Walmart Expands ESLs To All Stores, DoorDash Teams With Ibotta & Simbe Hits The Spot | Fast Five
In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news roundup, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Simbe, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, and Scratch Event DJs, Chris and Anne discussed:
- Walmart accelerating its rollout of digital shelf labels to all stores (Source)
- Cantaloupe’s innovations in smart vending for grocery stores (Source)
- Simbe augmenting its Tally Robot with fixed-positioned sensors (Source)
- DoorDash and Ibotta teaming up to offer DoorDash users better pricing (Source)
- And closed by debating whether or not “community spaces,” like the one recently launched by Giant Food, are ever a good idea (Source)
There’s all that, plus Todd Barentine of The Barcode Group stopped by for Five Insightful Minutes on Costco’s 2025 strategy, and we also announced this month’s OmniStar (congrats Christina Minardi of Whole Foods) and discussed Waymo, Peter, Paul, and Mary, and which member of the X-Men Anne would most want to go on a date with.
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#OmniTalkRetail #RetailInnovation #DigitalShelfLabels #SmartVending #RetailPodcast #Costco2025 #GroceryTech #DoorDash #Ibotta #CommunitySpaces
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Transcript
The OmniTalk Fast5 is brought to you with support from the A and M Consumer and Retail Group.
Anne Mazing:The A and M Consumer and Retail Group is a management consulting firm that tackles the most complex challenges and advances its clients, people and communities toward their maximum potential.
Anne Mazing:CRG brings the experience, tools and operator like pragmatism to help retailers and consumer products companies be on the right side of disruption and Miracle.
Anne Mazing:Miracle is the global leader in platform business innovation for E commerce.
Anne Mazing:Companies like Macy's, Nordstrom and Kroger use Miracle to build disruptive growth and profitability through marketplace, dropship and retail media.
Anne Mazing:For more visit Miracle.com that's M I R A K L.com and Symbi Simbee powers the most retail banners in the world with today's only multimodal platform for in store intelligence.
Anne Mazing:See how Albertsons, BJ, Spartan Nash and Wake firm win with AI and automation at simbirobotics.com and Ocampo Capital Ocampo Capital is a venture capital firm founded by retail executives with the aim of helping early stage consumer businesses succeed through investment and operational support.
Anne Mazing:Learn more@ocampocapital.com and finally, Scratch Event DJs Scratch Event DJs tap into its unrivaled network of top local DJs to provide brands with high quality curated in store experiences anytime, anywhere.
Anne Mazing:Find out more@events.scratch.com hello, 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.
Anne Mazing:The Retail Fast Five is a podcast that we hope makes you feel a little smarter, but most importantly a little happier each week and each new year too.
Anne Mazing:And the Fast 5 is just one of the many great podcasts that you can find from the Omnitalk Retail Podcast Network alongside our Retail Daily Minute, 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.
Anne Mazing: ,: Anne Mazing:I'm one of your hosts, Anne Mazing.
Chris Walton:And I'm Chris Walton, and we're here.
Anne Mazing:In the new year once again to discuss all the top headlines from the past couple of weeks at least, making waves in the world of Omni Channel retailing.
Anne Mazing:Chris it is the New year.
Anne Mazing:As I've mentioned a couple of times that intro things are just jumping off, right?
Chris Walton:Like immediately you're out in Vegas, right?
Chris Walton:You're out in Vegas, you're at ces.
Anne Mazing:You're on location in am.
Anne Mazing:I am.
Anne Mazing:I'm out here at ces.
Anne Mazing: , and it's going to be a busy: Chris Walton:You got a hell of a travel schedule, my friend.
Chris Walton:Kudos to you and Ann from.
Chris Walton:From what hotel are you broadcasting from today?
Chris Walton:For those watching the video this week?
Anne Mazing:I'm.
Anne Mazing:I'm here at the lovely Vdara Hotel.
Chris Walton:The Vdara.
Chris Walton:Nice.
Anne Mazing:Paying some exorbitant amount of money to stay in a hotel room that ordinarily would probably cost, like, 89 doll.
Anne Mazing:But CES, man, they know how to.
Anne Mazing:They know.
Anne Mazing:Make.
Anne Mazing:Make sure that everybody's making money off of this event.
Anne Mazing:Let's just put it that way.
Chris Walton:Right, Right.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:I can't wait to see your coverage, though.
Chris Walton:You're so.
Chris Walton:What are you doing out there?
Chris Walton:Tell the audience what you're doing out at ces.
Anne Mazing:Yeah, so I'm out here.
Anne Mazing:We've never been out here before, and, you know, we are really trying to find, like, what.
Anne Mazing:What makes sense here.
Anne Mazing:I think we get a lot of questions from our audience about, you know, should we be going out to ces, especially with it being so close to nrf.
Anne Mazing:And so, you know, Chris, you and I were like, let's go, let's go.
Anne Mazing:Ch.
Anne Mazing:Let's see what happens, what our audience should be paying attention to.
Anne Mazing:And so I'm going to do a quick recap of the technologies that I feel like out here are most applicable to retailers and whether or not it's something that you should check out next year.
Anne Mazing:So that's.
Anne Mazing:That's the.
Anne Mazing:That's the long and short of it.
Chris Walton:Nice.
Chris Walton:Can't wait to see it.
Chris Walton:A yeoman's effort on your part, too, and a yeoman's effort.
Anne Mazing:I don't even know what a yeoman is.
Chris Walton:I don't know either, but I just know people say that, but, you know, you're a yeoman's effort of doing the hard work.
Chris Walton:And is that like a shogun?
Chris Walton:No, I.
Chris Walton:I have no idea.
Chris Walton:And I think.
Chris Walton:I think it.
Chris Walton:I think it's like a.
Chris Walton:Like a surfer, like an agricultural worker or something.
Chris Walton:Somebody that works hard.
Chris Walton:That's what it is.
Chris Walton:And somebody that works hard.
Chris Walton:Okay, I'll.
Chris Walton:I'll look it.
Chris Walton:I'll look it up at one point when you're reading a headline here today.
Chris Walton:But.
Chris Walton:But yeah, we've got some hardware to hand out, too, right?
Chris Walton:Oh, yes, first week of the month.
Anne Mazing:Yes, yes, we sure do.
Anne Mazing:Why don't you tell all our listeners who we're handing out this month's Omnistar award to?
Chris Walton:Yes, this month's Omnistar.
Chris Walton:It's time to recognize this month's Omnistar.
Chris Walton:So our Omnistar award for those maybe that are new to our show is the award we give out each month in partnership with Corso to recognize the top omnichannel operators out there.
Chris Walton:Not the pundits, not the so called experts, but the real life retail operators making a difference in their organizations.
Chris Walton:Now remember, Corso's AI copilot coaches retail leaders to optimize store performance at every level, transform retail operations from data overload into data powered with Corso today.
Chris Walton:This month award goes to Minardi, the executive vice president of growth and development at Whole Foods.
Chris Walton:Christina.
Chris Walton:I mean, if you read the headline, she is clearly a mover and shaker in the industry as she is the executive in charge of Whole Foods new smaller store concept, the Daily Shop, which started rolling out this past fall.
Chris Walton:And I, I know Ann and I will both be watching this concept as it unfolds quite closely because it appears there is a heck of a lot riding on it both for Whole Foods and also for Amazon.
Chris Walton:So.
Chris Walton:And congratulations to Christina Minardi at Whole Foods.
Chris Walton:We look forward to hopefully crossing paths with her at some conference here in the near future as well.
Chris Walton:But with that said, Anne, I think.
Anne Mazing:She'S the real yeoman.
Anne Mazing:Christina Minardi is the real yeoman, whatever that is.
Chris Walton:Yeah, yeah.
Chris Walton:When you're building a store concept, you get the yeoman designation.
Chris Walton:Yeoman.
Chris Walton:Yes.
Chris Walton:Christina McMurdy equals yeoman.
Chris Walton:Yes.
Anne Mazing:Congrats.
Anne Mazing:Yes.
Anne Mazing:Let's get to the headlines.
Chris Walton: ime to start the headlines of: Chris Walton:Let's do it.
Chris Walton:All right.
Chris Walton:And this what we've been waiting for it.
Chris Walton:It's been three weeks since we've done a real fast five.
Chris Walton:All right, this week's fast five, we've got news on some new innovation in in store vending or set another way how retailers can keep products behind glass.
Chris Walton:Can't wait to talk about that.
Chris Walton:Simbi augmenting its robots with fixed sensors, Doordash and Ibotta teaming up to offer more savings on everyday purchases.
Chris Walton:I know Ann has some thoughts on that.
Chris Walton:Giant Food introducing a new community space inside one of its stores.
Chris Walton: nsightful minutes on Costco's: Chris Walton: who else but Walmart to start: Anne Mazing:And it wouldn't be NRF week if Walmart wasn't putting out some massive announcement.
Anne Mazing:Headline number one, the Omni Talk either.
Chris Walton:You know, like if we weren't covering Walmart.
Anne Mazing:True, true.
Anne Mazing:Headline number one, Walmart is accelerating its digital shelf rollout.
Anne Mazing:According to the Path to Purchase Institute, Walmart has signed a contract extension with digital shelf label DSL technology provider Vision Group to accelerate the deployment of its solutions across all of the retailers.
Anne Mazing:4, 600 stores in the US Wow.
Anne Mazing: ension follows Walmart's June: Anne Mazing:Chris, this also happens to be the A and M put you on the spot question right away.
Anne Mazing:First headline show of the year.
Chris Walton:Okay.
Anne Mazing:Okay.
Anne Mazing:Are you ready for it?
Chris Walton:Yeah, I guess so.
Chris Walton:I'm ready as I'll ever be.
Anne Mazing:Okay.
Anne Mazing: art already making a push for: Anne Mazing: n't be going all in on ESL in: Anne Mazing:Chris, what are your thoughts?
Chris Walton:Oh, wow.
Chris Walton:That's a wow.
Chris Walton:Off the top of my head, I'd say candidly, no.
Chris Walton:No.
Anne Mazing:Yeah.
Chris Walton:I think every retailer should be evaluating this.
Chris Walton:Now I think there's different degrees of, of retailers that, of different types of retailers that should be looking at this faster than others.
Chris Walton:But on the whole I'd say no.
Chris Walton:And the reason I say that and is I've been seeing some pictures of Walmart's deployment of these ESLs or DSLs on the ground from folks like Omnitok superfan Kevin Iverson.
Chris Walton:So thanks to him for sending me like 20 pictures this week of, of them deployed throughout the entire Walmart store operation.
Chris Walton:It was pretty impressive.
Chris Walton:But the one photo that he and I got talking about that was really interesting was he sent me a picture of like the DSLs on peg hooks.
Chris Walton:And so, you know, peg hooks are, you know what those are, right?
Anne Mazing:Yeah.
Chris Walton:People, people familiar with mass market retail understand this, but there were like maybe not hundreds of them, but tens of tens of them.
Chris Walton:You know, like 20, 30, 40.
Anne Mazing:Yeah.
Chris Walton:All with, all with labels, you know, very easily readable.
Chris Walton:And so that tells me like okay.
Chris Walton:They've got this thing ironed out if they're using it in that type of display.
Chris Walton:And so, you know, with all the ROI offshoots from electronic shelf labels that we've talked about ad nauseum at this show, I think that Walmart is going to all stores with this.
Chris Walton:It shows that now's the time for further dissemination of this across retail.
Chris Walton:So that means to me, you know, we've already seen it in, in grocery.
Chris Walton:I think it'll start moving next into the warehouse clubs.
Chris Walton:Then I think it starts going into sporting goods and footwear.
Chris Walton:Like, why doesn't Footlocker have this as an example, at least in part of their operation?
Chris Walton:You know, on the wall displays for shoes, for sure.
Chris Walton:And then the other place I think that really makes sense, which is not as big of a retail segment anymore, is furniture stores.
Chris Walton:Like, furniture stores should 100% have this.
Chris Walton:Like, it's so, so easy for them to do.
Chris Walton:I think apparel is still a hard get, but with all those categories I just mentioned, that means the majority of retail is ready for this and that now that Walmart is doing it, all the laggards in grocery and mass merchandising will suddenly get their feet.
Chris Walton:They'll have no choice but to jump into feed first in the water as well.
Chris Walton:Because the one thing that proves the ROI quickly, which is what we've heard is, is still the use case for those that don't want to do it, is we can't prove the roi.
Chris Walton:It's like, come on guys, really?
Chris Walton:You can't prove the roi?
Chris Walton:You're not testing this.
Chris Walton:Right.
Chris Walton:But the one thing that proves the ROI really quickly is that you can tell your boss Walmart's already doing it in all stores.
Anne Mazing:Yes, exactly.
Anne Mazing:Yeah.
Anne Mazing:I mean, and I think the.
Anne Mazing:I think you make some really great points.
Anne Mazing:Points, Chris.
Anne Mazing:The other areas I'd call out like drug, especially beauty beauty specialty stores, especially like those stores.
Anne Mazing:Like the fact that those that Walgreens and CVS haven't like shelves.
Anne Mazing:Yeah.
Anne Mazing:And like even in the apparel use case, like Uniqlo is doing this, like anything like that has the stuff out.
Anne Mazing:Like Old Navy should be doing, like all these stores that have the stuff out on racks.
Anne Mazing:I think that's a very quick and easy, easy application.
Anne Mazing:But I think the other thing that I want to make sure that we point out about this, and just a teaser for those of you who are going to be out at nrf, I actually am sitting on stage with Walmart's EVP of store operations, Cedric Clark and the CEO Philip Ottin of Fusion Group next week on Tuesday and we're going to be talking about like this entire rollout.
Anne Mazing:And the really key thing that he has mentioned to me several times as we've been preparing for this is he's in the stores every day.
Anne Mazing:So not only is this like this is a great thing for Walmart, like we have pricing accuracy, we're using these as like this better is the Walmart bottom line situation, but he's also seen the impact that it's had in stores with the store associates.
Anne Mazing:And I think that's really powerful here too is it's not just, you know, it's great for the business, it's great for the people working the stores too.
Anne Mazing:And they've really seen dramatic changes in their day to day workload because of that.
Anne Mazing:So that's one, one key thing, the last thing I'll mention to Chris and another tease for one of the videos that we'll be putting out here.
Anne Mazing:I interviewed a company, Power Foil yesterday who our Foil, Yes.
Anne Mazing:And they are putting solar powered strips on these ESL right on the rails.
Anne Mazing:And so not only when you talk about roi, not only are these going, these shelf labels themselves going to bring a return on investment for Walmart, but then you start to talk about eliminating battery power that's required for this.
Anne Mazing:So that hits on that ROI of the batteries for every single SKU that you're putting an ESL or DSL on in the store.
Anne Mazing:And you're hitting sustainability goals too.
Anne Mazing:So I think there's a lot here in this headline that people must be paying attention to.
Anne Mazing: Huge headline for: Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:I love the point you brought up about Cedric Clark too for a couple of reasons.
Chris Walton:One, the other thing that Kevin said to me is like, oh my God, this, this is a gift to anyone that's ever done ad set up on a weekend, you know, because that is just the worst job in history.
Chris Walton:So I'm sure Cedric is going to talk about that.
Chris Walton:And then the other thing, Shameless plug for us.
Chris Walton:Yeah, like this is why I think our listeners follow us because we are on the ground talking to the people and ahead of the game in terms of where the industry is moving and getting those conversations with the key people.
Chris Walton:So kudos to you for doing that at NRF as well.
Chris Walton:All right, headline number two, Tech company Cantaloupe Inc.
Chris Walton:My favorite tech company name ever, Cantaloupe Inc.
Chris Walton:Do you think they.
Anne Mazing:Cantaloupe, like remember that song from the 80s and 90s?
Anne Mazing:I'm this is like a maybe a deep cut, but I know it's 80s and 90s, you know that.
Chris Walton:You gotta sing it for me.
Anne Mazing:Fantasia.
Anne Mazing:Remember that song?
Anne Mazing:No.
Chris Walton:Yeah, maybe, maybe, maybe.
Chris Walton:I don't know.
Chris Walton:I think it's a play on the size of their melon actually.
Chris Walton:But.
Chris Walton:Cantaloupe has expanded its line of self service vending machines designed to provide shoppers with a convenient in store option while helping retailers address challenges related to labor, shrink and theft.
Chris Walton:According to Progressive Grocer, as part of Cantaloupe's Smart Store series, its new smart store 600 and 700 models can be used to purvey both shelf stable and fresh items.
Chris Walton:That's what's interesting here folks.
Chris Walton:The shelf service vending machines are installed at a range of businesses including corporate offices, residential buildings, hotel pantries and and grocery and mass retail locations.
Chris Walton:The units use weighted shelves and cameras to monitor inventory and feature interactive touchscreens, audio help and visual cues to help shoppers choose the items they want.
Chris Walton:And here's my question for you on this Shrink is clearly an issue.
Anne Mazing:Yes.
Chris Walton:Our friend at the A and M consumer and retail group, David Ritter on our annual show called out a similar idea Walmart is testing as the tech of the year for him.
Chris Walton:But do you like, do you like that ideas like this are gaining traction?
Chris Walton:What are your thoughts on this?
Chris Walton:Is this the right way for retailers to go?
Anne Mazing:I, I think this will, this will be a helpful solution for some retailers in some very specific use cases.
Anne Mazing:Perhaps it does eliminate your wait times for getting, you know, the cabinets or the glass unlocked in those situations.
Anne Mazing:But for me, Chris, like I don't know, I was not big on this headline because it still is a less than desirable shopping experience.
Anne Mazing:I just, I don't think this is the solution.
Anne Mazing:I think this is a very short term middle of the road investment that and there's, I can't really fault the retailers because shrink is such a big problem like you talked about.
Anne Mazing:They are trying to find kind of any piecemeal solutions that they can test to try to see what happens.
Anne Mazing:But I really think that this is a huge miss and the one of the other reasons that I don't like it, especially when I start to think about how this is tying in and is and as I dug more into this and the Cantaloupe team will have to, you know, bring this up or, or reach out to us and let us know but I'm not sure because you're paying with your credit card in that moment.
Anne Mazing:I'm not sure that it's tapping into like point of sale or the, like the rest of the point of sale, the store or my loyalty programs or promotion programs and some of these like big ticket items like they mentioned in there, you know, like, is this the right thing for like makeup or razors?
Anne Mazing:Like those are things that a lot of people have couponing associated with.
Anne Mazing:So if I'm tapping to pay, like do I get loyalty rewards points or is it just the convenience element of it?
Anne Mazing:So there's still a lot of friction, disjointed things in this solution for me to like be all in on it.
Anne Mazing:But I mean, what do you think?
Anne Mazing:Are you, you wanted to talk about this headline, Are you into it?
Chris Walton:Like, yeah, that's why I want to talk it up.
Chris Walton:Because I think, I think it's an interesting philosophical conversation.
Chris Walton:I think, you know, I, I think on, on the whole, I, I agree with you.
Chris Walton:I'd actually, I think I'd go even a step further and how much I, I actually don't like it.
Chris Walton:So with all respect to David Ritter, who I respect immensely, I don't, I don't like the, I don't like the idea at all.
Chris Walton:And you know, I, to your point, I can see why retailers are doing it because they've been forced into this situation.
Chris Walton:But at the end of the day I think it just pushes more people to shop online.
Chris Walton:And if, if you're forcing me to download an app to open a case in the store, why not just force me to do an app scan when I enter the score when I enter the store.
Chris Walton:Excuse me, or, or show my loyalty card when I enter the store, similar to Costco or Whole Foods.
Chris Walton:That just seems like an easier solution and it doesn't require the expensive hardware and just do that and call it a day that you know, that way the customer experience is better.
Chris Walton:You don't introduce all this friction into the experience.
Chris Walton:It's a cheaper option.
Chris Walton:There are better options even than this if you want to deter theft, which we'll get to in the next headline.
Chris Walton:And, and so like at the end of the day it just feels like an over engineered solution to a problem that isn't ultimately that complicated.
Chris Walton:That, that is what I think here.
Chris Walton:And so I think people started putting things behind glass and now they're thinking about, oh, how do we continue to over engineer that idea?
Chris Walton:And that's just, I think that's just bad for the industry.
Anne Mazing:I do too.
Anne Mazing:I mean it just reminds me of like an airport or you know, like it's A, it's still a vending machine at the end of the day.
Anne Mazing:Like, you don't get to touch things and I get that you don't get to do that if it's behind glass either.
Anne Mazing:But I just.
Anne Mazing:None of these are making a better shopping experience in my opinion.
Chris Walton:But the one thing I will say, because I've been reading the comments on social media after David's comment in our annual award show and he said it does seem like consumers want the ability to do this.
Chris Walton:So that's, that's probably what's driving the retailers to do this too.
Chris Walton:If they are putting it behind glass.
Chris Walton:Consumers don't want to wait to get help.
Chris Walton:They want to be in control of that themselves.
Chris Walton:Yeah, so I can see that.
Chris Walton:But is that the, is that, is that customer feedback leading you in the right direction in the long run?
Chris Walton:I don't think so.
Chris Walton:This is sometimes where you have to think beyond the customer.
Anne Mazing:Right.
Chris Walton:All right.
Chris Walton:Yeah, that's a great headline number three.
Chris Walton:This one's good too, because this bridges into the same conversation.
Anne Mazing:Yes.
Chris Walton:Oh, sorry.
Chris Walton:And this is your headline.
Chris Walton:I'm sorry, man, we're rusty after two weeks.
Chris Walton:Ed, you go.
Anne Mazing:That's all right.
Anne Mazing:Headline number three.
Anne Mazing:Chris is so excited about this one.
Anne Mazing:Simbi is rolling out fixed sensors to augment its inventory robots Chris.
Anne Mazing:According to Grocery Dive, Simbi Robotics has introduced fixed sensor units to monitor products in targeted areas of grocery and other retail stores that augment the company's tally aisle scanning robots, the company announced just this past Tuesday.
Anne Mazing:The new equipment, known as Tally Spot, uses computer vision cameras to identify and analyze items in specific zones that more more frequently than the robots which traverse the entire store.
Anne Mazing:Tally Spot, Simbi says, reflects retailers interest in technology to enable them to keep an even closer eye on products that need frequent restocking or have elevated rates of shrink.
Anne Mazing:Chris, why do you think Simbi is rolling out a fixed position sensor to complement its shelf scanning robots that we already know and love and so much so that they are also a new sponsor of the Fast Five.
Anne Mazing:Might I call.
Chris Walton:Yeah, 100%.
Chris Walton:I think they're doing it because it's fricking smart.
Chris Walton:It's a smart idea.
Chris Walton:And to your point, in full disclosure, like Symbios now a pod, a sponsor of this podcast on a weekly basis and we're going to do some more work with them.
Chris Walton:And as well, we just released a Spotlight series podcast with their CEO Brad Begolia yesterday when this news broke talking about this very thing.
Chris Walton:So again, to your point about Cedric, we're trying to stay on top of it for all you folks that listen to us on a regular basis.
Chris Walton:And so the answer to me about why I think this is smartant, it comes down to one word and that's vigilance.
Chris Walton:So there are certain areas of the store that you just have to keep a closer eye on.
Chris Walton:And the robot, as great as it is, is doing it at standard intervals.
Chris Walton:So things just move quicker in certain areas than the robot can capture.
Chris Walton:So those are things where you have high throughput, like probably fresh produce in some stores.
Chris Walton:High theft is also a big issue.
Chris Walton:So if you get those running right, the ROI drops to the bottom line pretty quickly.
Chris Walton:So here's the use case because I, I queried some friends of mine, I was like, okay, why is this an important use case?
Anne Mazing:Yeah.
Chris Walton:And what they said to me is like, you take alcohol, right?
Chris Walton:You put a fixed position camera looking at the alcohol and it's, it's basically sending updates, let's say every 15 minutes so that, you know, if in that 15 minute cycle they see that something got hit, something got a ton of product got stolen, they can correlate that back to the pos.
Chris Walton:And then the idea then is that the AP teams can get that information.
Chris Walton:They can know exactly when to look in the camera systems, the overhead camera systems, to try to figure out who's been stealing.
Chris Walton:Right.
Chris Walton:That's information that doesn't exist without this type of setup.
Chris Walton:The other important point here of why this is smart is it's an extension of what tally the robot does.
Chris Walton:The problem with fixed position camera systems is they only are positioned to look at what they look at.
Chris Walton:They don't get a 360 view.
Chris Walton:And so the only way this works if it's complemented with the 360 view of the robot as it's scanning the store to get the full view of everything on the shelf.
Chris Walton:And so the fixed position camera then just tells you what's missing or what's moving really quickly.
Chris Walton:That's why it's really smart.
Chris Walton:It's a product extension and it just widens the market for Brad and the Simba team.
Anne Mazing:Yeah, I mean, I think that's, I mean, I don't have much more to add.
Anne Mazing:You really hit on all the, the key points and I think I'm so.
Chris Walton:Excited to talk about it.
Anne Mazing:Yes, yes.
Anne Mazing:Well, I mean in that interview with Brad, I remember specifically you talking about, you know, the consistency being a thing.
Anne Mazing:Like it you have the level up with the robot because you're getting that real time Consistency.
Anne Mazing:And you can't get that with human labor.
Anne Mazing:Like, it just doesn't work that way because you have different people on different shifts.
Anne Mazing:And I think that was the, that was the first thing that I thought of when we read about this announcement.
Anne Mazing:But I think you also bring up like, I mean you were, you were in a store manager, I worked in stores.
Anne Mazing:Like, you don't get to that stuff until the end of the day or like when somebody comes to you and it's already been done and the, you know, the cashmere sweater table's been wiped clean because somebody gave like now we're talking every 15 minutes you're able to get some of these, you know, real, truly real time inputs on what's going on in your store.
Anne Mazing:And I, I think this is just the beginning for what Simbi and that team is going to be able to unlock with their offering.
Anne Mazing:Like, tally was already great and now you have Tally spot coming in.
Anne Mazing:This is just completely supercharged it, which I think proves that I was wrong.
Anne Mazing: And: Anne Mazing:And you were right, Chris.
Anne Mazing: This: Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:To your point, then like 15 minutes, I was just using that as an illustrative example.
Chris Walton:Like this could essentially get down to real time to AP is getting that alert like within one or two minutes of it happening and still potentially being able to apprehend or alert authorities in real time that, you know, something things happening.
Chris Walton:Now there's a whole host of issues that come with that, but you know, it's at least leading to a, to a, to a road of new ideas and new ways to tackle the problem.
Anne Mazing:Yeah, well, and I, and the last thing too, Chris, that you just made me think of, like I remember when we were talking to somebody on a past Spotlight series about RFID and how they're finally able to, now that RFID is on more products, they're finally able to give authorities in these communities the information that they need.
Anne Mazing:Otherwise it's just, it's done.
Anne Mazing:It's like this will happen in the store.
Anne Mazing:It's done.
Anne Mazing:But now to your point, like you're talking about like time of day, what they took, how many people, all this information, like that's something that, that local law enforcement can actually follow up on and start to be held accountable to, like, and these types of problems, which is huge.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:And Marshall Cage has put out a great article on Forbes.
Chris Walton:I encourage everybody to read it about how Walmart's now deploying RFID on items that are less than that are 99 cents or less.
Chris Walton:So, like, these are the solutions that are out there that just make so much more sense than putting products behind glass.
Chris Walton:All right, and well, let's bring Todd onto the podcast to talk a little bit about Costco.
Chris Walton:Joining us now for five insightful minutes is Todd Barentine, president of the club division for the Barcode Group.
Chris Walton:And Todd is here to give us special insight on Costco.
Chris Walton: ades now, but particularly in: Chris Walton: r key initiatives will be for: Todd Barentine:Hey, Chris, that's a great question.
Todd Barentine:And Costco is really their own worst enemy because they've just continued to have success year over year.
Todd Barentine:2025, though, interestingly, is going to be almost a recommitment back to the basics.
Todd Barentine: hey're going to look to do in: Todd Barentine:And some of those real kind of initiatives and tactics are simple things like, hey, SKU management and making sure that items are coming in on time and then flowing out on time.
Todd Barentine:And when you think about a limited SKU environment, you know, in and out on time really matters for them.
Todd Barentine:You know, there's been a lot of challenges over the last several years, right?
Todd Barentine: what the world looked like in: Todd Barentine: And now here we are in: Todd Barentine:Market conditions, global supply chain challenges that really challenged Costco.
Todd Barentine:So what they're looking to kind of do is get back into some more normalized behaviors.
Todd Barentine:With SKU management.
Todd Barentine:They're also looking to get back to the roots in terms of, hey, treasure hunt, right?
Todd Barentine:Which really is one of the advantages of Costco, bringing items in that are really new and unique, exciting, that drive member value both from a price value sensitivity standpoint, but also just from a creativity and uniqueness standpoint.
Todd Barentine: that you'll look for here in: Todd Barentine:And they're really focused on, well, Todd.
Anne Mazing: o get products into Costco in: Todd Barentine:Yeah, good question.
Todd Barentine:Again, you know, if I were talking to a brand, one of the things that, that we definitely tell them is, hey, value.
Todd Barentine:And again, value can be measured a couple different ways, right?
Todd Barentine:Anybody can race to the bottom on price.
Todd Barentine:It's not just about price, but it's also really about, hey, the Uniqueness of the item, build the quality.
Todd Barentine:Costco wants to sell the best possible quality goods.
Todd Barentine:So they don't want you to just kind of take quality down to get to a value on price.
Todd Barentine:They want you to build the quality up and then lean in with an investment on that costing to give Costco an advantage.
Todd Barentine:You know, most people probably know, hey, Costco works on smaller margins than a lot of other retailers, but you know, that's a big thing for them.
Todd Barentine:So helping to kind of lean in and understand that you're going to get that volume on the backside, that that's really the way that that mechanic works for most suppliers.
Todd Barentine:But you know, it's really all about value.
Todd Barentine:Costco buys open so there aren't time to resets, which is different from some other retailers.
Todd Barentine:So thinking about, hey, how can you launch something and being first to market with Costco, bringing them a unique opportunity that you can partner with them and get them to work back and forth, lean in with.
Todd Barentine:That's the way that you should approach this retailer.
Todd Barentine:You know, they're very different.
Todd Barentine:They're an open book test.
Todd Barentine:You know, there's not a lot of hidden, you know, fees and you know, slotting.
Todd Barentine:You don't deal with that.
Todd Barentine:It's really straightforward, bringing your best possible quality, your best item at your best possible value.
Todd Barentine:And let's see what happens.
Chris Walton:Todd, that open, that open insights, really, that's really interesting, you know, and, and I want to get back to something you said earlier.
Chris Walton:The treasure hunt.
Chris Walton:You know, one of the best, you know, absolute best part of Costco is the treasure hunt for its members.
Chris Walton:What, what insider intel can you provide into how they continue to use that as a competitive advantage?
Todd Barentine:Yeah.
Todd Barentine:So Costco is unique in the fact that they are not centrally purchased.
Todd Barentine:They have eight US region buying teams that all are focused against a very specific geography.
Todd Barentine:And so because of that, they can tailor items and their item assortment based on what works for their member within a market.
Todd Barentine:And because then they have these micro markets they can look at, we'll use the San Diego region as an example.
Todd Barentine:The San Diego region is essentially the southwest of the US So it's like San Diego proper, then it's like Boulder and Colorado and then it's also like Phoenix, Tolleson, you know that area.
Todd Barentine:They can find items that work for those various micro markets, test them there, build them, expand them, and then it kind of flows and builds from there.
Todd Barentine:But it's just it that is probably the competitive advantage that helps them treasure hunt and bring items in is their ability to be nimble.
Todd Barentine:They don't have to launch everything at every single warehouse at once.
Todd Barentine:They can kind of pioneer it, test, prove the concept, get it right, and then roll it out in a bigger fashion.
Chris Walton:Wow.
Anne Mazing:Well, Todd, we know that Costco is planning on going, you know, even more international in the next year and beyond.
Anne Mazing:What does that mean for brands and for customers?
Todd Barentine:Yeah, it's, it's an interesting model.
Todd Barentine:Most people think of Costco as being a US retailer, but they are a global retailer.
Todd Barentine:And year in and year out, at supplier day and you hear it through, you know, different meetings, they'll tell the suppliers, hey, we're global.
Todd Barentine:They want suppliers to start thinking about their global international country regions.
Todd Barentine:You know, being a global retailer gives them access to international suppliers, also gives this domestic supplier an opportunity to build an international business.
Todd Barentine:It works the same way.
Todd Barentine:Their plans for international are pretty robust.
Todd Barentine:I think They've got about 180 warehouses right now outside of, you know, North America.
Todd Barentine: y substantially by the end of: Todd Barentine:What's really cool about that though too is again, the ability to create treasure hunt that you can test and pioneer an opportunity in a country like Australia.
Todd Barentine:Right.
Todd Barentine:Or, you know, pick, you know, Taiwan or, you know, you know, even the uk.
Todd Barentine:And if you think about the Costco member being a pretty, you know, educated and affluent, you know, household by demographic, they're globe travelers.
Todd Barentine:So having that kind of flow back and forth is another competitive advantage for them.
Chris Walton:Great stuff, Todd.
Chris Walton:Thank you.
Anne Mazing:Thank you.
Chris Walton:Okay, headline number four.
Chris Walton:DoorDash and Ibotta have teamed up to offer savings on everyday purchases.
Chris Walton:According to Progr Grocer Boy, this is the heaviest grocery podcast I think we've done in a long time, man.
Chris Walton:Ibotta, the operator of the largest digital promotions network in North America, and DoorDash DoorDash have established a multi year strategic partnership to give DoorDash customers access to iBotta's catalog of digital promotions.
Chris Walton:By joining the iBotta Performance Network, also known as the IPN and DoorDash will be able to offer personalized promotions and coupons in a range of categories, among them grocery, health and beauty, home improvement, and of course, alcohol for CBG brands.
Chris Walton:The partnership provides an opportunity to reach consumers across DoorDash's footprint of 115,000 plus non restaurant stores on its marketplace in North America.
Chris Walton:The Ibotta provided offers are expected to be live across DoorDash's marketplace later this year.
Chris Walton:And yes, why do you view this?
Chris Walton:Ibotta and DoorDash partnership as a quote, must discuss retail headline.
Anne Mazing:Because, Chris, I don't know if this has ever happened to you, but have you ever gone on DoorDash and you're like, I have no macaroni and cheese.
Anne Mazing:I brought it back for our vacation.
Anne Mazing:Chris.
Anne Mazing:I was like, I'm going to start getting macaroni and cheese for these vacations so that you can.
Anne Mazing:And have you ever gone on there and you're like, I'm going to order macaroni and cheese.
Anne Mazing:My kids want it.
Anne Mazing:I don't have any left.
Anne Mazing:And then you get all the way to the end and you're like, am I paying $20 for two boxes of macaroni and cheese?
Anne Mazing:This is insane.
Anne Mazing:So I think that you have a ton of drop off with people.
Anne Mazing:Even doordash is still a convenience for people.
Anne Mazing:And I think that sometimes with all the charges, you get to a point where people are like abandoning the cart and they're like, I'll do something else or I'll go drive to the store and get it.
Anne Mazing:But with this partnership, you start to chip away at some of those fees when you get a dollar off of the product.
Anne Mazing:Or like, everybody is winning here.
Anne Mazing:And that's why I think this is so important.
Anne Mazing:The customers win because they get prices that are more comparable to what they'd be paying if they went to the store and bought this themselves.
Anne Mazing:They.
Anne Mazing:It kind of diminishes that threshold of like, should I do this or not?
Anne Mazing:Then you also get Doordash and Ibotta getting all this information now that they can use to provide me with more deals to learn more about my shopping behaviors.
Anne Mazing:And then the brands get that information too.
Anne Mazing:Like, oh, doordash is this great channel for me.
Anne Mazing:Maybe I should be pushing out more.
Anne Mazing:Like everything here, I think starts to add up to benefits for everybody around.
Anne Mazing:It's your old analogy of one plus one equals three.
Anne Mazing:And I think that this is a great, great move and just kind of further solidifies Doordash's penetration in this space though.
Anne Mazing:I think it's a great move.
Anne Mazing:But what do you think?
Chris Walton:Yeah, no, those are really great points.
Chris Walton:I don't have a lot to add, but I think, I think you're dead on in terms of like, the one issue with DoorDash that's still out there is like, is am I getting a good price?
Chris Walton:Right?
Chris Walton:You just don't know that.
Chris Walton:And so this gives you the confidence.
Chris Walton:And there's a lot of ways you could do this.
Chris Walton:Like you give instant redeemable coupons, like just by Buying products that flow through this.
Chris Walton:I don't know how they're going to execute this, but.
Chris Walton:But you're right.
Chris Walton:And that helps ameliorate that issue.
Chris Walton:The other point that I think is interesting here, that I would just add is I have.
Chris Walton:I have been surprised about how often I'm using doordash to search for things.
Anne Mazing:Really?
Chris Walton:And it's particularly.
Chris Walton:Yeah, it's particularly because I have the Dash Pass.
Chris Walton:And, you know, what's happening most is with alcohol, actually, which is why I keyed in on alcohol in that read.
Chris Walton:Like, oh, where can I get this beer that I like?
Chris Walton:I know it's not going to be at my grocery store, but where can I find it?
Chris Walton:Is it available on the DashPass Marketplace?
Chris Walton:It's a regional beer.
Chris Walton:Who has it?
Chris Walton:Who carries it?
Chris Walton:Like, that type of thing is happening for me.
Chris Walton:And the other place where I start to get intrigued, too is with the double dash.
Chris Walton:I'm always, like, playing around with the double dash.
Chris Walton:I don't know if you've done that, but.
Anne Mazing:Oh, I do the double dash all the time.
Anne Mazing:Do you?
Anne Mazing:Oh, wow.
Chris Walton:Okay.
Anne Mazing:Especially traveling like here, like, you know, we always got like, last night for dinner, I ordered my food from the restaurant and then double dashed my, like, drinks, my bottled water and whatever.
Chris Walton:Right.
Anne Mazing:All to the room.
Anne Mazing:And last night, actually, the first.
Anne Mazing:For the first time, I had the same person do both dashes for me.
Anne Mazing:And it was amazing.
Anne Mazing:I had such a good experience.
Chris Walton:Wow.
Chris Walton:You.
Chris Walton:You double dash with the same person.
Chris Walton:Anne, that.
Chris Walton:That's.
Chris Walton:That's pretty awesome.
Anne Mazing:Sounds very Vegas of me, doesn't it?
Chris Walton:It does sound very Vegas, but.
Chris Walton:And you didn't keep it in Vegas.
Chris Walton:You shoot, shared it with the world.
Anne Mazing:And it's out there.
Anne Mazing:Yeah, but J.C.
Anne Mazing:you're amazing.
Chris Walton:J.C.
Chris Walton:got five stars for his double dashing tip.
Anne Mazing:Yeah.
Chris Walton:Yeah, he did.
Chris Walton:Yeah, he did.
Chris Walton:But, yeah, I mean, at the end of the day, I think it just.
Chris Walton:It just makes doordash and the Dash path stronger.
Chris Walton:This is a great idea, I think.
Chris Walton:Part and parcel.
Anne Mazing:All right, well, let's go to headline number five, Chris.
Anne Mazing:Giant Food introduced a first of its kind community space.
Anne Mazing:According to Grocery Dive, the Giant food store located on Alabama Avenue southeast in Ward 8 of Washington, D.C.
Anne Mazing:a food desert in part because of its lack of supermarkets.
Anne Mazing:According to the D.C.
Anne Mazing: ,: Anne Mazing:The Multipurpose center, located to the left of the store's front entrance, provides health and wellness information and programming to the greater D.C.
Anne Mazing:area, the healthy Healthy Living center is also prepared to offer an array of programs including financial literacy, yoga classes, nutrition education and board meetings for non profits.
Anne Mazing:Jefferson said, noting that the space is free to use.
Anne Mazing:Chris, are you pro or con retailers setting aside space in their stores for things like community spaces the floor?
Chris Walton:Not at all, Anne.
Chris Walton:Not at all.
Chris Walton: In fact, I'm gonna start: Chris Walton:I don't think I'm gonna go full Walton ramp, but I'm gonna go, oh.
Anne Mazing:Boy, let's hear it, let's hear it.
Chris Walton:I, I actually loathe these ideas.
Chris Walton:And as soon as I hear yoga classes in any announcement and I'm out, like, I'm out like it like Cartman from South park, you know, yoga is code for or namaste is code for I have anxiety.
Chris Walton:You know this, that's how I feel about this headline.
Chris Walton:And the reason being these community spaces, one, they're just really hard to program year round.
Chris Walton:Two, they don't bring in any additional revenue so it's a complete waste of students space.
Chris Walton:They generally don't draw any incremental traffic which is why they end up being unused or just unprogrammed for the most part.
Chris Walton:We've seen them come and go as ideas in various forms of our eight years of doing Omni talk and I hate to say it and, but you know what we never hear about, we never hear about the second community center at another store rolling out based on the success of the first one.
Chris Walton:I, I, I tried to think about that.
Chris Walton:Of all the times we've heard about similar ideas, I can't think of one happening.
Chris Walton:So I don't know.
Chris Walton:But you know, take me, get me off the ledge and tell me where I'm right, Tell me where I'm wrong.
Chris Walton:I don't know, I just, I just don't like this idea.
Chris Walton:I think it's silly.
Anne Mazing:I think that the points you bring up are valid.
Anne Mazing:The key thing here I think is to, for at least for me, as I was considering this is like do we need to think specifically about the location of these spaces versus just like broader, like rolling this out to every giant food location in the country.
Anne Mazing:Like that does not make sense to me.
Anne Mazing:But they're in a food desert.
Anne Mazing:You know, it's not necessarily like you know, $100 a square foot prime retail location.
Anne Mazing:I, I think that I, I agree with you in that like this space being free to use and the, and no programming around it like that could be a problem.
Anne Mazing:Like you and I have seen those spaces fail.
Anne Mazing:You're absolutely correct.
Anne Mazing:But I do think, like, if you look closely at like what Walmart's been doing with health hubs in the spaces, like trying to figure out like, I would be focusing more if I was Giant on like, how do you utilize.
Anne Mazing:It was used as like a COVID testing center.
Anne Mazing:Like, how do you figure out how to make this a place where if I live in a food desert, I may not be going to Giant.
Anne Mazing:I might be just going to my local bodega or whatever I can get my hands on.
Anne Mazing:But if I can go there and meet a friend for coffee, I can do, you know, I can get a mammogram like Walmart was offering or, you know, even, even get a flu shot or something like that.
Chris Walton:Like, that's different though.
Chris Walton:Like that's, that's.
Chris Walton:Yeah, that's different though.
Chris Walton:That's why I put that in different bucket.
Chris Walton:Yeah, there's revenue with that stuff.
Anne Mazing:Right.
Anne Mazing:Well, and I even think that, you know, you know, you could still argue that if I, that I wouldn't have gone to Giant unless I could accomplish more than one thing in one space.
Anne Mazing:And that does bring in an incremental revenue, not for that specific, you know, square footage of the community space, but it does bring, bring somebody into a Giant, which if I'm carrying on on this thread, could potentially put them in a stronger position once the dollar store sectors continue to start to add things like produce and start to like kind of take up and, you know, everybody's trying to fight this food desert problem.
Anne Mazing:You know, could that still position Giant is like, well, I can, you know, I could do a yoga class there.
Anne Mazing:I don't like the yoga example, but I could do something.
Chris Walton:Yeah, right.
Anne Mazing:I could accomplish more things.
Anne Mazing:I think you're a little harsh on the whole yoga thing.
Anne Mazing:Be like, I think you went too far on yoga.
Anne Mazing:I love yoga, so I will, you know, I'll fight you to the death on that one.
Chris Walton:You're gonna take yoga at the Giant grocery store.
Chris Walton:That's where you get yoga.
Anne Mazing:I would not take yoga at the Gian grocery store.
Anne Mazing:Some people might, I don't know.
Anne Mazing:I, I think there has to be some considerations made though, for the locations of these spaces.
Anne Mazing:No, it is not an application.
Anne Mazing:I'd roll out, you know, chain wide across my whole region.
Anne Mazing:But I think in some of these locations there, the store is the community for that space.
Anne Mazing:And so I think that there's, there's testing.
Chris Walton:Okay.
Chris Walton:Okay.
Chris Walton:So I want to take this argument.
Chris Walton:I want to spin it a little bit.
Chris Walton:So, like, here's the thing.
Chris Walton:Here's the thing.
Chris Walton:Like, I actually, I agree with you.
Chris Walton:Like, the locations of these types of ideas matter.
Chris Walton:But my question.
Chris Walton:My question comes down to this.
Chris Walton:How are you in a food desert if this is inside a grocery store?
Chris Walton:Like, so if this is a great idea for the community, why don't you just put it in the community where everyone can, you know, learn from it and benefit from it, like a community center is traditionally done, versus making this something that a grocery store is doing and won't end up putting the effort towards it because they're not going to get the payoff in the long run because it's going to end up not being programmed and not being vacant so that it doesn't feel like put more food in there.
Chris Walton:Store should be owning.
Chris Walton:Yes, it seems like make more food accessible and available to people and easier to get and draw them in that way.
Chris Walton:I don't know.
Anne Mazing:You also.
Anne Mazing:I mean, I just.
Anne Mazing:I think there's more.
Anne Mazing:There's more to it than that.
Anne Mazing:I mean, there's tax credits.
Anne Mazing:There's things that, you know, like, I want to.
Anne Mazing:This building.
Anne Mazing:Like, I think that again, like, in.
Chris Walton:There'S murals and like, we didn't even talk about that.
Chris Walton:There's a mural designed by an Emmy award winner, which I was like, the award winner designing a mural.
Chris Walton:But anyway, I got laughing on that one.
Anne Mazing:I don't know.
Chris Walton:Yeah, so.
Chris Walton:So I don't know.
Chris Walton:I don't think I got convinced by the argument, but it was a very fun discussion.
Chris Walton:A very fun discussion.
Anne Mazing:All right, let's go to the Lightning Round.
Anne Mazing:Chris, number one question in the Lightning Round is for you.
Anne Mazing:You took your first Waymo over the break.
Anne Mazing:What's one thing that the lack of driver improved about your journey and one thing you miss about having a driver behind the wheel?
Chris Walton:Oh, and I miss nothing.
Chris Walton:I love not having to drive behind the wheel.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:Oh, my God, it was so.
Chris Walton:I mean, God, you.
Chris Walton:Many times we've gotten into Ubers and we have, like, disgusting old McDonald's bags in the front seat, and the guy smells like, like, you just smoke, like, 16 joints.
Chris Walton:You know, as well, like, that's just not there anymore.
Chris Walton:I love it.
Chris Walton:And I have the confidence that the machine knows how to drive better than the person does, actually.
Chris Walton:So I think I'm hooked.
Chris Walton:Waymo is the future.
Chris Walton:And you also don't have to tip, which is just amazing as well.
Chris Walton:So, you know, you don't have to give a rating on it either.
Chris Walton:You know, it's just.
Chris Walton:It's great.
Anne Mazing:All right, you got three stars, Waymo.
Anne Mazing:Three stars.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:I mean, my brother, my wife, everybody, we all just absolutely loved it.
Chris Walton:It was such a fun experience, and we tried to do it as much as we could.
Chris Walton:All right, number two, Hugh Jackman and Sutton Foster recently stepped out hand in hand for a dinner date in la.
Chris Walton:And if you could date one of the X Men, which X Men would it be?
Anne Mazing:Let me just Google who are X Men?
Anne Mazing:Quick.
Anne Mazing:I.
Anne Mazing:I don't even know.
Anne Mazing:I think the people that come to mind for me are like, Mike, Mark Ruffalo and Paul Rudd.
Anne Mazing:But they're not X Men, right?
Chris Walton:No, they're not.
Chris Walton:They're technically not X Men.
Chris Walton:And I wasn't actually going for the actor.
Chris Walton:I was actually going for the.
Chris Walton:The comic book character.
Chris Walton:Like, would you date Wolverine?
Chris Walton:Would you date Cyclops?
Chris Walton:Would you date.
Anne Mazing:I don't even know who they are, Chris.
Anne Mazing:I don't even know any of these people.
Anne Mazing:Like, I know that, you know, Like, I know Mark Ruffalo played the Hulk, like, I guess him, but he's not even X Men.
Anne Mazing:Oh, God, I don't know.
Chris Walton:Yeah, no, you're fine.
Chris Walton:You're fine.
Anne Mazing:The Hulk's fitting for my personality, I think, actually.
Anne Mazing:Actually, like, now that I.
Anne Mazing:Now that I'm thinking about it, like, okay, yeah, the Hulk, sure.
Anne Mazing:Just powerful.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:So I'm thinking big bad Colossus fits your personality type.
Anne Mazing:Who plays that?
Anne Mazing:Who's Colossus?
Chris Walton:Nobody.
Chris Walton:It's never been a big.
Chris Walton:It's never been a big feature, but you should check him out.
Chris Walton:I think he's your type.
Chris Walton:Of course, he's all metal as well, so.
Chris Walton:So that might.
Chris Walton:Might provide a few difficulties for you.
Chris Walton:But I think when he's non metal state, I think you'd like him a lot.
Anne Mazing:Oh, my God.
Anne Mazing:All right, Chris.
Anne Mazing:Target just launched a new Athleisure apparel line in conjunction with creator Cassie Ho called Blogilates.
Anne Mazing: g Omni Talk, the blog back in: Chris Walton:Oh, my God.
Chris Walton:First of all, Blog a Lottie sounds like something I would 100% create, doesn't it?
Chris Walton:Like, doesn't that sound like a name that.
Anne Mazing:I thought of that immediately.
Anne Mazing:When I saw the press release about Blogilates, I was like, oh, God, Chris is loving this so much right now.
Chris Walton:Yeah, I know, right?
Chris Walton:And who knows how it's doing too?
Chris Walton:But, you know, it makes me curious about.
Chris Walton:About that.
Anne Mazing:It's blown out.
Anne Mazing:It's like sold out.
Anne Mazing:It's crazy.
Chris Walton:Yeah.
Chris Walton:How much, how much did they buy too?
Chris Walton:You know, that whole thing like, you know, I'm sure it is.
Chris Walton:But so this one was fun.
Chris Walton:And so for me, I think I would, I would debut a line of Omnitok inspired Canadian tuxedos because you asked me to go back in time because.
Anne Mazing:Very on trend right now.
Chris Walton:I know it's on trend.
Chris Walton:And our first Omnitox followers were overwhelmingly Canadian because I think they like our sense of humor and our self deprecating sense of humor.
Chris Walton:So, like, I think I'd go with the Canadian tuxedo.
Chris Walton:I'm not sure how much they're fans of Canadian tuxedos, but.
Anne Mazing:Well, Trudeau is available now.
Anne Mazing:Trudeau's available to be our spokesmodel, so.
Chris Walton:Right.
Anne Mazing:Let's just dive.
Anne Mazing:Oh, yeah.
Chris Walton:Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Chris Walton:Good looking gentleman.
Chris Walton:All right.
Chris Walton:And Peter Yarrow of the folk music trio Peter, Paul and Mary.
Chris Walton:I just lost my headphone.
Chris Walton:The first concert I ever attended died yesterday at age 86.
Chris Walton:Yeah, it's very sad.
Chris Walton:And it was literally the first concert I ever did.
Anne Mazing:I know that.
Chris Walton:So I ask you, are you more Stuball was a racehorse or a Puff the Magic Dragon fan?
Chris Walton:Because I know you're a big music.
Anne Mazing:Yeah, I was not familiar with Stuball, so I listened to that one last night.
Anne Mazing:But Puff the Magic Dragon, for sure, that just goes down.
Anne Mazing:Anytime I can talk about Jackie Paper and Hana Lee, it just brings a smile to my face.
Anne Mazing:So for sure, Puff the Magic Dragon, without a doubt.
Chris Walton:I have no surprise there.
Chris Walton:Panama Red.
Chris Walton:Alright.
Chris Walton:Happy birthday today to Amy Dolenz, Peter Stroma, and to the little girl who once almost fictionally designed, died from choking on a hot dog while watching old men play baseball on the field of dreams.
Chris Walton:Gabby hoffman, who turns 43 today.
Chris Walton:And remember, if you can only read or 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 and our daily newsletter, the Retail Daily Minute, tells you all you need to know each day to stay on top of your game as a retail executive.
Chris Walton:And also features special content that is exclusive to us and that Ann and I take a heck of a lot of pride in doing just for you.
Chris Walton: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 on YouTube by simply going to YouTube.com omnitalkretail so until next week, on behalf of all of us at Omnitalk Retail, on behalf of Ann and myself, be careful out there.
