The Best One Yet - 🎃 “The $600M clown costume”— Spirit Halloween’s hack. Delta’s flying taxi. TikTok’s secret job.

Episode Date: October 12, 2022

We’re jumping in TBOY style to the most important chain in the country right now: Spirit Halloween — they make $600M in 2 months (scary). Delta just invested millions in a flying airport taxi called Joby, because first impressions are worth it. And TikTok’s job website reveals that they’re about to take on… Amazon.$TGT $HD $DAL $JOBY $AMZNFollow The Best One Yet on Instagram, Twitter, and Tiktok: @tboypodAnd now watch us on YoutubeWant a Shoutout on the pod? Fill out this formGot the Best Fact Yet? We got a form for that tooLearn 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 Wednesday, October 12th, and today's pod is the best one yet. TV-O-I. It is a TV-O-Y. What's going on, man? But first, J.P. Morgan's legendary CEO, Jamie Diamond, said that he thinks we're getting a recession in six months. Jamie! So stocks fell their fifth day in a row, and you got a big inflation report coming today. Jamie thinks we're getting to recession. Jack and I think we're getting to T-boy. Jack, what's our first story today? We're jumping in T-boy style to the most important. important retail chain in the country right now, Spirit Halloween.

Spirit Halloween. They make $600 million in two months. That is frightening. That is scary. For our second story, Delta just invested millions of dollars into Joby, a flying taxi company. Because Yeti's, there is no better feeling than flying over traffic to the airport. And our third and final story, if you want to know TikTok's next move, just look at their career website. TikTok is hiring up to take down Amazon. But before we hit that wonderful mix, Nick, this is honestly my favorite mix we've ever done, Jack. This is a wild mix. Should I pay for dinner or split the check? Jack, should I get flowers or not get flowers? Two get flowers, too many flowers? Am I wearing too much cologne? Can I smell that? I can kind of smell it. Ah, the typical stresses

of the first date. Yet he's the number one stress in the dating game right now. Uh, it's debt. Get this. According to lending tree, 22% of millennials are going into debt because of dates. Yeah, you got IOUs in the pursuit of I Love Yous. Almost one in four millennials are in debt because of Tinder. One out of four millennials drop in credit scores because of Grindr. Not yet, he's dating has always been expensive. Good point, Jack. Like the silent generation, they paid big money to watch silent films.

And boomers, they were dropping bank to watch Blue Man Group on Broadway. It was an instant classic. But inflation, it's making the candlelit dinner even more expensive for today's daters. Inflation. You're paying $8 for the pre-dinner, get-to-know-you drinks. But Jack, then you're paying $18 for the post-dinner, confirm if they're normal drinks. We're swiping right, then swiping credit cards. Besties, you're interested in them, and then you're paying interest on them.

To quote, bad girl, reread, I fell in love in a hopeless place. Yeah, and that hopeless place is the monthly Amex statement after all those dates. Jaylo was wrong. My love does cost a thing. So, Jack, what's our takeaway for our buddies who are going on dates tonight? Don't think of it as a cost. This is an investment. Even a picnic date, that's going to cost you a paycheck right now.

But love, it's never inflation adjusted. Jack, let's hit our three love those stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is a norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice.

50%, 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 We just dove in T-boy style To the seasonal store

Spirit Halloween Spirit Halloween Maybe the ultimate store Nick they bring in 600 billion In just 60 days It's scary It's scary stuff Okay but first of all Jack

Do we have a plan What are we gonna wear this year Do we know what we're gonna do? I was gonna be Wendy's drive-thru Just be really slow all that I'll do the chick-fil-A one I'll be really fast Let's be running around

I guess we can do a slamming salmon, like two salmon? Well, a group of salmon is called a slammin, right? You be the hazelnut pump, I'll be the Darlene, or vice versa. We can work this out, Jack. In the meantime, Yetis, you got three weeks to Halloween, which means we all have CDP costume decision paralysis. So we got to talk Spirit Halloween. Yeah, we got to talk Spirit Halloween. Because, Jack, like you, me, everyone, we've seen those Spirit Halloween stores.

It's that random place on the strip mall that appears like a Jackalantron exploded. It's a costume. store that comes out of nowhere once a year. It's like the Stephen King of retail. It drips Halloween like a melting mouthful of kickats. But here's what Jack and I find fascinating yet. This Spirit Halloween, it's not just a store. No, no, no. Spirit Halloween is a phenomenon. 600 million in Halloween costume sales, even though they're only open two months a year. That is $10 million a day. That is $16,000 every minute. We did some math while we were researching the story. Yeah, we did. Yeah, we did. That's because nearly one out of five costumes every year

is bought at Spirit Halloween. Okay, Spirit Halloween is Halloween. Oh, and that Spirit Halloween sign you saw on the strip mall, it's not a sign at all. It's a temporary nylon banner they hang up there with duck tape. Jack, this chain literally dresses up for Halloween just like us. And it's actually kind of a metaphor for how they optimize everything. So here's how Spirit Halloween makes double the revenue of Allbirds, even though it's only open two months a year. Now, legendary Yeti, Srinny Sankar, pointed us to the research by Trung Fan, who gave us a little bit more perspective on Spirit Halloween. Well, Spirit began with one location in California 40 years ago. Yeah, they only sold costumes for one month. But sales were a bumping for that one month. And here's the insight from 40 years ago.

If you're only open a month or two, the customer is going to feel urgency. We do. And the result is they'll pay more. That's the costume decision paralysis. Basically, the more limited the products, the more lucrative the potential. If you want to get that sexy clown costume, which we all do. Well, you decided months ago, but the store hasn't been there. There's no Spirit Halloween. So when it finally opens for that two-month window, you'll pay anything to finally get the costume.

You'll pay a premium to be that sexy clown. And since Halloween is an annual holiday, that spending becomes an annual tradition. That's just Spirit Halloween's revenues. We think the more interesting story is Spirit Halloween's costs. Here's the strange thing. The worst the rest of retail does, the better Spirit Halloween does. Spirit is thriving in retail graveyard. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Spirit Halloween?

Spirit is ironically thriving thanks to zombie retail. Okay, now technically, Yeti, Spirit is only open two months out of the year, but their real estate arm operates year round. That's right. you crunched the last candy corn on October 31st. We did. The next day, Spirit's real estate team is doing deals. They got 14 leasing agents scour in the country looking for empty storefronts where they can

stick a spirit next year. But it must fit a strict criteria. And Jack, what is that strict criteria? There can be no more than 50,000 square feet in the store. Exactly. And there have to be 35,000 people living within five miles. And they even count the cars that are driving by. At least 25,000 cars must be.

past the storefront every day. They count. And then Spirit pays rock bottom rent to take over some empty store space for two months. That's why the empty circuit city became a Spirit Halloween for two months last year. And Jack, that's why that abandoned David's bridle is selling

zombie bride costumes right now. E-commerce is killing physical stores. It is. But they temporarily come back to life as Spirit Halloween. Spirit's life force is the death of retail. It's thriving, thanks to zombie storefronts. For our second story, Delta is investing in an electric air taxi startup to fix the hellish pithole that is getting to the airport.

This is an investment in the first impression. Ah, Yeti's Delta, the premier Biskopf cookie distributor. I'm sorry, it's airline. It just invested $60 million in a company called Joby. Joby. It's a publicly traded aviation company. And Jack, what does Joby do exactly? Electric air taxis.

Electric air taxis. We're talking about contraptions like Leonardo da Vinci stuff where it lifts off and sets down kind of like a helicopter. The big difference is in between. In between, it's going to turn the propellers 90 degrees, so it flies like an old propeller airplane. It's a cousin of a helicopter. Yes, but it has six spinning propellers,

not just the one big one overhead. Right. So it looks like a helicopter flown by a pilot, and it's got room for four passengers, some luggage, and a little bag for your little puppy, who's coming on the trip. The keyword they use, though, is taxi. So unlike a helicopter, this will pick you up close to or at your home. Details are TBD.

Now, the other keyword is air taxi because you're going to fly over the traffic. The third keyword is electric. Electric. So while you're flying over the traffic, you feel less guilty about flying over all the traffic. I mean, I feel bad, but it feels so good. Now, yet he's Delta isn't just investing in this helicopter electric taxi company. No, they're not. They're also planning to add Jobi's rides to the checkout process.

That's right. Delta announced plans to incorporate Jobi Air Taxi rides to the airport from your home for premium passengers. This all starts with two airports, the ones that are most traveled by Delta's platinum medallion craft. Exactly. If you're going from JFK to LAX and you've got unobtainium status, like any kind of precious metal that's really, really rare, that means you can probably do this. Starting probably in the next couple years, they didn't say when, you'll be able to book a flight on Delta. to two or from those two airports. And at the end, you'll be able to add a Joby pickup from your home for a price that, I don't know, 500 bucks. If your Sky Miles gem is not on the periodic tables, then you cannot do this kind of a ride.

It's super premium. And both JFK and LAX, those terminals have been newly redesigned. So they're probably ready for these Joby helicopter things to land right near the gate. All right. So visualize this check. An air taxi is going to land near your home. And then you're going to show up at the gate. gate at JFK like your Bruce Wayne.

You're going to have a separate TSA. You're probably not taking your shoes off or pulling your laptop. Is you kidding? There's no line. You might even walk up the steps right to the airplane instead of taking that ramp from gate 43B. Boom. You avoid all the friction and you're already at gate 43B.

CEO Ed Bastion calls this a time saving uniquely premium home to airport solution. But the way Jack and I see it, it's something deeper. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies? over at Delta and Jobi. This is an investment in the first impression. Besties, research shows that the first impression is what determines your overall experience, especially in hospitality. And first impressions, they're formed in the first 15 minutes you get there.

That's why hotels go overboard and like dazzle you in the first 15 minutes with cookies, mince, and a towel that's folded like a koala bear. It's not just a bear, it's a koala bear towel doll. But for airlines, here's the problem. They don't encounter you until two hours into your your awful voyage to the airport. The first impression, that's the stress of loading up the car the night before, the frustration of waiting two hours in traffic, and the pain of finding a parking spot.

And then TSA scans your laptop for the seven times. Then your schlepping luggage to the gate. I already took my shoes off, sir. Airlines have always been the last impression of your air travel journey, not the first. But if Delta can get you at your door with this Jobi thing, then Delta reclaims the first impression. That's why this is really an investment in the first impression. Now, a word about our sponsor, Robin Hood.

You know, honestly, your salad, it says so much about you. Nick, you like to blaze your own trail at the salad bar. I'm ordering a salad. I go off menu, man, like a combo of kale and croutons that has never been made before. Me? I'm not reinventing the wheel. I like to go classic. Sweakerian thinks it's a good combo.

Jack's not going to change that. Kind of like investing strategies. Someone to build a custom portfolio. of stocks, crypto, and options. Others don't want to reinvent. Just give me the most standard ETF. Whether you're tweaking your one-of-a-kind portfolio every day or prefer a more hands-off approach, Robin Hood has the tools. If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet to get started, go to robinhood.com slash T-Boy to choose your free stock. That's robinood.com slash T-B-O-I. Limitations apply. Stocks offered by Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC. Crypto offered through Robin Hood

All investments involve risk. By the way, this podcast is not owned or part of Robinhood, and we are not employees of Robin Hood. For our third and final story, TikTok's job board shows what TikTok really wants to do next. It appears TikTok is hiring to become the next Amazon. What do we always say about this stuff? If you want to know where a company's going, look at its job board. Yet he's the career page. It is the crystal ball of a company's business plans.

It's the nostridamus of new ideas. If you look at who a company hires, that's going to reveal their priority. And Axios just noticed yesterday, 12 job postings for TikTok on LinkedIn. Now, here's the interesting thing. It looks like the next TikTok division isn't going to be online or focused on algorithms or anything really even that digital. It's the opposite, actually. Get this. All 12 of those jobs were related to provide warehousing, delivery, and customer service returns.

Okay, Jack, that's an exact quote from the job post, isn't it? TikTok, the app, is building U.S. fulfillment centers like at the time. It's Amazon. Or as TikTok put it in the rest of their jog post, we want to ensure fast and sustainable growth of TikTok shop. TikTok shop. Now, just in case you weren't sure that the job page is a window into a company's future. Get this quote also from TikTok's job board.

We believe TikTok is the ideal platform to deliver a brand new e-commerce experience. Boom. It's like reading slide six in the pitch deck that they only keep for the executives. Now, Yetis, TikTok isn't just trying to sell some TikTok user Basker. No, this is an international e-commerce operation, baby. TikTok is building a cross-border clearing customs made in China sold to TikTok and teens in Texas operation. Oh, and Jack, should we call up all the Yetis over in Chicago? We must because TikTok is even hiring logistics solutions managers.

If you worked at FedEx or UPS, dip on down. Now, it's not hard, actually, to imagine this. TikTok shopping thing competing pretty well with Amazon. Fag, Jack and I were talking about it while we were preparing the pot and we think, you know what, TikTok actually has a big advantage. Amazon's five-star review system, we've reported a couple times recently. It's kind of corrupted those ratings. But Jack, let's say you want to buy that sundress for next spring.

It's never too early. You could look at Amazon's 4.5 rating, which is suspect. What is this, amateur hour? Or you can watch a video of someone trying it on on TikTok. That's a way more authentic. product review. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over TikTok? Your attention is a foot in the door to your everything. Yeties, it is easy to think about TikTok's competition as only Instagram, YouTube, and like a bunch of other video apps. But what TikTok really takes up is your focus,

your time, your attention. And because TikTok has hours of your attention already, it can compete way beyond social media. For example, for Gen Z, TikTok is the search engine of choice. It beats Google. We sat down, stood up and sat back down again. We repeat, teens aren't Googling their TikToking for online search. Now TikTok is trying to translate your attention into your shopping too. Because your attention is a foot in the door to your everything. Jack, can you whip up the takeaways for us over that? Spirit Halloween is a September and October annual retail phenomenon. It's a Halloween store ironically thriving on zombie stores. For our second story, Delta is working on electric air taxis. It's an investment in the first impression. And our third and final

story, TikTok, is hiring logistics people, probably out of Chicago to compete with Amazon. Because your attention is a foot in the door to your everything. Now time for the best fact yet. Take it away, Ryan. Hey, Yiddies. This is Ryan Jones coming to you from the Bay Area with the best fact yet. This one is chemistry focused. In the early 1800s, Sir Humphrey Davy isolated a new metallic substance that he called aluminum. Four years later, he updated the name in a publication to aluminum, which Americans continue to call it today. But other British chemists at the time didn't like the spelling of aluminum as it went against the naming conventions of other elements, Sir Davy isolated like sodium, calcium, and potassium. So the British chemist added an eye to make it aluminum

for consistency. That's why we called aluminum and the Brits called aluminum. Also aluminum. It's had three different names. Yeah. It's like M&M. Marshall Mathers, slim shading. And a fourth if you include the Delta status. Aluminum, aluminum medallion status. I don't think that's a thing. Customer service told me it was a thing, Jack.

Yetis, you look fantastic for this Wednesday. And remember, if you're going on a date tonight, you're going to pay more, so you may as well say H-Y-H-T-B-O-I. Have you had the best one yet? That's how we grow the pod. If you know, you know. Nick and I'll see you tomorrow. Can't wait.

And before we go, congratulations to Mike and Casey Garzottis, who are celebrating three years of marriage, six years of fun, and one year of tee-boying in St. Louis. I like that one. I like that one. And happy one-year anniversary to Trey and Sydney down in North Carolina.

We also like that one, one year of fun, baby. And happy birthday to Rebecca Lazier in Chicago. To Logistics. And Hey-on-Woo, happy birthday and last semester of business school over in San Francisco. And happy 47th birthday

to Saturday Night Live, down to Rockefeller Center. And Joel Gutierrez, Happy birthday in Van Nuys, California. Celebrating with Nick's favorite, cake. We all love cake. And a happy one-year birthday to the downtown proper Los Angeles Hotel in downtown L.A. with a fantastic breakfast check.

We're going to stay there on our next L.A. trip. We are. And we're using promo code T-Boy. We'll see if it works. And all we're eating is almond butter banana bread breakfast. And to anyone else celebrating 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. Now a word about our sponsor, Robin Hood. Okay, so Jack and I both worked in finance for a while. And we know the six-monitor Bloomberg jockey with charts, numbers, balances, and more charts. They got coffees in both hands while they're executing some complex trade on a soybean future. Well, we're not trying to impress with our mission control trading center.

Just give us an app, please. Robin Hood, with its mobile first and intuitive design, it lets you trade with just a few quick taps on their app. And even if things still don't seem easy, Robin Hood has your back 24-7 with its live and robust customer support. If you're not investing on Robin Hood yet, to get started, go to Robinhood.com slash T-Boy and choose your free stock. That's Robinhood.com slash T-B-O-I. Limitations apply.

Robin Hood Financial LLC, member SIPC, all investments involved for us. By the way, this podcast is not owned by or part of Robin Hood, and we are not employees of Robin Hood.