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Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio news.

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Speaker 2: The US consumer remains resilient. Data from MasterCard showing retail

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Speaker 2: sales rose four point one percent on Black Friday. That

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Speaker 2: surpasses last year's three point four percent growth, So better

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Speaker 2: than last year and better growth as well for our

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Speaker 2: boots on the ground. Look at the consumer. We welcome

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Speaker 2: Mark Rosen, Catalyst Brands CEO. Catalyst is a parent company

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Speaker 2: of retailers like jcpenny, Brooks Brothers, Eddie Bauer, Aeropostyle, Lucky Brand, Nautica,

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Speaker 2: you know all the names. Mark, Welcome to the program.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us here in studio. How is how

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Speaker 2: was Black Friday?

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Speaker 3: And how is Cyber Monday shaping up?

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Speaker 1: Thank you for having me so. Black Friday was as

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Speaker 1: it always is. I think it just a super exciting

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Speaker 1: day for all of us in the retail business. I

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Speaker 1: was out in stores that morning and we had lines

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Speaker 1: around the store at our jcpenny stores that morning of

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Speaker 1: customers coming in for our five deals. They were waiting

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Speaker 1: to get a snow globe, which is one of our

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Speaker 1: historic nostalgic giveaways, but also a coupon book. I think

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Speaker 1: consumers were really focused on value and deals this holiday.

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Speaker 1: I will say the other big thing that we noted

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Speaker 1: on on Black Friday was gen Z was fully in

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Speaker 1: on Black Friday this year, and it was really exciting

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Speaker 1: to see gen Z shoppers out in the malls. Our

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Speaker 1: Aeropostyle brand did really, really well with strong sales and

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Speaker 1: you know, a really strong presence of gen Z coming

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Speaker 1: out here.

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Speaker 2: It does feel like there's like a nineties comeback somehow.

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Speaker 2: I don't know when aeropostyle really hit the first time,

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Speaker 2: but there's definitely a second wave for these kind of brands.

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Speaker 3: And you own a lot of them. How is that

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Speaker 3: shaping up and what's driving it?

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Speaker 1: It's you know across the portfolio, right. I think the

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Speaker 1: thing that brings our brands together is, you know, we

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Speaker 1: have historic brands that the consumer knows and loves, and

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Speaker 1: the thing that brings them together is it's also incredible

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Speaker 1: fashion at a really affordable price.

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Speaker 2: I think.

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Speaker 1: So if you look at Aeropostol for the team customer,

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Speaker 1: all the trends, Y two K is actually the trend

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Speaker 1: right now. Right it's the wide leg, the baggy, the

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Speaker 1: low rise denim, and that's doing really well, and so

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Speaker 1: we're seeing consumers really come in for that Brooks Brothers,

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Speaker 1: which I know.

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Speaker 3: You're a show near and dear to my heart.

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Speaker 1: Exactly right. So Brooks Brothers also had a great Black Friday,

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Speaker 1: and we're moving into Cyber Monday. But there it was

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Speaker 1: all about sweaters, so Marino wool sweaters, Cashmere sweaters, and

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Speaker 1: the quarter zip is actually we have a quilted quarter

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Speaker 1: zip that was our number one selling item on Black Fridays.

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Speaker 1: Consumers are coming in for that.

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Speaker 3: What are the common themes among the brands.

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Speaker 2: You've had significant growth over the past few years, and

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Speaker 2: you've developed a great portfolio of brands. What are the

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Speaker 2: common threads behind all of these businesses that you've put together.

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Speaker 1: I think the common theme, if you put it all together,

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Speaker 1: is really accessible for the American consumer with brands that

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Speaker 1: they know and love. And that's really the thing is

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Speaker 1: we've been able as we put the whole portfolio together.

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Speaker 1: If you think across JC Penny, if you think about

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Speaker 1: Lucky Brand, and if you think about Aeropostyle just as

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Speaker 1: the primary brands for denim, and you think about the

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Speaker 1: amount of denim that we source and buy for consumers

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Speaker 1: across all of those brands. With a combination which was

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Speaker 1: just formed in January. Has allowed us to do is

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Speaker 1: put together all of that sourcing and really make sure

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Speaker 1: that we're bringing the best value for the consumer by

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Speaker 1: finding the best prices on denim and really giving that

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Speaker 1: to the consumer on days like Black Friday, and in

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Speaker 1: this time where the consumers really value focus. That is

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Speaker 1: what's making the difference right now.

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Speaker 2: So how have you navigated what's been of all lit

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Speaker 2: all year in terms of policy? Right, Tariffs I imagine

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Speaker 2: must have a huge effect on the amount you pay

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Speaker 2: for textiles. How do you equal the hit of that margins?

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Speaker 1: We work closely with our suppliers. Again, I think the

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Speaker 1: combination this year was probably really well timed with tariffs

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Speaker 1: to give us the combined volume of things like denim,

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Speaker 1: like fleece and looking at that combined by across the

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Speaker 1: total total portfolio, and then working with our suppliers to

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Speaker 1: get the lowest possible cost for consumers. And we've been

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Speaker 1: committed to that throughout the year. Back to school season,

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Speaker 1: we talked about it. But again at Black Friday, if

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Speaker 1: you look at J C. Penny for example, a well

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Speaker 1: over half of the items that we offered at Black

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Speaker 1: Friday Deals matched the pricing of last year, because that's

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Speaker 1: really the job of our merchants is to make sure

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Speaker 1: that they can deliver that pricing for the consumer. At Aeropostal,

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Speaker 1: we delivered the same promotion that we had last year,

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Speaker 1: which was buy one, get one free denim, and again

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Speaker 1: that's our merchant teams working with our suppliers to make

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Speaker 1: sure that we can bring that to them. And at

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Speaker 1: Brooks Brothers it was the Cashmere and the Marino wol

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Speaker 1: sweaters the same pricing as last year.

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Speaker 2: So I mean, good deals for Black Friday and for

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Speaker 2: Cyber Monday is great for the consumer, but you must

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Speaker 2: have to take price somewhere, right, So what's what's it

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Speaker 2: look like over the totality of twenty five and going

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Speaker 2: into twenty six.

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Speaker 1: As we look across the total portfolio, Again, it is

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Speaker 1: the job of our merchants to make sure that they

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Speaker 1: are working to get the best costing from our suppliers

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Speaker 1: and deliver that in value to the consumers, and we

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Speaker 1: mix that out across the total portfolio. And so we

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Speaker 1: are really focused on making sure that the key items

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Speaker 1: that our customers are looking for at the big moments

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Speaker 1: like Black Friday and throughout the year. Back to school

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Speaker 1: that we are delivering like item at like value.

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Speaker 2: In terms of twenty six What do you expect for

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Speaker 2: next year? Because the consumer has been resilient. The US

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Speaker 2: consumer is always resilient, right, don't count out the US consumer.

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Speaker 3: But consumer confidence numbers were low.

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Speaker 2: There's real worry about the labor market, and I was

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Speaker 2: surprised to see such growth in this season.

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Speaker 3: So what do you expect for next year?

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Speaker 1: I think the interesting thing about the consumer is we

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Speaker 1: definitely see that the consumer has stretched wallets right now,

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Speaker 1: but we also know that the consumer is going to

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Speaker 1: make sure that those moments that matter for the family,

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Speaker 1: their family and the ones that they care about, that

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Speaker 1: they are going to make the most for those moments.

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Speaker 1: And so the consumer is going to have Holiday and

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Speaker 1: Christmas this year. What they're searching for is really more

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Speaker 1: for value, and that's where we really win at j C. Penny.

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Speaker 1: For example, this was the fourth year that wallet hub

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Speaker 1: named us as the best place to find Black Friday deals.

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Speaker 1: So we're making sure that we have the deals that

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Speaker 1: we're showing the value, and that is what's really important

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Speaker 1: to the consumer, because although the wallet's stretched, they're also

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Speaker 1: committed to taking care of their families all right.

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Speaker 3: Mark, great having you here in studio. Thanks so much.

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Speaker 2: Thanks for joining us on this cyber Monday. Mark rosen

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Speaker 2: there of Catalyst Brand