Shownotes
This segment from the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, and Quorso, explores Walgreens' strategic move into party supplies following Party City's closure. Chris and Anne analyze the $2 billion market opportunity and why former Party City executive Tracey Koller's merchandising expertise makes this expansion particularly smart.
- 10:22 – The $2 billion party supply opportunity
- 11:17 – Emergency shopping use cases and convenience factor
- 13:01 – Tracy Kolder's merchandising background advantage
For the full #fastfive episode head here: https://youtu.be/xSLvyg5Sze4
#walgreens #partysupplies #partycity #convenience #retail
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Transcripts
Walgreens is dedicating in store space to party supplies and expanding its assortment in the category.
Speaker A:According to Retail Dive, Walgreens is expanding its party supply lineup in stores and online.
Speaker A:Ann.
Speaker A:Yeah, and online.
Speaker A:The retailer now has dedicated in store space for party supplies with nearly five times more than before.
Speaker A:Not nine times like Ferris Bueller, but five times.
Speaker A:Some of the retailers party items are also available for 30 minute pickup or even one hour delivery should you need that helium balloon.
Speaker A:And yes, because the expanded assortment includes helium balloons, cake toppers, party plates, napkins, banners, foil backdrops and decorative centerpieces.
Speaker A:And some of some of the items and are starting at $1.99.
Speaker A:Can you believe this?
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker B:What a steal.
Speaker A:I know, right?
Speaker A:The move comes after Party City filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy a second time and then announced the closure of nearly 700 locations.
Speaker A:And as you can tell by the increased enthusiasm in my voice as I read that headline, this is also the A and M Put yout on the Spot question.
Speaker A:All right, all right, here it is.
Speaker A:And I quote, after Party City's Chapter 11 filing and liquidation, is there still enough to go around that physical retail.
Speaker A:Physical retail.
Speaker A:Ann needs new players to pick up the slack and introduce these categories, end quote.
Speaker B:Yes, I do think so.
Speaker B:And not all retail players.
Speaker B:Let me make note of that.
Speaker B:But Chris, have you ever found yourself like on a Christmas morning thinking, I need some things, I need to get plates because we don't have enough plates.
Speaker B:I need some kind of.
Speaker A:I have had a plate emergency.
Speaker B:Yes.
Speaker B:You know what's open on Christmas?
Speaker A:Not a hell of a lot.
Speaker B:Not a hell of a lot.
Speaker B:But you know what is open?
Speaker A:Walgreens 24 hours.
Speaker B:Walgreens, 24 hours stores.
Speaker B:Which is, I think why is so, so brilliant.
Speaker B:Not only is this an area where I think people are already going, you already know that if, if it's a, especially in a holiday emergency situation where you need these types of products, Walgreens is available.
Speaker B:They're going to be open.
Speaker B:And I also think that this is going to increase the basket for some of those shoppers.
Speaker B:They're not just going to be going there to get the party supplies.
Speaker B:They're going to be picking up extra sodas or maybe they're picking up like little toys or candy or something to put in these party bags.
Speaker B:Like, I think this is a very, very smart, strategic move for Walgreens.
Speaker B:And even as I've been walking, I was in New York last week.
Speaker B:We were in Paris this week.
Speaker B:Even as you walk in these little city Versions of, you know, Carrefour or whatever at Montepri might be.
Speaker B:They have significant party supply areas and they are wiped out.
Speaker A:And the French know how to party.
Speaker A:That shouldn't be a surprise.
Speaker B:I know, but it's like, everybody needs these products.
Speaker B:This makes sense.
Speaker B:Birthday candles.
Speaker A:So you're all in on this move?
Speaker B:I am 100% in.
Speaker B:I think this is so smart.
Speaker B:And I do think, to answer A and M's question, that this is 100% one retail retailer that should be picking up the slack.
Speaker A:Okay, okay, okay.
Speaker A:And.
Speaker A:Well, I'm gonna.
Speaker A:I'm gonna respectfully, respectfully agree with you.
Speaker A:I'm gonna agree with you on this one.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker B:You had me worried.
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker A:No, I can tell how A and M's thinking about this based on how they asked that question.
Speaker A:I'm kind of surmising that.
Speaker A:But no, I think, you know, first of all, the party city business is nothing to sneeze at.
Speaker A:I looked it up.
Speaker A:It was $2 billion.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Consistently.
Speaker A:That's a lot.
Speaker A:That's a lot of change.
Speaker A:That's a lot of party supply.
Speaker B:Those helium balloons are not cheap.
Speaker B:Have you bought one?
Speaker B:They're like 12, $15 for like a balloon.
Speaker A:I try not to buy them as often as possible, to be honest, but I have had to buy them.
Speaker A:Yes.
Speaker A:And they are.
Speaker A:Yeah, they are.
Speaker A:There's a margin in those helium balloons, you know, but I think for a couple other reasons, I think it's a great addition too.
Speaker A:So one, I think it's a solid incremental item.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:For the floor pad.
Speaker A:Right?
Speaker B:Yep.
Speaker A:And, you know, I go through Walgreens all the time.
Speaker A:I'm like, there's so much slow moving stuff in here.
Speaker A:Like, you could dedicate more space to stuff that you need, like on the occasions that you're talking about.
Speaker A:Then the other thing I thought about too, is they have that whole service counter.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Which is an element of a Walgreens experience that not a lot of other retailers have.
Speaker A:Sure.
Speaker A:You can get your passport photos.
Speaker A:You can get real photos developed.
Speaker B:Pick up packages.
Speaker A:Packages.
Speaker A:Pick up packages.
Speaker A:So why can't you put helium behind there?
Speaker A:It's totally easy.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker B:And it gives the people something to do when they're bored, you know, just like.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:Because the Walgreens employees don't have enough to do.
Speaker A:Right.
Speaker A:No.
Speaker A:Shout out to them.
Speaker A:Those guys work hard.
Speaker B:Oh, my God.
Speaker A:But anyway, the other point I'd make, and this is inside baseball, folks.
Speaker A:This is why you listen to omnitalk Retail.
Speaker A:Because we know that the new chief merchant at Walgreens, which was not in most of the headlines.
Speaker A:I didn't see it once in the headlines, actually.
Speaker B:Really?
Speaker A:The new chief merchant for Walgreens is formerly of Party City and formerly a colleague of ours at Target, Tracy Kolder.
Speaker A:So my hunch is she knows a little something about party supplies and how to tack this opportunity.
Speaker A:So if anyone's gonna do it, it's probably her.
Speaker B:Yeah.
Speaker A:Now, caveat, of course.
Speaker A:She could be like, okay, maybe I know this category.
Speaker A:That's why I'm going into it.
Speaker A:But I don't think so.
Speaker A:I know her pretty well.
Speaker A:I think she thinks there's some low hanging fruit here.
Speaker A:So kudos to her for going after and getting it.
Speaker A:And it sounds like the use cases like you described are there.
Speaker B:Tracy.
Speaker B:We're all in.
Speaker B:So we'll start buying our helium balloons as soon as they're available at our local blog.
Speaker A:I reached out to her to see if she's at grocery shop.
Speaker A:She's not gonna be there, unfortunately, but hopefully, maybe we get somebody else from her team to speak with us.
Speaker B:All right.
Speaker B:I love it.