The Best One Yet - 🔔 “The Wedding Szn Stock” — Abercrombie’s honeymoon surge. Hampton Inn’s DIY waffles. BuzzFeed => BuzzFox.

Episode Date: May 30, 2024

Get the Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Abercrombie’s stock surged 24% yesterday after its best quarter ever — Because Abercrombie’s all-in on weddings… since wedding ��days” are now wedding “weeks.”How did Hampton Inn become the biggest hotel chain in America? Free waffles — Executives thought DIY waffle machines would never work, but free waffles proved them wrong.And BuzzFeed is facing a surprise activist investor: former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy — Because he wants to turn BuzzFeed into BuzzFox.Plus, the house from Home Alone is listed for sale… for $5.2 million. Booby traps not included.$ANF $BZFD $HLTWatch us on YouTubeGet the Saturday Newsletter: tboypod.com/newsletter  Submit Shoutout Requests Submit The Best Fact YetFollow us: on InstagramAnd connect with us on Nick’s LinkedIn & Jack’s LinkedInAbout Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. 15 minutes on the 3 biz stories you need, with fresh takes you can pretend you came up with — Pairs perfectly with your morning oatmeal ritual. Hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Thursday, the new Friday, May 30th. And today's pod, it is the best one yet. It's a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. But Jack, destination doops, if you got one yet, he's, please send it our way. Nick and I are populating the best ones yet and sending them out in our weekly Saturday newsletter.

So, Bessies, if you have got a top destination dupe for this travel season, Jack and I want to hear it, hit us up, DM us right now. A destination dupe. awesome place to visit that's cheaper than the better known place to visit. And then subscribe to our newsletter by clicking the link in our episode description. Vermont, it's a dupe for Austria. Goodbye, Miami. Hello, Rio. Jack, three stories for today's show.

What do we got on the pod, man? For our first story, Abercrombie and Fitch Stock just surged 24% yesterday to an all-time high after A&F's best quarter ever. Because apparently Abercrombie is the plus one of every single wedding. For our second story, BuzzFee, is facing a surprise activist investor, a Republican presidential candidate. Vivek Ramoswamy wants to turn BuzzFeed into BuzzFox. And our third and final story, it's a trivia question.

Can you guess the top hotel chain in America by sale? Jack, is it Marriott? No. Is it Hilton? Nope. Did I stay in a Holiday Inn express last night? Uh-uh. It's the Hampton Inn.

And it's thanks to their free DIY waffles. Jack and I are going to tell you how waffles turned Hampton in into America's number one hotel chain. That is a classic third story for our show, isn't it? Jack, that's just us. That's us right there. But Yeties, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a fantastic mix. Love all three stories, Jack.

Here's some news to kick things off. Home prices just hit another record high in the United States. It's good if you own a home. It's frustrating if you don't. But here's the real estate news that's good for everyone. Yeties, get this. The house from Home Alone is officially for sale. The Home Alone Home is on the market right now.

The iconic home-alone suburban Chicago House. Just that's on Chicago. Besties, Jack and I jumped in T-boy style to the real estate listing, and McCauley Colkin's booby traps, not included. This property is listed at 671 Lincoln Avenue in Winnetka, Illinois. And it's got five beds, six bathrooms, and 9,000 square feet. Of eating junk and watching rubbish. And it's great if you have a terrarium full of tarantulas.

And guess what, Yetis? The scary boiler in the basement? That's not the only amenity in the homeowner. The Home Alone House. The Home Alone House includes a gym, two laundry rooms, a private movie theater to watch Home Alone, apparently, and an indoor basketball court, probably with that Michael Jordan cut out. Jack, this thing is so big, no wonder they were losing children all the time in that family. But again, it doesn't include the booby traps.

Kevin! And this Home Alone Home, it's been viewed on Zillow over 500,000 times. So we know what you're off there. How much does this house cost? Jack, whip out the house. real estate listing, what kind of price are we talking about? This house was purchased 12 years ago for $1.5 million, but it's listed today for $5.2 million. $5.2 million for the home alone home in this economy?

For $5 million, you will be home alone because all your money will be gone. Holy McColle-Colkin. Yeah, what was Mr. McAllister's job again? Yeties, when they sell this house for $5 million, you know what they're going to do with that money? Book a trip to Paris, first class, and bring all the kids. Jack, we gotta go. I'm gonna give you to the count of ten to get your ugly, yellow,

no good keister off my property before I pump your guts full of lead. Oh shoot, let's enter three stories. Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn that had an idea that caused a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an or not. 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. First, a quick word from our sponsor. For our first story, Abercrombie just had its best quarter ever, and Abercrombie stock has doubled so far this year. Abercrombie has gone all in on weddings, and it's thanks to their new CEO.

But Jack, before you toss on the tucks over there, can we head back to January 9th of this year? What was happening then, Jack? We covered a story on the top performing stock of 2023. It was Abercrombie and Fitch. And NVIDIA's computer chip stock, it tripled in 2023. But Abercrombie stock nearly quadrupled. And almost halfway through 2024, it's still Abercrombie that's leading on the scoreboard.

Yesterday, Abercrombie stock jumped another 25%. Nick, Alex said like six months ago, we should invest in Abercrombie Fitch. I told her it was too late because it had already gone up so much. We missed the boat. But you'd be wrong, because Abercrombie stock is actually up another way. 100% just in 2024 so far. It's up 100% this year after nearly quadrupling last year. Yeti's Abercrombie and Fitch was founded back in 1892 before there was such a thing of sweatpants. And yet they just had their best quarter ever with sales of 22%.

They're popping like double pop collars right now. Jack Stick another pocket on those cargo shorts, man. Now, some of Abercrombie's Renaissance is because it's on trend with its fashion. They're selling Baggy Daddy jeans. It's their top. selling denim. Some of it's because of nostalgia. Gen Z, they dress like middle school millennials. But the core reason for Abercrombie's $1 billion in quarterly revenue last quarter? What is it, Jack? Wedding enthusiasm. Wedding enthusiasm. Yeti's Abercrombie mentioned the word wedding. 11 times on their latest earnings call. It's just like Vince Vaughn said.

What do you like later? Christmas or wedding season? Mr. Gray? Yes. The answer would be wedding season? A little bit softer now. A little bit softer now. Now, yeah, these are what Jack and I found fascinating about this story. Two years ago, we told you that Abercrombie's top-selling product was a $100 wedding reception dress. But two months ago, Abercrombie kicked it up a notch or two. Yeah, they did. They renewed their vows. They finally launched their Abercrombie and Fitch wedding shop to double down on weddings.

It's Abercrombie's first ever wedding only online store. It's like a vertically integrated wedding situation from the best dress guest to the bride to the bachelorette. Abercrombie and Fitch noticed that wedding days have stretched to become wedding weeks. That was their insight that post-COVID weddings have gotten longer, so you need more products to go to those weddings. You need more outfits. So, Abercrombie started selling outfits for multiple wedding events at a low price. What kind of price are we talking, Jack? $15 per dress on average.

Andes, we're talking maxi dresses for the pre-rehearsal dinner. Jump suits for the post-wedding brunch. Jack is going to a wedding later this summer in Aspen. And I heard that you're wearing a pleaded one-shoulder cutout dress, Jack. Enchante. I am enchante, Jack. Yet he's Abercrombie even launched a line of honeymoon dresses to extend the wedding even further. Because it's not a wedding day these days.

It's a wedding week. And Jack, what are the financial results for this kind of wedding doubled down by Abercrombie? Apparently, every bridesmaid, every plus one, every bride, every groom is buying not one, not two, not three, four dresses for me. Abercrombie and Fitch for just one wedding. And like my co-host, you actually said, it's not just women, because men are doing the double wedding wear too with a double-breasted-litting blazer that they wear into the brunch the next day. That's right. The online only wedding store for Abercrombie has men's wear too. Now, here's the interesting thing about the competition. What Abercrombie is doing is eating market share that rent the runway used to dominate.

Yeah. Instead of renting a dress for $100 bucks for rent the runway, Abercrombie is managing to sell a similar dress for the same amount, not a rental, a sale. And that's why Jack is going with the cutout. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Abercrombie? Fran Horowitz is the CEO of the year for two straight years. Ladies, if you look at Fortune's top CEOs of the year, you get the usual suspects. You get Tim Cook, you get Jensen Wang, you get Jamie Diamond. Big Tech and big banks have gotten all the attention.

attention on creating value with those top CEOs of the year lists. But the way Jack and I see it, from a cultural level and a financial level, Abercrombie and Fitch has delivered the biggest return for shareholders of anyone. Abercrombie is growing at the same pace as a software company. And the company is 132 years old. Here's the key. Abercrombie has erased the toxic association of topless male models, but kept the positive association of being your go-to brand from high school.

And it's all thanks to Fran Horwitz, the seven-year CEO of Abercrombie who deserves your attention. She is the CEO of the year for two years straight. For our second story, BuzzFeed is facing its first ever activist investor. And that investor is a former Republican presidential candidate. The Vec Ramoswamy says he wants to change BuzzFeed, but what he actually wants is something else completely. And he's already gotten it. But Jack, let's start by sprinkling on some context. Who's the first guest interview we ever advert did on this very podcast. Jonah Pready, the founder and CEO of BuzzFeed.

Eddie's like a year and a half ago, Jack and I had the founder of BuzzFeed on this show. It was a lot of fun. We had a great shot with him, Jack. But since that interview, BuzzFeed has struggled. The stock of BuzzFeed is down 55%. And we don't want to take the blame on that, by the way. It's not the T-Boy curse.

Yeah, it's nothing to do with the interview, by the way. But the company that invented online virality was once worth $2 billion. Today it's worth just $110 million. But yeties, here's the news. Just this week, BuzzFeed has gone viral again, but not because of a top 10 princess list. BuzzFeed went viral this week because of an investor. And that investor was anti-woke Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramoswamy, who bought a big chunk of BuzzFeed stock.

Specifically, this former presidential candidate spent about $8 million to buy 8.3% of all of BuzzFeeds outstanding stock. And Jack, why did this political contender drop so many millions to buy a portion of BuzzFeed? The demand changes at the company, which boost profitability, so that he can sell his stock at a profit. Classic activist investor. We have seen it before, haven't we, man? That's what activist investors do. So yeties, here's how the BuzzFeed Vavec drama went down over the last few days, Jack, let's whip out the whiteboard. On Monday, Vivek wrote a public letter to BuzzFeed's board of directors demanding a bunch of changes to the company. What kind of changes did he want?

Well, pretty much the kind of changes you'd expect he'd want. He basically wants to turn BuzzFeed into BuzzFox. He wants to turn BuzzFeed into BuzzFox, and he's got three ways that he wants to make it happen. First, he wants to boost profits by cutting the staff and focusing more on successful video franchises. Second, he wants to add conservative voices to BuzzFeed, like Tucker Carlson, Candice Owens, and Aaron Rogers. And third, he wants BuzzFeed to apologize for failing to take.

tell the truth in BuzzFeed's News's Journalism. Oh, and in case this wasn't clear, if you read the letter, which Jack and I did, you can tell by the word choices he made what he's thinking. He wrote the word truth in all caps twice, just like Donald Trump writes the word truth. Like we said, Yet he wants to turn BuzzFeed into BuzzFox. He wants to sprinkle on a little Sean Hannity onto those BuzzFeed articles. For what it's worth, Jonah Peretti wrote a letter in response, and he said he would definitely not apologize for the company's Pulitzer Prize winning journalism.

Still, Vivek Ramoswamy, the former Republican presidential candidate, wants three seats on BuzzFeed's board, and he wants to see those three big conservative changes. And he gave BuzzFeed an ultimatum of July 15th to make it all happen. Which just happens to be the same day as the Republican National Convention. Coincidence? We think not. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at BuzzFeed? Sometimes the sole goal of activism is attention. Yet, it's a funny thing Jack and I noticed.

We are 100% sure that Vivek's suggestions for BuzzFeed won't actually happen because BuzzFeed's CEO, Jonah Perretti, controls the company. Jonah Peretti has a majority of the voting shares of the company, so he has an effective veto. And Jonah Peretti is politically progressive, not conservative. So this brings up the big question. Why would Vivek Ramoswami spend $8 million on an activist investor campaign that was doomed to fail from the very start? He would do all that for the attention.

Vivek is in the running to be Donald Trump's running mate for his presidential candidacy. And this activist campaign with BuzzFeed won Vivek hundreds of articles of news coverage over just the last few days. And millions of posts online and probably billions of views. And yeah, Vivek's demands of BuzzFeed, they are like classic red meat topics for Trump's MAGA movement. So Vivek invested $8 million, which has gained value, by the way, since he started his investment, and it's resulted in him dominating a media cycle and getting Donald Trump's attention. So it's really a savvy, albeit disingenuous move. Vavec is back in the conversation. Vec Ramoswamy didn't want change as a BuzzFeed. Vavec wanted attention. And that's exactly

what he just got. Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, blueberries or chocolate chips. Yeties Hampton Inn is the highest revenue hotel chain in, America, and it's all because of waffles. There's a lot we can learn from this hotel chain's DIY waffle strategy. Now, Yeti's Paris Hilton, it turns out she has never been richer, and why is that, Jack? Because Hilton Hotel stock is up 44% in the past 12 months to an all-time high. Yeti's Hilton stock just upgraded itself, and the key reason they were able to do it? The Hampton Inn.

The Hampton Inn Hotel brand. It is thriving right now. As a former Hampton Inn status member, not too shabby. My frugal German bank had a $150-night hotel room cap when we were traveling. Hampton Inn was my go-to. When I was growing up, going to pee-wee hockey tournaments, I stayed at every Hampton Inn from Schenectady to Buffalo. This is a 40-year-old moderately priced hotel chain with rooms around $124 a night. Yeah, it is at a Hampton Inn.

You're not going to find a spa, but you're definitely going to find a hot tub. And in this economy, with consumers chasing value while also traveling more than ever, Hampton Inn is enjoying record sales. Get this besties. Hampton In's 3,000 locations bring in more revenue than any other hotel brand in America. $10 billion a year in hotel revenue. Jack, could you sprinkle on a little more context for us over there? That's more than the Holiday Inn, more than Marriott, more than Hilton itself.

You stated a Holiday Inn Express last night? We don't believe you it was a Hampton Inn. And according to the Wall Street Journal, a key reason to the... their success, isn't the mattresses, the rooms, or the two complimentary water bottles you get upon checking? No, no, no, no, no, no. Yeti's the key reason for the Hampton Inn's dominating hotel success is waffles. The waffles, the DIY waffles.

Because every Hampton Inn has free breakfast, including a DIY waffle station. Waffles, it turns out, are the core key to Hampton Inn's entire marketing strategy. If you check out Henton's website, the first thing you're going to see is a waffle. It's pretty funny. And you've been there before. You've done this yet as you've done the waffer routine. It's three steps, isn't it, Jack? There's a big jug of batter that you have to pour into a cup first and then pour on to the waffling.

Cook it about two to three minutes after closing it and don't burn yourself. Bobby Flete over here, not too shabby. It's okay if you burn the waffle. Don't burn yourself. It's the sizzle of that waff iron, the ooze of the batter and the iconic sound of the ready whip can witch. Jack, am I wrong? Are they always empty? It's like always close to empty.

Nothing like closing a waffle iron and seeing the extra batter just ooze out the sides. The Hampton Inn DIY Waffle Machine is a DIY. Choose your own adventure. Sensory experience. You want it sweeter? Do you want it savory? Pro tip. If you get blueberries that cancels out the saturated fats of the chocolate chips. As you can see, Yates, Hampton Inn has created a cult around those free waffles they give out to their guests. According to the Wall Street Journal data, Hampton Inn provides 30 million waffles consumed every single. single year. Now, this requires the same waffle iron and the same proprietary batter recipe at all

3,000 Hampton in locations. Yeah, Hilton hotels, which again, owns Hampton, requires that they use the same exact equipment. And the cult following for these waffles has created a whole new revenue stream, waffle-related merchandise. Hey, Jack and I jumped in T-Boy style. You can buy $10-dollar fuzzy waffle socks or $20 waffle-shaped fanny packs with a separate pocket for your syrup bottle. They even have limited edition waffle flavors. Right now, they're hyping lemon-flavored waffles, according to their website. That's how they drive you back into the Hampton Inns. They're doing pumpkin spice in the fall and lemon in the spring.

It's like, honey, you want to go to Disney? Yeah, they got a strawberry waffle flavor. I haven't checked out yet. But Jack, what's the best part about Hampton Inn's waffle strategy? It's consistent with our free food thesis we said in last week's pot. Jack and I said just last week, give away carbs don't give away protein. Red Lobster gave away shrimp. bankrupt, Hampton Inn gave away waffles in its ad in all-time high.

So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddy is over at Hilton Hotels? Have the instinct to go against your instincts. Yadies, when Hampton Inn introduced the free coffee muffin breakfast back in the 1980s, that concept didn't actually work. And when franchisees proposed a DIY waffle station to corporate, the executives didn't like the idea. The big Hilton business brains had three reasons why they thought waffles, would never work at a Hampton Inn's hotel.

First, they thought guests would burn themselves. Second, they thought guests wouldn't want to make their own food. They're on vacation. And third, they thought guests would hate the carbs that come with the waffle. And you know what, Jack? Those are three totally valid reasons why DIY waffles would never work in theory. But in practice, free DIY waffles actually thrived. Besties, it turns out guests had fun making the waffles.

It turns out guests didn't get burned on the waffle machines. and it turned out guests were happy to ignore Atkins for the holiday. Since people were on vacation, they put their diet on pause, and they indulged in a breakfast that's more like a dessert. More anything? More everything. Yeties 40 years later, Hampton Inn's Waffle Strategy is driving retention, revenues, and record sales. And it's made Hampton Inn the number one hotel chain in America by sales.

Because the way Jack and I see it, sometimes you need to have the instinct to go against your instincts. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Abercrombie and Fitchstock has had an all-time high, powered by wedding wear. It's up 10x from two years ago. And that is why Abercrombie's CEO, Fran Horowitz, is CEO of the year twice. For our second story, Vivek Ramoswamy bought 8.3% of BuzzFeed, and now he wants it to be more like BuzzFox. But sometimes activists don't seek change, they're just seeking attention.

And our third and final story is the Hampton Inn. It's the top revenue hotel chain in America, thanks to their do-it-yourself free waffles. Sometimes you got to have the instinct to go against your instincts. But yet is this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, we have more major news companies that are partnering with OpenAI. The Atlantic and Vox Media just inked deals to let OpenAI train their chatbots on all the content that they publish. Well, perfect timing because just last week, the Wall Street Journal did the same thing,

and the week before that, Reddit, did the same thing. It looks like you let Open AIs chatbot train on your content and try to get paid for it, or Open AIs just going to do it anyway without your permission. And second, Major League Baseball is officially adding Negro League statistics to the Major League Baseball stats. And this is huge, because until Jackie Robinson suited up with the Brooklyn Dodgers, virtually every Major League Baseball statistic was from a white player. So here's what's happening. The MLB is retroactively adding stats from black players from the Negro leads to the MLB record books. And it means that there's a new all-time batting leader.

It's not Ty Cobb's 367 batting average. It's Josh Gibson's 372 batting average. And finally, we have got a big win to celebrate against inflation. Concert tickets, their prices are actually down. According to data from Seatgeek, resale prices for concert tickets have fallen by almost 20% compared to last year. One reason, it's more supply. We got 11% more concerts in 2024 than in 2023. Hello, Olivia Rodriguez. But the main reason is this.

This year, Taylor Swift and Beyonce aren't touring in the U.S. If Taylor Swift and Bay are not doing concerts every single day in every single city, there are going to be cheaper ticket prices. Now, time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Chris Louis, a Yeti, from South San Francisco just down the street. Push and play. besties, happy Asian-American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Fred Korematsu was a Japanese American who defied the U.S. government's order for internment

during World War II. He was arrested and convicted for refusing to go to an internment camp and upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1944. Nearly 40 years later in 1983, his conviction was overturned after it was revealed that the government had withheld key evidence. In 1998, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. Cormatu Day is now observed in several states and is the first day in U.S. history named after an Asian-American, H-Y-H-Y-T-B-O-Y. Korematsu Day. Coromatsu Day. That's what John Lewis would call, Good Trouble.

Yeah, it is. You look fantastic today. And by the way, Jack and I would love to know, how do you take your DIY waffles? The best part is the ooze that comes out the side. You got to peel that away while it's cooking and pop it in your mouth to get you past those three minutes of cook time. You know, Jack, the great thing about putting the whole strawberry on the waffle is that the top green part. cancels out the chocolate chips. Oh, because it's a vegetable?

Wait a minute. Is the leaf of a fruit, a fruit, or a vegetable? I think it's a vegetable. What we're saying yet is, is don't give away protein. Give away carbs. Besties, if you haven't yet, click to follow us right here on Spotify or Apple so you get T-Boy every single day. And if you're listening on YouTube or Apple Music, click to follow us there too.

Jack and I'll check out your waffle recipes, and we'll see you for the Real Friday. Nick and I are going to be in those comments. We want to see you there. Can't wait. And before we go, a happy double birthday to Yeti twins Amanda and Doug Whittam from Boston, Massachusetts. Just outside Boston. The definition of understood the assignment. And Nyadi Azmirah is turning 25 years old.

Happy 25th birthday in Seattle doing the fitness grind. And congratulations to Andrew and Rachel, who is celebrating parental leave and watching Milo Mackey, their baby one month old in Maple Grove, Minnesota. And Kate Opeghar is celebrating a birthday. In lovely Singapore, have a fantastic party cake. And happy birthday to Carlos Gonzalez in Highland Park, California. And Jack, get this. Sabro Foster in Arrow Bear Lake, California, has got their last day of work ever. After 37 years in education, we're excited to see your painting talent flourish.

Thanks for all that amazing service to America's youth. And Helen and Ken have got a 20-year anniversary in Framingham, Massachusetts, which is, very literally, just outside Boston. And bon voyage, and congratulations to Thomas. From Alexandria and Virginia, moving to Boulder for a new job. And we got a new host on Airbnb, Jack. Damon and Rootita in Weirton, West Virginia, have got their place registered to go. You better have used our promo code.

And finally, Anna and Thomas Howgland have got a two-year anniversary in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Anna and Thomas get double the cake, double the party, double the fun for the two-year Annie. And to anyone else who's celebrating something today, make it a teaboy. Celebrate the wins. This is Jack, Nick own stock of Zillow.