WEBVTT - Albertsons CEO on IPO 0:00:00.720 --> 0:00:03.720 This is Bloomberg Business Week. I'm Carol Masser and I'm 0:00:03.800 --> 0:00:06.320 Jason Kelly. We're right here every day bringing you the 0:00:06.400 --> 0:00:11.160 latest news from the world's of business and finance, plus technology, politics, economics, 0:00:11.240 --> 0:00:14.280 all harnessing the power of Business Week reporters and editors, 0:00:14.440 --> 0:00:16.439 and of course Carol that's part of a team of 0:00:16.520 --> 0:00:20.439 twenty seven hundred journalists and analysts more than a hundred 0:00:20.480 --> 0:00:23.280 and twenty countries and Jason. You can download Bloomberg Business 0:00:23.280 --> 0:00:26.239 Week on iTunes, SoundCloud, bl Bloomberg dot com. You can 0:00:26.280 --> 0:00:28.640 also listen to our radio show at two pm Eastern 0:00:28.680 --> 0:00:31.560 on Bloomberg Radio every weekday, or watch us on YouTube 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:36.279 by searching Bloomberg Global News. Let's get into where we are, 0:00:36.360 --> 0:00:40.440 because Texas is closing bars. They are coping with a 0:00:40.479 --> 0:00:43.600 record number of new cases really around the country, is 0:00:43.640 --> 0:00:45.680 what we're seeing. So let's get into with Dr Ian 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.440 LUs Beata, clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at n y 0:00:48.520 --> 0:00:50.800 U Landgo Medical Center, on the phone from New York City. 0:00:50.920 --> 0:00:53.240 I'm kind of jumbled too, because I'm trying to keep track, 0:00:53.400 --> 0:00:56.800 to be quite honest, in of all the headlines that 0:00:56.840 --> 0:01:00.560 have come down just on this Friday, alone own. Um, 0:01:00.640 --> 0:01:05.000 Florida's governor says alcohol suspended at ours, So how do 0:01:05.040 --> 0:01:07.520 you make sense of kind of where we are is 0:01:07.560 --> 0:01:09.520 the rest of the country kind of where New York 0:01:09.640 --> 0:01:12.720 was back in March. Yeah, I think that's a pretty 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:16.600 good analysis. By a happy Friday, Carol and Jason by 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:19.520 the way, and thanks for having me of course. Um yeah, 0:01:19.560 --> 0:01:21.280 And by the way, Jason had been in the office 0:01:21.319 --> 0:01:24.520 every day since January. So it is a shock. But 0:01:24.880 --> 0:01:26.960 some of us have been slogging through it. I know. 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:30.320 And I have to say I before you answer, like 0:01:30.600 --> 0:01:34.280 I have such huge I have renewed admiration for everybody 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.680 who has been going in our team included, um, just 0:01:37.800 --> 0:01:41.280 given what it feels like, and I know it feels 0:01:41.319 --> 0:01:44.600 better than it did uh two months ago. So I 0:01:44.760 --> 0:01:49.040 really it's remarkable what what you guys have done dealing 0:01:49.040 --> 0:01:51.080 with this. And I think that's one of the reasons, 0:01:51.200 --> 0:01:53.360 if I may editorialize for a second, why I think 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:55.480 Carol and I are a little upset seeing what's going on, 0:01:56.040 --> 0:01:59.000 uh in the rest of the country, given everything we 0:01:59.080 --> 0:02:03.360 know from talking to you know, friends and colleagues like you, 0:02:03.360 --> 0:02:06.480 You've you've been doing it been through right, So I 0:02:06.480 --> 0:02:10.120 think the task force, like you, is concerned about the dramatic, 0:02:10.960 --> 0:02:14.280 really spike in cases across the Sun Belt, and and 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:19.079 they all Um vice Version and Pense and Dr burkeson FACCY, 0:02:19.200 --> 0:02:24.040 I think really had sort of a fairly uniform expression 0:02:24.080 --> 0:02:27.200 of concern, which is that we're really having, um this 0:02:27.400 --> 0:02:31.640 paradigm shift from previously just testing people who seem to 0:02:31.680 --> 0:02:37.240 have symptoms or or being ill to really asymptomatic testing now, 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:41.920 and as that's happening, we're really seeing a spike in 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:45.120 the number of cases. And I think the press conference 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:49.720 today was really focused on enlisting young people to really 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:52.600 have more social responsibility. As much as they want to 0:02:52.600 --> 0:02:55.280 go out, as everyone wants to go out and have fun, 0:02:55.760 --> 0:02:59.200 there really is a social responsibility to continue to flatten 0:02:59.240 --> 0:03:03.120 the curve, which I think, Um, the Northeastern states did 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:06.120 you know reasonably well, it certainly is not zero by 0:03:06.120 --> 0:03:09.079 any means, but it certainly did flatten the cases. And 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:12.840 part of that is to prevent this hospital surge where 0:03:12.840 --> 0:03:15.760 you overwhelm the ability of the hospitals to take care 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:19.440 of people. You may not necessarily reduce the total number 0:03:19.480 --> 0:03:23.799 of cases. We don't have. Medications are vaccine to prevent cases, 0:03:24.200 --> 0:03:27.760 but even if you slow the spread, you're able to 0:03:28.200 --> 0:03:32.040 kind of protect hospitals so that when God forbid, when 0:03:32.080 --> 0:03:36.080 people need ventilators or need access, you know, that's available. 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:39.800 And I think that was their emphasis today and I 0:03:39.840 --> 0:03:42.120 think it it makes a lot of sense because we 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:45.400 are seeing such a spike in cases and part of 0:03:45.440 --> 0:03:49.000 that are asymptomatic young people, as they say, under forty 0:03:49.080 --> 0:03:53.600 under thirty five who are carrying and transmitting uh COVID 0:03:53.720 --> 0:03:57.960 nineteen source CoV two uh and feel perfectly fine. And 0:03:58.040 --> 0:04:00.680 that really is the conundrum that's put you. You know, 0:04:00.720 --> 0:04:02.280 I have to say, you know, we kind of had 0:04:02.280 --> 0:04:03.840 a little bit of a run in this weekend with 0:04:04.000 --> 0:04:07.240 a younger individual who was not wearing a mask, you know, 0:04:07.480 --> 0:04:10.760 and repeatedly kind of reminding um as we were kind 0:04:10.760 --> 0:04:14.240 of out and about um, you know, in a social situation. 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:17.240 And it's just interesting, UM And I think they make 0:04:17.279 --> 0:04:19.360 a good point. I do also want to bring up 0:04:19.400 --> 0:04:22.200 something or Vince and Neerella um Dr les Better brought 0:04:22.240 --> 0:04:24.120 up at the top of our show. You know, how 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:25.960 do we what are the numbers that we really need 0:04:26.000 --> 0:04:29.159 to focus? Is it cases? Is it hospitalizations? Like what 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:31.599 is it that either tells us we're getting back to 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:34.160 where we were in New York in March, or it's 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:37.159 a little bit different and maybe perhaps a little better, 0:04:37.520 --> 0:04:40.040 or you know, I don't know how you quantify it 0:04:40.120 --> 0:04:43.280 or qualify it right. Well, as as Dr Fauchi said, 0:04:43.320 --> 0:04:46.240 this is a protean disease and he's never seen it, 0:04:46.279 --> 0:04:50.799 and we've never seen it a disease where you can have, uh, fortunately, 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:54.000 the majority of people, it seems with really minimal or 0:04:54.040 --> 0:04:59.559 asymptomatic disease all the way to life threatening disease where 0:04:59.600 --> 0:05:02.440 people die, and before that there are a month or 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:06.200 two on a on a respirator. So it is very 0:05:06.279 --> 0:05:11.080 hard to process and somewhat hard to predict which people 0:05:11.160 --> 0:05:14.600 will crash and burn and which people will have very 0:05:14.680 --> 0:05:18.080 mild cases. And because of this, we have to be 0:05:18.600 --> 0:05:22.839 extra cautious in trying to prevent that. Because although we 0:05:22.880 --> 0:05:27.200 know risk factors and they outline that type one diabetes, obesity, 0:05:27.320 --> 0:05:31.839 you know, hypertension, lung disease, age, we're still seeing young 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:35.520 people who get sick, and certainly in New York we've 0:05:35.520 --> 0:05:38.960 seen young people who unfortunately die, So we don't really 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:42.640 have the full picture, and therefore everyone has to really 0:05:42.680 --> 0:05:47.279 be on much more guard hopefully go back to work cautiously. 0:05:47.760 --> 0:05:52.600 It's a real balancing act between damaging and economy and 0:05:52.640 --> 0:05:56.680 having some potential risk to your population. That's a tough 0:05:56.720 --> 0:06:00.240 needle to thread, and that's really what everyone is trying 0:06:00.279 --> 0:06:04.120 to grapple with because we don't have recent history of this. 0:06:04.240 --> 0:06:07.799 Nineteen it was a long time ago and they didn't 0:06:07.839 --> 0:06:10.960 have these issues. All right, We're gonna continue our conversation 0:06:11.000 --> 0:06:13.559 with Dr Ian Lesbater giving us some great context about 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:16.440 where we are in the virus. And I think, uh, 0:06:16.720 --> 0:06:20.960 probably alongside with us, you know, watching this, uh with 0:06:20.960 --> 0:06:23.040 with a little bit of caution, and I dare say, 0:06:23.040 --> 0:06:24.479 I don't want to put words in his mouth, maybe 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:27.000 a little frustration of you know, what's going on in 0:06:27.000 --> 0:06:28.719 the rest of the world, because we have lived this, 0:06:28.800 --> 0:06:32.560 we know, and he's lived in far far more intimately 0:06:32.560 --> 0:06:34.880 than we have, Carol and really seen people suffering from 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:36.960 this disease, and you really would hope that, you know, 0:06:37.120 --> 0:06:39.320 people have learned from what unfortunately we had to go 0:06:39.400 --> 0:06:42.000 through here in the New York metro area in particular, 0:06:42.360 --> 0:06:45.560 and you would hope that it would not be as 0:06:45.600 --> 0:06:47.600 bad or at least headed in that direction. So I 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:50.400 guess time will tell, Jason, but it certainly is jarring 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:52.960 the tone that we are feeling really throughout the week, 0:06:53.279 --> 0:06:55.240 to be quite honest, and then of course to see 0:06:55.240 --> 0:06:58.240 that task force back. You are listening to Bloomberg Business Week, 0:06:58.320 --> 0:07:01.760 Jason Kelly and Carol Master here with you. We're back 0:07:01.800 --> 0:07:04.760 with Dr Ian Lesbier, clinical Associate Professor of Medicine for 0:07:04.960 --> 0:07:07.760 ny US Lango and Medical Center, on the phone from 0:07:07.760 --> 0:07:11.160 New York City. So I I have to ask you, 0:07:11.160 --> 0:07:13.160 you know, we're a little bit doom and gloom, maybe 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:15.920 rightly so about the rest of the country, but we're 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:19.280 looking at Phase three potentially it's scheduled for July six 0:07:19.400 --> 0:07:22.240 in New York City. How are you feeling about that, 0:07:22.400 --> 0:07:24.680 especially as you see what's going on in the rest 0:07:24.720 --> 0:07:29.720 of the country. Uh, you know, I'm optimistic. I do think. Um, 0:07:30.120 --> 0:07:32.960 from what I see, most people are wearing masks and 0:07:33.040 --> 0:07:37.000 social distancing. We're seeing that, uh in our waiting room. 0:07:37.520 --> 0:07:41.160 Hopefully businesses have had time to prepare and figure out 0:07:41.200 --> 0:07:44.560 ways to bring people back. It's a challenge. We really 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:47.720 don't know what will happen. It looks as if, at 0:07:47.800 --> 0:07:51.080 least in the Northeast people will be able to return 0:07:51.240 --> 0:07:55.000 using good judgment. Uh. And that's not to disparage people 0:07:55.280 --> 0:07:58.600 perhaps in the sun Belt who felt more comfortable because 0:07:58.600 --> 0:08:01.280 they really were unaware. Are of the number of cases, 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:05.200 we are probably only diagnosing you know, one in five 0:08:05.320 --> 0:08:10.200 or one in ten uh percent of cases, so the 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:13.040 total number is almost you have to think of this 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:16.240 perhaps as ten times more. We have two point five 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:20.480 million cases. Probably there are twenty five million people who 0:08:20.480 --> 0:08:24.640 are infected, fortunately most asymptomatic. Uh. It may be less 0:08:24.640 --> 0:08:27.560 than that, but certainly we can't be shocked if you know, 0:08:27.640 --> 0:08:30.600 if those numbers grow. And I think people have been 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:33.520 feeling very confident. You know, there's more treatment. You hear 0:08:33.600 --> 0:08:37.400 less about deaths. But even though many of these things 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:42.920 like convalescent plasma and deaths of metasone from desiviere don't 0:08:42.960 --> 0:08:45.719 seem to help a bit. But by no means are 0:08:45.760 --> 0:08:49.920 they cures. They they are reducing the death rate. Uh, 0:08:52.440 --> 0:08:55.000 but by no means are we out of the woods. 0:08:55.040 --> 0:08:56.960 But I do Ian, let me ask you a question 0:08:57.040 --> 0:08:59.880 just on that exact point. So if it's ten times 0:09:00.240 --> 0:09:05.200 or or you know, if it's like, should that make 0:09:05.280 --> 0:09:09.240 us feel better? Well? I think it should make us 0:09:09.280 --> 0:09:12.440 feel better as we see the number of cases going up. 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:14.200 And that goes back to your question, what are we 0:09:14.200 --> 0:09:16.240 going to measure or what what are we go going 0:09:16.240 --> 0:09:18.400 to be concerned about. I think we are going to 0:09:18.440 --> 0:09:21.400 see more cases going up, and that's why the number 0:09:21.440 --> 0:09:24.960 of hospitalizations and why the death rate or case fatality 0:09:25.080 --> 0:09:30.600 rate may be UM somewhat more useful. But I put 0:09:30.600 --> 0:09:33.840 that number out and that's a publicly available UM, you know, 0:09:33.960 --> 0:09:37.000 just so that we're not shocked at seeing more and 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.320 more cases. But it is a reminder that we do 0:09:39.440 --> 0:09:43.319 need to again have that community involvement, as Dr Fauci said, 0:09:43.600 --> 0:09:46.280 with young people being very aware because they're the main 0:09:47.080 --> 0:09:49.960 uh kind of Petrie dish. At this point, there there 0:09:49.960 --> 0:09:53.800 are a big reservoir of asymptomatic disease. When we first 0:09:53.800 --> 0:09:56.760 started out, we were only testing sick people. Now we 0:09:56.840 --> 0:10:01.839 really have the ability, fortunately to test asymptomatic people. So 0:10:01.920 --> 0:10:04.080 I think we should go through with Phase three. We 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:06.880 do have more testing available. We're seeing in New York 0:10:06.920 --> 0:10:10.840 at least a high serio prevalence rate, probably twenty maybe 0:10:10.880 --> 0:10:16.440 even so that many antibodies antibodies exactly, and we think 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:20.040 those are preventive antibodies, how long they will last, how 0:10:20.120 --> 0:10:23.720 long they'll prevent recurrence. We don't really know again will 0:10:23.760 --> 0:10:26.559 the virus mutate in the second waiver in the fall, 0:10:26.840 --> 0:10:29.560 But certainly I think based on what we are seeing now, 0:10:29.880 --> 0:10:33.640 cautiously going back makes sense here. But this is very regional. 0:10:33.880 --> 0:10:38.679 Obviously there are areas where it's still rising dramatically. So 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:40.560 so I'm just saying about our audience listening to this 0:10:40.679 --> 0:10:43.400 and how the week's been and the task force came out, 0:10:43.720 --> 0:10:45.920 so ian you know, is it just a case if 0:10:45.960 --> 0:10:49.280 we start to see hospitalizations go up a lot, is 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:51.200 that when we all have to say we'll wait a minute, 0:10:51.240 --> 0:10:53.720 we've really got to slow this down. Is that the 0:10:53.840 --> 0:10:55.720 number that we've got to be kind of glued to. 0:10:56.600 --> 0:10:59.199 I think so. And you know there's always that delay, 0:10:59.400 --> 0:11:03.960 right so as you're diagnosing cases, hospitalizations and saddly deaths 0:11:04.000 --> 0:11:07.560 will be delayed two, three, four weeks down the line. 0:11:07.679 --> 0:11:11.560 So we haven't really seen that surge and hospitalizations because 0:11:11.559 --> 0:11:15.680 you're just seeing cases diagnosed now, So there will be 0:11:15.760 --> 0:11:17.959 a delay in and that in some ways gives the 0:11:18.000 --> 0:11:22.440 localities time to prepare. But many community hospitals really don't 0:11:22.440 --> 0:11:25.800 have the resources if there's really a big surge, and 0:11:25.840 --> 0:11:28.240 that was the whole rationale to try and you know, 0:11:28.320 --> 0:11:31.160 flatten the curve. I don't want to say it's too late, 0:11:31.160 --> 0:11:34.960 but there may be areas where that we're not as 0:11:35.040 --> 0:11:38.120 careful and we're seeing more cases, and I think we 0:11:38.200 --> 0:11:42.160 have to expect more hospitalizations and saddling more deaths in 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:45.040 the next few weeks, because that's just the kind of 0:11:45.040 --> 0:11:49.520 how the numbers go in this scenario. Yeah, it's a 0:11:50.360 --> 0:11:52.240 it's a tricky time, to say the least, in a 0:11:52.280 --> 0:11:55.719 worrisome time. I think, uh as well, all right, Dr 0:11:55.800 --> 0:11:57.520 Ian less Vader, It's always good to end up the 0:11:57.520 --> 0:11:59.120 week with you because I feel like I go into 0:11:59.120 --> 0:12:01.840 the weekend smarter, knowing what I should be thinking about, 0:12:01.880 --> 0:12:05.079 and you know, candidly, when people from a social distance 0:12:05.559 --> 0:12:08.080 asked me what I think is going on, I just 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:10.800 quote doctor unless better no, I do. I really feel 0:12:10.840 --> 0:12:12.640 like we take everything that's been going on in the week, 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:14.679 and this day was full of so much and it 0:12:14.840 --> 0:12:18.120 just makes sense out of all of it. So um, yeah, 0:12:18.200 --> 0:12:20.720 I really always appreciate he being one of our go 0:12:20.800 --> 0:12:23.200 two voices when it comes to the virus. You're listening 0:12:23.240 --> 0:12:26.920 to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Messer and Jason Kelly 0:12:27.280 --> 0:12:30.400 on Bloomberg Radio. As we mentioned earlier, we did have 0:12:30.400 --> 0:12:34.200 an IPO today. America's second largest supermarket operator, Albertson is 0:12:34.240 --> 0:12:37.560 once again a public company, and the stock right now 0:12:37.600 --> 0:12:40.920 trading at fifteen dollars seventy cents a share. That's below 0:12:40.920 --> 0:12:44.320 it's sixteen dollar a share IPO price. Let's get into 0:12:44.360 --> 0:12:47.480 it with the company's president and CEO, the VACS anchor 0:12:47.559 --> 0:12:51.439 in he joins us on the phone from Boise, Idaho, VCS. 0:12:51.520 --> 0:12:55.520 So nice to have you here with us. Congratulations. Um, 0:12:55.520 --> 0:12:58.480 it wasn't an easy necessarily I p O to do, 0:12:58.640 --> 0:13:02.160 considering kind of the market backdrop and just kind of 0:13:02.160 --> 0:13:06.280 the world at large. Oh, Carol, you're right, it's um. 0:13:06.320 --> 0:13:08.120 You know, it's so hard to predict what happens to 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:11.480 the market ever, but we as a company, we've been 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:15.320 so ready preparing the company, strengthening it for this day. 0:13:15.760 --> 0:13:17.640 We feel so confident about what we're going to do 0:13:17.640 --> 0:13:20.920 in the future. So, but I talked to us about 0:13:21.280 --> 0:13:23.840 the world we're living in right now, even outside of 0:13:23.880 --> 0:13:27.960 the financial markets. When it comes to your stores, you've 0:13:27.960 --> 0:13:31.280 obviously had to do some some retrofitting, some remodeling, like 0:13:31.440 --> 0:13:34.959 everyone else has had to do. Where are you in 0:13:35.000 --> 0:13:39.160 that process? So we did. We started out very early 0:13:39.200 --> 0:13:46.559 in February and March Perplexi Glass, Dickcales, new cleaning procedures, 0:13:46.640 --> 0:13:49.559 one way ailes, et cetera. One of the things we've 0:13:49.640 --> 0:13:53.400 learned is you can never stop innovating on that front, right, 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:57.800 you can never get complacent, never stopped innovating, and we 0:13:57.920 --> 0:14:00.520 continue to look for new ideas. Sometimes it's a new 0:14:00.559 --> 0:14:03.480 technology that might count the number of people coming into 0:14:03.480 --> 0:14:06.320 a store and exiting the store. Sometimes it's about new 0:14:06.440 --> 0:14:10.240 thermoscan reading temperatures as people come into our factories. So 0:14:10.240 --> 0:14:12.720 we're always innovating. So what do you do with something 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:14.880 like a salad and soup bar? Do you just get 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:18.440 rid of it? Yeah? For now we have, Right, it's 0:14:18.760 --> 0:14:21.560 what we do. Instead you you were able to go 0:14:21.640 --> 0:14:24.320 to a salad bar and make your own salad or 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:27.040 pick the pick the half a dozen chicken wings you wanted. 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:29.960 Now we package it and a lot and provide it. 0:14:30.000 --> 0:14:32.920 We still provide it for our customers, and customers still 0:14:32.920 --> 0:14:36.480 want it. They can't customize it like they did before. Right, 0:14:37.000 --> 0:14:38.920 it will come over time, but I don't think it's 0:14:38.960 --> 0:14:41.880 the right time yet. So I think, if I've got 0:14:41.880 --> 0:14:44.680 my numbers right, only about a quarter of your stores 0:14:44.760 --> 0:14:48.640 feature online order pick up, well below many of your peers. 0:14:48.640 --> 0:14:50.480 So how do you play catch up with your rival, 0:14:50.560 --> 0:14:53.000 especially when it comes to e commerce because folks have 0:14:53.120 --> 0:14:55.320 had to do it because of the shutdown, and a 0:14:55.360 --> 0:14:57.760 lot of people are saying, even those who hadn't done 0:14:57.760 --> 0:14:59.440 it before, I like it and are probably going to 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:01.640 continue in the future. So how do you play catch up? 0:15:02.280 --> 0:15:05.520 You're so right we were building it. This last few 0:15:05.600 --> 0:15:08.240 months have been an incredible catalyst for us to go 0:15:08.480 --> 0:15:11.840 even faster and and and the fact that we don't 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:13.760 have it in so much of our footprint is so 0:15:13.840 --> 0:15:16.560 much upside for us. I can tell you this though. 0:15:16.600 --> 0:15:18.760 Every time we opened it in a new store, we 0:15:18.840 --> 0:15:21.480 get a whole set of new customers starting to shop 0:15:21.520 --> 0:15:23.920 with us. And the customers are already shopping with us 0:15:23.960 --> 0:15:26.800 shop even more. And I think it's because we we 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.320 provide such a fabulous, fresh assortment and a more complete 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:33.640 assortment than many um and so so I just think 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:36.040 customers say, I've got a great store, and I now 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:39.040 have the convenience of omnichannel with it. So in terms 0:15:39.040 --> 0:15:40.880 of catching up, is it just because you guys are 0:15:40.880 --> 0:15:42.640 going to focus on it and just ramp up your 0:15:42.640 --> 0:15:46.160 efforts to catch up or what? Yes? That is And 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:48.880 we're also catching up in different ways, you know, we're 0:15:49.080 --> 0:15:52.080 we're we've got new technologies that we're putting in place 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:55.880 that that can enable faster picking in stores. So we're 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:58.520 doing it in different ways, and we're adapting to some 0:15:58.680 --> 0:16:00.960 new stuff that's coming from the coming onto the market. 0:16:02.040 --> 0:16:05.640 And So when you think about the competitive landscape EVCT, 0:16:05.720 --> 0:16:10.160 even beyond e commerce from a pricing perspective, what do 0:16:10.240 --> 0:16:13.840 you see in terms of pressure from some of the 0:16:14.000 --> 0:16:17.840 you know, lower price or the so called hard discount 0:16:17.920 --> 0:16:21.560 formats I'm thinking about like Aldi and others, and and 0:16:21.640 --> 0:16:25.720 even with the dollar stores who are pushing deeper into grocery. 0:16:25.920 --> 0:16:29.360 How do you combat that side of the equation. Yeah, 0:16:29.440 --> 0:16:32.400 you know, the way I see it is competition is 0:16:32.400 --> 0:16:35.400 a wonderful thing. It keeps us all sharper. We learn 0:16:35.480 --> 0:16:38.840 from things, We learn from them all the time. Uh, 0:16:38.880 --> 0:16:41.560 and we play the game a little differently. Right, you 0:16:41.600 --> 0:16:43.560 can go to some of those stores and you won't 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.040 get the full assortment you want to come to our store, 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:48.600 you get the full assortment you want. And the great 0:16:48.640 --> 0:16:52.080 thing about our country is there's you can Different customers 0:16:52.160 --> 0:16:55.400 want different choices, UM. And and so the key is 0:16:55.440 --> 0:16:57.800 to find a way to compete that's different and right 0:16:57.840 --> 0:17:00.280 for our customer. And we believe we do that very well. 0:17:00.960 --> 0:17:03.240 So the bec I do wonder? So you are you 0:17:03.280 --> 0:17:05.159 guys are now, as we said at the top, a 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:08.120 publicly held company trading on the New York Stock has changed. 0:17:08.119 --> 0:17:12.600 This is after fourteen years of private ownership by Cerberus Capital. UM. 0:17:12.640 --> 0:17:15.159 I do wonder, though, are you disappointed with the I 0:17:15.280 --> 0:17:19.400 p O? Sixteen dollars was below and expected range? There 0:17:19.480 --> 0:17:21.479 was talk of you know, you guys raising more than 0:17:21.520 --> 0:17:26.040 a billion dollars in this I p O. Are you disappointed, Carol? 0:17:26.160 --> 0:17:29.760 You know, we are actually elated that we could conduct 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:33.679 an IPO in one of the most difficult environments we 0:17:33.720 --> 0:17:37.119 have all seen in our lifetimes, UM, in so many 0:17:37.160 --> 0:17:41.040 different ways, and that so many investors had confidence to 0:17:41.320 --> 0:17:44.040 put their money with us. And and we are always 0:17:44.160 --> 0:17:48.160 long term oriented. You said it, our owner, Our investors 0:17:48.200 --> 0:17:51.080 have been with us since two thousand and six. Okay, 0:17:51.200 --> 0:17:54.240 and uh, it's a long term orientation and that's what 0:17:54.320 --> 0:17:58.760 we have every day here and so that when you 0:17:58.800 --> 0:18:02.480 think about your employees too, and the workforce. I mean, 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:05.800 what a change it has been from an incredibly tight 0:18:05.960 --> 0:18:08.320 labor market that we had earlier in the year to 0:18:08.680 --> 0:18:12.600 record unemployment. Now, tell us about your workforce and how 0:18:12.720 --> 0:18:18.360 you see that changing, growing, shrinking in the short and midterm. Yeah, 0:18:18.400 --> 0:18:23.000 we've had to add so many people to our stores. 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:28.200 Distribution centers are omni channel business. So in the last 0:18:28.880 --> 0:18:31.720 the first few months, we recruited more than fifty thou people. 0:18:32.359 --> 0:18:35.679 We had a base of two seventy people. You know, 0:18:35.720 --> 0:18:39.360 our workforce, Um, there's there's so many who have been 0:18:39.400 --> 0:18:43.480 with us for so long and who are so service oriented, 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:47.080 in service centric that you know, we we celebrate our 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:49.719 workforce and we spent a lot of time keeping them safe, 0:18:50.160 --> 0:18:54.840 making sure they're paid right, especially through this crisis, and 0:18:55.160 --> 0:18:57.200 we think this will continue for a while, that we'd 0:18:57.240 --> 0:19:00.639 be able to we need this level of workforce. Um. 0:19:00.680 --> 0:19:02.840 And I don't know how things changed how so hard 0:19:02.880 --> 0:19:05.720 to predict it, but but you know we are on 0:19:05.760 --> 0:19:07.760 a good trend on that front. So I've got to 0:19:07.800 --> 0:19:09.919 just quickly ask you what's going to be the relationship 0:19:09.960 --> 0:19:12.480 with Cerberus going forward. They still have a sizeable steake 0:19:12.520 --> 0:19:14.680 in you guys, and you still have a fair amount 0:19:14.720 --> 0:19:16.560 of debt. I think it was eight point seven billion 0:19:17.119 --> 0:19:20.359 at the end of the last fiscal year. How do 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:21.560 you get rid of it? And just got about a 0:19:21.560 --> 0:19:24.680 minute left. Yes, it's it's a lot lower now, it's 0:19:24.720 --> 0:19:27.040 only two point five times. I read a little shift 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:31.640 of seven billion dollars and and we recognized the Cerberus 0:19:31.720 --> 0:19:34.240 and four other investors who have been with us. They'll 0:19:34.240 --> 0:19:37.400 continue to stay with us. They've been fabulous. They've invested 0:19:37.440 --> 0:19:40.800 in this company to make it stronger, and we've decided 0:19:40.880 --> 0:19:43.720 that there they continue to stay with us. All right, 0:19:43.760 --> 0:19:46.240 We're gonna leave it there. They ve center and thank 0:19:46.240 --> 0:19:51.000 you so much, President, CEO of Albertson's newly public certainly 0:19:51.040 --> 0:19:53.679 accompany to watch. Can I say one personal thing, Carol 0:19:53.720 --> 0:19:57.919 about Albertson's please. They owned the Randall's Garcia Searchain. My 0:19:57.960 --> 0:20:02.359 first job in East Texas, the rand Randall's flagship. If 0:20:02.400 --> 0:20:06.800 Debbie Kelly is listening, she would check out. You know 0:20:06.840 --> 0:20:10.480 what I wanted to be a because this was a 0:20:10.680 --> 0:20:13.359 it was a fancy grocery store in uh In the 0:20:13.359 --> 0:20:16.240 neighborhood where we lived in Houston, and so you took 0:20:16.280 --> 0:20:18.520 people's groceries out to the car. And even though it 0:20:18.520 --> 0:20:20.480 was Houston and it was hot as all get out, 0:20:20.720 --> 0:20:22.720 that was the job you wanted because you got tipped. 0:20:23.560 --> 0:20:25.680 I couldn't get one of those jobs. Those were all tickets, 0:20:25.680 --> 0:20:29.679 So I was a cashier instead. Um pinstriped apron. It's like, 0:20:29.760 --> 0:20:32.920 would you like would you like your eggs on the bottom? Yeah, exactly, 0:20:33.160 --> 0:20:34.680 But you know you had to worry about like your 0:20:34.720 --> 0:20:37.840 speed and all that. You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week 0:20:38.000 --> 0:20:42.040 with Carol Masser and Jason Kelly on Bloomberg Radio. We 0:20:42.080 --> 0:20:45.320 are obviously tracking so closely what's happening with the virus, 0:20:45.440 --> 0:20:48.240 especially outside of New York City and the rest of 0:20:48.280 --> 0:20:51.679 the country. The headlines are troubling, to say the least, 0:20:51.880 --> 0:20:54.760 and the numbers even more so. Michelle Cortez, health Science 0:20:54.760 --> 0:20:58.159 and Medical Technology reporter is with us from Bloomberg. She 0:20:58.200 --> 0:21:01.639 joins us on the phone from Minneapoli, and Michelle, before 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:04.680 we talked to you, I want to hear a little 0:21:04.680 --> 0:21:08.280 bit from Dr Anthony Fauci. He spoke earlier today, specifically 0:21:08.320 --> 0:21:12.480 about his advice to young people. Anyone who gets infected 0:21:12.640 --> 0:21:14.840 or is at risk have been getting infected to a 0:21:14.880 --> 0:21:19.600 greater or lesson degree, is part of the dynamic process 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:22.520 of the outbreak. And I know because I can understand 0:21:23.119 --> 0:21:25.040 when I was at a stage in my life when 0:21:25.040 --> 0:21:28.200 I said, well, I'm invulnerable, so I'm going to take 0:21:28.440 --> 0:21:31.399 a risk. I think what we're missing in this is 0:21:31.440 --> 0:21:34.760 something that we've never faced before, is that a risk 0:21:34.840 --> 0:21:38.959 for you is not just isolated to you, because if 0:21:39.000 --> 0:21:45.600 you get infected, you apart innocently or inadvertently of propagating 0:21:45.640 --> 0:21:50.280 the dynamic process of a pandemic. All right, of course, 0:21:50.359 --> 0:21:54.480 Dr Anthony Fauci, member of the White House Coronavirus Task Force. 0:21:54.520 --> 0:21:57.120 They are back in action and we heard from them 0:21:57.119 --> 0:22:00.880