WEBVTT - Rhone CEO on Changes in Shopper Behavior

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<v Speaker 1>This is Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Masser and Jason

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<v Speaker 1>Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. Well, you know, Alextel, there's been

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<v Speaker 1>lots of stories about what it means to dress for

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<v Speaker 1>work today. And I know you're back at the office,

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<v Speaker 1>but you were home for a while, and I'm guessing

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<v Speaker 1>that you maybe wore kind of a cute top in

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<v Speaker 1>jeans and shorts at some point. What I wouldn't never

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<v Speaker 1>I saw pictures. I believe there may have been times

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<v Speaker 1>where I had my feet in an ice bucket because

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<v Speaker 1>it was so hot, jean shorts in a sht so

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<v Speaker 1>that may have been my life for I want proof Twitter.

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<v Speaker 1>Twitter world wants a proof of that. Um. And there's

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<v Speaker 1>like people have talked about the Zoom shirt. I've had

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<v Speaker 1>lots of yoga leggings and Jan David Weston were jeans today.

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<v Speaker 1>Let me tell you he puts on a suit jacket

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<v Speaker 1>to walk to the bathroom. All right, I want to picture.

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<v Speaker 1>I want a picture of that as well. UM, okay,

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<v Speaker 1>so listen, we have a great guest with us um

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<v Speaker 1>a friend of our show. He knows what consumers are

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<v Speaker 1>wearing and what they're buying. Nate Checkets is back with

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<v Speaker 1>US co founder and CEO at Roanne. He joins us

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<v Speaker 1>on the phone from Connecticut. Nate, how are you? I'm

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<v Speaker 1>doing great? How are you? Carol doing okay? You know,

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<v Speaker 1>UM twenty one or so or week twenty two of

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<v Speaker 1>working from home, I'm trying. I've kind of lost count. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>I want to move forward, but I want to go

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<v Speaker 1>back first. Tell me what your world has been like, UM,

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<v Speaker 1>Nate since March. Well, it's it's been a whirlwind. I

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<v Speaker 1>mean I think, like like everyone, this is a roller

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<v Speaker 1>coaster that feels like it's been um two years. Uh

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<v Speaker 1>and and in some ways it you know, it feels short.

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<v Speaker 1>In some ways it feels long. But you know, when

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<v Speaker 1>when the pandemic initially started, it was a very scary

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<v Speaker 1>time for not just people with help, but you know,

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<v Speaker 1>for us as as retailer and as a as a

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<v Speaker 1>young growing brand in the consumer space. UM caused us

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<v Speaker 1>to look at just about everything. And certainly, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we've we've come a long way, and categorically I think

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<v Speaker 1>we're insulated in a lot of ways. But yeah, it's

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<v Speaker 1>been it's been quite the experience navigating this so so literally,

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<v Speaker 1>like what are people gonna wear? I mean, I joked

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<v Speaker 1>about David Weston. So he's an anchor here Bloomberg Television.

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<v Speaker 1>He covers politics, I mean, and he would wear a

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<v Speaker 1>suit every day. Uh, and he used to be ahead

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<v Speaker 1>of ABC News. He's so he's just that way. Um,

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<v Speaker 1>And I'll say that with a lot of love, Like

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<v Speaker 1>he'd take his jacket off when he would get at

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<v Speaker 1>his desk, and then he'd literally get up to go

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<v Speaker 1>to the bathroom and he put his jacket on, Like

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<v Speaker 1>he's that kind of guy. And he's wearing jeans to work.

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<v Speaker 1>So like, what's my new uniform? Well, I I think

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<v Speaker 1>there's no way, you know, let's let's say that we

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<v Speaker 1>could snap our fingers and we were back at our

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<v Speaker 1>everybody was back at an office tomorrow. There's no way

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<v Speaker 1>that the last few months won't impact wardrobes in the future,

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<v Speaker 1>work at tire, etcetera. You know, people are this is

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<v Speaker 1>a this is a very long sustained level of comfort

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<v Speaker 1>and kind of wearing whatever you feel like we're wearing.

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<v Speaker 1>And so you're gonna see dress codes be relaxed across

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<v Speaker 1>the board. Um, and people are gonna there's gonna be

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<v Speaker 1>a continued push for comfortable work attire, and you know

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<v Speaker 1>that's what Rome has always been about. Um, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>not just making great stuff active for the gym, but

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<v Speaker 1>making stuff that you can wear too and from work

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<v Speaker 1>and and look great and so you know, performance fabrics

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<v Speaker 1>and the work sweatpants, so to speak. But I do

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<v Speaker 1>think that you're going to see some yeah, some relaxation

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<v Speaker 1>of dress standards, even for a guy like David. I'm

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<v Speaker 1>gonna say, if you we're going to actually mention it

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<v Speaker 1>to David, I've got to say I would like this conversation. Well,

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<v Speaker 1>and I mentioned I've been living in jeans and yoga

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<v Speaker 1>gear and a few Rowan items as well, because they

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<v Speaker 1>are incredibly comfortable. I want to also ask you, because

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<v Speaker 1>I want to get into, um, maybe any of the

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<v Speaker 1>pivots that you've done. But one thing that you have

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<v Speaker 1>done is, and forgive me if I don't say it correctly,

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<v Speaker 1>is it brands times better? You have brands for better. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>tell us a little bit about this movement. Well, so

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<v Speaker 1>you know, in the early stages, I was I was

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<v Speaker 1>looking around and uh, it really started with the fact

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<v Speaker 1>that I sat my three boys down in the room

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<v Speaker 1>and I said, all right, we get to spend this

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<v Speaker 1>amazing time together. It could be a couple of weeks,

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<v Speaker 1>it could be uh, you know, even as much as

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<v Speaker 1>a month. And of course I was dead wrong on

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<v Speaker 1>my long term estimates. But is there something that you guys?

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<v Speaker 1>I want you to pick a skill that you want

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<v Speaker 1>to learn, and we're going to go and learn it together.

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<v Speaker 1>And ultimately we landed on skateboarding. I had never really

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<v Speaker 1>learned how to skateboard. They wanted to learn how to skateboard. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>And so I went and I looked, and I tried

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<v Speaker 1>to find, you know, a skateboard brand that was part

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<v Speaker 1>of this kind of new digitally native movement. UM. I

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<v Speaker 1>did not want to go to Amazon and just buy

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<v Speaker 1>something because you had heard that all of online transactions

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<v Speaker 1>were shifting towards Amazon, Walmart and these big players of

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<v Speaker 1>what I called lowest common denominator shopping platforms, and this

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<v Speaker 1>new digital main street that had been built up because

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<v Speaker 1>regular main street and retail main street really they been

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<v Speaker 1>killed off, but the digital main street that had evolved

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<v Speaker 1>with these amazing brands. Um, we're being challenged in a

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<v Speaker 1>very real way. And so I wanted to go and

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<v Speaker 1>find a skateboard brand, and I searched for like thirty

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<v Speaker 1>four five minutes online and I couldn't find one and UM.

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<v Speaker 1>But what I did see in that process of looking

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<v Speaker 1>at all of my peers in this digital main street

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<v Speaker 1>is everybody across the board was doing what they could

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<v Speaker 1>to contribute UM positively to to you know, to fight

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<v Speaker 1>this pandemic. Whether it was encouraging employees and their team

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<v Speaker 1>and their retail teams to to be safe um. You know,

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<v Speaker 1>some were shifting their supply chains to make masks. Many

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<v Speaker 1>were giving a percent of their sales to UM to

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<v Speaker 1>nonprofits even as their sales were declining. And I thought,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, it would be great to stand in solidarity

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<v Speaker 1>with a lot of these brands, and so I just

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<v Speaker 1>started reaching out to friends in the space and we

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<v Speaker 1>accumulated over a hundred fifty brands, digitally native brands, and

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<v Speaker 1>everybody agreed to donate two plus percent of their sales

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<v Speaker 1>or ten plus percent of their proceeds to a nonprofit

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<v Speaker 1>fighting the pandemic and UM. Over the course of two months,

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<v Speaker 1>we raised you know, three and a half million dollars

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<v Speaker 1>um to to to fight and uh, you know, to

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<v Speaker 1>contribute to PP and UM. It also gave consumers a

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<v Speaker 1>choice because we said, you know, we're brands that stand

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<v Speaker 1>for treating our employees better, stand for treating our supply

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<v Speaker 1>chains well, and we will always try and do what's

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<v Speaker 1>right first, you know, above and beyond simply trying to

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<v Speaker 1>turn a profit. And uh and it was a great,

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<v Speaker 1>great initiative and we had a great experience in building

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<v Speaker 1>it well. And interested that you said that, because I

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<v Speaker 1>wonder also how much are you thinking differently about all

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<v Speaker 1>of that now? Like you have the relief effort, you've

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<v Speaker 1>over a hundred forty brands who all helped raise that money.

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<v Speaker 1>But as a company, are you also rethinking how you

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<v Speaker 1>do stuff either sustainably or how you deal with workers,

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<v Speaker 1>or any kind of work life balance that exists in

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<v Speaker 1>any part of the world? Like does did COVID make

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<v Speaker 1>you rethink any of those things? I think it's made us.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it's made us, at the very least examine everything.

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<v Speaker 1>Um and you know, in particular, I will say, you know,

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<v Speaker 1>we have a very flexible PTO policy relative to most

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<v Speaker 1>of corporate America in the fact that we don't have

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<v Speaker 1>a formal um, you know, vacation days. If you join

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<v Speaker 1>our company tomorrow, we don't say all right, it's your

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<v Speaker 1>first year, you get ten vacation days. It's you know,

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<v Speaker 1>it is unlimited p t O as we as we

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<v Speaker 1>describe it, UM. And it's actually worked very well for us.

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<v Speaker 1>But you know, part of the challenge that has come

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<v Speaker 1>with that, and especially in this consistently connected environment, people

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<v Speaker 1>are not taking enough time off where they're just you know,

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<v Speaker 1>eliminating screens and walking away. And so we've had times

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<v Speaker 1>where we are forcing screen breaks UM and UH. And

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<v Speaker 1>you know, there's you know, there's been there's certainly been

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<v Speaker 1>ways where we're thinking about what does collaboration looked like

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<v Speaker 1>when we come back is it is it a five

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<v Speaker 1>day work week in the office? Um? And there's you know, again,

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<v Speaker 1>forever is a very long time. So when I hear

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<v Speaker 1>people say that the you know, we're never ever going

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<v Speaker 1>back to an office, well, forever is a very long time.

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<v Speaker 1>But I do think the workplace will be changed for uh,

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<v Speaker 1>for a considerably long time in the coming years. I

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<v Speaker 1>did want to ask you that, Nate, because it's interesting.

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<v Speaker 1>We had a CEO on last week who's who's a

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<v Speaker 1>die hard New Yorker live there work their offices. UM

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<v Speaker 1>has created like you has a great heart and you know,

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<v Speaker 1>giving back to the community and basically said we're done,

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<v Speaker 1>we're done with New York and we've been working so

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<v Speaker 1>well and he's got a company that can work really

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<v Speaker 1>well virtually, and and so on and so forth. But

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<v Speaker 1>he said, we're done with New York, but you don't.

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<v Speaker 1>And I think you make a really good point. I

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<v Speaker 1>think right now it's easy for us all to say

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<v Speaker 1>we're done. But but long forever is a long time. Yeah,

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<v Speaker 1>I mean, look, you know, the going back and looking

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<v Speaker 1>at the Spanish flu and the you know, the Roaring

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<v Speaker 1>twenties that followed it. You know, it's it's certainly easy

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<v Speaker 1>to to think that this is you know that this

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<v Speaker 1>is going to be forever impact. But there's there is,

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<v Speaker 1>there is an impact, and we have to acknowledge that. Um.

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<v Speaker 1>I will never be done with New York. Um. We

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<v Speaker 1>love we love the city, and I think it's going

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<v Speaker 1>to take I think New York is going to come

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<v Speaker 1>back better and stronger, and um but you know, when

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<v Speaker 1>it comes to being in the office, at least as

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<v Speaker 1>far as I can see, for the next two years,

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<v Speaker 1>we will not have five day a week office days.

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<v Speaker 1>I can I can envision a scenario where it goes

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<v Speaker 1>down even to two office days a week and the

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<v Speaker 1>rest because our team is so effective at all. We

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<v Speaker 1>unfortunately had to end our interview there as we had

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<v Speaker 1>to get to the White House for a briefing. Still,

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<v Speaker 1>it was really great to catch up with rone CEO

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<v Speaker 1>and co founder Nate Check Its joining us from Connecticut