Lightning Round: Luxury Hotels, Valentine’s Spending & McNugget Caviar | Fast Five Shorts
This Lightning Round segment of the Omni Talk Retail Fast Five, sponsored by the A&M Consumer and Retail Group, Mirakl, Ocampo Capital, Infios, Quorso, and Veloq, closes out the show with rapid-fire takes on luxury travel, Valentine’s Day spending, and one very unexpected McNugget caviar moment.
From the continued boom in luxury hotels to billions in Valentine’s retail projections and the internet’s obsession with fast food meets fine dining, Chris Walton and Anne Mezzenga, joined by Shoptalk’s Joe Laszlo, keep things moving with quick hits and strong opinions.
⏩ Tune in for the full episode here.
#RetailLightningRound #RetailCulture #LuxuryTravel #ValentinesDay #McNuggetCaviar #ConsumerTrends #RetailNews #OmniTalk
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Transcript
All right, well, let's go to the lightning round.
Speaker A:Joe, you get this first question.
Speaker A:According to the Financial Times, despite a slowdown in luxury goods, the world's luxury hotel market is booming and they've been able to increase prices as a result.
Speaker A:Joe, what's the nicest hotel that you've ever stayed in?
Speaker B:Well, I'm very tempted to lie and say it was the Emirates palace in Abu Dhabi, where we had Shop Top Lux two weeks ago, but did not put us up there.
Speaker B:They put us up at another five star hotel across the street that was much cheaper, but not quite as nice as the Emirates Palace Abu Dhabi.
Speaker B:So nicest hotel, actually.
Speaker B: was very young, in the early: Speaker B:The first time I'd ever stayed at, like, a hotel that fancy.
Speaker B: s literally a palace from the: Speaker B:You imagine me like this 20 something kid off an overnight flight, like, groggy.
Speaker B:And I get there and like, they're like, oh, sir, we do not have a room for you, but have a cappuccino and our solarium.
Speaker B:And it was the first time in my life I'd ever been treated quite that nice.
Speaker B:And it's been the benchmark ever since.
Speaker C:That sounds like the way to go.
Speaker C:I mean, I don't think anyone's ever said the word solarium to me directly, Joe.
Speaker C:So I think.
Speaker C:I think you're winning.
Speaker B:I didn't know where it was.
Speaker B:I was like, oh, yeah, yeah.
Speaker C:I'd be like, wait, what's a solarium?
Speaker A:An aquarium.
Speaker A:What?
Speaker A:Yeah.
Speaker C:All right, this next one, I'm very proud of this next question.
Speaker C:Joe, us downhiller Lindsey Von suffered a complex tibia fracture at the Olympics on Sunday.
Speaker C:That's a terrible crash.
Speaker C:The tibia excluded, however, what is your favorite bone in the human body?
Speaker B:My favorite bone is the hyoid bone.
Speaker B:It's spelled H Y O I D. Not many people know about it.
Speaker B:It's a little, like crescent shaped bone in your throat that, like your tongue and your larynx kind of all depend on it being there and intact so that you can talk and swallow and speak and whatnot.
Speaker B:And fun fact, it is the only bone that is not connected to any other bone.
Speaker B:It just is in there floating by itself, making our throats do what they do.
Speaker B:So.
Speaker B:And I appreciate that because I talk a lot.
Speaker C:Oh, my God.
Speaker C:Did you just know this off the top of your head.
Speaker C:Like what?
Speaker B:I did a little research when you previewed the questions to me.
Speaker C:Oh, my God.
Speaker C:Oh, my God.
Speaker C:That's crazy.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker C:Good to know, Joe.
Speaker C:What's it called?
Speaker B:Hyoid.
Speaker B:H Y, O, I D. The hyoid.
Speaker A:Spelled it.
Speaker A:Even spelled it for us.
Speaker A:Okay, thanks, Joe.
Speaker C:The more, you know, go with the humorous.
Speaker C:But no, he went with the highway.
Speaker B:So, you know, you'd ask what the funniest boat in the body is.
Speaker B:I suppose I would have, but yeah.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:I'm going to save us from these jokes.
Speaker A:All right, question number three.
Speaker A:Brits are expected to spend 2.38 billion pounds this year on Valentine's Day, up 7% from last year, according to a study by Parcel Hero.
Speaker A:Joe, what is the best Valentine gift you've ever given or received?
Speaker A:Received.
Speaker B:Received.
Speaker B:Not an especially romantic gift, but a first edition of Frank Herbert's Dune, which is one of my favorite books of all time.
Speaker B: printing presses back in the: Speaker B:And gifted it to me about, like, 15 or 20 years ago, but I still remember it.
Speaker A:Oh, my gosh.
Speaker A:That's so special.
Speaker A:Very thoughtful gift.
Speaker C:And, Joe, do you have a digital copy of that book, too?
Speaker B:No, I have several physical copies of it, including that one, which just sits on the shelf, because I'm not going to, like, touch that one, but I have a readable copy.
Speaker C:Yeah, the classics have a different place.
Speaker C:All right, last one.
Speaker C:McDonald's is offering a few customers a special Valentine's Day meal this year.
Speaker C:Chicken McNuggets and caviar.
Speaker C:Joe, where do you come down on caviar?
Speaker C:First and second.
Speaker B:Second.
Speaker C:Would you eat McNugget caviar?
Speaker B:Caviar, in my opinion, is overrated.
Speaker B:If it wasn't really associated with rich people and super expensive, nobody would bother with it.
Speaker B:My first thought when McNugget came up, I mean, okay, sorry, I didn't realize that would be, like, controversial.
Speaker B:Please disagree with me if you're a caviar aficionado.
Speaker C:No, I love caviar, though.
Speaker C:But that's crazy.
Speaker C:Wow.
Speaker C:Okay, nice.
Speaker C:You.
Speaker C:You're not a big fan.
Speaker A:All right.
Speaker B:Just like little.
Speaker B:Little black, salty, briny things.
Speaker B:Like, I feel like there's other ways to get that flavor that don't cost thousands and thousands of dollars and involve killing sturgeon and then McNugget caviar.
Speaker B:When, like, I first saw that phrase, I was like, is that Just chicken eggs.
Speaker B:Like, is it.
Speaker B:But it's not.
Speaker B:Right.
Speaker B:It's a little bit Chicken nuggets and.
Speaker C:A side of caviar.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker C:The media is calling it McNugget Caviar.
Speaker C:Yeah.
Speaker A:It's like the potato chip.
Speaker A:You know, you have.
Speaker A:You have the potato chip, the creme fraiche and the caviar on top.
Speaker A:Except instead of that chip, it's going to be a chicken McNugget.
Speaker B:I. I guess.
Speaker B:Why not?
Speaker C:Why?
Speaker B:If somebody put it in front of me and it would be rude not to, I would certainly eat it, but I would not, like, hit reload a thousand times on the McNugget Caviar website in the hopes of getting one of the very small number of them they produced.
Speaker C:And would you eat McNugget caviar?
Speaker C:Would you eat caviar that you procured at McDonald's?
Speaker C:I 100, right?
Speaker A:Yeah, I would.
Speaker A:I would say let's do it.
Speaker C:I mean, you and I are both Caviar fans.
Speaker B:Maybe McCaviar will become a thing.
Speaker B:Maybe they'll just sort of add it.
Speaker A:To the regular menu, not the dollar menu.
Speaker A:That's not.
Speaker A:Unfortunately, that's not probably going to happen.
Speaker A:Or would you eat caviar, a chicken nugget caviar, dollar version?
Speaker A:That is another question.
Speaker B:That sounds very dangerous.
Speaker C:No.
Speaker C:According to Joe, too many sturgeons would be harmed in the production of that item.
Speaker C:Maybe they find some other fish, salmon roe, I guess.
Speaker C:I don't know.
