The Best One Yet - 🥱 “I dream of Pikachu” — Pokemon Sleep’s Humblebrag. KFC’s nugget nuance. The Strip Mall’s real estate resurgence.

Episode Date: August 3, 2023

Pokemon Sleep is soaring to the top of the App Store by gamifying your slumber — But its growth hack is the humblebrag. KFC sales surged 19% last quarter thanks to the debut of their chicken nugget — But we noticed chicken’s been eating beef for 50 years. And Strip Malls were once the armpit of American retail, but now are the #1 play in commercial real estate — Because some things are just un-amazonable. Subscribe to our newsletter at news.tboypod.com $AMZN $NTDOY $YUM Want merch, a shoutout, or got TheBestFactYet? Go to: www.tboypod.com Follow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypod And now watch us on Youtube Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday. August 3rd, and today's pod is the best one yet. It is a T-Boy, Jack. We had such an awesome launch with the newsletter yesterday. That was a lovely launch. You want to share some numbers over there, Jack?

Why not? 62% open rate? 62% and that's just so far today. We got a whole bunch of replies, which we just loved reading. Loving the replies. Couldn't stop reading those things. Nick, we are T-boy. Two daily products.

We have marketing going out every day with social media. Four employees. This is a freaking universe we're building together. And that is why we're wearing the same color shirt today, isn't it, Jack? Buy one, get one free. We're trying to cut cost to. And that is why today's pod is truly the best one yet. Jack, first story for today's tea boy. KFC. KFC just had its best quarter in years, powering the stock to an all-time high. So Jack and I found four mega trends on why chicken is eating For our second story, one of the fastest growing apps right now is Pokemon Sleep. Pokemon Sleep, because the humble brag is the new growth hack.

And our third and final story, commercial real estate is one of the biggest losers of the pandemic, but we found one winner. The number one real estate right now, it's the strip mall. The strip mall is the winner of post-pandemic real estate. I got to go to the T-Mobile store. But yet is, before we hit, that fantastic mix. What a wonderful mix of stories today, Jack. The newest job for a college grad is actually the most lucrative job for a college grad. According to the Wall Street Journal,

there's a bunch of consultants consulting on sorority admissions. Get this, parents are hiring sorority consultants for $4,000. One parent is paying $4,000 to get their baby Penelope into pie beta 5. We're talking $4,000 bucks to get into Lambda Theta Alpha. 4,000 bucks for beta, beta, bling. Cha Ching, Cheching. Yet he's nothing gets you through college like a group of friends. Especially a house full of designated friends. And frankly, sorority life, it is another language, isn't it, Jack? Well, it is. Yeah, it's Greek. The letters are literally a different language.

Literally Greek. And it's not just showing up for rush that's going to get you into a sorority these days. To get into a top sorority, you need to submit your GPA. You need to publish a personal video essay and get three letters of recommendation from fine individuals. So fascinatingly, savvy sorority sisters have caught on to this challenge. Yes, they've turned the sorority rush into their own personal gold rush. Jack, I'm checking the bill right now. $600 for a sorority strategy seminar? $800 for an individual consultation?

Four grand for the whole darn package, besties. Act now and get the secret handshake for free. So Jack and I jumped in T-boy style. Turns out sororities are more exclusive than the schools they're inside of. That's right. It's harder to get into a sorority at Alabama than it is to get into Alabama. So use promo code Sigma Sigma Moo for 50% off the latest sorority consultancy challenge. I'm checking here.

I don't have Greek letters on my keyboard next. Yes, you're going to pay full price, Jack. Yeties, let's hit our three stories. That'll be four grand. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast Mexico. in the dorm, they had an idea that caused a cultural storm. That's a fat tip. Tea Boy City on your at list.

If you know, you know, because we're ready to go. We can't wait no more, so just start the show. For our first story, KFC just had its best quarter in years, and it's all thanks to the Nugget. But this isn't just a story about Nuggets. It's also a story about stomachs. Yes, it is. But Jack, if we're going to talk about Stummocks, we've got to talk about $40 billion. Yum. Best name in the business. Yum? Who is Yum? Yum Brands. When I grew up, it was known as

Can Taco Hut or Triple Threat? You can call it either one. Because Yum Brands is the corporate entity that owns KFC, it owns Taco Bell, and it owns Pizza Hut in one company. And in Western Massachusetts, there's one location with all three of those in the same restaurant. Don't believe you. It's like Narnia, Jack. Nick, they have combo items that include items from all three. I'm going to need picture evidence of this, Jack. You can get a cassidia, pizza breadstick with mariner sauce and fried chicken. I'm sold you've convinced me. That's on the locale menu.

Classic just outside of Boston. But yet, he's, the overall sales at this giant restaurant company were up 13% last quarter. And that pushed the stock of young brands close to an all-time high. But Jack and I want to talk about the highlight for their earnings because their highlight, it was something different, wasn't it, Jack? It wasn't Taco Bell's Chalupas or Pizza Hut Stuff Crest Pizza. The highlight was Kentucky Fried Chicken. Kentucky Fried Chicken.

because Yeti's Kentucky Fried Chicken makes up more than half of Yum's overall profit. And KFC sales surged by 19% last quarter. Jack, dip that biscuit and champagne and sprinkle it on me. The colonels do for a promotion. Yeah, make this guy the general. But yet, here's what Jack and I find fascinating about this story. KFC didn't change their recipe for the chicken. No, instead, they just changed the format.

In March, KFC added chicken nuggets. They brought it back to the menu after a 25-year chicken nugget hiatus. And why did they do that, Jack? Because of something that we call the window of loyalty. The window of loyalty. Jack and I first introduced this about a year ago on this pod about KFC bringing back the nugget. Yeties, we Americans eat a lot of fried chicken over our lifetime. But we become loyal to just one brand or one restaurant that serves fried chicken.

So to win their loyalty, you got to get them while they're young. And what do young people want? Chicken nuggets. A messy drumstick, that's for adults. Who wants to deal with that when you're under 12? KFC whipped up a special chicken nugget just for the kids. And Jack and I just got the results. The CEO said that boneless chicken wings and chicken nuggets

drove the sale surge last quarter. Bites over buckets, that's what's winning right now. And if the window of loyalty theory is correct, then those chicken nugget sales today will turn into a lifetime of finger-licking loyalty throughout that customer's life. Yes, they will. But Jack and I jumped in T-boy style, and we noticed that there's more to this poultry story.

There's some nuance to these nuggets. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at KFC? Americans' diets have flipped from beef to chicken, and we found the four reasons why. Get this, Yeties. For the last 50 straight years, chicken has been outperforming beef. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 1970, Americans ate twice as much beef as they ate chicken.

But here's the wild thing. For the past five decades, that stat has completely, completely flipped 100%. This year, the average American will eat 100 pounds of chicken and just 50 pounds of beef. And we found four mega trends. Why, first, chicken has caught a health trend. Chicken is better for you than beef is. Second, chickens caught an environmental trend.

A chicken breast has half the carbon footprint of a beef line. Third, there's a generational shift going on out there. Gen Z prefers finger food, which chickens great at, over big burgers or big steaks. And then finally, in this economy, Jack? Chicken is simply cheaper than beef. Besties add it all up and America's diet has flipped. From beef to chicken. For our second story.

Pokemon Sleep, it is the most lethargic app to ever hit number one in the app store. Pokemon Sleep is growing because we love to humble brag. But Jack, before we jump into this story, T-boy style, I got to ask you, how did you sleep last night? All right. I was kind of chilly. I should have worn socks. All right, Yeti's little dirty secret. Jack is always chilly. You're wearing an undershirt right now, aren't you? You're wearing an undershirt. I take pride in being from like north of the border, but I'm always chilling. If you want to get Jack to sleep, you got to swallow him like a baby panda. That's what you got to do. My dog river is my heating blanket. But Yetis, when it comes to sleep, the Snorlax is now going to help you actually go to sleep.

Two weeks ago, Pokemon, the legendary card game from our childhoods launched Pokemon Sleep. Pokemon Sleep, this is an app you use while you're sleeping to improve your sleep. And that app has soared in the App Store rankings. It is number four in the games category in the entire US App Store. It's number one overall in the Japanese App Store, because Japan is the birthplace of Pikachu and Pokemon. Pokemon Sleep, it is the sleepiest app to ever top the app store that we've ever seen. Ironically, it's the opposite of Pokemon Go. It is, it is.

The original app, which was a big hit years ago. And yet, Pokemon's sleep has taken off because a good night sleep is the ultimate miracle drug. And this app promises to help you sleep better. Now, yet is this reminded Jack and I have a funny quote from Warren Buffett. Warren Buffett once said, you need to learn how to make money in your sleep. His point was you need to make passive income by like owning stocks or something. Well, Pokemon is making money in your sleep. Like while you sleep, they're making money.

Pokemon Sleep is reportedly earning $130,000 a day in Rewon. revenue while you sleep. This app is worth more than your entire Pokemon card collection, the original one. And it's blowing up because Pokemon Sleep gameifies our slumber. And here's how it goes down. Pokemon Sleep, it's the last app that you use. You leave it all night out on your mattress or like next to your pillow. Because this app listens all night very closely to how you're sleeping.

This app is going to track your breathing patterns to detect whether you're sleeping lightly. Which it calls dozing. Or normally. Which it calls snoozing. Or heavily. Which it calls slumbering. And then when you wake up, you're going to check the app. And then some Pokemon have wandered over to you in the app.

That's right. Your sleeping style and how well you sleep, it attracts Pokemon with similar sleep style. You're slumbering like a bulbosar over there. The better the quality of your sleep, the more adorable the Pokemon who you will wake up with. It's the kind of thing that you'd want to share, I don't know, in a tech. chain with your buddy Timmy, Jack? Sure is. I just downloaded the app. I had to give it access to my microphone, by the way, because it has to listen to my sleeping. I hope I don't wake up alone tomorrow. Jack, that's both adorable and creepy. So what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Pokemon

Sleep? The humble brag is a new growth hack. Funny thing Jack and I have noticed lately, Yeties, apps are harnessing a surprising new growth hack. And that growth hack is the humble brag. Apps are growing because they give you a humble reason to brag about using their app. For example, Whirdle grew so quickly because people bragged about their results in text messages with friends. Immaculate Grid is a sports trivia game growing fast right now for the same reason. You text your results to your friends. And Pokemon Sleep is the same thing. Your first move is to text your sleep progress with your buddies because you caught some Pokemon.

See how mindful I am? I'm sleeping so well. Oh, and here's a screenshot of Katernan. that snuggled with me last night. Yeties, that catternip cutteness, it drives your buddies to download the app too. Because your Pokemon Sleep Humble Bragg is really their growth hack. For our third and final story, strip malls once America's retail armpit have become the hottest play in real estate.

Strip malls hold the secret that every retailer craves. What is that, Jack? Proximity. Now, Jack, in order to understand and appreciate the strip mall, we've got to talk to talk about how the pandemic moved people. Yeah, let's take a look at the moving scoreboard. Yeah, let's look at that, Jack. According to the Economic Innovation Group, the top 10 largest cities in America lost a net 2 million people during 2021 and 2022. People moved, and you want to know where they went? Where they go, Jack. 700,000 people moved to the boondocks, rural parts of the

country. Oh, rural parts of the country, didn't they, Jack? The rest, 1.3 million people moved to the They moved to the suburbs. They learned how to mow a lawn and fix a tow hitch. Whatever that is, Jack. So, retailers are following the money. Retail craves proximity, so they're moving to the suburbs too. Which led to this shocking headline from the Wall Street Journal. The best performing commercial real estate right now? The strip mall. The strip mall. Yeah, Yeties. That strip mall. The one off Route 7 with the Olympia sporting goods, the Starbucks, and the staples. Yeah, the one with the beige bricks and the tiles and the single tree randomly in the parking lot. Either one with the T-Mobile and the Metro PCS.

Jack, if you see the Quiznos, you went too far. Strip malls are the standout performer yet he's in this economy right now. Because office buildings are half empty and foot traffic at shopping malls is still down 20%. But strip mall occupancy is at 92% the same high level they had before the pandemic. Sit down, stand up and walk into a kadoba. The strip mall. The ugly office. awkward cousin of commercial real estate.

Historically, it never got invited to like the end of the year holiday party with all the real estate people. But now the strip mall is getting all the big money Wall Street commercial real estate attention. Yeah, it's the King of Commercial Real Estate. It's a profit puppy with a Panera. Because home offices are now what seems to be a permanent reality, but you can't be home all the time. And what does that mean, Jack? Work from home, Willie is going shopping in between Zoom calls. And he's doing it at the strip mall on Sunset Highway. We see you, Massapequa.

We see you. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in real estate? The strip mall surge proves that not everything is Amazonable. Yeah, these tenants that you see at the strip malls, their businesses, you can only visit in person. They are the un-Amazonable stuff. The restaurants, the dentists, the massage salons, the chiropractor, or the dry cleaner. Humans, we need to be fed, clean, stretched, and dressed,

and you can't do that through a screen. And those are the tenants packing the strip malls right now. Plus, there's this trend toward personal care right now. You got to get your hair cut. You got to get your nails done. And you've got to treat yourself. And that's powered strip mall icons like supercuts, Nancy's nail salon, and the pink berry fro you.

Stripp mall icons. So it's not just proximity from work from homers that's powering strip malls. It's that the strip mall is un-amazonable. Jack, I know you're chilly right now. But can you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? sales jumped a bucket-sized 19% last quarter thanks to their bite-sized chicken nuggets. And America's stomach has flipped from beef to chicken. For our second story, Pokemon's sleep is bribing you to sleep better with adorable

Pokemon creatures. Yeties, the humble brag is the new growth hack. And our third and final story is the strip mall. It's become the top play in real estate. Because strip mall retailers are un-amazonable businesses. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Jack and I saw two big surprises in the tech industry, didn't we, Jack? Both Uber and Robin Hood enjoyed their first ever profits as public companies.

And second, Molson Corr has just enjoyed record sales for the old school beer. Why? You knew it already. Coors Light and Miller Light are drinking up Bud Light sales. Yes, they are. And finally, Nickelodeon is getting the first ever Super Bowl, cast next year. With lots and lots of slime. When the Patriots lose, they'll be covered in slime. Because the window of loyalty is about getting them when they're young. Yes, it is. Good, good call. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Gabe Reed from lovely Salt Lake City, Utah. Yesterday, we covered the story of Birkenstock, which may be the oldest company we've ever covered on this pod. But the oldest still operating company in the world,

that's different than Birkenstock. It's the Japanese construction company called Congo Gumi. Congo Gumi founded back in 578 AD, like 578. There's not four digits in that date. That's before William the Conqueror. That's before Genghis Khan, I think. That's before the middle ages. It's the early ages.

And here's the best part. Congo Gumi, they specialize in temples. They've been built in temples for 1,400 years. I didn't know we were still building temples. Tell that to Congo Gumi, Jack. Is there side hustle sphinx construction? Congo Gumi, seven times older than Birkenstock. Yetis, you'll look fantastic today.

And if you want to feel fantastic going into the weekend, go to news.tieboypod.com. That's how you subscribe to the best newsletter yet. Either way, Nick and I, we'll see you tomorrow. If you know, you know. And before we go, congratulations to Yeti Anthony Sarmiento, who just got his first ever hole in one over

in Ohio. I'm still waiting for mine, but drinks on you, Anthony. And Mazeltoff to Natanel Asher on the bar mitzvah with a sushi bar down in Boca Raton, Florida. And happy 30th birthday to Anna Marsala in Cincinnati, Ohio. And Summer Rodman Gutierrez, happy 13th birthday in Costa Mesa, California. Happy third birthday to Little Lucy Smolowski in Centennial, Ohio. Turn in three. And congratulations to Elizabeth Riddner, who starred in Georgetown Med School. right now. Good luck, Elizabeth. Big congratulations and good luck to Sasty, who's starting a new job in New York City. And Jack, Ed and Kathleen, they're listening to T-Boy together right now during their lunch break, both of them same time. I love that. You know what I love even more? What, Jack? Ed and

Kathleen are getting married. Finally, we are so excited for you guys, Ed and Kathleen. And to anyone else who celebrates something today, make it a T-boy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Nick and I both own stock of Robin Hood. My dog river is my heating blanket.