WEBVTT - Bloomberg Businessweek Weekend - September 5th, 2020 0:00:00.960 --> 0:00:04.480 This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason 0:00:04.559 --> 0:00:08.200 Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Hi am Jason Kelly. Welcome to 0:00:08.240 --> 0:00:11.640 the weekend edition of Bloomberg Business Week. My partner Carol Masser, 0:00:12.080 --> 0:00:15.200 she's off this week, So throughout this week I was 0:00:15.240 --> 0:00:18.880 joined by Alex Steele. You'll hear her voice, great questions, 0:00:18.880 --> 0:00:23.160 great journalism throughout this show. Well, it was week twenty five, 0:00:23.520 --> 0:00:27.160 Yes twenty five, half a year working from home, and 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:30.000 this is a special edition of the magazine. It's a 0:00:30.080 --> 0:00:34.000 voters guide to the most volatile election in decades. We'll 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:37.320 hear about the nine types of voters that will decide 0:00:37.320 --> 0:00:40.279 this election. Josh Green has that story, and we'll take 0:00:40.320 --> 0:00:43.839 a look at how Pennsylvania turned purple. Pluss will bring 0:00:43.840 --> 0:00:46.360 you some of our favorite interviews from our daily radio show, 0:00:46.479 --> 0:00:49.240 heard weekdays at two pm Wall Street Time right here 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:51.880 on Bloomberg Radio. We dive into the new book After 0:00:52.000 --> 0:00:54.680 the Gig, how the sharing economy got hijacked and how 0:00:54.720 --> 0:00:56.680 to win it back. And we also hear from Lands 0:00:56.720 --> 0:01:00.600 and CEO. He tells us about how COVID nineteen impacted 0:01:00.680 --> 0:01:04.480 his business and really the lifestyle that has emerged in 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.880 this COVID world. First up, though, let's get inside the 0:01:07.920 --> 0:01:11.080 magazine and look at those nine types of voters that 0:01:11.120 --> 0:01:15.400 will decide the election. We spoke to Business Week national 0:01:15.400 --> 0:01:18.560 correspondent Josh Green, also the author of The Devil's Bargain, 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:23.240 the definitive account of the sixteen election. He joined along 0:01:23.280 --> 0:01:26.160 with editor Joel Webber. I mean, it's hard to boil 0:01:26.240 --> 0:01:29.679 it all UH down to one surprising the most because 0:01:29.680 --> 0:01:32.520 we have nine categories and each on its own could 0:01:32.560 --> 0:01:35.399 be kind of, you know, instrumental in the final event. 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:38.920 I think the most surprising and interesting one to me, though, 0:01:39.160 --> 0:01:44.080 were refugees of Hurricane Contrina. These are Puerto Ricans American 0:01:44.120 --> 0:01:49.120 citizens who moved to Florida who relocated there after Hurricane Maria. 0:01:49.200 --> 0:01:53.520 In they've moved in such enormous numbers. They're about four 0:01:53.600 --> 0:01:57.240 hundred thousand of them who have moved, their most concentrated 0:01:57.280 --> 0:02:01.080 in and around Orlando, that they have quickly grown to 0:02:01.200 --> 0:02:05.800 become the second largest Hispanic voting group in Florida, next 0:02:05.800 --> 0:02:09.280 to humans who have been there now for generation. And 0:02:09.400 --> 0:02:12.760 if you look at the way most Puerto Ricans feel 0:02:12.919 --> 0:02:16.600 about President Trump and the way he treated UH, the 0:02:16.639 --> 0:02:21.240 island of Puerto Rico. Their voter sentiment runs very strongly Democratic. 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:25.200 We we found and interviewed several of them, and it's 0:02:25.240 --> 0:02:29.480 just a really fascinating cross section of an important voter group, 0:02:29.480 --> 0:02:31.800 but also one, as you might imagine, that's struggling with 0:02:31.880 --> 0:02:36.160 all sorts of things beyond politics, finding a job, finding housing, 0:02:36.400 --> 0:02:40.560 navigating the COVID economy, uh, you know, moving family members 0:02:40.560 --> 0:02:42.679 from the island back and forth. I spoke to one 0:02:42.720 --> 0:02:45.880 mom who had sent her children moved. She moved to 0:02:45.919 --> 0:02:49.680 Florida after the hurricane, sent her children back to Puerto 0:02:49.800 --> 0:02:52.680 Rico because she decided COVID was worse in Florida than 0:02:52.720 --> 0:02:56.880 Puerto Rico. So you can imagine these voters, um, both 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:00.360 parties kind of competing for their attention. It just ability 0:03:00.440 --> 0:03:01.919 to get them to turn out and vote for a 0:03:01.960 --> 0:03:05.280 candidate in November. The other group that you talk about, 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:07.640 which in some ways played a large part in the 0:03:07.680 --> 0:03:12.280 election two sixteen, also were the shy Trumpers. Um, they're 0:03:12.280 --> 0:03:15.760 still out there. Where are they? What are they saying? Well, 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.280 it's not clear. I mean I think of shy Trumpers 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:21.240 as being kind of like Bigfoot, Like there's a real 0:03:21.320 --> 0:03:24.919 debate about whether or not they even exist. So so 0:03:25.000 --> 0:03:27.840 shy Trumpers first came on my radar four years ago 0:03:27.919 --> 0:03:31.280 in the Trump campaign. Was absolutely convinced that there was 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.040 a large pool of voters out there who supported Trump, 0:03:34.080 --> 0:03:36.720 who intended to vote for him, but who wouldn't admit 0:03:36.800 --> 0:03:39.680 this to pollsters and members of the media. And of 0:03:39.720 --> 0:03:44.040 course Trump ended up over performing expectations. So some reason 0:03:44.040 --> 0:03:46.800 to think that might have been a factor in the 0:03:46.920 --> 0:03:50.640 debate this time around is, you know, are there still 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:54.040 shy Trumpers who think that there's a social penalty to 0:03:54.160 --> 0:03:58.320 speaking out about their support for Trump, because most pollsters 0:03:58.640 --> 0:04:01.320 say there isn't any more that you know, if you're 0:04:01.320 --> 0:04:04.360 a Republican, you're now an out and proud Trump supporter. 0:04:05.040 --> 0:04:06.640 But on the other hand, I think we know people 0:04:06.640 --> 0:04:09.040 in our own lives, and we found a few remarkable 0:04:09.080 --> 0:04:11.600 ones for this issue who said, no, we do still 0:04:11.640 --> 0:04:15.240 support Trump, but because of the family and the social circles, 0:04:15.440 --> 0:04:18.479 or you know, the culture at workplace isn't something we 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:21.440 can talk about openly. So that could be another group 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:24.120 that that tilts the election if there are enough of 0:04:24.160 --> 0:04:27.760 them in critical battleground states. Another one Josh that I 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:32.320 loved was double haters and that's a category that existed 0:04:32.440 --> 0:04:35.320 last time as well, but what's different about it in 0:04:35.320 --> 0:04:38.760 this election? So double haters was a category to say 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:40.720 credit for this one, that that that I discovered or 0:04:40.720 --> 0:04:43.200 at least popularized in twenty sixteen when I was doing 0:04:43.279 --> 0:04:46.960 my book on the twenty fifteen election, Devil's Bargain. Double 0:04:47.040 --> 0:04:51.400 Haters was the nickname that Trump's data scientists gave to 0:04:51.520 --> 0:04:54.360 a group of voters that they were fascinated with being 0:04:54.440 --> 0:04:57.159 to get. Double haters were people who hated both Trump 0:04:57.800 --> 0:05:02.599 and Hillary Clinton in but whose voting history suggested that 0:05:02.640 --> 0:05:04.120 they were going to show up at the polls on 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:06.880 election day and pull the lever for somebody. So there 0:05:06.960 --> 0:05:11.520 was this frantic competition between Hillary's campaign and Trump's campaign. 0:05:12.200 --> 0:05:14.920 In the end, Trump want almost all of those voters. 0:05:15.240 --> 0:05:18.200 So this cycle there are still double haters. Of course, 0:05:18.320 --> 0:05:21.760 this time there are people who disliked both Biden and Trump. 0:05:22.120 --> 0:05:25.520 The huge difference this time, though, is last time they 0:05:25.600 --> 0:05:30.320 tended to be fairly conservative folks. This time the vast 0:05:30.440 --> 0:05:33.800 majority of them are progressive, and they tend to especially 0:05:33.839 --> 0:05:38.080 be people who supported Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary, 0:05:38.160 --> 0:05:40.880 but for whatever reason just haven't quite come around to 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:44.200 committing to Biden yet. So we found and interviewed some 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:47.240 of these guys, some of them kind of leaning towards Biden's, 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:49.560 others thing absolutely, there's no way I'm going to vote 0:05:49.560 --> 0:05:52.719 for him. Alright, thirty seconds, give us just a half 0:05:52.800 --> 0:05:57.360 minute on swinging seniors. Loved us. Swinging seniors not necessarily 0:05:57.360 --> 0:05:59.359 what you think they might see. I'll leave that to 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:03.840 your imagine. Swing seniors are seniors. People over sixty five 0:06:03.880 --> 0:06:06.440 were one of the categories that Trump won by the most. 0:06:06.480 --> 0:06:10.120 I think he won by thirteen points in well because 0:06:10.160 --> 0:06:13.640 of a lot of reasons, coronavirus, disillusionment with Trump. They 0:06:13.680 --> 0:06:16.120 have swung hard to Joe Biden and a lot of 0:06:16.160 --> 0:06:18.400 reason calls. I've seen their tied or Biden's even a 0:06:18.400 --> 0:06:21.160 little bit ahead. If they swing from Trump to Biden 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:24.479 in this election is going to go to Democrats. And 0:06:24.520 --> 0:06:28.320 that's National correspondent Josh Green, also author of The Devil's Bargain, 0:06:28.920 --> 0:06:32.280 keeping us up to date on who's ultimately going to 0:06:32.320 --> 0:06:37.760 decide this election a fascinating deep dive into the electorate. 0:06:37.800 --> 0:06:40.960 He was joined by magazine editor Joel Webber, the architect 0:06:41.440 --> 0:06:44.040 of this issue. We do it every four years every 0:06:44.040 --> 0:06:47.200 time we're electing a president. You're listening to Bluemberg Business Week. 0:06:47.240 --> 0:06:50.200 Coming up, Dr Ken red Cross. He tells us why 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:55.080 the virus is affecting African Americans more than any other population. 0:06:55.320 --> 0:07:08.400 This is Bloomberg. Welcome back to Blueberg Business Week, bringing 0:07:08.440 --> 0:07:10.760 you today some of the highlights from our daily radio 0:07:10.880 --> 0:07:14.240 show and podcast. Carol Master is off this week and 0:07:14.240 --> 0:07:17.600 I was joined throughout the week by Alex Steele. Alex 0:07:17.600 --> 0:07:19.640 and I caught up with Dr Ken red Cross. He's 0:07:19.680 --> 0:07:22.679 the founder of Red Cross Concierge. He's also the author 0:07:23.200 --> 0:07:26.800 of a book about the healthcare system. He talked to 0:07:26.920 --> 0:07:30.000 us about the virus and why COVID nineteen is affecting 0:07:30.360 --> 0:07:34.440 more African Americans than any other population. Yeah, you know, Jason, 0:07:34.480 --> 0:07:37.280 that's an important point. You're right, most viruses in this case, 0:07:37.280 --> 0:07:40.520 they're they're agnostic, they don't care, right. But what's happened 0:07:40.520 --> 0:07:43.560 this time is that COVID nineteen has really shined a big, 0:07:43.560 --> 0:07:46.840 big light on the healthcare disparities that we have here 0:07:46.880 --> 0:07:50.000 in the United States between those who are minorities and 0:07:50.040 --> 0:07:53.000 those who are not. And so we're seeing that kind 0:07:53.000 --> 0:07:56.920 of break out into different little sessions now because of 0:07:56.960 --> 0:07:59.640 the differences in the disparities that we're seeing, and it's 0:07:59.680 --> 0:08:02.920 been it's been pretty stark. I guess the question is 0:08:03.000 --> 0:08:06.240 why we've heard many different explanations. It is that the jobs, 0:08:06.360 --> 0:08:08.680 is it access to healthcare? Pre this it's a pre 0:08:08.760 --> 0:08:13.200 existing conditions. What are some of the reasons you know, Alex, 0:08:13.240 --> 0:08:15.640 Actually it's it's a little bit of everything you said. 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:17.480 So look think about it this way. There's a there's 0:08:17.480 --> 0:08:20.440 a medical side to this because the disease states that 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:24.160 are really affecting those who get the coronavirus, such as diabetes, 0:08:24.600 --> 0:08:28.600 heart disease, lung disease, and also obesity are very common 0:08:28.640 --> 0:08:32.520 in the minority community, especially African American community. Then on 0:08:32.559 --> 0:08:35.160 the second side of your questionnaire, Alex, we have those 0:08:35.160 --> 0:08:39.400 socio economic issues such as access to healthcare, such as 0:08:39.600 --> 0:08:42.959 income equalities, such as issues with housing. That's when we 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:45.199 get to the point where I always say that in 0:08:45.240 --> 0:08:49.200 those areas, social distancing is an absolute luxury, right, it 0:08:49.320 --> 0:08:51.720 can't happen. And so when you have all of those 0:08:51.720 --> 0:08:55.760 things come together, Alex, it's almost like a perfect storm. 0:08:55.840 --> 0:08:59.560 So talk to us specifically about black communities, if you will, 0:08:59.679 --> 0:09:03.840 Dr Red cross because we have seen some of that data. Uh, 0:09:04.160 --> 0:09:06.440 sort of take us down the level in terms of 0:09:06.480 --> 0:09:09.040 the data and and help us understand some of those 0:09:09.080 --> 0:09:13.520 issues that you're just describing in specifically in black communities. Yeah, 0:09:13.559 --> 0:09:16.640 so look, everyone, So it's it's important to to understand. Look, 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:19.360 as they always say, you know, united is what we 0:09:19.400 --> 0:09:21.400 should be, right, because if you're divided, we fall. And 0:09:21.400 --> 0:09:23.720 this is even more important because even if you're not 0:09:23.800 --> 0:09:28.160 an African American, these um, these health care disparities affect 0:09:28.200 --> 0:09:30.200 all of us because whether it be on the health 0:09:30.240 --> 0:09:33.240 care system, the cost, I know, this is a financial 0:09:33.520 --> 0:09:36.920 um financial station and those things impact us all. But 0:09:36.960 --> 0:09:39.319 when you're talking about what's going on in the community 0:09:39.400 --> 0:09:42.439 with those disease states that are in there, which all 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:46.000 of them are associated with vitamin D deficiency as well, 0:09:46.440 --> 0:09:48.440 So it's important to hit in on that as well, 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:52.040 because vitamin D guys is not a treatment for the coronavirus. 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:54.720 But what it does hit home is the importance of 0:09:54.760 --> 0:09:58.320 the immune system and all these disease states that Alex 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:00.319 asked me about. When she says, well, why is this 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:02.960 all of those are affected by the immune system, and 0:10:03.000 --> 0:10:05.719 in our community and the African American community. We have 0:10:05.840 --> 0:10:08.760 been hit so so hard. In fact, if you look 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:10.760 at some of the studies out there, it says only 0:10:10.800 --> 0:10:15.320 about of African Americans can actually telework. That just gives 0:10:15.320 --> 0:10:17.960 you a little bit of an idea of the sort 0:10:17.960 --> 0:10:20.200 of jobs that a lot of African Americans have and 0:10:20.240 --> 0:10:22.160 how hard that is to kind of stay out of 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:25.840 harm's way in addition to balancing your health care access 0:10:25.920 --> 0:10:28.959 as well. So let me ask, there's been conversations of 0:10:29.080 --> 0:10:33.400 how you distribute the vaccine and obviously, you know those 0:10:33.480 --> 0:10:36.760 essential workers like say health healthcare workers, nurses, doctors will 0:10:36.800 --> 0:10:40.000 get it first. Then there's been conversations around minority communities 0:10:40.040 --> 0:10:42.800 like the black community, Um is that, dude, do we 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:46.840 want that? Because there's also a downside. I would think, well, 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.360 we we do. But there's a couple of challenges. So 0:10:49.600 --> 0:10:51.960 the big challenges is that if you're starting to find 0:10:52.000 --> 0:10:54.360 out a lot of the vaccine companies are having a 0:10:54.480 --> 0:10:57.920 very hard time signing up minorities, they're having a hard 0:10:57.920 --> 0:11:01.320 time signing up minorities. Number one, it's to that access issue, 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:04.559 but it's also alex because of some of the history 0:11:04.800 --> 0:11:07.600 that has been there with African Americans in the medical 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:10.439 community all the way back to the tugkey He experiment 0:11:10.520 --> 0:11:13.839 in the nineteen thirties or forties. You may think, guys, gosh, 0:11:13.840 --> 0:11:16.240 that's almost that's almost fifty years ago, but believe it 0:11:16.320 --> 0:11:19.080 or not, it still runs rampant in the African American 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:21.240 community to talk about you know, I don't know if 0:11:21.280 --> 0:11:24.120 I'm gonna take that vaccine. Remember tuskey He experiment. I 0:11:24.160 --> 0:11:27.200 mean those sort of things in skepticism or things that 0:11:27.320 --> 0:11:30.080 need to be face head on as well. So the 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:33.360 vaccine when it comes, it needs to be tested in everyone. 0:11:33.440 --> 0:11:36.000 You can't test it in one group. Um. So that's 0:11:36.000 --> 0:11:38.520 why it's so important to make sure there's an education 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.240 piece for a lot of the minorities to really work 0:11:41.280 --> 0:11:44.360 on this skepticism and where we're headed with this vaccine 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.400 and when we'll get the vaccine. And so what is 0:11:47.520 --> 0:11:51.400 the right message then, especially to Black and African American 0:11:51.520 --> 0:11:55.439 communities around vaccines. What what are you saying to to 0:11:55.559 --> 0:11:58.959 folks to convince them. Well, one of the things that 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:01.840 you know, I had mentioned I wrote my book earlier 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:04.720 called Bond and the important thing there and never what 0:12:04.840 --> 0:12:06.880 I have known would be something we talk about in 0:12:06.920 --> 0:12:10.200 the pandemic. But my whole, my whole passion is the 0:12:10.200 --> 0:12:13.000 patient doctor relationship. So it's those four things that are 0:12:13.080 --> 0:12:20.479 very important. Trust, respect, empathy, and communication, especially in our community. 0:12:20.559 --> 0:12:22.520 When you you have to be trusted in order for 0:12:22.559 --> 0:12:25.040 me to to put a vaccine in right, for us 0:12:25.040 --> 0:12:27.240 to have that discussion, then there needs to be an 0:12:27.240 --> 0:12:29.880 equal respect to say, hey, look, it doesn't really matter 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:32.679 how much melanin you have in your skin. Your life matters, 0:12:32.720 --> 0:12:35.160 your health also matters. And then there has to be 0:12:35.200 --> 0:12:38.199 a feeling of empathy. It's important that we understand that 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:41.480 you that you really understand kind of the struggles that 0:12:41.559 --> 0:12:43.760 we have each and every day that most of my 0:12:43.880 --> 0:12:46.760 friends and myself have been through UM as an African 0:12:46.760 --> 0:12:49.840 American male. And then that communication piece is key. You 0:12:49.880 --> 0:12:51.600 need to be able to sit down with that person 0:12:51.640 --> 0:12:54.360 and kind of talk eye to eye UM and really 0:12:54.400 --> 0:12:56.600 communicate what you want to do or why it's so 0:12:56.679 --> 0:12:59.079 important for all of us. And Dr Redcrost, you had 0:12:59.120 --> 0:13:02.120 talked a bit about vitamin D. Tell us more about that, 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:04.319 because I feel like D is one of these things 0:13:04.360 --> 0:13:06.160 where every time I go from my check up, I 0:13:06.240 --> 0:13:09.200 get told I'm deficient and then I feel like I 0:13:09.280 --> 0:13:12.559 read that everybody's deficient and maybe we shouldn't worry about it, 0:13:12.600 --> 0:13:15.920 but maybe we should, like, what's the latest science here, Well, 0:13:15.920 --> 0:13:18.079 I'll tell you. So it seems like if you're right, 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.960 as the world starts started to kind of wake up 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:22.800 to the importance of the mention of vitamin D, it 0:13:22.840 --> 0:13:24.800 does seem that a lot of us are deficient. But 0:13:25.400 --> 0:13:29.360 in the African American community it's about eighty deficiently in 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.040 Hispanic community about seventy um And people may say, well, 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:35.120 what does that kind of matter? Like I mentioned before, 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:38.079 those disease states, whether it be heart disease, lung disease, 0:13:38.120 --> 0:13:41.480 and also I'll bring in obesity, they're all associated with 0:13:41.640 --> 0:13:45.000 lower vitamin D levels, which gives us the reasons to think, 0:13:45.520 --> 0:13:48.640 what would happen if those vitamin D levels were optimal? Guys, 0:13:48.679 --> 0:13:51.080 where would that actually be? And and I h even 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:54.240 had a report that vitamin D deficiency could actually even 0:13:54.280 --> 0:13:58.320 be a plausible explanation for a higher mortality potentially. A 0:13:58.320 --> 0:14:00.200 lot of these studies are going on, but we see 0:14:00.240 --> 0:14:03.200 it clinically and it's something that's easy to take and 0:14:03.360 --> 0:14:06.840 something that luckily is also inexpensive as well. Okay, so 0:14:06.880 --> 0:14:09.560 before we move on to like why it's not getting 0:14:09.559 --> 0:14:13.960 more widespread adoption, Can you explain you what is vitamin D? Sure, so, 0:14:14.120 --> 0:14:16.960 vitamin D everyone, that's all you know that that's nature's 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:19.200 vitamin that comes from the sun. This shows you how 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:22.240 amazing our our bodies are. Everyone that we actually make 0:14:22.560 --> 0:14:25.360 really not even a vitamin, it's really a hormone. It's 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:27.520 a pro hormone. And that's how important it is for 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:29.760 our bodies. But we used to think it was all 0:14:29.800 --> 0:14:32.680 about bone health, where now we're learning vitamin D does 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:36.480 so much more, especially when it comes to immunity. In fact, 0:14:36.520 --> 0:14:38.720 when you look at the levels you're supposed to have 0:14:38.760 --> 0:14:40.960 for your vitamin D, I kind of wear an Eastern 0:14:41.000 --> 0:14:43.520 medicine had guys and a Western medicine hat. So my 0:14:43.600 --> 0:14:47.239 Western medicine hat tells you're supposed to be around thirty. 0:14:47.280 --> 0:14:49.160 But when you look at the Eastern medicine and some 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:52.440 of the newer studies are levels should be between forty 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.640 and sixty. And that's Dr Ken red Cross. You're listening 0:14:55.680 --> 0:14:59.040 to Bloomberg Business Week coming up, we look at the 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:03.280 pandemic three different lens, retail and fashion. Our conversation with 0:15:03.360 --> 0:15:06.680 Jerome Griffith, the CEO of lands End. Coming up. This 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:13.280 is Bloomberg. This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser 0:15:13.400 --> 0:15:17.240 and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. Welcome back to Bloomberg 0:15:17.320 --> 0:15:20.400 Business Week. I'm Jason Kelly. Carol Master is off this week, 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:23.560 so I was joined throughout the week by Alex Steele. Well, 0:15:23.680 --> 0:15:26.440 lands End reported earnings this week, and we have a 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:29.640 chance to catch up with the company's CEO, Jerome Griffith. 0:15:29.880 --> 0:15:34.600 He's got a long history in retail and travel and hospitality, 0:15:35.000 --> 0:15:39.080 even worked for j Peterman for a stint YEP the 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:43.680 company made famous on Seinfeld. Well, he's looking at a 0:15:43.840 --> 0:15:47.960 very different retail environment, a very different consumer amid this pandemic. 0:15:48.200 --> 0:15:51.520 Here's what he's saying may happen. Coming up. I think 0:15:51.560 --> 0:15:53.880 that where world has changed has been a little bit 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:56.400 topsy from you know, as we had said earlier in 0:15:56.520 --> 0:16:00.960 March when demand really shrunk to a full recovery, and 0:16:00.960 --> 0:16:03.240 in May, June and through the rest of the summer 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:06.040 being relatively strong. So we've had to go back and 0:16:06.080 --> 0:16:08.400 relook at projections for a lot of our items and 0:16:08.400 --> 0:16:11.680 and increase uh quantities that we were ordering because we 0:16:11.760 --> 0:16:13.320 think that the holiday season is gonna be bigger than 0:16:13.320 --> 0:16:15.400 what we thought it was. I think one of the 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:18.360 things which is a concern for us is that all 0:16:18.400 --> 0:16:21.840 of the carriers that are carrying packages today two homes. 0:16:22.320 --> 0:16:24.680 They're really stretched. So if you look at the big 0:16:24.720 --> 0:16:28.160 three of USPS and fed X and UPS, uh, you know, 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:30.800 every day is like Christmas for them. So we're you know, 0:16:31.240 --> 0:16:33.080 doing a lot of work with our partners to plan 0:16:33.680 --> 0:16:35.600 for what the holiday season is going to look like, 0:16:35.640 --> 0:16:38.080 which is something that does have us, uh, you know, 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:40.560 a little concerned. And then going into next year. One 0:16:40.600 --> 0:16:42.120 of the things that we've seen over the course of 0:16:42.160 --> 0:16:44.280 the last couple of years is our product people have 0:16:44.480 --> 0:16:49.760 continued to refine and improve what the quality and the 0:16:49.840 --> 0:16:52.120 look of the products that we're selling, and we see 0:16:52.120 --> 0:16:54.760 a lot of increased demand. I think he Goes probably 0:16:54.760 --> 0:16:58.240 saw the uh numbers that we're seeing with new customer acquisition, 0:16:58.240 --> 0:17:02.960 which was up about quarter, and then the large reby 0:17:03.080 --> 0:17:05.840 rates that we're having from our customers. Are active customers 0:17:05.840 --> 0:17:08.880 tend to be around new customers are around thirty, which 0:17:08.880 --> 0:17:12.560 are pretty great numbers for the industry. UH, And we 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.960 see that continuing. Are you seeing, you know, sort of 0:17:16.000 --> 0:17:19.479 a real change in the way people dress. That seems 0:17:19.520 --> 0:17:22.320 to be, at least for a certain category, just a 0:17:22.800 --> 0:17:26.240 market change here. Absolutely, people are looking for comfort. They're 0:17:26.240 --> 0:17:29.000 working from their homes. Not everyone's home was actually shet 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:32.080 up to be comfortable for them. So you see people 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:35.040 ordering comfy clothes, something that looks good on top, but 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:38.520 it's a little bit more casual on the bottom. Uh, 0:17:38.600 --> 0:17:40.920 you see people ordering lots of stuff for the home 0:17:41.000 --> 0:17:44.160 as well. Our home business has been extremely strong because 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:46.480 kids have been coming home, they're loosed with mom and dad, 0:17:47.040 --> 0:17:51.520 and people are getting together, so people are are retooling 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:55.119 what their lives are. Our dress our business, and we 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:56.960 sell a lot of dress shirts with monograms on them. 0:17:56.960 --> 0:17:59.679 That's been a little depressed for us the last several months, 0:18:00.119 --> 0:18:02.960 as has uh some of our dress pants business. But 0:18:03.000 --> 0:18:06.000 when you look at the lion's share of our selection, 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.879 it's really casual clothing. And when you get to a 0:18:08.960 --> 0:18:13.439 knit tops and lounge where and pull on pants and sleepware, 0:18:13.520 --> 0:18:17.680 it's it's really good of being dress. So in this environment, UM, 0:18:17.720 --> 0:18:21.760 I'm curious as to how you plan because there's a 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.159 bit of confusion as too. If you know Jason is 0:18:24.200 --> 0:18:26.159 going to wear dress shirts and dress pants again in 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:28.160 the next two years, you know, and even if things 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:30.360 open up, if you still will, how do you plan 0:18:30.520 --> 0:18:32.760 for that? UM, we spend a lot of time looking 0:18:32.760 --> 0:18:36.560 at trends and analyzing trends. We also use artificial intelligence 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:40.720 for a lot of our basics in order to make 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:43.359 smarter decisions. Is how much you're going to be purchasing, 0:18:43.680 --> 0:18:46.000 and you know, inevitably you run out of stuff or 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:47.920 you have some overstocks and the two things. But I 0:18:48.000 --> 0:18:49.760 have to say that the guys have done a pretty 0:18:49.760 --> 0:18:53.120 good job making it through spring and summer, and we've 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.359 relooked at what we think fallen Winner is going to be. 0:18:55.440 --> 0:18:57.240 But things that will screw up I think that you 0:18:57.359 --> 0:19:00.480 just didn't think of or can't plan for, Like you know, 0:19:00.560 --> 0:19:03.960 if if we have seen this when certain states have 0:19:04.080 --> 0:19:07.439 spikes and COVID demand goes down, so over the summer, 0:19:07.440 --> 0:19:11.480 when you saw the southern states Florida, Texas, California have spikes, 0:19:11.520 --> 0:19:13.200 you saw the demand go down. As you see the 0:19:13.800 --> 0:19:18.119 spikes start to recede, demand goes back up and supply 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:21.679 chain issues. Anything that you've run into in a meaningful 0:19:21.720 --> 0:19:25.040 way up to this point, and what's the status Now, 0:19:26.320 --> 0:19:28.040 we knew several months ago that we were going to 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:30.359 have some of our full deliveries a couple of weeks later, 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:32.679 of which we were prepared for and I've dealt with. 0:19:33.440 --> 0:19:39.120 But generally we've divested ourselves of being reliant upon anyone 0:19:39.240 --> 0:19:43.639 country or anyone factory. So what we've seen is pretty 0:19:43.680 --> 0:19:46.800 good deliveries and expect that into the back part of 0:19:46.800 --> 0:19:49.480 the year. Um. But again, you know, I can't stress 0:19:49.560 --> 0:19:51.560 enough it's not really the supply chain coming in. It's 0:19:51.560 --> 0:19:53.720 going to be deliveries on the other west, on the 0:19:53.760 --> 0:19:55.960 other side, And yeah, it's gonna be on the other side, 0:19:56.000 --> 0:19:59.960 right all right, Jerome, I gotta bring something up Alex Steel. 0:20:00.040 --> 0:20:02.199 Now we're just talking about it in our chat. You 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:04.600 were the president of J Peterman and I just think 0:20:04.600 --> 0:20:07.840 that is the coolest thing ever as a longtime Seinfeld fan, Like, 0:20:08.119 --> 0:20:10.919 did you really dine out on that at cocktail parties? 0:20:10.960 --> 0:20:14.200 That must have been amazing. It was kind of amazing. 0:20:14.240 --> 0:20:17.320 I've been living in London for several years prior to that, 0:20:17.680 --> 0:20:19.800 and uh, to be honest withly, I did not know 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:22.040 the side felt connection. And when they recruited me to 0:20:22.040 --> 0:20:25.160 come to Kentucky, it was just the coolest thing human. 0:20:25.240 --> 0:20:28.879 Was an awesome person, an awesome guy. Yeah, loves him 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:32.280 a lot, But unfortunately the business model was not really 0:20:32.320 --> 0:20:34.639 set up for success and it was a short lived 0:20:34.800 --> 0:20:37.520 stint for me. And that's Jerone Griffith, the CEO of 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:40.640 lands And for our full conversation, be sure to download 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:44.720 our Business Week Extra podcast. He talked at length about 0:20:44.960 --> 0:20:48.840 his own history in the fashion business. He's had quite 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:51.679 a journey and looking at lands End through a bit 0:20:51.720 --> 0:20:55.440 of a different lens as we alter our shopping habits. Well, 0:20:55.480 --> 0:20:58.200 you're listening to Bloomberg Business Week. Coming up, speaking of 0:20:58.240 --> 0:21:00.639 fashion of a different sort, we hatch up with the 0:21:00.680 --> 0:21:04.240 CEO of swimm a Nista. She's got an eco conscious 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:12.480 swimwear line. Yep, this is Bloombern. This is Bloomberg Business 0:21:12.560 --> 0:21:16.399 Week with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly from Bloomberg Radio. 0:21:16.640 --> 0:21:19.399 Welcome back to Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Jason Kelly, Carol Masser. 0:21:19.760 --> 0:21:21.679 She's off this week, so I was joined throughout the 0:21:21.680 --> 0:21:24.320 week by Alex Steele and Alex and I had a 0:21:24.400 --> 0:21:28.359 chance to catch up with Andrea Bernholt. She's an entrepreneur 0:21:28.520 --> 0:21:31.719 and she's now the CEO of swimming Nista. I guarantee 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:33.480