WEBVTT - Kamala Harris Has Energized Democrats So Much, They Think They Can Win the South 0:00:02.920 --> 0:00:10.639 Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio news. This is Bloomberg business 0:00:10.720 --> 0:00:13.960 Week Inside from the reporters and editors who bring you 0:00:14.000 --> 0:00:18.319 America's most trusted business magazine, plus global business, finance and 0:00:18.400 --> 0:00:22.880 tech news. The Bloomberg Business Week Podcast with Carol Messer 0:00:23.040 --> 0:00:25.840 and Tim Stenebeck from Bloomberg Radio. 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:29.680 Well, from money in the markets and in stocks to 0:00:30.240 --> 0:00:33.840 what's going on in the presidential election. The surging enthusiasm 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:37.040 for Vice President Kamala Harrison Georgia and North Carolina is 0:00:37.120 --> 0:00:40.320 convincing local Democratic leaders that she can score the first 0:00:40.520 --> 0:00:44.760 double win in the southern swing states since Jimmy Carter. 0:00:45.159 --> 0:00:47.760 We got Michael Sasso with us Bloomberg News Real Economy reporter. 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:52.360 He joins us from our Atlanta bureau, North Carolina and Georgia. 0:00:53.280 --> 0:00:57.400 Last time I checked, Michael, those were still firmly in 0:00:57.440 --> 0:01:02.960 the toss up category. What data are the Harris campaigns 0:01:02.960 --> 0:01:05.160 seeing that make them think they can pull this off? 0:01:07.480 --> 0:01:10.000 Well, some of the data comes from our own poll. 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:15.200 The new Bloomberg Morning Console poll shows that the Harris 0:01:15.200 --> 0:01:18.160 campaign is up by two points in both Georgia and 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:21.959 North Carolina. It's a somewhat of an improvement from just 0:01:22.000 --> 0:01:26.680 a month ago when Kamala had just ascended to the 0:01:26.720 --> 0:01:29.720 top of the ticket by a couple points in each state. 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:32.800 But it's significantly better, I mean, six or seven points 0:01:32.840 --> 0:01:36.360 better than President Biden was doing about a month a 0:01:36.360 --> 0:01:39.840 half ago. So they're seeing some very positive numbers in 0:01:39.880 --> 0:01:40.360 each state. 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:42.679 And even still though, I mean, I feel like it's 0:01:42.680 --> 0:01:45.840 important to note that we're still within the margin of error. 0:01:45.920 --> 0:01:49.760 I mean, even with this big surgeon momentum, we're kind 0:01:49.760 --> 0:01:52.760 of talking about a dead even heat here, which isn't 0:01:52.800 --> 0:01:56.320 exactly a runaway. And this, of course is such a strange, 0:01:56.880 --> 0:02:01.880 compressed campaign for Kamala Harris. It'll be really interesting to 0:02:01.880 --> 0:02:04.080 see where that goes from here. But you think about, 0:02:04.240 --> 0:02:06.280 of course, your reporting that you have, and you spin 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:10.000 it into next week's debate. I mean, how much potential 0:02:10.639 --> 0:02:13.480 is there to sort of change the polling based on 0:02:13.520 --> 0:02:15.760 what we actually hear in the debate between Donald Trump 0:02:15.840 --> 0:02:16.680 and Kamala Harris. 0:02:18.840 --> 0:02:21.800 Well, I don't know that kind of goes beyond some 0:02:21.880 --> 0:02:25.440 of the reporting that I've done, but you're right, it 0:02:25.560 --> 0:02:28.880 is it remains very close. Some of the caveats there 0:02:28.919 --> 0:02:32.880 in North Carolina, for example, this is a very despite 0:02:32.919 --> 0:02:36.080 the big cities like Charlotte and Raleigh. It remains a 0:02:36.080 --> 0:02:40.440 fairly rural state. It has the second largest rural population 0:02:40.600 --> 0:02:45.000 in America, and so those tend to lean Republicans. So 0:02:45.400 --> 0:02:48.920 you know they're making efforts. But yeah, that is some 0:02:49.000 --> 0:02:51.160 of the There is some there are some questions about 0:02:51.160 --> 0:02:54.720 whether the polling will hold up, in whether some of 0:02:54.919 --> 0:02:58.240 the some of the what do you call it enthusiasm 0:02:58.280 --> 0:03:00.680 will wane particularly, We'll see, have to see what it 0:03:00.720 --> 0:03:01.880 comes out of the debates. 0:03:01.919 --> 0:03:05.320 As you said, Yeah, answering a question online or even 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:07.240 on the phone is certainly different than getting to the 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:10.000 pulls on or ahead of election day when you can 0:03:10.120 --> 0:03:13.280 vote in some of these areas. So every year, every 0:03:13.280 --> 0:03:15.240 four years or every two years after an election, there's 0:03:15.240 --> 0:03:17.160 a lot of hand raining that happens as to you know, 0:03:17.200 --> 0:03:20.000 which polls were spot on and which polls missed. We 0:03:20.040 --> 0:03:22.480 don't know what that's gonna say yet, But one thing 0:03:22.480 --> 0:03:25.400 that you can tell us, Michael, is the ground game 0:03:25.919 --> 0:03:29.760 in these states from the Harris campaign. What are they 0:03:29.760 --> 0:03:32.239 doing with all the volunteers that they've actually been able 0:03:32.240 --> 0:03:33.720 to garner in the last six weeks or so. 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:38.280 Yeah, that's a big story. There are something like fifty 0:03:38.320 --> 0:03:43.160 two thousand additional volunteers that have come forward in between 0:03:43.200 --> 0:03:45.080 the two states. And that's a lot of people. So 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:50.720 at the local level, places like Fayetteville, Georgia, and Greensboro, 0:03:50.880 --> 0:03:54.800 North Carolina, fairly small, middle sized cities, they're seeing twenty 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:58.640 to thirty people new people every day. And whether they're 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:01.200 trying the Harris pain is trying to put them to 0:04:01.240 --> 0:04:05.080 work mostly canvassing. What they tell me is there's nothing 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.760 more effective than knocking on doors. And so if you 0:04:07.880 --> 0:04:10.680 live in a swing stay right now, you're most likely 0:04:10.680 --> 0:04:13.200 going to get a door knock. And you know, so 0:04:13.280 --> 0:04:16.840 that's they're also doing phone banking. You know, I hear 0:04:16.839 --> 0:04:21.760 they're even having pancake breakfast. Then pancake breakfast. Democratic pancake 0:04:21.800 --> 0:04:24.560 breakfast in Veayetteville, Georgia is through the roof right now, 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:27.440 kind of standing room only. From from what I'm told. 0:04:27.800 --> 0:04:30.360 Well, I was actually down in your state just a 0:04:30.400 --> 0:04:34.039 couple of weeks ago. Sorry for not stopping by the office. 0:04:34.080 --> 0:04:35.760 By the way, I didn't have time. I was there 0:04:35.800 --> 0:04:39.520 for a Bloomberg event. Katie's giving me this look devastating. 0:04:39.520 --> 0:04:42.080 You're a terrible person. But one thing I did notice 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:46.120 in my hotel room was when I turned on the television, 0:04:46.560 --> 0:04:50.560 was that literally no joke, every other ad was for 0:04:50.640 --> 0:04:54.159 Trump or Harris. And like, you are in a battleground 0:04:54.200 --> 0:04:57.920 state when you cannot avoid seeing some sort of political 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:00.640 advertisement for the top of the ticket. Just give us 0:05:00.680 --> 0:05:02.720 an idea of what things are like on the ground 0:05:03.080 --> 0:05:05.520 for you, as somebody who covers this stuff but also 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:07.080 lives in a swing state. 0:05:09.000 --> 0:05:11.760 Well, I have an eleven year old daughter, Veronica, and 0:05:11.880 --> 0:05:16.120 she can cite pretty much every Trump and Harris' campaign 0:05:16.200 --> 0:05:18.720 ad out there. I don't know, maybe it's a little 0:05:18.720 --> 0:05:20.719 bit scary because some of them get kind of negative, 0:05:20.760 --> 0:05:24.960 but you know, there's enough that she can cite the 0:05:25.000 --> 0:05:28.120 campaign ads as well as the pharmaceutical ads that are 0:05:28.240 --> 0:05:29.240 kind of unconstantly. 0:05:29.400 --> 0:05:31.359 You know, you actually bring up a funny You actually 0:05:31.360 --> 0:05:33.479 bring up a funny point though with that, which is 0:05:33.520 --> 0:05:36.240 that an eleven year old is not the target demographic 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:39.160 of who they want to reach, Like they're only trying 0:05:39.160 --> 0:05:41.880 to reach a few, you know, as their own. Mark 0:05:41.920 --> 0:05:44.440 Gongloff told us, like a football stadium full of people 0:05:44.839 --> 0:05:48.400 who will decide the election in a handful of states, Michael, 0:05:48.839 --> 0:05:51.080 So it's pretty remarkable to see all the money spent 0:05:51.520 --> 0:05:52.840 on such a small number of people. 0:05:55.200 --> 0:05:58.240 Yeah, yeah, absolutely, what did they say? The state of 0:05:58.360 --> 0:06:02.280 Georgia came down to ten eleven million people came down 0:06:02.320 --> 0:06:06.560 a twelve thousand votes four years ago, So you're right. 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:10.000 I mean that is well within the margin of error 0:06:10.000 --> 0:06:10.960 in these polls. 0:06:11.400 --> 0:06:14.240 Michael Sasso, Bloomberg New's Real Economy Reporter, joining us from 0:06:14.320 --> 0:06:17.159 our Atlanta bureau in the heart of a swing state. 0:06:17.480 --> 0:06:19.880 Down there in Atlanta. 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:23.080 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast. Catch us 0:06:23.120 --> 0:06:26.359 live weekday afternoons from two to five pm Eastern. Listen 0:06:26.400 --> 0:06:28.560 on Apple card Play and then brout Auto with a 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:31.599 Bloomberg Business app, or watch us live on YouTube. 0:06:33.600 --> 0:06:37.120 Well, attention New England listeners. Check out Bloomberg Radio in 0:06:37.160 --> 0:06:40.560 and around Boston on ninety two nine FM. Maybe you're 0:06:40.600 --> 0:06:43.120 listening to us right now on ninety two nine FM. 0:06:43.160 --> 0:06:45.279 It is your news source for business news from the 0:06:45.320 --> 0:06:48.479 financial center of New England. Bloomberg Radio ninety two nine 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:52.919 FM in and around Boston. Well, speaking of Boston, it 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:55.800 is the birthplace. I didn't know this before. Yeah, it's 0:06:55.839 --> 0:06:57.719 the birthplace of public transit. Did you know that? 0:06:57.839 --> 0:06:58.880 I didn't know it. 0:06:58.960 --> 0:07:00.919 You didn't know that, but now I do. 0:07:01.000 --> 0:07:01.599 Well, now you do. 0:07:01.720 --> 0:07:02.279 That's a treat. 0:07:02.320 --> 0:07:05.080 The country's first ever subway tunnel, it's still used today 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:07.560 to connect the stop closest to the Mayor's office with 0:07:07.600 --> 0:07:10.760 the city's famed public garden. But Katie. Like other US 0:07:10.800 --> 0:07:14.400 transit systems, Boston has struggled with low ridership post pandemic. 0:07:14.840 --> 0:07:17.880 Decades of under investment have also left the region with 0:07:17.960 --> 0:07:23.240 antiquated infrastructure, a mishmash of technology, and a daunting budget shortfall. 0:07:23.280 --> 0:07:25.520 In fact, I could be saying the same thing about 0:07:25.560 --> 0:07:25.960 New York. 0:07:26.720 --> 0:07:27.160 That's true. 0:07:27.200 --> 0:07:30.320 Anyone listening or watching us in New York knows that well. 0:07:30.320 --> 0:07:32.960 Boston Mayor Michelle Wu has launched a social media campaign 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:36.080 highlighting the transit systems shortfalls. 0:07:36.600 --> 0:07:39.480 Good morning, We are here in Hyde Park on every 0:07:39.520 --> 0:07:40.960 any day a little before. 0:07:40.800 --> 0:07:43.840 Nine am, and we're here to commute with tochi. 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:47.000 Uh go into benaf Barbart. 0:07:47.040 --> 0:07:49.240 We're gonna say the bus a train at the end 0:07:49.240 --> 0:07:50.120 of the bus again. 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:52.200 How long should we be expecting the trip to be by? 0:07:52.920 --> 0:07:53.640 Okay, let's go. 0:07:54.600 --> 0:07:56.760 A bus to a train to a bus about an 0:07:56.800 --> 0:08:00.120 hour commute. That type of thing has serious financial and 0:08:00.200 --> 0:08:04.640 economic implications not just for individuals, but for entire city economies. 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:07.360 That's where Kate Deneen comes in. She's president in CEO 0:08:07.440 --> 0:08:09.520 of a Better City. It's a nonprofit made up of 0:08:09.560 --> 0:08:12.120 business leaders to promote Boston's economy and the quality of 0:08:12.200 --> 0:08:15.640 life for residents. Kate joins us from Boston. Kate, good 0:08:15.680 --> 0:08:18.200 to have you with us. Help us make the connection 0:08:18.960 --> 0:08:24.520 to reliable, solid, public transit in the economic health of 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:25.520 a city. 0:08:26.240 --> 0:08:27.640 Well, thank you so much for having me. 0:08:28.320 --> 0:08:31.720 So from a Better Cities perspective, Greater Boston can't survive, 0:08:31.920 --> 0:08:35.480 let alone thrive without a safe, reliable, affordable, and a 0:08:35.559 --> 0:08:39.640 resilient public transit system. So it's really the key to 0:08:39.760 --> 0:08:44.080 unlocking our equitable growth and our global competitiveness. And so 0:08:44.120 --> 0:08:48.760 we see it as a foundational investment when we think about, 0:08:49.640 --> 0:08:54.959 you know, current affordability and retaining and recruiting new talent. 0:08:55.720 --> 0:08:58.320 And let's talk about the concept of congestion pricing, because 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:01.240 of course our New York listeners, that's probably where their 0:09:01.320 --> 0:09:04.760 mind went. You think about congestion pricing at it as 0:09:04.800 --> 0:09:07.600 it had been proposed in New York. It was theoretically 0:09:07.679 --> 0:09:10.560 going to help boost revenue for the city subways and 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:14.280 reduce traffic, two things I'm sure Boston goers would like 0:09:14.320 --> 0:09:17.240 to see as well. Congestion pricing, as we know in 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:20.199 New York was pulled there at the last minute. Do 0:09:20.240 --> 0:09:23.440 you think it's a viable option for the City of Boston? 0:09:23.480 --> 0:09:24.560 Can you see that future? 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.960 So I think we're at an inflection point where we 0:09:29.000 --> 0:09:31.600 need to have all options on the table. So the 0:09:31.679 --> 0:09:35.800 governor has convened a transportation funding task Force. I sit 0:09:35.840 --> 0:09:39.000 on that task force alongside other business leaders, and we 0:09:39.080 --> 0:09:42.440 are in the process right now of assessing different revenue 0:09:42.480 --> 0:09:49.120 raising policies, and that includes things like increasing fees on 0:09:49.360 --> 0:09:53.240 ubers and lifts, and then really more ambitious policies including 0:09:53.520 --> 0:09:57.280 roadway pricing and broad based taxes. So right now everything 0:09:57.440 --> 0:10:00.880 is on the table. All eyes are co watching what's 0:10:00.920 --> 0:10:04.440 happening in New York City. I think people are eager 0:10:04.480 --> 0:10:07.839 to see if that plan does come back into play. 0:10:08.080 --> 0:10:10.520 So when you look at Greater Boston, I think we 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:14.800 are thinking about our existing tolling infrastructure. Where could we 0:10:14.840 --> 0:10:18.280 add new tolls, Where could we ultimately experiment with things 0:10:18.360 --> 0:10:21.439 like variable time of day pricing, you know, colloquially known 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.959 as congestion pricing. So I think all options need to 0:10:25.000 --> 0:10:25.520 be on the table. 0:10:25.800 --> 0:10:27.240 I can tell you what's happening here in New York 0:10:27.280 --> 0:10:29.560 at this point, and it's nothing as of now. As 0:10:29.600 --> 0:10:31.720 you know, it was supposed to go into effect at 0:10:31.720 --> 0:10:34.360 the end of June and the governor decided to pull 0:10:34.400 --> 0:10:36.520 the plug on it at the last minute. 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:36.959 Okay. 0:10:36.960 --> 0:10:41.760 We know the importance of reliable public transit in cities 0:10:41.800 --> 0:10:44.480 and how important it is to the economy, and we 0:10:44.559 --> 0:10:46.960 know that it costs money. But as soon as you 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:50.360 start to raise that revenue, people say, I don't want 0:10:50.360 --> 0:10:53.160 to pay for it. How do you get people on 0:10:53.280 --> 0:10:56.720 the same page and help them understand that, well, this 0:10:56.840 --> 0:10:59.480 money will be used for something that will ultimately benefit 0:11:00.640 --> 0:11:02.840 including you, right right. 0:11:03.080 --> 0:11:05.280 So I think that your intro was spot on. 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:07.680 You know, we are the birthplace of the American Revolution 0:11:07.800 --> 0:11:11.040 and the birthplace of public transit. So we have an 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:16.520 aging infrastructure that has really suffered from decades of under investment. 0:11:16.679 --> 0:11:20.920 So we are at an inflection point again where the 0:11:20.960 --> 0:11:23.760 good news is that we have new leadership in place 0:11:23.880 --> 0:11:24.600 at the MBTA. 0:11:24.720 --> 0:11:25.760 We call it the tee here. 0:11:26.480 --> 0:11:29.800 Actually, somebody who came from the New York Transit System 0:11:30.200 --> 0:11:33.960 General manager Phil eng and he is starting to restore 0:11:34.080 --> 0:11:38.080 public trust in the system. Folks are seeing that the 0:11:38.160 --> 0:11:42.240 Tea is making smart investments in things like track improvement. 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:46.360 Right This is really foundational work that is very disruptive. 0:11:46.520 --> 0:11:49.040 But there is a sentiment now here in Boston that 0:11:49.360 --> 0:11:52.000 this short term pain is worth the long term gain. 0:11:52.160 --> 0:11:56.520 So we're starting to, I think, rebuild trust with both 0:11:56.559 --> 0:11:59.600 writers and with those in the legislature that are going 0:11:59.600 --> 0:12:02.360 to be needed to enact any of these policies that 0:12:02.400 --> 0:12:04.640 we're talking about. And I think that's step number one. 0:12:04.720 --> 0:12:07.800 I think step number two is continuing to lean in 0:12:07.920 --> 0:12:11.960 on transparency so that everybody can see the results of 0:12:12.000 --> 0:12:15.560 the current investments that are being made. And that is 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:20.760 an uphill battle for sure, but we're starting to see. 0:12:19.640 --> 0:12:22.800 The fruits of some of this labor that's happening right now. Well, 0:12:22.880 --> 0:12:23.800 can we be specific here? 0:12:23.840 --> 0:12:25.560 I feel like we're dancing around what we're talking about. 0:12:25.600 --> 0:12:28.720 So we're talking about raising fees right, like we're talking 0:12:28.760 --> 0:12:32.920 about making it more expensive to ride the Tea. I mean, 0:12:33.000 --> 0:12:34.800 walk us through some of the options here. You have that, 0:12:34.920 --> 0:12:38.320 and there's the communication challenge of trying to communicate that 0:12:38.360 --> 0:12:40.960 this isn't the long term benefit that you will feel this. 0:12:41.240 --> 0:12:44.560 I mean, what other feasible options are there beyond just 0:12:44.679 --> 0:12:47.760 raising the cost? Is that really the only one? 0:12:48.000 --> 0:12:50.680 So right now we're not focused on raising the cost 0:12:50.880 --> 0:12:54.360 of riding the tea. We in fact would love to 0:12:55.080 --> 0:12:57.840 experiment with new fair policies that makes it cheaper and 0:12:57.880 --> 0:13:01.000 easier for people to ride the tea. We're trying to 0:13:01.080 --> 0:13:05.960 assess different revenue raising policy outside of user fees that 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:11.840 could go toward supporting both operating and capital investments at 0:13:11.880 --> 0:13:15.600 the tee. So we don't want to be raising faars 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:17.760 on writers. We also don't want to be cutting service, 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:22.320 but we want to be thinking about different different levers, 0:13:22.360 --> 0:13:26.440 like I said, potentially increased tolling, potential broad based taxes, 0:13:27.280 --> 0:13:31.280 adjusting existing fee structures like t NC fees, FeAs on 0:13:31.360 --> 0:13:34.000 ubers and lifts, or r m V fees. You know, 0:13:34.040 --> 0:13:36.160 there are a lot of different policy levers that have 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:38.720 been put into play in different parts of the US 0:13:38.760 --> 0:13:41.360 and abroad, and so right now we're assessing all of 0:13:41.400 --> 0:13:42.160 those options. 0:13:42.920 --> 0:13:44.320 But it really you know. 0:13:44.400 --> 0:13:48.959 When when it comes to actually getting those policies across 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:51.760 the finish line, I think it's on the business community 0:13:51.760 --> 0:13:53.920 and the advocacy community, and of course the t to 0:13:54.000 --> 0:13:57.560 make the case that money that is given to the 0:13:57.600 --> 0:13:58.199 tea is. 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:02.800 Well spent to Yeah, that's very briefly, just in twenty seconds, 0:14:02.800 --> 0:14:05.199 what I wanted to end on. I think critics might say, yeah, well, 0:14:05.360 --> 0:14:09.600 there could be some inefficiencies when it comes to public trands. 0:14:09.640 --> 0:14:12.000 It certainly critics say that here in New York just 0:14:12.000 --> 0:14:14.880 in twenty seconds. Other places you think where without cutting service, 0:14:15.600 --> 0:14:16.960 they could actually be more efficient. 0:14:18.840 --> 0:14:22.200 Certainly, there's always an opportunity to capitalize on efficiencies. I 0:14:22.240 --> 0:14:25.120 think one way to ensure that the agency is using 0:14:25.120 --> 0:14:27.760 money more efficiently is to ensure that they have the 0:14:27.800 --> 0:14:30.760 procurement tools that they need to get the money out 0:14:30.760 --> 0:14:33.560 the door quickly. And they don't have all of those 0:14:33.560 --> 0:14:35.480 tools that they need. So it's not just about more 0:14:35.520 --> 0:14:37.880 money on the operating capital side, it's about the right 0:14:38.000 --> 0:14:41.520 procurement mechanisms to ensure that that money is being spent effectively. 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:44.160 Hey, kath Deanene really appreciate you taking the time and 0:14:44.240 --> 0:14:47.600 joining us on Bloomberg BusinessWeek, President and CEO of a 0:14:47.600 --> 0:14:50.280 Better City, the nonprofit up in Boston. 0:14:52.600 --> 0:14:56.440 You're listening to the Bloomberg Business Week podcast listen live 0:14:56.560 --> 0:14:58.720 each weekday he is starting at two pm Eastern on 0:14:58.880 --> 0:15:02.440 Apple Car play Royd Auto with the Bloomberg Business. You 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.760 can also listen live on Amazon Alexa from our flagship 0:15:05.800 --> 0:15:09.600 New York station Just Say Alexa playing Bloomberg eleven thirty. 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:12.960 All right, I got another pop quiz for you. What 0:15:13.000 --> 0:15:17.320 are the brand's original Penguin by Mon Singware, Laundry by 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:23.480 Shelley Siegel, Kubabera, Ben Hogan, Grand Slam, John Henry, Manhattan, Access, 0:15:23.560 --> 0:15:25.600 and of course Perry Ellis all have in common. 0:15:25.920 --> 0:15:27.040 I was hoping that you tell me. 0:15:27.080 --> 0:15:29.360 Actually, okay, I will tell you. They're all part of 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:33.360 the portfolio of Perry Ellis International. It's the privately held clothing, fashion, 0:15:33.400 --> 0:15:37.320 cosmetics and beauty company that was started close to sixty 0:15:37.520 --> 0:15:40.240 years ago. We got with us Oscar Feldon Christ, the 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:43.600 president and CEO of Perry Ellis International. He joins us 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:47.080 here in the Bloomberg Interactive Brokers studio. How are you. 0:15:47.600 --> 0:15:50.520 I'm doing great? Thank you for having me today. It's 0:15:50.560 --> 0:15:52.040 a beautiful day in NYC. 0:15:52.400 --> 0:15:54.720 Yeah, it is nice up here today. Finally in the 0:15:54.720 --> 0:15:59.840 beginning of fall too humid. Oscar, Yes, people here, Perry 0:16:00.200 --> 0:16:03.040 and they think of one brand, I think, but it's 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:05.800 a portfolio of brands, and I didn't even mention the 0:16:05.880 --> 0:16:11.920 licensing that you guys do Nike, Callaway, PGA Tour, Jack 0:16:12.000 --> 0:16:16.040 Nicholas for golf apparel. Explain that the sort of the 0:16:16.280 --> 0:16:19.760 way the brand works and the licensing versus the actual apparel. 0:16:21.360 --> 0:16:29.160 So where our business is basically a we operate with 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:35.960 inbound licensees, where it's as you had mentioned, Callaway, Nike, 0:16:36.360 --> 0:16:40.320 PGA Tour, and Jack Nicholas. Then we have brands that 0:16:40.400 --> 0:16:44.800 we own, which are of course Perry Ellis, Original Penguin, 0:16:45.720 --> 0:16:52.880 Laundry by Shelley Siegel, and Kube Vera, just to name 0:16:52.920 --> 0:16:58.160 a few, And we operate the business seamlessly. So we work, 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:01.920 we license product category gries out that we will never 0:17:02.080 --> 0:17:05.760 produce in house, so for example NetWare or if we 0:17:05.800 --> 0:17:08.760 want to go into the home business. And we operate 0:17:08.840 --> 0:17:12.240 today in trying to develop the brands as pure lifestyles 0:17:12.280 --> 0:17:16.200 because that today is very important. When the individual shops, 0:17:16.240 --> 0:17:19.040 they shop for a brand that they know, and if 0:17:19.040 --> 0:17:24.080 they can buy the same brand that they have security 0:17:24.520 --> 0:17:28.240 of what the brand stands for and what it is, 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.480 they go out and they would buy other product categories 0:17:32.119 --> 0:17:33.280 of that brand. 0:17:33.760 --> 0:17:36.200 Right, Well, talk to us a little bit more about 0:17:36.240 --> 0:17:40.320 the distinction of a lifestyle brand versus, you know, maybe 0:17:40.359 --> 0:17:44.080 just an apparel company, because is it just about the 0:17:44.119 --> 0:17:47.080 actual products that you offer? Is it, you know, offering 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.280 clothes and also maybe you have furniture or other home 0:17:49.280 --> 0:17:52.000 goods or what do you view as the distinction there? 0:17:52.680 --> 0:17:56.440 Well, I don't think that for us, the distinction would 0:17:56.480 --> 0:17:59.640 be is that we're really truly in apparel and accessory. 0:17:59.720 --> 0:18:05.920 Come BENI very focused on men'swear, which basically is about 0:18:06.040 --> 0:18:09.040 ninety percent of our business. We do have a lady's 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:14.439 business under Rafaela, which has been around for twenty plus years. 0:18:14.840 --> 0:18:18.920 We also will be operating laundry by Shelley Siegel's Sportswear 0:18:19.520 --> 0:18:23.320 coming in the fall season. We'll be doing it in house. Now, 0:18:23.400 --> 0:18:26.480 the balance of our business is predominantly the big business 0:18:26.520 --> 0:18:29.440 is really men's wear and accessory. So when it's men'swear, 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:34.760 it's Perry Ellis as I mentioned, golf, pickleball, tennis, etc. 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:38.919 All the product categories that fall within the lifestyle that 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.639 we produce those brands and product with. 0:18:42.920 --> 0:18:45.440 I'm curious because you have a really interesting view from 0:18:45.480 --> 0:18:50.080 your Perch is the CEO of this portfolio. We hear 0:18:50.200 --> 0:18:53.639 a lot about consumers, some doing well, some doing not well, 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:57.119 the high end doing fine, the lower end consumer struggling. 0:18:57.760 --> 0:19:00.480 You have a diversified portfolio. Where are you seeing strength? 0:19:00.720 --> 0:19:01.880 Where are you seeing weakness? 0:19:03.240 --> 0:19:06.879 Well, we do business with basically every channel of distribution. 0:19:08.240 --> 0:19:13.159 I see strength still in Walmart is doing extremely well. 0:19:14.040 --> 0:19:17.040 The off price channel, as we've seen by their latest 0:19:17.240 --> 0:19:21.560 Q two earnings, is doing well. I think that department 0:19:21.640 --> 0:19:25.280 stores and chain stores are a little bit more challenging, 0:19:25.359 --> 0:19:29.159 but I think that they all have new senior management 0:19:29.840 --> 0:19:34.080 in place today in many cases, so I feel that 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:40.240 their strategy going forward will definitely will be able to 0:19:40.280 --> 0:19:43.719 see a betterness in their business, probably for the second 0:19:43.720 --> 0:19:47.360 half of the year versus many of them are new 0:19:47.359 --> 0:19:47.920 to the job. 0:19:48.480 --> 0:19:50.920 Okay, So that's the distribution side, and. 0:19:50.920 --> 0:19:54.320 I also yes in the distribution so I also forgot 0:19:54.359 --> 0:19:57.760 to mention we also do business on the sporting goods side, 0:19:58.840 --> 0:20:04.800 which has been forming well throughout the entire couple of 0:20:04.920 --> 0:20:09.800 years ahead of the game because people are definitely their 0:20:09.840 --> 0:20:14.040 lifestyle since COVID has definitely changed more outside and more 0:20:14.080 --> 0:20:17.240 involved in doing you know, different sports. 0:20:16.920 --> 0:20:19.840 What about individual brands, where are you seeing strength versus 0:20:19.920 --> 0:20:22.760 weakness and individual brands that are in your portfolio. 0:20:24.480 --> 0:20:29.560 I would say that, you know, men's in general is 0:20:29.600 --> 0:20:33.400 a lot more conservative than the women's side of the business. 0:20:34.480 --> 0:20:38.160 Men's don't change that often as you see in women's 0:20:38.240 --> 0:20:41.720 where you know today a woman has the opportunity to 0:20:41.720 --> 0:20:47.119 buy a pair of pants from Rafaela with a with 0:20:47.200 --> 0:20:51.359 another branded top. Our golf business, anything that has to 0:20:51.400 --> 0:20:54.960 do with sports, which today amounts to about sixty percent 0:20:54.960 --> 0:20:59.080 of our total business for the company, continues to do 0:20:59.240 --> 0:21:04.359 well across all channels of distribution. We saw last month 0:21:04.440 --> 0:21:07.639 that rounds of golf played were a little bit down 0:21:07.800 --> 0:21:12.399 in general, but that's mainly more because of the wet 0:21:12.440 --> 0:21:15.040 weather that we had in certain parts of the country. 0:21:15.520 --> 0:21:18.960 But I would say golf continues to be strong. Tennis apparel, 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:21.280 the excitement that you have currently today now with the 0:21:21.400 --> 0:21:26.240 US Open coming off the heels of Wimbledon, I think that, 0:21:26.320 --> 0:21:31.200 you know, overall, sports continues to be an important vehicle 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:34.240 of success for our company. When it comes to the 0:21:36.200 --> 0:21:40.680 Periellis brand, we're seeing success in go to work dress wear, 0:21:41.160 --> 0:21:46.080 casual wear. If Periells today I would say, we're probably 0:21:47.359 --> 0:21:50.800 market share one of the top dress pants in the 0:21:50.840 --> 0:21:54.000 market today as well as belt. We probably own about 0:21:54.000 --> 0:21:57.720 twenty percent of the belt market in department stores. 0:21:57.960 --> 0:21:59.200 I want to go back to what you were saying 0:21:59.200 --> 0:22:02.280 about men's fast versus women's fashion, because the question I 0:22:02.320 --> 0:22:05.520 was going to ask you was how do you stay relevant? 0:22:05.520 --> 0:22:08.919 How do you stay relevant in changing fashion trends? Because 0:22:09.200 --> 0:22:12.919 you think about Lululemon, for example, you know there's been 0:22:12.920 --> 0:22:15.600 a lot of question marks over you know, the shifting 0:22:15.680 --> 0:22:19.280 silhouette that's popular right now, whether you know baggy jeans 0:22:19.320 --> 0:22:21.880 are coming back, and if that's bad for Lululemon. Then 0:22:21.880 --> 0:22:24.160 you think about Abercrombie and Fitch, which has been able 0:22:24.200 --> 0:22:27.480 to reinvent itself and somehow make itself cool again and 0:22:27.560 --> 0:22:32.040 appeal to, you know, millennial women, not necessarily the teens 0:22:32.080 --> 0:22:33.960 that they're known for. But it sounds like what you're 0:22:33.960 --> 0:22:36.959 saying is that when it comes to men's fashion, that 0:22:36.960 --> 0:22:39.120