Deep thoughts on a real estate strategy from a major retailer that is totally a head scratcher. $SBUX recently closed and renovated the store closest to my NYC apartment. Residential neighborhood. They streamlined a bit for mobile ordering and took out some seating. (1/n) Looks neither better or worse. Slightly less comfortable if you want to use the store as a “third place”, which many people used to do in the WFH era. They have the same amount of real estate.

As $GOOGL climbs its way out of another "beat and fall" reporting cycle, I've been pondering the root cause of what people didn't like about the quarter. Sure, capex is going up, cost control and operating leverage could have been better... but my sense is that the real source of discontent is the $120 million revenue miss in search. $GOOGL

As promised, here are the notes from my Black Friday channel checks at Garden State Plaza (an A++ rated mall 30 minutes outside of NYC). A 20-year tradition for me. #retail #blackfriday I've got notes on promotions and other observations on 35+ #retailers in my full piece, but I will just excerpt the main highlights here. First, some high level observations. #blackfriday

There is no way to overstate what a problem this is for Adidas. Yeezys are $$$$ maker and they still will be after this hateful tweet… but not sure how they give Kanye a mulligan on this, especially as a DAX member. Almost feel bad for C-suite there… no winners here. $ADS GY I mean he was already under review as of Friday for being hateful to BLM. Now he came for the Jews… who is next? A German stalwart of industry is going to be more sensitive to appearing to tolerate anti-Semitism than one from any other country.

The story of a 20-year old who made $100 mm on $BBBY is so big that even friends who pay zero attention to the market are asking me about it. Everyone enthralled by the gain but to me the real story is how a college kid can amass $25 MILLION quickly for a highly speculative trade With over 20 years of experience at multiple funds and having run 9-figures of capital for years, a Rolodex of successful friends… I think my chances of raising $25 million in a hurry are close to zero. Most people in same boat unless their family can write big checks.

This is nuts. He has taken out $150 mm in stock sales in the last 9 months. Even with $30 mm to govt, what did he spend all the money on and what is driving these margin calls??? He JUST closed on this house not even 3 months ago!!! $PTON

https://twitter.com/nypost/status/1499419564123246595

PS - nice reporting @JenGouldKeil 😀

What I saw at the mall yesterday 🧵 20%/25%/30% was the new 40% when it came for “percent off the whole store deals.” Promos down as expected due to the tighter inventory environment. GM positive, especially for those with longer lead times that prob bough w/more promos in the plan.

Someone asked me last week why I am not a fan of $SFIX and I tried to sum up the highlights, but it's buried in another thread, so I thought I would break it out where everyone can read it. The #1 reason I am skeptical is that in unbranded or non-aspirational branded clothing, I think the vast majority of consumers are very focused on price/value. I think $SFIX items are expensive for what they are.