The Daily Valet. - 8/29/23, Tuesday
✔️ Did "Going Shopping" Get Less Fun
Tuesday, August 29th Edition
By Cory Ohlendorf, Valet. Editor
For as much as I buy online, and I buy a lot, there's nothing quite like browsing a really good brick-and-mortar retail shop.
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Today’s Big Story
Did “Going Shopping” Get Less Fun?
Some say that stores have sucked all the fun out of an American pastime
Shopping was always a thing in America. Blame it on our raging capitalistic culture, but shopping gave us something to do. Even when we didn't need anything, shopping was just something we were happy to go do. It could be social and exciting or languid and meditative—“retail therapy,” we called it. But today? The act of shopping can be a little too stressful.Shoppers' complaints abound. Vox spoke with customers across the country who bemoaned a dearth of employees in stores of all stripes. Equally aggravating: empty shelves, everyday items locked up behind glass or only a register or two open at any given time.And then there's the lack of creativity and inspiration one finds in stores these days. Has corporate culture and shrunken budgets made for a less desirable shopping experience? Are retailers taking less chances on new brands? It's pushed some early adopters looking for interesting and unique finds to shop in all sorts of new places. As Jacob Gallagher points out in the Wall Street Journal, the “joy of buying kitschy items while pumping gas says a lot about the monotony of shopping these days.”Commerce Signals, a leader in U.S. payment card purchase data and analysis, recently released a new report that found that consumer preferences and expectations have definitely shifted—most likely due to the pandemic. Consumer electronics retailers, pet supply retailers and mass merchants were the top categories that saw a huge increase in online sales from 2018 to 2023. But online clothing purchases peaked at 95% in 2020 and then subsequently fell over the course of three years to 47%. According to WWD, this suggests that this change has disproved the prediction of the end of in-store shopping—even with the headaches of not finding stuff in stock.But it's also kind of a chicken-and-egg problem. Fewer shoppers mean retailers have been stocking fewer items in-store, instead having inventory delivered to brick-and-mortar locations when a customer places an order for pick-up. That only reinforces the experience of the modern store as an under-stocked desert, making people likely to want to shop in person, and stores less inclined to spend their tightened budgets on staffing stores adequately or improving them. None of this bodes well for the future of retail: The investment bank UBS estimates that between 40,000 and 50,000 retail stores will close in the next five years. But that also means that the ones that are doing things right and making an environment you want to visit will continue to thrive.
Retail Vocabulary:
How long someone spends in the store is called “dwell time”. The longer someone is in a store, the more money they’re likely to spend.
Trial Date Set for Trump’s Election Case
This is for the federal case, not the most recent Georgia case
A federal judge on Monday set a trial date of March 4 in the prosecution of Donald Trump on charges of conspiring to overturn the 2020 election, rebuffing the former president's proposal to push it off until 2026. U.S. District Judge Tanya Chutkan did delay it slightly beyond the January 2024 date proposed by special counsel Jack Smith's prosecution team. But her decision sets the trial smack-dab in the middle of the Republican presidential primaries and the day before Super Tuesday.If the current date holds, it would force Trump to juggle campaign and courtroom appearances at a crucial time when more than a dozen states will hold primaries and when the largest number of delegates are up for grabs. But the judge didn't seem to care. “I want to note here that setting a trial date does not depend and should not depend on the defendant's personal or professional obligations,” Chutkan said.And if the trial in Washington lasts more than 11 weeks, the New York Times says it could bump up against Trump's other federal trial, on charges of illegally retaining classified documents after he left office and obstructing the government's efforts to retrieve them. Meanwhile, the district attorney in Fulton County, Ga., has proposed taking Trump to trial on charges of tampering with the election in that state on March 4 as well. This could get real messy, real quick.
Meanwhile:
Biden is ‘old’ and Trump is ‘corrupt' ... the latest AP-NORC poll has ominous signs for both in possible 2024 rematch.
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More School Shootings Led to Clear Backpacks
New backpack restrictions for students have stirred controversy
As kids returned to school this year, many were met with new rules about the type of bags they could carry in the halls. See-through backpacks are being required more and more as a result of increasing gun violence in American schools.According to the Washington Post, around 30 individual school districts in the past 18 months have started restricting backpacks—demanding only clear plastic or see-through mesh bags. Though security experts are skeptical the measures make schools safer, they've become a common response to school shootings and to fears sparked by students showing up to school with guns.For some, the clear backpacks are just another prop in school security theater—an answer that does little more than put adults at ease (while making every kid feel like they're untrustworthy). Critics say it has come to symbolize the lengths decision-makers will go to avoid passing meaningful gun control, despite a serious rise in violence. According to the K-12 School Shooting Database, last year saw a total of 305 shootings in school. Compared to a decade ago, that number was just 34.
FYI:
Schools in Flint, Michigan, banned backpacks altogether.
Can Biscuits Save IHOP?
The Chain rolls out a biscuits menu nationwide for the first time to fight slowing sales
About six months after launching its “largest menu evolution” ever (including some dubious pancake tacos), IHOP just announced it's launching an entire biscuits menu for the first time. Available starting today, the range of biscuits will be on offer all day long.Apparently, this legendary breakfast joint only ever flirted with biscuits? According to CNBC, they sold them in certain regions, such as the South, but it decided to take the plunge and bring biscuits to menus nationwide. The new lineup includes a buttermilk biscuit; a breakfast biscuit sandwich made with bacon, American cheese, cheese sauce and eggs; a chicken biscuit sandwich that features pickle chips and country gravy; and a fresh strawberries and cream biscuit filled with cheesecake mousse, strawberries and syrup.Restaurant News reports that it's all part of a larger strategy to appeal to more customers with quality ingredients and a larger focus on breakfast (after focusing more on lunch and dinner options, in hopes of making more profit). It seems like a smart move. IHOP for lunch? Kinda sad. But IHOP getting back to indulgent breakfasts? That's something we can get behind. But why not go even further? Bring back that international flair, baby!
DIg Deeper:
What was it like to eat at the very first International House of Pancakes in Toluca Lake, California? According to Mashed, it sounds pretty nice.
In Other News
The Gulf Coast is bracing for major a hurricane.
Have you heard about ...
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Want a Better Pump at the Gym?
Don’t overlook the importance of electrolytes
That muscle pump you get during a really beneficial workout isn't all about your rep count or how much (or little) weight you use. According to Sal Di Stefano, co-founder of Mind Pump Media, there's another important distinction to consider: Fluid balance. When muscles “pump” during a workout, the cells are filling with fluid. But fluids don't move on their own. The electrolytes sodium and potassium are your fluid balance linchpins. The concentrations of these electrolytes also signal a flurry of fluid-balancing hormones like aldosterone, renin and angiotensin.Increased blood flow also contributes to muscle pumps. Electrolytes help in two ways here—helping the heart beat to pump blood through the body, and regulating blood pressure. Which is why Di Stefano regularly uses LMNT before and during workouts. It not only ensures a quality pump at the end of the lift session, but it keeps him fully hydrated and energized. And because LMNT is free of the sugar, junky fillers or artificial coloring found in other sports drinks, it doesn't interrupt his fasts either.
Try It Yourself:
Free sample pack with any purchase. That's eight single serving packets with any order.
Shopping
What We’re Buying
Distressed 501 Jeans
A distressed pair of selvedge denim, without having to break them in yourself. Levi's commemorates their 150th anniversary with this pair and has mended patches for a lived-in look. The relaxed fit looks excellent with several shoe options and is airy enough whenever it's hot.
Get It:
501 jean, $148 / $124.98 by Levi’s
Morning Motto
Mistakes are the ultimate teacher.
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