The Best One Yet - 🤠 “Yeehaw$$$” — Stetson’s cowboy revival. Luckin’ 1st US coffee. Elon’s last stand.

Episode Date: July 2, 2025

Luckin Coffee’s 1st US location opened in NYC… and it’s got an anti-Starbucks strategy #ZeroPlace.Elon Musk is fighting to block Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill… because clean energy gets runover.Stetson invented the cowboy hat, now it’s living its best life… Being founded in 1865 is its competitive advantage.Plus, we’re sharing our Mid-Year’s Resolutions (like New Years… but midway through)$LKNYC $SBUX $FDXWant more business storytelling from us? Check out the latest episode of our new weekly deepdive show: The untold origin story of… Hamilton The Musical 🎭Subscribe to The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinks to listen.TBOY Live Show Tickets to Chicago on sale NOW: https://www.axs.com/events/949346/the-best-one-yet-podcast-ticketsAbout Us: The daily pop-biz news show making today’s top stories your business. Formerly known as Robinhood Snacks, TBOY Lite is hosted by Jack Crivici-Kramer & Nick Martell.GET ON THE POD: Submit a shoutout or fact: https://tboypod.com/shoutouts NEWSLETTER:https://tboypod.com/newsletter SOCIALS:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tboypod TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tboypodYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@tboypod Anything else: https://tboypod.com/ Our 2nd show… The Best Idea Yet: Wondery.fm/TheBestIdeaYetLinksEpisodes drop weekly. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This is Nick. This is Jack. It's Wednesday, so Viche Wednesday, July 2nd. And today's pod is the best one yet. This is a T-boy. The top three pop business news stories you need to know today. What the heck? Are stocks at record high still, Jack? Of course they are. Yeah, there we go. But today's three stories, they are fantastic as well. Jack, what do we got on the T-boy? For our first story, Luckin Coffee opens a new coffee shop every two and a half hours in China. True story. And their first U.S. location opened on Monday. day in New York City. Starbucks invented the third place, but Luckin invented the zero place. For our second story, the big, beautiful bill just passed the Senate, and Elon and Trump are fighting about it again, because the most controversial part of this bill is energetic, literally.

And our third and final story, we're about to enter 4th of July, and one American brand is thriving right now. Stetson. Stetson's cowboy hats ain't worn by cowboys anymore, but they are worn by Beyonce's. But Yetis, before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. What a mix. No one else is doing that mix. Love the mix, Jack. Look, it's July. We're officially halfway through the year, so we're going to pose an awkward question.

Yes, we will. How are you doing with your New Year's resolution? Because you said you'd hit the gym, but then you hit snooze. You said you'd quit Instagram, but you just liked our post. Your last journal entry was on Monday, January 14th. Get this, Yeties. Four out

of five of us, drop our New Year's within one month of the new year. The diet starts tomorrow, except for that donut. So three years ago, Nick and I disrupted the resolution. Because Jack and I launched a resolution revolution. Every July, we do the same thing. We call it. We do. Actually, it's pretty self-explanatory. The mid-year's resolution. It's the same idea as January, but we do it in July as well. And here's our pitch for why you should do it, too. The mid-year's resolution is twice as easy because it's half as long. It's six times as much fun because it starts in the summer. And it's way less pressure.

Because no one even knows about it. Do you want to know my mid-year's resolution? What is it, Jack? What do you got this? What are you running down? Stop eating food off my kid's plates. Not a single French fried, not a single chicken nugget, no craft macaroni and cheese. If it's for my kid, I may not eat it.

No, no, no, Jack. The calories don't count if it was on someone else's plate. That's just like a fact. No, that's like the opposite of my mid-year's. Maybe I misunderstood the science experiment. All right, check, my mid-year's resolution, I'm not buying any new shirts. I don't need new shirts. I have all these great shirts.

I don't need new ones. Why not expand it to pants? And then at the end of the year, I'm going to buy a Rolex. Oh, with the savings, you mean? Yeah. Incentive. You need to incentivize the resolution. Deny the shirts, approve the watch.

So yet is to kick off the midway point of this year, let us know your mid-year's resolution. Drop your mid-year's resi right here in the comments. the best part of the mid-year's resolution. No one cares if you quit because we literally made this up. It's not a real thing. And that's why it's so beautiful. Jack, let's in our three stories.

Fifteen years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dawn. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is an norm. 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, just in time for the 4th of July, Luckin coffee has arrived in America. China's biggest coffee chain just opened up in New York City, and they're doing the opposite of Starbucks. All right, Eddie's eight years ago when I was in business school, I used a QR code for the very first time, a revolutionary. Do you remember what I texted you, Jack?

You told me that you bought a latte in Beijing at a luck in coffee using your QR code. Luckin coffee, the biggest coffee chain in China. These guys are putting up numbers that would melt the Frapicino. They have grown so much since Nick was there. For instance, in 2023, they opened nine new stores per day. That's one new grand opening every two and a half hours. Luckin opened 9,000 stores in 2020. Jackety, Sprink along some competitive context for us, please.

That is more locations opened in just one year than Starbucks. has opened in China in 25 years. They're not serving decaf over Luckin headquarters, man. I think they work a 24-hour workday over there. Well, Luckin's coffee, it happens to be priced 30% lower than Starbucks, plus there's no delivery fee. More on the delivery part in a second. But add it all up, and Luckin is basically the sheean of coffee.

Yeah, they ain't serving double-digitial lattes. They're serving single digits. They're cheap, they're fast, and they pair well with a cute top. And here's the news. On Monday, Luckin opened their very first location. in America in New York City. Actually, the first two locations. One in Chelsea and one in Greenwich Village right next to NYU.

Which makes some strategic sense. And why is that Greenwich Village location particularly smart, Jack? NYU has the most Chinese students of any other American university, so they'll feel right at home with their local Luckin' Coffee. You're ordering the coconut latte, if you know, you know, first QR code. But the real competitive situation for Luckin Coffee isn't on the street corner. it's in the app store. This is what Jack and I found fascinating, besties.

Get this. Starbucks has the biggest food app in America, right, Jack? Launched in 2009, Starbucks's Rewards app has 34 million active users. But Luckin has nearly four times that. The Luckin app is used by 120 million people in China. Those are like social media app numbers, not coffee numbers. Totally, Jack.

And the reason why is that 100% of the orders for luck. Luckin take place in the app. You must order in the app. You can't walk up to the desk and order a cheese foam espresso. You have to look down at your phone and tap, tap, tap away your order. By the way, Luckin isn't just doing all of this in the app so you don't chit-chat with the barista and waste everyone's time going on about origins of the beans from Ecuador or whatever.

Luckin requires all orders happen in the app because of the data. They're doing it for the data. Luckin's former CFO said this. We started as an online model so that 100% of the transactions give us data. For example, Luckin knows that you didn't order a coffee in the last 10 days. So they'll send you a half-off deal when you walk within five blocks of a Luckin. That's the power of data. Kind of like TikTok,

Luckin knows you better than any other app, and they'll find more ways to get you to buy more. They're putting the algorithm in the Machiaado. So, Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Luckin? Starbucks's third place versus Luckin's zero place. Hey, yiddies, let's talk numbers here. Luckin, they did $1.2 billion in revenue last quarter. That is still a fraction, the size of Starbucks.

It's just one-tenth the market value. But Luckin's real threat to Starbucks is that they're betting on the opposite coffee experience. Because Starbucks invented the third place, not home, not work, a welcoming sanctuary in between. And just last week, Starbucks doubled down on the third place. They said that they want you to stay and linger longer. But we think that Luckin invented the zero place because it's grab and go only. In fact, a huge percentage of their revenue is delivery. Luckin thinks you don't care about a third place.

No. The most important thing is getting your coffee fast and not interrupting your plans to go from A to B. So while Starbucks focuses on coffee culture, Luckin focused on coffee logistics. The new coffee battle in America won't be Starbucks versus Luckin. it'll be third place versus zero place. For our second story, Elon Musk is going all out in opposing Trump's big beautiful bill. But Tesla's not the only company that would suffer.

The biggest target of Trump's big beautiful bill is the clean energy industry. Yet is yesterday, Jack and I used an ice cream Sunday to explain the big beautiful bill to you. Great episode. You should check it out after this one. But in just the last 24 hours, we have two big updates to report. Yeah, first, Republicans in the Senate passed the biggest bill in our lifetimes, that big, beautiful bill on Tuesday. It was a 50-50 tie that was broken by the Vice President J.D. Vance. Now the bill goes back to the House, which could accept the Senate's changes or reject them.

The second big update is on the Real Housewives of Mar-a-Lago. Yeah, the new real-time Bravo show. You've got the world's most powerful man versus the world's richest man. Here's the latest. Elon has committed to primary. to basically oppose in the campaign any senator or house member who votes for Trump's bill. Now, in response, President Trump mused on social media about cutting all of Elon's government contracts for his businesses. Trump even said, we will see when asked by the press if he would try to deport Elon back to South Africa.

Trump is saying that Elon is butt hurt because this bill would end the subsidies for EVs, which Tesla enjoys. And Tesla stock did fall 5% on Tuesday. but the reality is way bigger than Tesla. And Jack, how exactly would you describe the reality? Trump's Big Beautiful Bill basically throws the clean energy industry under a gas-powered bus. Yeah, because Besties yesterday, we covered the biggest part of Trump's big beautiful bill. $4.5 trillion of debt-financed tax cuts. But the Big Beautiful Bill would also cause huge financial damage to America's clean energy industry.

The highlight you've probably heard about is the end of the $7,500, tax credit for buying an electric car. That's going to hurt all electric car makers. But here's what Jack and I found fascinating. It really goes even further. Get this. The big beautiful bill also ends tax credits for wind and solar energy as well. And without those tax credits, wind and solar energy don't really get built. There was even a new tax on solar and wind energy projects until it got removed in the final minutes of the debate last night. So basically this bill is rolling out the red carpet for fossil fuels. coal is getting a tax break, but it punishes clean energy. Solar and wind are losing their tax break.

Solar stocks have fallen 30% in the last month in anticipation of this bill, but interestingly, nuclear stocks have been up in the same period. That's right. Nuclear happens to be the one big clean energy exception in the big beautiful bill. Because remember, nuclear is carbon-free, and it is getting a lot of support from this administration. Maybe also because Big Tech is very interested in nuclear. for powering artificial intelligence. But nukes and artificial intelligence aside, renewable energy

bankruptcies loom if this bill becomes law. And you can see it in the stock prices. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the energy industry? In energy, do we compete with China or do we concede? Honestly, Eddie's, Jack and I never would have thought five years ago that the United States would be abandoning its transition to clean energy. Now, nonprofits and many private companies are still committed to the transition, but the U.S. government is about to abandon it. And what we think is so striking is the contrast, because our strategy is now the opposite of China's strategy on energy. For years, China has invested big money in clean energy, considering it an industry of the future. Jack, you want to share the two wild stats we discovered on Chinese energy? Half of the world's solar

electricity is now generated in China, and clean energy is 10% of China's GDP. We repeat, energy, 10% of China's economic output. Elon tweeted this weekend that abandoning solar is a massive strategic air that leaves America extremely vulnerable in the future. So the question we got to ask for U.S. energy is this. Do we compete with China or do we concede? Now a quick word from our sponsor. For our third and final story, Stetson, the original American cowboy hat has jumped from bull riders to Beyonce's. Because Stetson figured out how to sell Americana style from blue collars to white. Yeah, it is a little funny thing, Jack and I have noticed. You know the most successful companies from the great gold rush of the 1840s? Who are they, Jack? They have nothing to do with gold.

Yeah, like Levi's jeans, Wells Fargo Bank, Giradelli chocolates. All of those companies were famous for originally selling to gold miners, but unlike gold miners, all those companies are are still around and thriving today. Gold and there, Gold, Jack. The other company we almost forgot is Stetson, the 1865-founded OG cowboy hat. Stetson, the most disruptive hat in the history of heads. We say that because before the cowboy hat, you had to wear a raccoon-tailed hat. What's the problem, Jack?

Well, first of all, they looked ridiculous. Yeah. Sorry, Ethan Allen, no judgment. Yeah, sorry, David Crackett. They also didn't provide any protection from. rain or snow. So to avoid that fashion faux pa, John B. Stetson of a New Jersey hat-making family, invented a precipitation-proof streamlined hat design we now call the cowboy hat. It's basically a hat with a all-around brim that goes 360. But it's not a bucket hat. Called a bucket hat,

you're going to get kicked by that Bronco. Well, 160 years later, the cowboy hat company Stetson should have been out of business by now, right, Jack? I mean, there aren't that many cowboys these days, And yet, Stetson's brand is hotter than ever, and we were fascinated by that. Because, again, gold miners, cowboys, pioneers, not really occupations these days. You can't check that on the census, can you, Jack? No, you cannot. So for decades, sales of Stetsons were slowing. But then get this.

In 2019, this family business rebranded. They rebranded Stetson from Western to Americana. They realized that Western is a niche brand that's kind of in practice. and kind of outdated. But Americana is a brand that's bigger, more aspirational, and as relevant as ever. And what was the result of this rebrand pivot jack? Stetson's cowboy business has been growing double digits every single year since 2021. And driving all that have been some key obvious partnerships. What hat does the Dutton family wear at Yellowstone Ranch? Stetson hats. But also some unobvious partnerships. What hat were Ken and Barbie wearing in the Barbie movie?

I think that's a black Stetson Jack. And what was Beyonce wearing for her cowboy Carter tour? I believe that's a Swarovsky crystal Stetson hat. All three of those cultural icons the last few years all rocked Stetsons. What's so shocking is that Stetson is now selling both blue-collar worker hats and white-collar luxury ones without diluting the brand. Mexican ranchers buy Stetson hats as part of their standard uniform. But Stetson also sells a $5,600 diamond-crusted hat that's popular with the Aspen

crowd. You're wearing that to the app right. So this brand, they've expanded so much culturally since the pivot that their cowboy hat is now just 15% of their sales. Stetson's fragrance and perfume business just passed $100 million a year. Okay, their fastest growing division is boots, fashionable women's boots. Cowboy boots. And they've also expanded to alcohol with Stetson branded bourbon, which makes sense. And even Stetson branded bedding. Which makes less sense. Is that leather sheets? Because I don't want to sleep in leather sheets. If you can't handle it, the cowhide, then the sleepover is off, Butch Cassidy. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over at Stetson? Founding dates are a competitive advantage. Yeties, Verkanstock, Levi's, Carhart,

and now Stetson. All of their sales are surging for these older brands. And all of those older brands straddle both working class consumers and premium consumers. And a key reason we think is age. Carhart founded 1889. Stetson founded 1865. Levi's founded 1854. And Birkenstock founded 1774, before the United States of America. Yihaha, Jack, right now, consumers are putting a premium on legacy. As long as a product still provides value, it's not seen as old-fashioned, it's seen as historic. Legacy brands are realizing that their age isn't a liability, it's actually a branding advantage.

Because anyone can change their design, their price, their location, or their logo to compete with you. but they can't change their founding date. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways force for Saviche Wednesday? China's Luckin coffee has finally arrived in America, with two locations in New York City. The way we see it, it's Starbucks's third place versus Luckin's zero place. For our second story, Trump's big beautiful bill was passed by the Senate, but Elon is fighting tooth and nail to kill it. And the big loser in this bill is clean energy. Do we compete with China, or do we concede? And our third and final story is Stetson.

The OG cowboy hat is hotter than ever, selling to both blue-collar workers and Aspen fashionistas. Because a founding date is a competitive advantage. But Yeties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, Lulu Lemon is suing Costco over alleged knockoff active wear. This isn't a lawsuit. This is a dup suit.

Yeah, Lulu says Costco copied the look and the feel of their ABC khakis. They're scuba hoodies and their defined jackets. And the product in question is Kirkland branded clothing. Nick, I got a feeling Lou Lemon just picked a fight with every Costco card holding America. If you want these leggings, you better come and take up. And second, Uber's CEO just basically said you shouldn't tip your Uber driver? Here's what he said. You should only tip if you feel like you got your money's worth and then some.

Yeah, that sounds like not tipping. Like drivers are probably going to hate this comment, Jack. Why would Uber risk making such an important group, the drivers, mad? Well, Yeti's Jack and I were talking about it, and we think that self-driving cars are coming so quickly, the riders will matter more than the drivers, and Uber is picking sides. And finally, the WNBA isn't just setting record attendance, it's getting record teams, too.

And May, 400,000 people attended a WNBA basketball game the most in 20 years. And half of all WNBA games right now are sold out. So here's the update. Cleveland, Detroit, and Philadelphia, congratulations. You are now getting your own WNBA teams. Which means it's time for the most exciting parts of the sports industry. Yeah. Coming up with the names. Name storming, baby. The Philadelphia Sheagles. Here we go, Jack. Now time for the best fact yet. This one sent in by Pat Meehan from lovely Bradenton, Florida.

Get this. There are 60 million pickup trucks on the road to America. But here's the kicker. Seven out of eight of those trucks were not bought for work. That's right. According to registrations and usage data, only one out of eight pickup trucks are actually used for job-related purposes. Like construction, farming, or hauling equipment. The rest? They're lifestyle pickups used for like commuting grocery shopping and flexing at tailgates. What you're saying, Jack, is that pickup trucks are basically America's favorite fashion statement. Rugged and rarely dirty. Yeah, our buddy Timmy, he's never hauled lumber. But he has parallel parked an F-150 at Trader Joe's. Yeties, you look fantastic today. And if you have got a mid-year's resolution, we want to hear it.

Drop it right here in the comments. I think every dad listening to the show should follow my lead and not have a single piece of food off their children's plates. Okay, Jack, do you remember what your resolution was last year? Yeah, to only eat ice cream if it's eaten on a cone. Yeah, there's kind of a theme here of you and this uncertainty with other people's food and maybe a bizarre relationship with eating other people's food. Eddie's, you look fantastic. Drop down to follow the show so you get us every day, and Jack and I, we'll see you tomorrow.

And before we go, a happy birthday to Yeti Jose Estrada in New York City, who just got a toothbrush sales internship. Congratulations, Jose. And a happy birthday to Benpe Abiola of Milton, Ontario, Canada, the mother of Tarek, the mother of Adio, and the wife of Uzmah. And Rohit Sharma is turning 30 years old, down in Washington, because the roses are red, the skies are blue, the love is prismatic just because of you.

And congratulations to Adele and Justin Silver for getting married. Congratulations, guys. And Khaled from Kuwait has a fantastic T-boy Flamengo T-shirt he sent us. Thank you for the creativity and support, Colin. And a big shout out to Shriash Kolkarni, who's listening during his workout, longtime bestie, hit us up in the DMs. 45 push-ups in a row. And Matt Newsom, who brushed shoulders with Jeff Bezos while in Milan last week,

sent us a video of. it. And Matt, you're the next-level paparazzi right there. And a shout-out to G with the girls' club company for sharing her T-boy routine with all of her besties on Instagram. Gee, we see you. Thanks for being a fantastic giddy. This is Jack.

I own stock of Levi and Birkenstock, and Nick owned stock and Lulu Lemon and Luckin.