Public Storage: the horror movie
Hey Snackers,
Netflix is doing so well that it's now actively trying to reduce its own subscription revenue. If it doesn't hear back from customers who haven't streamed anything in a year or more, it's going to cancel their subscriptions. Netflix: always doing the most.
Markets took a slight dip on depressing unemployment data — 2.4M Americans filed for unemployment last week, bringing total corona-conomy claims to an eye-popping 38M. Rising trade tensions with China also didn't help.
The Sorting Hat has spoken... We knew the Retail-pocalypse was accelerating during the corona-conomy. Now, we've got more stats to confirm just how much — and results are more varied than you'd expect. Some retailers have thrived, some have survived, and many have taken a big old dive. Let's start with the Divers:
Onto the essential Thrivers... E-savvy — and most importantly, essential — retailers like Walmart, Costco, Amazon (and even Lowe’s) have enjoyed skyrocketing sales and decreased competition from shuttered non-essential retailers.
There's no "one-size-fits-all"... But non-essential big-box department stores are feeling the most pain — especially those that weren't exactly thriving before (looking at you, Macy's and JCPenney). Retail apparel sales for the year are down a whopping 52%. Non-essential retailers like Lulu had WFH-friendly products and e-savvy biz models to prop them up — the unlucky rest didn't.
When the party gets shut down before 9 pm... Detroit's Big Three automakers — Ford, GM, and Chrysler — all reopened plants Monday. Update: it's not going well for Ford.
What would Lear do?... Lear is the "iconic" car seat maker that, early on, issued a 51-page "Safe Work Playbook" for resuming production. In true Lear fashion...
This "start-stop" model isn't sustainable... Shutting down a factory of thousands each time a person tests positive for COVID-19 is not viable long-term. The infected Michigan employees were working a mile away from the main plant — but because parts from their building were brought to the main assembly line, the whole complex had to be shut. As long as COVID-19 is around (or at least until we have a vaccine), this will continue to be an issue.
Even storage can be sexy... with $55M in fresh venture funding packed in. When you think of storage, you probably picture massive orange Public Storage facilities on the side of I-95 that inspire horror-thriller movie plots. MakeSpace wants to be the fun, non-horror version of that — and it just packed up an extra $55M in funding:
The storage industry shouldn't be popping... Home sales dropped 18% in April, so you'd think there'd be less moving/storing happening. But MakeSpace's sales have grown 30% more than expected because it's actually the opposite:
The return of the non-gig startups... A VC-funded storage startup might be inclined to call itself the "Uber for Storage." But MakeSpace employs only full-timers — this no-contractor biz model is becoming increasingly rare in the startup world. This out-of-the-box thinking in a gigi-fied world could be a selling point — Gig icons like Postmates and Lyft struggle with new gig economy laws, tension with workers, and bad PR.
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Disclosure: Authors of this Snacks own shares of Amazon, Lululemon, and Alibaba
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