Rosalía, Amazon, Calvin Klein, TikTok, JCPenney & Primark — Five Things Friday (USA) - The Retail Podcast

Episode Transcript
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(00:00):
Hello and welcome to another clapping fabulous edition of
Five Things Friday USA edition with my fabulous, fabulous Co
host Jill from the NRF. Jill, hello, welcome.
Hello Alex, Happy Friday to you.Happy Friday.
I got so excited to say hello toyou.
I didn't hit our music, so let'sroll into it.

(00:34):
So Jill, off the bat, before we get into our five things,
there's a cultural moment that Ithink is going to, I think it
will go around the globe, I assume.
I'm. Just going to share this with
you and get your react. So give me one second as I set
it up. I love it.
A cold reaction, OK. That was the German part, that

(01:08):
was Bjork who just came in on the end with What do you think?
With no swan dress. Yeah, no.
So the reason why I share that with you, Rosalie is like a pop,
reggaeton, flamenco, like cross genre.
She doesn't want to be defined by one genre.
And the reason why I find that this is a really interesting
moment culturally is the fact that classical music, you know,

(01:32):
for young people for, for this new generation, it's just
nostalgia. It's either something they've
heard on the radio, it's on TV adverts.
But this is at the heart of a pop star, classical news.
And so yeah, your likes of course and I.
Just went off, stand up to turn it back on.
I wasn't dancing. Festival, it's OK.
So I think it's just one of those wonderful cultural

(01:53):
moments. It's a collaboration between
Rosalia Bjork and this other American hip hop artist.
Unfortunately, he's at the end is my least favourite part, but
I think there's so many retailers now trying to come
back on nostalgia alone and nostalgia without cultural
moments. Is is a is a big gap.
And on the other shows we've been talking about, you know,

(02:15):
various brands, Gap, for example, in the UK has had a
difficult time of coming back and just relying on their
nostalgia. So anyway.
You're you're so right. I mean, just this week Fanatics,
US based company out of Florida announced A partnership with the
NFL and they're, you know, and essentially all of their all of

(02:37):
their gear, they already have all of the licences.
What it what it means is now they're going back and they can
use all of the vaulted archival,you know, old uniforms to
throwback uniforms, all of that,you know, you don't see unless
it's a special game. So I think there is a piece of
that. It's, you know, what's old is

(02:57):
new again, and it's, you know, Iguess you live long enough and
you see it come back around. I think it's just the fact that,
you know, in racing cultural moments like this, I mean, for
example, K Pop Demon Hunters over the summer was the lost
moment for retailers because they just totally missed that it
went to number one across the world.

(03:17):
And now Jimmy Fallon had them I think a couple of weeks back and
Saturday Night Live they were on.
But anyway. Cultural movie.
You know who didn't miss that moment?
Spencer's and Spirit Halloween stores #1 costume this year was
K pop demon hunting Stephanie a couple weeks ago.
And she said it was like, good luck finding it.

(03:39):
It was AB, you know, and that didn't exist right until a few
months ago. So just showing like if you are
that nimble of a retailer, you can capitalise on the sale, you
can capitalise on the moment andyou can get it to the customer.
And look, it's not even Halloween yet and I'm sure
people would still be buying it.So yeah, 100, you're absolutely
right. Yeah.
So, OK, moving on very swiftly, keeping to our fast-paced, I

(04:02):
think we'll start with you and Amazon.
Yeah, this is a pretty rough dayyesterday for, you know, upwards
of about 30,000 people got cut from Amazon.
It's, you know, reports are still coming in.
I mean, this literally happened less than 24 hours ago.
Unfortunately, it was pretty broad cuts across a lot of

(04:24):
groups. A lot of it are being told, you
know, it's for efficiency and for streamlining things like
that. But you know, 30,000 is, is a
big, it's a huge number. But for for Amazon, it's
actually not that big of a number.
So, you know, there it was across everything, a little bit
of AWS as well as Amazon proper.Yeah, the way I read it, it was

(04:46):
the the basically HQ workers, the head office workers.
And it's a little bit rough coming just before Christmas,
but I think they. Have A and it's it's, you know,
they've been saying for a long time, if you're not back in
headquarters, things are going to happen.
So it'll be interesting to see just how many of those people
weren't back at a main HQ centreand then also figuring out like

(05:06):
which departments it was in. But that is that's a huge number
and it's. You know, it sucks and and if
anyone is affected by this and you and you and you need a, you
know, some guidance from a podcast, so feel free to reach
out to me. Make you smile, but I have no
advice, but I'll be able to makeyou smile at least.
But is this is sucks. Microsoft went through this when

(05:26):
I was at it and it was really tough because some of the people
that have been there the longestwere affected.
So it's not, it's not easy, but yeah.
The emails online if people wantto read it that that Amazon has
sent them out yesterday. But yes, reach out to Alex and I
if we can help in any way. Yeah, not with career advice,
but we'll just be there for you much and.
That's you with someone we know.We know some great people out

(05:47):
there in the Bronx. Yeah, and the full article, I
think Joe just said there's fullarticles on Reuters if you would
like to read more about this. Moving on, I think we talked
about cultural moments just now.Another fantastic.
I think Calvin Klein is again a number one of those heritage
brands is thinking how do I stayirrelevant?
How do I create meaningful an impact?

(06:09):
And K pop is absolutely at the heart of it.
And one of the best looking men in K pop is John Cook, who is I
don't know if he's the lead singer because it's BTS.
And so there's like, you know, it's a boy band.
So, but he's one of the good looking ones that, you know, has
gone in into this campaign with Calvin Klein and I think again,

(06:29):
another, you know, heritage brand and connecting with K Pop
and trying to build relevance toa new generation, which is
interesting. And, and there was an article
that will probably, I don't knowwhich way you'll think about
this job, but it was about how Jen Beta that are being born in
2025. Fashion retailers are thinking

(06:50):
about what will they. And I was like, really, you
know, Jen Alpha is, they're seven years old right now, but
Jen Beta 2025 and onwards, the fashion world is looking at them
so. We might need a minute though.
Look, Generation Beta does not need underwear yet.
They have not been bored and they are still in diapers.
So like he was the hop in it. There you go.

(07:13):
I would say this is like, this makes me feel a little bit old
because I feel like Mark Wahlberg was the original Calvin
Klein one that I'm sure there were some before, but.
It's so funny you remember the men's 1 and I remember the
women's one that was like hello,I don't know, but it's just
hello boys was the caption that that we were all told about so.

(07:33):
You've done a great job at theirads.
Moving on TikTok with you. Yeah, so TikTok, there's a lot
going on with TikTok in the USI mean, where we are right now is
obviously Bike Dance owns the US, well, owns all of TikTok.
But in the US, TikTok needs to be divested to remain here.

(07:54):
So there's a $14 billion deal led by Oracle, Larry Pay or
Larry Ellison and a bunch of other investors.
But what's happening is right now people are trying to figure
out, OK, so if TikTok is not in charge, the algorithm is more or
less the product, right? So what will change with the
algorithm? What will change with the trust
data? What will change with where the
data goes? You know, and the irony is the

(08:16):
whole reason we're trying to regulate TikTok is that people
don't have trust and where your data goes and all of that.
So there's all of these headlines.
And really I think the most relevant thing for brands and
retailers to take away is will the algorithm still be in your
favour in terms of surfacing your product?
TikTok shop still working if it's there.

(08:37):
So, you know, it's a lot of hubbub and really it's a lot of
wait and see at this point. But it does seem like we're
getting closer and closer to thegoal of divesting TikTok so that
it's not a Chinese based companyoperating in the US And that's
really kind of what the where the line has been, but it's it's
been delayed year after year. So we'll see, yeah.
It'll be an interesting one to see and obviously, yeah, we'll

(09:00):
move on because then you get, you're getting into the
insurance and outs of who controls the algorithm.
What's the algorithm I'm going to tell you about anyway, moving
on another Christmas. It's around the corner and I
know you know this brand, JC Penney's.
I would I would describe him as the the the department store for
middle America, no. Yeah, I mean, they they were for
a long time, they were kind of the department store in the in

(09:22):
the US and you know, they kind of fell by the wayside for a lot
of the fashion digital collaboration moments for a
while. But they have really been doing
a pretty strong turn around. They're out of, you know,
outside of Dallas and Plano, TX.They're owned by Catalyst
Brands, which is run by Mark Rosen, who is a venerated
retailer, lots and lots of experience.

(09:44):
And he is hired in Marissa Thalberg, who's a unbelievable
brand and market genius. So this is straight out of her
playbook, getting it relevant, getting it in front of people.
The Jingle Ball is a music festival that happens.
And it's it's cool, it's hip, it's talked about, it's hit by
every cool pop star. I mean, I wouldn't be surprised

(10:05):
if BTC is there. I mean, it's a real thing and
the fact that she's partnering with them is pretty impressive.
And it's just bringing JC Penneyback into everyone's mindset.
And look, I mean, they've, they've modernised it, they've
made it cool. They're trying to get to kind of
the Gen Alpha, Gen Z vibe. I yeah, I'm, I'm, I'm here for a
moment where we can bring back abrand that was so cool and so

(10:28):
great for a lot of people. It was never high-priced.
It was never the lowest price. It was always kind of in that,
you know, the bottom third in terms of pricing.
Yeah. Where?
Value where value starts, but itdoesn't necessarily go that
cheap that it's it's that and I think.
That's what people need this holiday, right?
It's there's a lot of consumer uncertainty.
So I think this is a really, really good time for them.

(10:48):
Yeah. And I think that whole messaging
around this about, you know, it's what they thought that
counts. And when I was reading about it,
it's basically saying, you know,it's not about mass consumption,
it's about micro consumption on the things that counts, right?
And obviously I get it. What they're saying is, you
know, one trip to JC Penney's isenough for Christmas.
That's it. You've done your, your, your

(11:09):
holiday shopping is done. Just come to us, we'll take care
of you. Don't go crazy everywhere else.
You can get something for everyone here, kind of.
Exactly. Yeah, You know, it doesn't cost
the Earth and it doesn't have toruin the planet type thing, but
so really cool. I really love it in the sense of
its positive, it's engaging, it's around the the things that
you want to see value based and sticking with value based.

(11:31):
I think another Irish retailer that's done phenomenally well in
the US and I think their growth in the US is between 20 and 25%.
And I remember the CEO at one ofthe conferences in the UK, him,
you know, 2-3 years ago saying we've got this expansion plan,
we're going to make us our home.Everyone said we can't do it,

(11:51):
but we feel that we can. And again, the sceptics will
say, well, you're opening up stores, you're going to get
growth just by the nature of growing.
What, what does the footfall look like?
But anyway, they're doing well on, on paper.
And it's another value brand that is having its moment.
So did you know curiosity? Yeah.
Do you have a climark local to you?

(12:13):
No, I know they're in New York and opening more, you know, I, I
need to check because it was a relatively new to me brand a
year or two ago. But what's funny is my kids
actually now know about it and have asked about it.
So it's, you know, whether they're it's through social
media or probably Fortnite, to be honest, that's how they hear
about most things. It's definitely moving kind of

(12:34):
in the generational shift. It's moving down.
I think I, I feel like I remember seeing a stat that the
US, the relatively new business for them, but it's already close
to 5% of the business and that was, you know, relatively
quickly. I think they're around 10 to 12
billion in total. So I think, you know, it's,
it'll be very interesting to seebecause de minimis, you know,

(12:56):
which is a shipping loophole that's been in the US for quite
some time, getting in packages with no taxes or tariffs has
been struck down. So it'll be very interesting to
see who the new players in because that significantly has
affected Sheehan and Timo's business in the US.
So it'll be interesting to see Primark when they have stores
here is their business, you know, they're similarly priced

(13:18):
well, their business kind of eats some of that market share
that, you know, maybe she and and Timu were getting because it
was easy and free to ship. Yeah, and I think where they are
as well, it's such a convoluted market because you've got the
the grocers doing a Walmart Target doing a phenomenal job
with their homework. Although Targets fashion and
struggle, Walmart's really taking off.

(13:40):
And so you know, it's and they do more, they do beauty, they do
homework. So it's one to watch.
I think it's an interesting one for a a foreign brand expanding
across the USI. Agree, agree.
Yeah, no, it'll be really interesting to see and Primark
is a great name. So I think, you know, again,
looking looking for value for holiday.
It's, you know, a lot, a lot of US listeners are, are in that

(14:03):
campus. They're going to be down there.
Yeah, we all, I think everyone knows that they've they've,
they've, they've, they've they've got to tighten the belt
a little bit or just watch wherethey're spending that's.
It Yep. Yeah, I know that bombshell.
Jill, thank you so much for giving up your time to be with
me today and until we meet next.Time.
Great to see everybody.

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Rosalía, Amazon, Calvin Klein, TikTok, JCPenney & Primark — Five Things Friday (USA)

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