Chad Lusk:You know, kind of, kind of like Shaun of the Dead meets the Purge meets the Burbs.
Chad Lusk:You know, something like that.
Chad Lusk:I think that could be really a good one.
Chad Lusk:Yeah.
Sam Mazinga:Oh, my God.
Sam Mazinga:Oh, my God.
Sam Mazinga:I.
Sam Mazinga:Chad, you've thought that through.
Sam Mazinga:The screenplay is being written currently, so Chad will be accepting offers from any major studios.
Sam Mazinga:Chris, this is your favorite category, so I'm going to you next.
Sam Mazinga:What, what was your pick?
Chris Walton:It is my favorite category.
Chris Walton:It's my favorite answer of today's show that I personally came up with.
Chris Walton:And mine goes back to what Chad said before.
Chris Walton:And the title of the movie is Four Minutes or Less, the story of what It Took to Bring back the Starbucks Brand.
Chris Walton:With the role of Brian Nichols, played by, yes, being played by Jason Bateman.
Chris Walton:I Think.
Chris Walton:I think that would be so great.
Chris Walton:And, and, and you know, too, both, all y'all, you know what I went into?
Chris Walton:I went into the Starbucks store this weekend and ordered a coffee.
Sam Mazinga:And old style, like, you just.
Chris Walton:Yeah, old style, like, I went up to the cashier, ordered a coffee.
Chris Walton:Like, I ordered an Americano.
Chris Walton:Not just a, not just a drip coffee because that always comes out quick.
Chris Walton:But I ordered Americano.
Chris Walton:I got my order in less than a minute and way before all the other people that were waiting there for their mobile order.
Chris Walton:So my hunch is they're prioritizing in store ordering over mobile ordering based on my experience, which is what we have long said they should do on this show.
Chris Walton:So, yes, four minutes or less, the Brian Nichols story, that's my, that's my.
Sam Mazinga:Magic is already happening for you.
Sam Mazinga:And you just want to see this in an AMC in the next year or so, is what you're saying.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:Or it could just come direct to Netflix.
Chris Walton:I'm fine with that, too.
Chris Walton:And you're not just streaming.
Sam Mazinga:Okay.
Speaker A:Okay.
Sam Mazinga:Dave Ritter.
Sam Mazinga:Where what's yours.
Sam Mazinga:Where what's your.
Sam Mazinga:What's your retail headline you most want to see turned into a movie?
Speaker A:Okay, so this is a true headline off of the BBC and I want to read it first.
Speaker A:Just so you know, I'm not making this up.
Chad Lusk:I love it.
Speaker A:Over $200 million of cocaine in banana boxes.
Speaker A:So the way I want this.
Speaker A:I want this turned into a movie.
Speaker A:Colombia, the Medellin cartel meets Sainsbury's Morrison's executives in a global banana cocaine thriller.
Speaker A:And the Takedown by Interpol.
Sam Mazinga:Oh, my gosh.
Sam Mazinga:That is.
Sam Mazinga:Seems like it's made up.
Sam Mazinga:I can't believe that's a real thing.
Chris Walton:It's probably in production already.
Chris Walton:Oh, my God.
Chad Lusk:He said banana cocaine thriller.
Sam Mazinga:Yes.
Sam Mazinga:That's the first time that.
Chris Walton:Is there any other kind?
Sam Mazinga:That's hard.
Sam Mazinga:Even we've seen cocaine bears.
Sam Mazinga:Now we're doing banana cocaine thrillers.
Sam Mazinga:Okay, I'll close this up here.
Sam Mazinga:Mine was a movie about the Macy's auditor that somehow swindled $1.5 million and nobody caught this individual.
Sam Mazinga:And then now Macy's coming out just a couple weeks ago and be like, yeah, we figured it out.
Sam Mazinga:It's not a big deal.
Sam Mazinga:Nothing was impacted.
Sam Mazinga:Nothing.
Sam Mazinga:I think there's so much more to that story.
Sam Mazinga:So to me, it's like maybe a true crime documentary more than it is a thriller.
Sam Mazinga:But I still think that we're going to.
Sam Mazinga:I can already see the, like, blurred out faces and the altered Voices with all the people in the Macy's organization that definitely knew what was going on and what this person was doing with all this money that they, they swindled.
Sam Mazinga:So we'll see, we'll see who wins, though.
Sam Mazinga:Chris, you're.
Sam Mazinga:I'm gonna give you this.
Sam Mazinga:The say.
Chris Walton:Oh, you can't make me pick my favorite category.
Sam Mazinga:And yes, that's why I'm making you pick it.
Sam Mazinga:It.
Chris Walton:I'm going with, I'm going with the.
Chad Lusk:What was it?
Sam Mazinga:The coke.
Sam Mazinga:Banana.
Chris Walton:Banana what?
Chris Walton:It tastes.
Sam Mazinga:Thriller.
Sam Mazinga:Cocaine.
Sam Mazinga:Banana thriller.
Chris Walton:The cocaine banana thriller.
Chris Walton:Because those are just three words that I've never said in my life together.
Chad Lusk:And we'll never say again.
Chris Walton:All right, let's keep rolling.
Chris Walton:So next one, best strategic move from a struggling retailer.
Chris Walton:Or if you want to just go, best strategic move that you saw in retail this year, that's okay, too.
Chris Walton:And why don't you go first this time?
Sam Mazinga:Mine was Kohl's and Babies R Us.
Sam Mazinga:I think if something's going to help get bring a younger demographic into Kohl's, like you've already got them coming for Sephora and I think Babies R Us and creating a baby registry for Kohl's shoppers, I think that was, that was a smart move.
Sam Mazinga: 'm excited to look to that in: Chris Walton:Awesome.
Chris Walton:Awesome.
Chris Walton:That's a good pick.
Chris Walton:Yeah, we've always been, always been curious to see what impact that's going to have.
Chris Walton:Yeah, like you said, we haven't seen any yet.
Chris Walton:Mine actually, real quick, was she in the children's place?
Chris Walton:I love that move.
Chris Walton:I think it's a different distribution point for Children's Place and one that also potentially changes the economics of your DTC model long term and particularly in a category where delivery speed just isn't that important to you.
Chris Walton:And so I think that's an option that a lot more people should start to take a look at here.
Chris Walton:And it honestly could be a threat to a lot of retailers should it start to take off as that option.
Chris Walton:But David, what about you?
Speaker A:So mine's the non traditional retailer, but Carvana.
Speaker A: So in: Chris Walton:99% has rebounded from a low of.
Speaker A:$4, and now it's $230.
Speaker A:And the strategy behind the turnaround was streamlining and cutting costs.
Speaker A:It was improving customer experience.
Speaker A:And then the last thing is they got smart and they went into ancillary services, so financing vehicle auctions.
Speaker A:They just expanded the business model, and they've rebounded.
Speaker A:I mean, in a pretty darn impressive way.
Chris Walton:Yeah, that's a great pick.
Chris Walton:Wow.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:Kind of off the radar screen for us too, here at the show.
Chris Walton:All right, Chad, what about you?
Chad Lusk:All right.
Chad Lusk:I had to redefine the category for David.
Chad Lusk:So this is.
Sam Mazinga:You guys are just adding.
Chris Walton:This is.
Sam Mazinga:I love how you're just taking it into your own hands.
Sam Mazinga:The Omnis will be the amazing, and Chris and I will be the guests.
Sam Mazinga:Yes.
Sam Mazinga:I love this.
Sam Mazinga:Keep going.
Chris Walton:That envelope looks like the end of the Departed too, where he, like, scrapes out his name or whatever, you know, if you know that reference.
Chad Lusk:But anyway, best strategy from a rebounding retailer.
Chris Walton:Rebounding retailer.
Chris Walton:Okay.
Chris Walton:Okay.
Chad Lusk:And we.
Chad Lusk:We've talked about this one already, so no need to.
Chad Lusk:To mine it too much deeper.
Chad Lusk:But.
Chad Lusk:But it is Abercrombie and rebounding because they are coming off, obviously, a really good 23 as well.
Chad Lusk:They were up 16 last year, up another 12 to 13 this year.
Chad Lusk:We talked about kind of abandoned.
Chad Lusk:Abandoning the legacy image and, you know, now creating, you know, accessible product designs.
Chad Lusk:Feel good marketing from America's most hated retailer to being cool and hot again.
Chad Lusk:And obviously the fashion retail market's not posting those numbers overall.
Sam Mazinga:Well, I can't disagree with that one.
Sam Mazinga:That's a good call, I think.
Sam Mazinga:Abercrombie, like I said, just go.
Sam Mazinga:Go give it a visit, people.
Sam Mazinga:Go check it out and see why.
Sam Mazinga:Why it's been to.
Sam Mazinga:So talked about in today's award show.
Sam Mazinga:All right, let's go to the next category, Best new partnership of the year.
Sam Mazinga:Chad, back to you for this one, sir.
Sam Mazinga:Let's get your envelope ready and tell.
Chad Lusk:Us new partnership is all right.
Chad Lusk:And the Omni goes to David.
Chad Lusk:Staying within again, the fashion and apparel space.
Chad Lusk:But it is Skims with North Face, so.
Chad Lusk:Interesting one, right?
Chad Lusk:So Skims has.
Chad Lusk:Has developed, you know, kind of a series of partnerships most recently here with.
Chad Lusk:With North Face and, you know, kind of take Kim Kardashian's influence here.
Chad Lusk:And they.
Chad Lusk:They've done these with brands like, in the past, like Fendi and.
Chad Lusk:And Swarovski, and they've also taken to sports with the WNBA and Summer Olympics.
Chad Lusk:And these partnerships have really helped Skims kind of break away from just pure Shapewear exclusively and create a real brand.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:And so the North Face partnership kind of brings them into outerwear, specifically pointed to skiing and snow sports.
Chad Lusk:And when you look at great partnerships, it draws on the strengths of each brand.
Chad Lusk:Right here it's North Face with their well known designs, functionality and quality.
Chad Lusk:And outerwear, Skims brings that kind of base layering.
Chad Lusk:It's sculptive and compressive fit with its classic color palette.
Chad Lusk:So, so, so this combination really makes both recognizable and in particular, Skims really wins here because of the category expansion.
Sam Mazinga:So, Chad, what is the sculpt?
Chad Lusk:What's the.
Sam Mazinga:Your favorite sculpting component of the skims?
Sam Mazinga:Do you have a preference?
Sam Mazinga:Is it a top layer, a base, a bottom layer?
Sam Mazinga:Like, do you have a preference?
Sam Mazinga:Personally, I'm just curious.
Chad Lusk:Yeah, no, I always believe in a good sculpting base.
Sam Mazinga:Yes.
Chad Lusk:Really kind of even out the hips and the, the upper thighs.
Sam Mazinga:Good foundation.
Chad Lusk:I really.
Chad Lusk:But yeah, no, absolutely.
Chad Lusk:Especially for something like skiwear, you know, it's really important to get that mobility.
Sam Mazinga:Yeah.
Speaker A:While.
Chad Lusk:While looking sleek, you know, on the slopes.
Chad Lusk:And thank you for asking.
Sam Mazinga:I do, I do love that pick though, Chad, because I think it's really important to call out too, that there's a quality component to that partnership.
Sam Mazinga:Like Skims is not just Kim.
Sam Mazinga:I think people think Kim Kardashian's brand.
Sam Mazinga:No.
Sam Mazinga:The quality of that product in each and the quality of the North Face product too.
Sam Mazinga:Like they both hold their own and so together they're even better.
Sam Mazinga:But I think that's a great pick.
Sam Mazinga:Dave Ritter.
Speaker A:So mine's a little non traditional.
Speaker A:It's more of a collab than a partnership.
Sam Mazinga:But that's okay.
Sam Mazinga:We take collabs here.
Chris Walton:Collab partnership.
Chris Walton:I think those are cooler than everybody.
Speaker A:Sarah V with Michael Cera.
Speaker A:So I just think that that collaboration has been wonderful.
Speaker A:So their kind of tagline in the marketing campaign was just to clear things up once and for all.
Speaker A:CeraVe is developed by dermatologists, not by Michael Cera.
Speaker A:Read here for the full story and to shop Sarah V products.
Speaker A:I just think it's creative.
Speaker A:I love it.
Sam Mazinga:I love it, I love it.
Sam Mazinga:Chris, where do you land?
Sam Mazinga:What was yours?
Sam Mazinga:Best partnership?
Chris Walton:Yeah, I liked.
Chad Lusk:I did.
Chris Walton:I did like Chad's because, you know, I've personally moved away from shapewear around the age of 45, but.
Sam Mazinga:Moved away?
Chad Lusk:Yeah.
Sam Mazinga:Away from shapewear.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Sam Mazinga:Okay.
Sam Mazinga:You just want it all hanging out.
Chris Walton:Just doesn't work anymore, you know, I think most people would attest that, but mine, mine, I'm going back to Starbucks and DoorDash.
Chris Walton:Yeah, we talked about this a couple months ago.
Chris Walton:You know, Starbucks is now white labeling delivery via DoorDash directly through their app.
Chris Walton:And I love this because there's one probably a market for it.
Chris Walton:I think that's a key thing.
Chris Walton:There's people that are willing to pay for it, which is a new, new, new market to get more coffee into more people's mouths.
Chris Walton:And the other part I love about too, which I talked about on the show, it creates more slack for Starbucks operations in store because it gives them more time to prepare orders because delivery timing is not as, you don't need to be as fast for delivery as you do when you're ordering serving up coffee in store like we talked about before.
Sam Mazinga:Well, I think that DoorDash won the year for partnerships, Chris.
Sam Mazinga:So I'm already gonna give this category to you and I because I also picked but a different partnership with Lyft.
Sam Mazinga:Actually that was my, my partnership of the year.
Chris Walton:Yeah, that was a good one too.
Sam Mazinga:They, they now DoorDash members can get max subscription Starbucks like you said.
Sam Mazinga:But I think that there's a lot of opportunity to for again, what they'll learn with Starbucks is really important.
Sam Mazinga:But I also think that what they'll learn with Lyft about delivering people and goods at the same time I think really will lock it down for them.
Sam Mazinga:They've made really smart strategic partnerships this year.
Sam Mazinga:So, so DoorDash wins, Chris.
Sam Mazinga:End of, end of category.
Chris Walton:I think so.
Chris Walton:That's two out of four again.
Chris Walton:And I think that's the math.
Chris Walton:Right?
Chris Walton:That's the math we're going on here.
Chris Walton:All right, my next, the next headline is again one of my personal favorites and it's most laughable headline of the past year.
Chris Walton:David Ritter, would you do the honors please?
Speaker A:Certainly.
Speaker A: laughable retail headline of: Speaker A:Guys, the hype behind the Metaverse has disappeared.
Speaker A:I think it's really hard to imagine the small number of people that are still on Roblox.
Speaker A:Mostly a younger demographic shopping a high end Coach release in the spring.
Speaker A:I really don't think they're gonna go buy a $500 bag off that they found on the Metaverse.
Speaker A:And the reason that it's not the Metaverse that makes it, it is the, it is literally how you allocate your resources.
Speaker A:And for a company like Coach that has a limited amount of resources, I just think there's a much more pragmatic and Cost effective way to deploy their resources to actually really drive digital awareness.
Speaker A:It's just, it's the last place that I would invest if I was thinking about digital marketing or branding for a smaller apparel firm.
Chris Walton:Amen, brother.
Chris Walton:Amen.
Chris Walton:I love that you just said that.
Chris Walton:I love that you called that out.
Chris Walton:And what's yours?
Sam Mazinga:Mine was the Amazon headline about ordering Pepsi from the middle of a whole food store.
Chris Walton:Oh my God, how did I forget about that?
Sam Mazinga:I just cannot get over the idea that.
Sam Mazinga:I mean, there were a lot of Amazon grocery headlines this year that have me.
Sam Mazinga:That had me just in disbelief, but this is really the one for me.
Sam Mazinga:That's tops.
Sam Mazinga:Like, I just cannot imagine somebody doing that.
Sam Mazinga:That just put it in the damn aisle.
Sam Mazinga:I mean, at that point in time or, or wreath.
Sam Mazinga:I don't know.
Sam Mazinga:It was ridiculous.
Chris Walton:Put it in the damn aisle.
Chris Walton:Like, throw me the damn ball.
Chris Walton:Put it in the damn aisle.
Chris Walton:Good one.
Chris Walton:That's a good one, Chad.
Chris Walton:Chad was like.
Chris Walton:Chad either has that same one or was thinking, that's a good one.
Speaker A:What?
Chris Walton:What is it?
Speaker A:That's it.
Chris Walton:That's a.
Chad Lusk:That's a very good one.
Chad Lusk:I remember when that one popped up and it was just so immaculately confusing.
Chad Lusk:All right, so laughable headline.
Chad Lusk:Let's see what we got here.
Chad Lusk:Entry from David.
Chad Lusk:This is good.
Chad Lusk:All right.
Chad Lusk:Macy's closes underperforming stores and some still stay open.
Chris Walton:Oh my God, that's a good one.
Chris Walton:Whatever does David Brown mean there, Chad?
Chad Lusk:I mean, listen, struggle issues here, you know, the, the, the, the momentum continues to work against them to the point earlier around store closures.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:Macy's another victim.
Chad Lusk:And you know, while we inherently believe in the.
Chad Lusk:Sometimes you have to get smaller in order to grow.
Chad Lusk:The, the search for the value proposition there is still, you know, met.
Chad Lusk:Met with peril.
Chad Lusk:And you know, it just seems like a continual downward spiral.
Chris Walton:Yeah, right.
Chris Walton:That might actually, that, that topic might come up later here in our last award too, just as a tease.
Chris Walton:All right, so.
Chris Walton:And I, and I, I think you won.
Chris Walton:I'll just give mine really quickly, but I think you won again.
Chris Walton:This one as, as making that authority authoritative decision here.
Chris Walton:But mine was actually.
Chris Walton:And it technically happened like December 22nd of last year, which was absolutely recorded last year's award show.
Chris Walton:So that's okay, right?
Sam Mazinga:Yeah.
Chris Walton:Fits the statute of limitations, right?
Chris Walton:Yes.
Chris Walton:Okay.
Chris Walton:Okay, so my winner then is Wayfair's CEO's end of the year email gaff where he encouraged people to work longer hours.
Chris Walton:And here's the quote for those that May not remember and you can decide for yourself, quote, working longer hours, being responsive, blending work in life is not anything to shy away from.
Chris Walton:There's a lot, there's not a lot of history of laziness, being rewarded with success.
Chris Walton:Hard work is an essential ingredient in any recipe for success.
Chris Walton:I embrace this and most successful people I know do as well.
Chris Walton:End quote.
Chris Walton:That was from Wayfair CEO and that sparked a hell of a lot of controversy on, on social media and I think rightly so too, in my opinion.
Sam Mazinga:Oh my gosh.
Sam Mazinga:Yeah, man, I cannot believe that.
Sam Mazinga:Okay, well, let's see what happened for him.
Sam Mazinga:That'd be, it'd be good to look at, at the, the employment stats after that one of how many people were like, and I'm out.
Sam Mazinga: let's go to the Last award of: Speaker B:Tomorrow's headlines today.
Sam Mazinga: at you predict will happen in: Sam Mazinga:Let's go to you, Dave Ritter.
Sam Mazinga:Close us out.
Sam Mazinga:What's the headline?
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker A:Amazon launches another new grocery format.
Speaker A:Amazon can't quit grocery and they can't get grocery.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:It is just, it happens every year.
Speaker A:And I think it's a good bet that in the headlines next year they'll have some slightly different variants of what they've tried and failed several times before.
Speaker A:Yeah, it's bad because they have such a logistical prowess, but they just seem to not be able to nail grocery and, and I have all the faith in the world that they will continue to try.
Sam Mazinga:Maybe we can buy Pepsi at that grocery store.
Sam Mazinga:Who knows, Dave, anything is possible.
Sam Mazinga:Chad, let's go to you.
Sam Mazinga: u think we're going to see in: Chad Lusk: one, Dave, for most laughable: Chad Lusk:Another format.
Chad Lusk: Okay, early: Chad Lusk: See: Chad Lusk:Interesting.
Chad Lusk: o what you guys predicted for: Chad Lusk:Oh, in last year's show, right.
Chad Lusk:And David Brown said, you know, he called it the bloodbath to boom projection.
Chad Lusk: That while in: Chad Lusk: He thought in: Chad Lusk:I will say Dave Ritter called it much better that there was going to be belt tightening, more saving versus spending, trading down.
Chad Lusk:And 24 is a little too early to call for the recovery.
Chad Lusk:So David Brown's going back to the well again.
Chad Lusk:He's saying Listen, easing monetary policies, lower interest rates, rates high, stock market, high end Chinese consumers coming back.
Chad Lusk:That's been missing for a few years.
Chad Lusk:He's calling for the boom.
Chad Lusk:I actually think this might be a little bit of a la la land moment, you know, where maybe the Omni's been, been, been given differently.
Chad Lusk:Here's what I'll say.
Chad Lusk:And I'm gonna kind of flashback moment.
Chad Lusk:I'm gonna go back to what you said last year, Chris, where you expected some shake up in Target's leadership in 24.
Chad Lusk:Okay.
Chad Lusk:Didn't happen.
Chad Lusk:But let's look at what happened this year.
Chad Lusk:The difference between Walmart and Target could not be more palpable this year.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:Target stock has recovered a little bit from its 52 week low in November, but it's still down 6 or so percent on the year.
Chad Lusk:Amazon's up 50, Walmart's up 88.
Chad Lusk:Zero.
Chad Lusk:Right.
Chad Lusk:McMillan's the CEO of the year.
Chad Lusk:You know, it's like giving it to Michael Jordan every year.
Chad Lusk:You're looking for other folks, but, you know, counter that with what's happening at Target.
Chad Lusk: ure something has to be up in: Sam Mazinga:Yeah.
Sam Mazinga: l be on stage at NRF early in: Sam Mazinga:So I'll be curious to hear what he has to say.
Sam Mazinga:Their plans are too, Chris.
Chad Lusk:Yeah, yeah.
Chris Walton:If he makes it through the fiscal year too.
Chris Walton:So the year is not over yet either.
Chris Walton:That's the other thing here that we got to factor in.
Chris Walton:But yeah, I think it, I think that prediction could come true to some degree.
Chris Walton:Mine, mine goes back to.
Chris Walton:I kind of alluded to it before.
Chris Walton:I think this might be the actual year that we see activists win their battle to take Macy's private.
Chris Walton:I don't know that Macy's can hold on very much longer, particularly since they're already now in another activist battle just after getting out of the last one.
Chris Walton:So.
Chris Walton:And you know, strategically it just seems like a really hard ship to turn around.
Chris Walton:So.
Chris Walton:And the real estate does seem very valuable within that activist play relative to other activist plays we've seen in the past.
Chris Walton:So I think this might be the year that comes to fruition.
Chris Walton:And that's mine.
Sam Mazinga:Okay, well, I'll close it out with mine, which is that I think we're going to start to see some regional, especially grocers, start to converge their retail media networks.
Sam Mazinga:I think that we're going to start to see fewer or less value in every single grocer having their own retail media network.
Sam Mazinga:I think it's going to be too much for the brands.
Sam Mazinga:So I think we're going to start to see more of them coming together to, to pool pull their retail media networks into one to really be more appealing to brands and to compete with the likes of, you know, the bigger ones out there, the Albertsons, the Krogers and the Walmarts and others.
Sam Mazinga:So yeah, that's, that wraps us up.
Sam Mazinga:That's it.
Chris Walton:It's a great point to end on and yeah, it's a great point to end on because they kind of have to.
Chad Lusk:Right?
Chris Walton:I mean, they kind of have to get into that position.
Chris Walton:You think this will be.
Sam Mazinga:Feels like it.
Chris Walton:All right.
Chris Walton:All right.
Chris Walton:But David, Chad, any parting thoughts?
Chris Walton:Anything you guys want to add here before we wrap up the show?
Chris Walton:David?
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Great show.
Speaker A:Thank you all.
Speaker A:And Chad, I know you wear underwear or underwear underneath your Batman costume.
Speaker A:You don't have to hide from it.
Chad Lusk:Don't know where to go with that.
Sam Mazinga:He's speechless.
Chad Lusk:As I gallivant about the second city here in Chicago is the dark night of retail.
Chad Lusk:You know, skims are always a part of my, my success.
Sam Mazinga:Yeah, it's the skims.
Chris Walton:I want to see Chad in an actual cowl.
Chris Walton:That, that's, that's, that's my, that's my go forward for you, Chad.
Chris Walton:A cow.
Chris Walton:Put on the cow.
Chris Walton:All right, well, that closes us up.
Chris Walton:Happy birthday today.
Chris Walton:This is like the best birthday day ever.
Chris Walton:Happy birthday today to Steven Spielberg, Billie Eilish, and to the most perfect man ever created, Brad Pitt.
Chris Walton:Yeah, how's that for a trifecta, my friends?
Chad Lusk:All right.
Chris Walton:And remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, it was actually hard to pick who to give the birthday to.
Chris Walton:If you can only listen to one retail blog in the business, Make It Omnitok the only retail media outlet run by two former executives from a current top 10 US retailer.
Chris Walton:Our Fast Five podcast is the quickest, fastest rundown of all the week's top news.
Chris Walton:And our newsletter tells you everything you need to know each day.
Chris Walton:And it always features special content that we do exclusively for you and that Ann and I take a lot of pride in doing.
Chris Walton:So thanks as always for listening in.
Chris Walton:Please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to your podcast or on YouTube.
Chris Walton:You can follow us today by simply going to YouTube.com omnitalkretail Chad, one final question.
Chris Walton:If people want listening, want to get in touch with you, David, Anyone at the A and M consumer in retail group, what's the best way for them to do that.
Chad Lusk:Yeah, absolutely.
Chad Lusk:If you want to talk to us about your, your company's opportunities and have a few laughs along the way, you can, you know, check out our website at Alvarez and marcel-crg.com you could also find us in LinkedIn, Alvarez and Marcel, consumer and Retail Group.
Chad Lusk: with one more prediction for: Chad Lusk:You guys are awesome.
Chad Lusk:Thank you.
Sam Mazinga:Thanks, Chad.
Sam Mazinga:Thanks to all of our listeners.
Sam Mazinga:That's why, that's why you all make it happen.
Sam Mazinga:So thank you so much.
Sam Mazinga:And we hope you have a safe and happy New Year.
Sam Mazinga:Right?
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:Yeah, yeah.
Chris Walton:Happy holidays, everyone.
Chris Walton:On behalf of David, Chad, Ann, and myself, have a wonderful new year.
Chris Walton:And of course, as always, be careful out there.