Friday Dec.06, 2019

Rent The Runway hooks up with W Hotels

_When they tell you you didn't need to pack clothes for the trip_
_When they tell you you didn't need to pack clothes for the trip_

Hey Snackers,

We spotted a self-driving headline: Waymo (Alphabet's autonomous car division) just launched in the App Store to the public — Phoenix residents can now sign up for its robotaxis to Waymo around in the dry heat.

Markets rose Thursday before the big November jobs report shows up to work on Friday morning.

Worn

Rent The Runway partners up with W Hotels so you don't have to pack clothes

Take the toiletries. Leave the blouse... Marriott's W Hotels is partnering with subscription clothing pioneer Rent The Runway to deliver vacay gear straight to your suite. For an extra $69, you get 4 Rent The Runway garments for the duration of your stay. And it's available at 4 W hotels: Aspen, South Beach, DC, Hollywood. Here's how "don't BYO clothes" goes down:

  • Ready-to-strut: A RTR romper is waiting for you on the Queen bed in room 207 after check-in. Wear it whenever, and leave it on the mattress when you check-out.
  • Location-appropriate: W's Aspen hotel offers sweaters for Après, while W's South Beach spot has cover-ups for poolside.
  • Size-insured: Medium too small? Rent The Runway stocked the Ws with "mini-closets" full of size options as backups (please add the elusive "marge").

2019 didn't fit right... Good timing on the partnership, because this year challenged Rent The Runway. First, retailers Urban Outfitters, Banana Republic, and Bloomingdale's launched their own subscription clothing services. Then, Rent The Runway's logistics systems broke down, causing a freeze in the service and no new subscribers for weeks.

Partnerships are hacky marketing — and that’s smart... Facing all that fresh competition, Rent The Runway has pursued partnerships (aggressively): They've got drop-off boxes for your worn dresses at Nordstroms and WeWorks. Now add the W to the partnership mix. Partnerships are a hustling way to snag new customers:

  • TV ad = Spend big on televised ads to show potential customers your product.
  • Partnership = Spend less to cross-pollinate your user base with another company's.
  • W Hotels customers get an email about Rent The Runway's new hotel-outfit offering. Rent The Runway customers get an email about W Hotels. Symbiosis for the win.
Charge

General Motors forms a $2B joint venture with LG to build electric car batteries

Power Couple... General Motors' new partnership with LG isn't about sticking LG phones into GM sedans. We're talking batteries. The South Korean tech icon makes batteries too, and GM needs hundreds of thousands of them for its electric car fleet. This partnership is a win for the Midwest:

  • Lordstown, OH: GM and LG will invest $1B each into a new battery factory that'll employ 1,100 workers.
  • Detroit, MI: GM is building its electric pickup there (Silverado and/or Sierra), and their batteries will come straight outta the Buckeye state.

Batteries are what make electric cars expensive... Without gas, the horses need to be powered by batteries. Big ones. Thousands of times bigger than the battery in your iPhone. The price of those batteries is the main reason electric cars are about 50% more expensive than gas ones.

  • In 2010, electric cars were so new that an average battery cost $110K.
  • Today, the price of batteries for electric vehicles has come way down, but is still $15K (and still the most expensive part of the car, by far).
  • GM wants to lock down its own battery source for the 20 electric cars it plans to introduce by 2023.

Joint ventures are like workout buddies... They help you train better, keep you accountable, and push you to lift more (always have a spotter). GM brings the car expertise while LG owns the battery mastery — together, they each own 50% of the new company. JVs can help do more at lower costs, but only if the 2 companies overcome trust issues:

  • You lose control within a JV - both companies own half the new one, so decisions gotta be made (peacefully) together.
  • You need trust with your JV partner — you're now sharing biz secrets.

What else we’re Snackin’

  • SpaceMouse: SpaceX sends genetically-enhanced mice into the galaxy to test out their muscle moves
  • Sent Packing: Away makes adorable luggage — now it's reportedly fired some employees who complained about the company on Slack
  • Departure: United Airlines' CEO steps down after 5 years of turning the company around — he even survived that passenger-dragged-off-the-flight PR scandal
  • Disconnect: Zoom stock drops 9% after the conference call phenom reveals its user growth slowed to a (still big) 67%
  • Party Foul: Airbnb bans all open-invite parties and events as part of its big push to protect guests and hosts
  • Acquirin': Hedge funder Steve Cohen (aka the guy who Billions was kinda based on) is buying the Mets

Friday

  • The big November Jobs Report

ID: 1029680

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French luxury fashion conglomerate Kering has seen its shares fall ~10% in the last 24 hours after reporting that sales at its flagship brand Gucci had dropped 21% in its latest quarter.

Kering’s other brands, which include Yves Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, and Balenciaga, fared slightly better — but the only real bright spot was the company’s eyewear division, where sales rose 24% (9% on a comparable basis).

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Kering Warns Profit to Tumble Following Gucci Woes in China

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Yesterday, the FTC sued to block Tapestry Inc’s $8.5B acquisition of Capri holdings. The agency is worried that a merger between Tapestry, which owns the Coach and Kate Spade brands, and Capri, which owns Michael Kors, would eliminate competition in the market.

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FTC Moves to Block Tapestry’s Acquisition of Capri

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The crux of the FTC's argument lies in the scope of the "accessible luxury" handbag market, where Tapestry competes with Michael Kors, with the FTC saying the following:

Where Tapestry and Capri most vigorously compete against one another – mainly between Tapestry’s Coach and Kate Spade brands against Capri’s Michael Kors brand – is in the “accessible luxury” handbag market. Today, Coach, Kate Spade and Michael Kors continuously monitor each other’s handbag brands to determine pricing and performance, and they each use that information to make strategic decisions, including whether to raise or lower handbag prices.

The deal would eliminate fierce head-to-head competition on many important attributes including on price, discounting, and design. Tens of millions of Americans that purchase Coach, Kade Spade, and Michael Kors products could face higher prices

While Capri and Tapestry are two of the largest players in this market, winning an antitrust case won't be so straightforward, as consumers have other options at similar price points, including Marc Jacobs (owned by competitor LVMH), Tory Burch, Cuyana, and Mansur.

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