Home Depot just told the market it's treading water, and Rick Watson and Jessica Lesesky dig into why the remodeling boom never showed up. People are tapping their home equity to consolidate debt, not rip out the bathroom. Paint and outdoor are fine. Lumber, flooring, mill work? Not so much. So Home Depot is quietly walking away from the consumer and betting the house on pros, HVAC, and a $700 billion market.

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Then: TikTok is now the fourth largest health and beauty retailer in the country at $4.4 billion, and the action isn't even in the videos. It's in the comments. We break down why brands should build the conversation first and let the comment section do the selling.

And the one that broke the internet: Everlane sold to Shein for $100 million, down from a $550 to $600 million peak. Common stockholders get nothing. We get into whether Shein actually paid cash for brand equity or just bought itself a respectable-looking front for a not-so-respectable supply chain. Jessica says the quiet part out loud. Rick's head hurts.

Plus a quick read on AI maturity from The Lead conference floor, and why the people who are most "AI-pilled" somehow ended up busier than ever.

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