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Walmart Gas, Circle K & Why Target’s Floral Brand May Not Come Up Smelling Like Roses | Fast Five
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In this week’s Omni Talk Retail Fast Five news ro…
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- [00:01]
Ann Mazinga
The Omnich Fast 5 is brought to you by the A and M Consumer and Retail Group. 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. 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, the catalyst of Commerce. Over 450 retailers are now opening new revenue streams with marketplaces, dropship and retail media and succeed. With Miracle, you can unlock more products, more partners and more profits without the heavy lifting. What's holding you back? Visit Miracle.com to learn more. That's M I R A K L.com and Simbi Simbi powers the most retail banners in the world with today's only multimodal platform for in store intelligence. See how Albertsons, BJ's Spartan Nash and Wakefern win with AI and automation at simbirobotics.com and Infios. @ Infios, they unite warehousing, transportation and order management into a seamless, adaptable network. Infios helps you stay ahead from promise to delivery and every step in between. To learn more, visit infios.com and Clear Demand pricing shouldn't be guesswork. Clear Demand's AI powered pricing data and optimization solutions help retailers stay competitive while protecting margins, smarter pricing, stronger profits. Clear Demand makes it happen. Learn more@cleardemand.com and finally, 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. Learn more@ocampo capital.com.
- [01:54]
Chris Walton
Hello, you are listening to Omnitox 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. The Retail Fast Five is the podcast that we hope makes you feel a little smarter, but most importantly, a little happier each week too. And the Fast 5 is just one of the many great podcasts that you can find from Omnitalk Retail's 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. It's April 22, 2025. I'm one of your hosts, Ann Mazinga.
- [02:35]
And I'm Chris Walton and we are.
- [02:37]
Here once again to discuss all the top headlines from the past week. Making waves in the world of omnichannel retailing. Chris, I am out in New York right now doing a special event with Samsung but we are both going to be coming back to New York City. Chris, are you getting excited?
- [02:55]
I am, Ann, I am. I'm getting very excited. I always love going back to New York City, especially in this summertime because we're heading back to Commerce next in June. I'm pretty pumped about it. And you're the there now. You're also why we're recording this early. It's a Tuesday. For those that notice the date drop at the beginning April 22nd. We're having to record this early because of Anne's tight travel schedule this week as she's hobnobbing with all the folks from Samsung and other retailers too. And what else are you doing out there? Like what's on the docket? What's on the agenda?
- [03:24]
Oh, we are doing a retail panorama which includes the likes. Big word. Oh yes. We went to Printhomme, the new department store, the French department store. And that is so impressive. Goodness. When you're here for Commerce next, you're here for anything in New York anytime soon. It is a must see. It's probably one of the most exciting retail experiences I've been in in a long time. And and then we have some other, other stores we're going to hit. Chris. We're going to go to a Uniqlo store to check out their electronic shelf labels and their RFID checkouts. We're gonna go to H M Soho store to check out the G store deployment there. So lot lots of good stuff and we're gonna be working with all kinds of. There's gonna BE I think 14 retailers that we get to hang out with this week. So really excited to be here and doing that.
- [04:22]
It's such a hobnobber. You look at you like I feel pushing the, pushing the recording schedule up a day. I love it.
- [04:30]
I know.
- [04:30]
Bring it on and I'm excited. But we mentioned Commerce next before. Yes, we're going to be there in June and you all can join Ann and me in the brightest minds in retail and E commerce provided Ann hasn't already talked to them where she is this week. But they'll all be at Commerce Next. It's happening June 24th to 26th at the New York Hilton Midtown. You'll be in great company with over 2, 700 industry leaders, 75 plus insightful sessions and unbeatable networking to boot. You can visit commercenext.com and use code omnitalk that's all caps, that's in as in all capital letters and all one word Omni Talk for 10% off general admission or if you're from a retail brand, claim your free ticket today and we will see you in New York City. And are you ready to get today's show started?
- [05:19]
More than ever. Let's get it going.
- [05:21]
Yes, we also did mention you're feeling a little bit under the weather today.
- [05:24]
But, but just, just a tad. But we're, we're, we're hanging in.
- [05:28]
Showed up for today's show ad. All right. At today's Fast5, we've got news on Corso bringing its intelligent store management solutions to Circle K in Europe, Target's new fresh floral play Trove's acquisition of Reverse Supply and Walmart's testing of beauty bars in 40 stores. But we begin today with news that is honestly, and honestly, I can't think of any other way to put this, but it's just the gas. It's just the gas.
- [05:54]
A gas or the gas?
- [05:56]
A gas. European gas. Such a gas. You're such a gas. You know you're such a gas.
- [06:00]
But anyway, you're, you're, you're much cooler than I am. I don't have that expression in my everyday vernacular, but it is a gas. Because Walmart plans to aggressively open more gas stations over the next five years. Chris According to Modern Retail, Walmart has begun a five year strategy to significantly grow the number of gas stations next to its new and existing stores. The company plans to add 40 to 45 fuel stations next to Walmart stores this year, double the 20 it opened last year and rapidly accelerate that growth over the next five years. Dave DeSario, Walmart's VP of fuel and convenience, told Modern Retail in an article. The total count of Walmart operated stations is currently about 415. Desario, a longtime C store executive, joined the company at the beginning of 2018 after having served in a COO position at Tennessee chain Mapco Express and Spinx in South Carolina. I like that name, Spinx. I've never heard of that convenience store before. But before that he had been the director of store operations for Wawa and was with that company for almost two decades. Chris, this happens to be the A and M. Put you on the spot question. We're going to get to it right away.
- [07:20]
Started off yes, love that.
- [07:22]
When we do that, they fully expect Walmart to continue to take an aggressive low price market position on fuel. Question is with the size of their box in the back court Is Walmart trying to leverage their existing customer base to sell more fuel profitably or is it Walmart trying to use fuel fuel to drive more households and traffic to the store? More fuel. Not fuel, more fuel.
- [07:50]
Well, maybe this, this story gives me some feels and yes, yeah, I think it's, I think, I think it's decidedly the latter. You know, I think this is about getting more people into Walmart that otherwise wouldn't be there. And I say that because of really two words or, or maybe two words and, or maybe it's one word with a symbol but. And it's Walmart Plus. That's what this is all about. Because look, we already know that fuel works as a traffic driver for Costco. It's what keeps people in the brand and keeps people coming back into the Costco stores too. And now you have a significant Walmart plus being fuel discounts. They've talked about it a lot. And the other competitors, you know, in the mass merchant space, specifically Amazon, which doesn't have stores and Target, which doesn't have fuel and has probably no designs at all to get into it, they can't touch this idea. So at $98 per year, you can subsidize a heck of a lot of gas discounts and keep your customers loyal at Walmart Plus. So for me it's, it comes down to one plus one equals three retailing. You got, you get them to pay for the subscription, you get them to buy heavily discounted gasoline. Oh, and then also some higher end apparel or other items while they're shopping via their Walmart plus subscription online or in your stores. That's the play here. I think it's super smart. And you can tell that they're seeing some success with it too because those are some pretty big growth plans. 44, 45 stores a year when you only have 450, I think you said in the store base roughly. So, so this is, this is smart and it's a, it's a big move too.
- [09:14]
Yeah, I, you kind of hit on all the points that I had down, Chris. I think the thing that I would add is, I think that's still a missing pie of the Walmart plus membership is the convenience of the fuel discounts. Because there are like, especially for us, like I think in Minneapolis, like I love Walmart Plus. I, I thought that I would be using the fuel discounts but I think the closest one to us is like, you know, 10 miles away. Like that's too far for me to go to really get the advantage of the Walmart plus fuel discount. So I think as they start to position these in more convenient locations in the parking lots of their stores, just like the Costco example that you g like they're gonna beat everybody else on price being Walmart, Walmart will beat everyone else on price. And if you look at the lines outside Costco, it's an exact proof point of what people will be willing to do, where people will be willing to go to change their behaviors to, to shop at so that they can get these fuel discounts. So I think that this is a tremendously smart move and will only continue to kind of catapult this Walmart plus membership like you said. So just, just feeding the flywheel with those key areas of different and discounts.
- [10:28]
Yeah, that's a great point because when you put it in that, in those terms like you just did. Yeah, if there's only four, I think I look back at the exact number you quoted. 415 stores currently have, you know, gas stations out front of them and you know, the Walmart store base is 4, 600 plus stores. So that's like less than 10% of the store base where the actual fuel discount through the Walmart plus membership is actually available. So tremendous opportunity here. And then the last point in as we learned last week, Vanessa Yates, formerly the head of Walmart plus is now the CEO of Walmart Canada. So my hunch is Walmart plus is doing very, very well and they are let all systems go on this idea. Wouldn't you think so, Anne?
- [11:05]
Yeah, I mean I totally agree. I think the benefits like they, they just continue to get better and they will continue to bring in more and more members because it's, it's an undeniable value for that 98 a year.
- [11:18]
Yep. All right, headline number two. Corso is partnering with Circle K to implement its intelligent management solution in Circles K stores across Europe. According to a Corso press release, the partnership will see Corso's technology deployed across 12 countries in 11 different languages and across Circle K's approximately 5,000 locations throughout Europe. By combining advanced technology with human centric workflows, Corso's platform consolidates siloed solutions like tasks, surveys, performance analytics and exception reporting into a comprehensive, action focused and enhanced platform that drives store performance at every level, said Finn Lagarde Copart. A new. Another one of my favorite names to say on this show put that on the list. Dan. He's head of Operations Excellence at Euro Head of Operations Excellence Europe For Circle K. Corso will enable our fast, friendly and customer Ready strategy by allowing our store teams to spend more time with customers and on the sales floor, knowing they are focusing on actions that will drive the most value. End quote. And loyal Omnitok fans are no doubt familiar with Corso, but for those maybe new to the show, why do you think Corso's Circle K Europe partnership is a bellwether event? Well, do you even think it's a bellwether event?
- [12:35]
I do, I do. And I think it's pretty simple and straightforward. I just, I think this shows the true size and scale of this technology and how important important it is that you know, now you have Circle K's and that, you know, are in different countries and they use different languages and like the, the fact that this technology is able to adapt to all of those scenarios I think really shows that the time is now to really start investing in this. And the other thing that I'd point out too, I don't think it's just about like we hear, we heard about Corso's technology in places like Tractor Supply or Dollar General or in a grocery environment and like those make sense, but I don' as many people are rushing in the convenience vertical to like think about customer service in this angle, you know, like I just, I don't think convenience, I think self serve so much inconvenience. So I think what's really cool about this is that, you know what, what can you do now in a convenience store when you've invested in Corso's technology like Circle K has and what does that allow you to gather other efficiencies from too? So I think this is an incredibly important move. One for the flexibility of the technology and two, just for the, the multitude of industries that this has an impact in. But, but I mean, what did you think when you first heard this, Chris? Were you surprised? Like, does the convenience angle, like did that come as a surprise to you at all?
- [14:05]
No, I mean knowing that, knowing the Corsair team like we do, it doesn't come to surprise to me at all. You know, I would, I would, I would highlight similar points to you, but I think I would maybe add a little bit too on the second point you made. But the first one is definitely scalability. I mean 12 countries, 11 languages, that means Corso isn't just a startup anymore. That means the solution is ready for scale. That's the best way to put that. And then the other point I'd make on what you said is, you know, I think the customer service is part of it, but really what the Technology is about is optimizing the deployment of your workforce. That could be for customer service, it could be for in store execution, it could be for operations. And when you look at the convenience stores, convenience store channel itself, that workforce is about as disparate as it comes. So that right for that means to me, for the solution to work, it has to be pressure tested against all levels of competence and training and then still show an roi. So therefore, if Circle K is finding value in this, I think other C stores should too. But more importantly, all other verticals of retail then probably should be able to find value in optimizing their workforce deployment. So, so it should be relatively, and it should be relatively easier for the other verticals to find value in a solution like Corso as well. That's the other point I would make here. So this is, I think this is a really big announcement for, for all those reasons that you and I just discussed.
- [15:22]
Yeah, that's a really great point. And the other thing I was thinking of, like especially you made me think of is, you know, when you have one person working a convenience store late at night, like to, to again have that list of things like should the hot dog roller cleaning go first or should it be like restocking shelves because you know, at this time of day you get a huge influx of people looking for energy drinks or what, whatever it might be like. I just, I didn't really consider that the customer service angle might just be like making sure that products are ready and available for the customers and, and how you maximize the staffing of that one individual. So I, I think those are great points.
- [16:02]
Right? And that, and that person that you're mentioning may or may not have worked there the week before even, you know, that's the crazy thing. And they're finding value in this. So that's pretty telling to me.
- [16:09]
Right? Oh, all right, let's go into headline number three. Target has launched a fresh new floral brand. Chris. According to a Target press release, Target announced that it is expanding its floral offerings with the launch of Good Little Garden, the retailer's first standalone floral owned brand. Whether shopping for special occasions like Mother's Day or to simply brighten their own day, consumers now have more fresh flowers and potted plants to choose from on their Target run all year long. Starting at just $6, Good Little Garden includes more than 60 options across seasonal and everyday assortments of fresh colorful blooms and plants, including bouquets of fresh cut roses, tulips, carnations and mixed flowers. Starting at $6, potted plants and Florals including succulents and orchids starting at $15 and special occasion plants and flowers for Mother's Day, Father's Day, graduations and beyond starting at $10. Chris, do you like the smell of Target's new floral owned brand?
- [17:11]
Oh man, great question, Ed. In a word, no, I don't. And the reason I say that is I don't remember exactly when, but Target was in the potted plant business years ago and for memory serves, they got out of it because there just wasn't that much money to be made, especially against the operational cost of running it. It's a hard business to do well and it also comes with one other aspect, if I remember correctly. And I, and I pinged the guy who I think was responsible for for removing the business from Target, but unfortunately he hasn't gotten back to me yet. I can't wait to hear what he has to say. But it comes down to me to one word. Vermin. You start introducing live plants into your stores and you get all kinds of crazy vermin that come in there too. So, so it's kind of a Pandora's box of operational issues once you start getting into this business. And at the end of the day it's marginal added value at best. This is never going to be an one of Target's vaunted billion dollar brands like Cornell likes to harp on about because this is a true introduction of a new owned brand into what is probably a very small, you know, annual sales volume category as opposed to a brand reskin of a category that was already doing $100 billion to before slapping a new Target owned brand on it like, or brand label on it which is what Target generally likes to do. So, so I don't think, I don't, I think this story is silly. I think it's fine like you know, go ahead, introduce it but you know, careful what you wish for because it could have a lot of operational dynamics down the roads and you might be having to pull this out, you know, as well because you know, lots of people have come before you have tried it and they haven't. There are all these Categories like this 2:00am Back when I was merchandising, like some people want to bring paint in the store and it brings all those dimensions. Florals were always coming up. It's, you know, I don't know, it's again it's just like kind of those, like, it's kind of that whole thing about like man, Target, just stick to your guns and do what you do and do it the right way and do it. Well, I don't know.
- [18:58]
Yeah, I, I was really puzzled when I heard this. Like, it. I, I had to really dig in. Like, this is one of those articles where you see the headline come up and I was like, I have to find out more about this immediately. Because you're right. Like, it does seem like a highly volatile category to bring in as a growth vehicle when you think about, like all the stuff that you're talking about. I know you have a special, like, spot in your heart for the vermin argument, but I. You also sell food, so you're also dealing with vermin because you have it somewhere there too.
- [19:27]
But it's a little bit different. Yeah, but just the.
- [19:29]
I mean, these things are alive. Like, that's the number one thing, like temperature control and all these things. But then I thought about this some more last night and maybe it was part of a fever dream. But I, when I was reading through the article. Okay, so they increased their floral business that they started with their, their. Oh my gosh. What is it? The Sparks line. What's the. What's the line? I'm totally forgetting it.
- [19:55]
Oh, yeah, yeah, Spritz.
- [19:57]
Spritz.
- [19:58]
Yeah, Spritz.
- [19:58]
Okay. So they started, they started. Oh my gosh, they started this with their Spritz line back in 2020 and they, they seen the, the business increase three times. And at first I was like, like, yeah, I like, it's just not that appealing to me. And I don't think of Target as a destination where I would go for these types of flowers. But you know where I do like to go to buy plants. And I always buy plants, especially around that six dollar price point, Trader Joe's. Like, yeah, I am always buying. And like, you see they're doing a booming business with floral.
- [20:32]
They.
- [20:33]
I tried to pull and see if I could find the exact sales stats for that specific category and I wasn't able to in time for the show. But I'm something I'm still going to dig into. And I think that as a traffic driver, like $6 for some flowers, like, that's going directly in the face of Trader Joe's. And perhaps if you're banking on the fact that like, okay, this is a way that we can get in. We already know people are coming in here to grab a card or to grab something else or to just, you know, complete their weekly shopping trip. And if these flowers are, you know, in an even more impressive display right when you walk in and they, they are really investing in like, Putting the Target Wink into this product assortment. I. I don't know. I think that they could be like, in a good spot here. I might be crazy, but I've. I've completely turned around given the Trader Joe's experience.
- [21:27]
Yeah, you. That was one hell of a fever tree, man. Yeah, I mean, I would, I would, I would come back with three things, I think. You know, number one, I don't think flowers are a traffic driver. I think if anything, they're a basket builder. Once you've made the trip to the. That, that, that is my hunch. Number two, Trader Joe's very different operation than, than Target. You know, there's very fewer locations. The quality of the staff is generally much improved and much better. And the store is not as big. There aren't as many things to focus on and distract so that it enables them, and they put it up at the front of the store, enables them to, to execute this and operationalize it a little bit better. And the last point, I'd make the spritz Callback like 300. What they say 300% or whatever. Like three times as much sales that they saw in the growth that number. Like when you go from zero to something, your numbers should be like exponentially more than that. So that actually makes me go, wow, what are you guys grabbing here? When you're, you're quoting a number that's as low as 300% growth, like, when you're not in the category and you're getting into it, you should be at like factors of 10, 20, 20 times that. So like, I don't know, this doesn't make sense to me. But I don't know, did I convince you or like you still, I don't know, clutching to the sweaty sheets of the fever tree.
- [22:38]
Man, I thought I actually was thinking the opposite. I was like, if Trader Joe's can pull this off from like a logistical standpoint, when you have things that are living that you need to keep alive and fresh. Like, I actually was thinking that if Trader Joe's can do it in an 8,000square foot box, Target certainly should be able to find the room to do this in a hundred thousand plus square foot box. And then the other part is like, I think the Spritz thing was a test. Like, early on. I don't think they were putting the full, like Target mojo into that line. I think it was somebody else owned it. They were bringing the flowers in. Like, this is Target's own brand. So I do think that that's enough volume or Enough of an interest spike for me to like actually go in and test this as a concept. And my fingers are crossed. I hope that Target has made this into like a more fun and funky. Like if you look at Trader Joe's, like they do cool seasonal potting and other things like make these giftable and fun. So I think if that's a possibility, then I want to see that through. But you, I mean, I'm probably wrong for all the reason.
- [23:47]
So if you're, if you're a bet on, on which side of the ledger are you like 60% liking this idea? 90% liking this idea. It feels like you're like 55, 60 range.
- [23:56]
It just, I don't like betting. I don't like the bets that you're making me make on this show because I just, I'm, I want, I just want to like see it through without there being any monetary engagement. No, no monetary.
- [24:08]
Just like, how confident are you in your call? That's all I'm asking. No monetary that, like, just so the audience knows, like, how confident are you in your car?
- [24:15]
I'm over 50. I'll do the over. I'm over 50. Yeah.
- [24:18]
Over 50. All right. Well, I'd assume so if you're confident in the call, you're over 50. But anyway.
- [24:23]
All right.
- [24:23]
You don't want to put a number on it.
- [24:25]
60, maybe, I don't know.
- [24:27]
All right, right. I'm just looking for a relative number because, like, if you're 90, that's a big difference in being.
- [24:32]
No, no, I'm not 90 because of the reasons that you stated. Like, because of all the things that, and you are a merchant, you know better than I would. I just think that it's definitely something I would have, I would have tested if I was still at Target right now. Like, I, I went from what the hell are they doing to all right, let's try it out and see. See if this is something that we can, we can own or take, take share from a Trader Joe's.
- [24:58]
But not only was that, not only was I a merchant, but I was also a store field leader too. And I could tell you, like, my store in Scottsbluff, Nebraska probably had less people working in it on an average day than a Trader Joe's does too, in, you know, three times the size of the box. So there's dynamics here at play. But anyway, let's keep moving. Headline number four, Trove has acquired Reverse Supply, a German based leader in the European branded resale market. According to A Trove Press Release. The acquisition marks a major milestone in Trove's international platform rollout, making branded resale even more accessible, scalable and operationally seamless for brands across 30 countries. By combining Trove's established technology platform with Reverse supplies deep European expertise, Trove now offers a comprehensive and scalable set of technology components for brands seeking to implement circular solutions in North America, Europe and the uk. Core solutions include things like omnichannel, trade ins, return processing, peer to peer commerce, customer facing resale solutions, marketplace integrations and repair services. And what makes Trove's acquisition of Reverse Supply so special to you?
- [26:05]
I, I really enjoy this because, you know, when we spoke to Terry Boyle, the CEO of Trove, he was one of our favorite interviews at Shop Talk. You'll remember Chris, I mean you and I were both talking about it after, after we were done speaking with him and he basically explained that, you know, the risk is, is so minimal here and the potential for the, that a brand can see for an increase in revenue who deploy something like this is so significant. So I think this just makes sense. And Reverse Supply, it runs similarly to recurate in the US who Trove also acquired and who we had on the show. And what that does is it makes it so that the brand gets all of the upside here and the brand and the customers get all the upside here. There's now more products to choose from for customers. When the resale market has now expanded into other countries. There's, there's revenue for brands and likely savings for customers with all the tariffs flowing around right now that are impacting the tarot, the apparel industry. And I, I am predicting that we see a significant increase in peer to peer resale even bigger than the $65 billion that it was predicted that it would be at within the next five years here. Because the product purchased from these peer to peer resale sites is not taxed in many places and I don't think most people realize that. So when I buy, you know, a Gucci bag from somebody in Europe and it's, it's gently used, do I care about that as much as like paying in some cases thousands of dollars on top of that because of taxes to have that bag imported, like I, I think I'm going to go for the resale bag instead of buying new and dealing with all these tariffs and I think, think that stands to benefit again the customer, it gets, you know, new customers in for the brands at a lower price point and keeps them like in the brands, the brand's world. And I think this is going to be a significant change to how people shop for apparel and accessories and other resale products because of things like what Trove did here with, with this recent acquisition. But, but what are your thoughts, Chris?
- [28:22]
Yeah, I mean I, I, I mean you're, you're generally speaking the, far more the resale expert than I am. You know, being that this is, I mean resale's like an honest to God part of your everyday life from, from my understanding. And so, you know, I think I, I think I would just echo what you said. I mean I think that the point for me, if I remember right, an didn't I sing single out Terry Boyle's statement as my like quote of the show or the thing I heard offstage, which was, you know, Terry, for those listening, said, said that you know, he thinks, you know, resale is an immediate 3 to, I think 3 to 5 or 4 to 5% comp store opera comp sales growth opportunity for any retailer that does it. And I asked him then after I said like, well, what keeps people from doing it? And he's like, education. People just don't get it or understand how easy this is. And you know, that's the credit, the credit here is that they are slowly and slowly but surely assembling the pieces need to create a scalable solution for any retailer or brand to take advantage of resale. And so that's, that's what's really smart about this. And you know, I hope more, more people start getting on this train because, you know, growth's hard to come by. We've talked about it a lot and you know, this is a pretty easy way to get growth and to your point, keep people in your brand. That's the other part about this. It keeps, it makes the, makes the whole brand experience that much more sticky as well, which I think is something a lot of people could start to think more about.
- [29:39]
Yeah. And when it's peer to peer like this, like there's, there's even less risk. Like you don't have to worry about getting products from one partner to, or one, from one, you know, customer to the other. All you're doing is being the place that facilitates the transaction.
- [29:54]
Ann Mazinga
Right.
- [29:54]
Chris Walton
And being another reason for somebody to come directly to your website versus, you know, a third party and you get to maintain all of those brand relationship, one to one brand relationships too. So super smart move. I love it. All right, let's go to headline number five. Walmart is testing beauty bars at 40 stores in tandem with its spring sale event. According to retail dive. Walmart will be offering 1800 deals during this spring beauty event, which started Friday and goes through May 31. Walmart is offering savings on skincare, cosmetics, hair and accessories, and also piloting beauty bars at 40 select locations where shoppers can now browse new products, talk to beauty experts, and test samples. Chris, do you like Walmart's beauty bar test or do you think this is one case where beauty is clearly in the eye of the beholder?
- [30:50]
Wow. Nicely done. And you're doing some really awesome questions today, you know, for I, I'd say 100. I think it's a smart test. That's where I'd answer that question, you.
- [31:00]
Know, so unlike the flowers.
- [31:02]
Yeah, well, this is, this is a test versus a rollout too. The big difference there, you know, so. And I think this is the other important point about this. This is a test informed by previous testing. So we saw that. One of the first iterations of a beauty bar concept at Walmart store of the future just outside of Toronto last week on our travels, which. Stay tuned, folks. We're gonna have a video coming of our experience of Walmart store of the future just outside of Toronto here. Hopefully dropping very soon, probably even in the next week if everything turns out right for us. So. So I just think this is a natural extension of that test. And what I like about it even more, though, Anne, is that unlike, you know, Target or even Kohl's with Sephora, you know, Target's beholden to Ulta for its beauty experience. Good and bad, the good and bad that comes with you being beholden to saying, you know what, this brand come into my space and put up shops. Walmart, however, can control its own destiny and still work with the beauty brands to upscale the experience as much as necessary to drive comp, similar to how they've done with apparel, both online and in stores. So, I mean, and you're a vaunted. You're a vaunted Walmart plus convert at this point in time, especially over the last year since you signed up. So my question for you is, like, how many beauty products have you procured since joining Walmart Plus, I'm actually interested to know that. I bet you it's at least more than 10, if not far more than 10, but I don't know. So that makes me think like, this is a smart way to upscale your beauty without having to pay or be beholden to another brand for the long run.
- [32:37]
For sure. I'm surprised you don't know because I feel like all my Notifications go to you. Every time that I purchase, I had.
- [32:42]
To turn them off because I was getting so damn many of them. And I was like, that's why I'm like, it's got to be at least 10.
- [32:48]
Yeah, I mean, I, I shifted almost all of my drugstore beauty purchases to Walmart when I joined Walmart. Plus I think the other, like, key thing is, you know, Target. I used to work on the beauty concierge program at Target, which put those, those concierge and beauty bars inside the drug area to like the drugstore makeup area. And you're 100, right. Like there are people in the ulta aisles, but those people are specific to the ultra brands that are within Target. You don't, you lock cost that, that guidance. And really the people that would sit there and help you at Target figure out like, okay, I want to dupe for Dior lip oil, which one is the best one here? Like, you could go into a beauty advisor Target in the past and you, they would help you find that. And I think that's where Walmart's gonna steal away these people. Where you're gonna go, like, you're going in there, you're in this like, sectioned off area of beauty, which is another interesting thing that I'll touch on here in a second. But you get to have these rich brand experiences. You were even walking through the Toronto one. Like, brands will pay to show up in these spaces in a different way to educate the, the beauty bar consultants so that they will be able to start to answer and enrich those experiences both in the store and online when I'm ordering from Walmart. Plus if I'm not, you know, going in a store to experience these beauty bars. And I, I absolutely love that. The, the last part is, is, you know, the biggest change that I noticed, whether it was in the Palm Springs Target or, sorry, the Palm Springs Walmart that I went to or the, the Walmart Toronto store that we were in last week.
- [34:29]
Is that Mississauga technically. And Mississauga. Mississauga just outside of Toronto. That's big difference from those Canadian Omni Talk fans out there.
- [34:37]
Yes, that's true. The Mississauga store. So anyway, they're, they're quarantined off. Right. Beauty is also a very high theft area. And so what I love about this is it takes, they like are making lemonade out of lemons. Instead of making this like a crappy experience where, you know, you gotta wait for somebody to come in, they're like using this to their Advantage at Walmart, which I think is another just such a smart thing to do, make this a special area, make it a beauty bar. Not, not an area where you have a separate register and the brands are showing up. It's like, no, let's make an experience out of this instead of making it this just like extra area that I have to shop in or like making me feel weird because I, I'm going into this other area. It's like, let's department stories this where it's like, this is cool. This is a boutique. You get to have the knowledge and you get, they're bringing all the expertise in this space with you so that you have this amazing beauty experience at Walmart. And I, I, I'm thrilled. I think it's such a great move.
- [35:36]
Yeah, it's a great point. Like, it's a new wrinkle on the controlled entry and exit concept that we've talked about before. I don't know if they're going to be doing that in the beauty bar test that, that they're talking about here, but we've definitely seen, you know, iterations of that through our travels recently. So, yeah, it's an, it's an interesting new rickle. It's, it's a smart thing you brought up. All right, should we go to the lighting round, close out the show?
- [35:56]
Yes, let's do it. Chris OpenAI is reporting that they are spending significant money in electricity bills or the amount of electricity that's being used because of people saying please and thank you to their AI bots. Do you use manners when you are asking Chat GPT to do something for you or he's saying, saying, hey, will you please help me with this? Thank you, Siri.
- [36:24]
You know, it's funny, I'd actually look back at my, my prompts in Chat GPT and everywhere else and I almost 100 of the time say please. I have no idea why, but I do. So I guess I'm causing more energy usage with every, with every command that I, that I ask of Chat gbt. But I guess old, old Ma Walton raised me right, I guess and taught me manners. So, yeah, I say please all the time. Gu.
- [36:46]
Oh my gosh, please. No, it's a robot. They don't have feelings. I'm just like, I'm putting in a command. It feels like adding niceties like please and thank you is like a ridiculous thing that I, it's just going to mess up the system. I just like, I feel like I have to be as explicit as possible when I'M writing those things.
- [37:07]
Wow. Fascinating.
- [37:07]
Fascinating.
- [37:08]
All the dynamics of how people use things. All right, Pope Francis died this week. My question for you is, if someone were to elect me pope, what name would you recommend that I take?
- [37:17]
I would say you should be Pope Thomas, because Pope Thomas is the patron saint of, or actually is also depicted as a doubter, but a believer. So I think this would be good. Like, you'd, you'd be able to ask questions, you'd be able to like, you know, use that as the premise for your popedom. What do you call it? Pope Hood?
- [37:42]
My papacy.
- [37:42]
Yes, your papacy. Your papacy.
- [37:45]
Wow.
- [37:45]
Yes.
- [37:45]
Wow. That's a good one. And I like the thought you put into that. That was really good.
- [37:50]
All right, let's go to question number three. London marathoners can carbo load for free this weekend at top Soho pasta spot, Pastiao Soho. Hopefully I said that right, but definitely did not as part of a pop up marketing campaign for the marathon. Chris, what is the perfect pasta shape, in your opinion? And sauce?
- [38:13]
Crack me up. I. I'm guessing you didn't say it right. I don't really know, but I guess the, the, the Asian pronunciation of an Italian spot in Soho is probably not correct. But anyway.
- [38:24]
I don't even know. P A, S, T A, I, O, somebody. Correct.
- [38:29]
There's no point to it. And I don't know how to spell this word. I never have. But it, the answer is easy. It's mustachioli. That's the, that's the only noodle. And explain that.
- [38:38]
That shape for people in case they're not familiar with masacholi.
- [38:41]
It's a penne without the ridges. Basically, that's what is. That's what I'm penne without the ridges. And it's my grandfather's sauce. Yeah, my grandfather makes a killer sauce, which I believe it or not, I think you've had it right.
- [38:53]
Oh, I have. It's wonderful. I love it. Yeah, it's so tasty. So tasty.
- [38:57]
Got some anise in it. Yeah. He lights it up. All right, last one in the latest sign of the impending apocalypse. I can't even believe this one. And a startup has raised $1.5 million. Somebody gave $1.5 million to a company to pit sperm samples against one another in a microscopic sports style match, complete with leaderboards and play by play commentary in an arena filled with 4,000 people. And if you could watch sperm from any two men in history, dead or alive, race for the gold, who would those two men be? And whom do you think would win.
- [39:36]
I thought the Robot vs Human marathon was entertaining. I didn't know about sperm races. I would have to say, given the context, I would want to see a sperm race between LeBron and Anthony Edwards. I would assume that Ant would win because of his youth. But when you think about all the money, I forget like we were watching starting five, this show on Netflix about and it follows like LeBron and Anthony Edwards and a few other players around the amount of time and money that LeBron spends on his body. I wouldn't be surprised if like his sperm had some kind of superpowers. So, like, even though he's older, he could still beat the younger ones. But that's. That's the first thing that came to mind. And go. Will Wolves beat the Lakers again?
- [40:24]
Yeah, they had a good first game. Yeah. You know, it's funny. I had it. I thought I'd answer this question too. My brain went to the old people. Mine would be Anthony Quinn against Al Pacino. Two men that both fathered kids in their like late 70s or 80s. It just see, just put a pit them up against each other. It'd be great. It'd be great. Those two are.
- [40:41]
You'd be there forever. It wouldn't be a race. It'd be like a crawl or something.
- [40:45]
I don't know if you'd be there forever. Those guys were those, those. Their spurs were pretty modal and they were pretty. They were moving pretty hard in their day.
- [40:52]
Oh my God.
- [40:53]
All right. Happy birth. Speaking of speaking of mobile sperm, happy birthday today to Jack Nicholson, Catherine Mary Stewart, and to the young lad who once asked Adam Baldwin to be his bodyguard, the great Chris Makepeace, also of Meatballs fame. For those that might remember that film and remember, if you can only read or listen to one retail blog in the business, make it Omniton, the only retail media outlet run by two former executives from a career current top 10 US retailer. 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 everything you need to know each day. Just stay on top of your game as a retail executive and also regularly feature special content that is exclusive to us and that Anne and I take a lot of pride in doing just for you. Thanks as always for listening in. Please remember to like and leave us a review wherever you happen to listen to your podcasts or on YouTube. You can follow us today by submitting going to YouTube.com omnitalkretail so until next week, and on behalf of all of us at Omnitalk Retail, on behalf of Anne and myself, as always, be careful out there.