🚽 “No Door?” — Hotels’ Disappearing Bathrooms. Davos’ T-Day. Amazon’s Maxxing Store. +See-through Lulu

0:28This is Nick. today. It's your brown birthday. Jack, I see what you did there. Always round up. But we got three fantastic stories for today's pod. Jack, what do we got for the birthday T-boy? For our first story, have you noticed that hotel bathrooms sometimes don't even have a door anymore? The disappearing hotel bathroom door. It's actually a microcosm of our economy. For our second story, Davos just had the biggest day in its 55-year history, including President Trump's big speech and his tariff cancellation. There's more drama in Davos right now than a Bravo series reunion. So Jack and I, we're not there, but we dove in.

1:04And our third and final story is Amazon because it's building the third biggest store in America, just outside Chicago. Bigger than Walmart, twice the size of Target. This thing is 230 Starbucks. But Amazon's very big box mega superstore isn't actually about buying. It's about returning. But yet is before we hit that wonderful mix of stories. Fantastic mix. Love the mix for the new Friday, Jack. Happy birthday, Nick. I do have a present for you. Ooh. But it is not Lululemon leggings. Yeah, I'm going to ask for a hold on the Lululemon butt-hugging leggings, Jack. Because Yeti's Lululemon has done it again.

1:41Oh, boy. They're recalling leggings because they're see-through. Oops, I did it again. Shares of Lulu are down 6 % because the new Get Low leggings, they're just a little too low. According to Bloomberg reporting, Lululemon stopped the sales of their Get Low leggings just two days after launch because they didn't pass the quote-unquote squat test. Basically, you sat, they showed. You stretched, the seam stitched. While you were resting, the pants were revealing. And Lululemon actually has a long history of being short on material. I were to whip out a thesaurus jack on being transparent when they should have been opaque.

2:1518 months ago, we covered it on this pod. They had to pull their breeze-through leggings for unflattering fits that resembled a whale tail. 2013, Lulu lost 60 million bucks in sales on a sheer pants recall. And who could forget the original CEO got booted from the company after a scandal that began with see-through leggings. Ah, well now Lulu is dealing with glute gait yet again. And we're not sure who is more hurt, wearers or shareholders. Yeah, and as a shareholder here, I am feeling hurt. Yetis, if you're in a changing room right now, don't forget the squat test. And yes, this applies to khakis too.

2:49If you know. Well, they ripped. You know. Full disclosure, one time I was wearing a suit on a business trip and it failed the squat test. Thank God nobody noticed. That's why you do it in the mirror, Jack. That's why you do it in the mirror, Jack. Let's hit our three stories. 15 years before this song, two boys from the Northeast met in the dorm. They had an idea to cause a cultural storm. It's the best one yet, but the best is the norm. Jack Nick, that's it. I don't even think they need to practice. 50%, that's a fat tip. T-Boy City on your at list. If you know, you know, cause we ready to go.

3:23We can't wait no more, so just start the show.

3:29Start the show. First, a quick word from our sponsor.

3:38Top hats, baseball hats, Von Dutch hats. We wear so many hats on this podcast. Honestly, we're not great at all of them. No, we've been avoiding hiring someone to wear those hats instead of us, especially the Von Dutch one, because hiring and training can take forever. Well, proud to say that we are hiring right now at T-Boy, and this is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. Because sponsored jobs posted directly on Indeed are 95 % more likely to report a hire than non-sponsored jobs. So besties spend less time searching and more time actually interviewing candidates who check all your boxes, less stress, less time, more results.

4:09When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed sponsored jobs. And listeners of the show will get a$75 sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash podcast. So just go to Indeed.com slash podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. That's Indeed.com slash podcast. Terms and conditions apply. Need a hiring hero? This is a job for Indeed-sponsored jobs. So yet he's Jack's instituted a new business model for his Airbnb hosting. And Jack, what is it? Here it is. Host equals guest.

4:43Yes. I funnel all my revenue from being a host on Airbnb into one bank account and use that same bank account to book travel for myself. And basically, it's Jack's host-guest bank account for when he hosts and when he's a guest somewhere else. When I lived in the city, Nick, every time my apartment was available on Airbnb, it would get booked like that. I mean, think about how often are you away from home? You got the bridesmaid, you got the shower, you got the bachelorette, you got the wedding. That's three weekends away just for one wedding right there. Plus, you got to visit your mother. Naturally.

5:13Well, that's a lot of potential hosting that you could be doing on Airbnb. Let someone else stay at your place while you're away. Take that host money and spend it when you're a guest somewhere else. Have a business model like me. If you want to travel more, hosting more is a great way to make it happen. Financially. Your home might be worth more than you think. Find out how much at Airbnb.com slash host.

5:35For our first story, strange phenomenon. Hotels are getting rid of proper bathroom doors. And this disappearing hotel bathroom door phenomenon is actually a microcosm on the travel industry, the post-pandemic business norms, and even our housing crisis. Basically, our whole economy. You see, Yetis, Jack noticed this the last time he was visiting San Francisco. And over the long weekend, I noticed it at our hotel down in Carmel, California. The closets have gotten really small in hotels. The desk is really small. But hang on a second. Does my bathroom not even have a door? We're sorry, but that's a trend.

6:14No longer is there a fully closable opaque door between the restroom and the bedroom. And yes, we just said opaque for the second time on the pod. Sometimes instead of a bathroom door, hotels are installing a curtain. Sometimes it's a frosted glass door. And sometimes it's a sliding door or a pocket door. Or sometimes, Jack, it's just an open voyeuristic adventure. Honey, turn up the volume because I have to go to the bathroom. Door no more. To save money, hotels are now eliminating proper bathroom doors. It's a fact. That's the trend, which means there's nothing to contain the noise, the view, or the smell of your BMs.

6:48So Bessie's Jack and I got curious. We jumped in T-boy style, and it all begins with the Wall Street Journal and one woman who was horrified. Well, she was horrified because she booked a hotel room for herself and her dad, two twin beds. And then she discovered there was no bathroom door and she was staying in the room with her dad. So that woman launched a crusade to shame hotels that do this. And so far, she's got a list of 500 of them. Including hotels owned by Marriott, Hyatt, and Starwood. But besties, it's not just that the average door costs$500, right, Jack? And it's not just that for a 200-room hotel, we're talking$100 ,000 in door costs for the bathrooms.

7:27And it's not just the one-off installation costs of the doors either. No, what we find fascinating is that it's also the ongoing operating costs of a single door. Because think about it. A windowless bathroom in a hotel is cut off from all natural light, which means you must have the light on to do anything in there. So the hotel's energy bill goes up. And since it's not your house, it's a hotel, you're more likely to leave the lights on when you leave your hotel. So that energy bill goes up even more. And more light means you have to replace the light bulbs more often. Which means higher material costs.

7:56And with constant use of that hotel bathroom door, the door gets jammed. So labor costs go up too. So if you're a CFO, that single bathroom door is a silent, solid slab of costs. It's the opposite of this. So you'd rather have a guest complaint or two from a mom who books a hotel room with her kid than miss your earnings print because of a bathroom door. I can see the shower head from the head of the bed. I'm giving it one star. Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies over in the hospitality industry? The disappearing hotel bathroom door actually reflects our economy. It's not just the microeconomics of a door on the P &L statement, it's also the macroeconomics of that door.

8:38The reason hotels are going to such lengths to save money on bathroom doors is that business travel is not back. Look, while leisure travel is all-time highing right now, business travel is still below pre-pandemic levels. Another reason for the disappearing bathroom door at hotels is regulations. That's right, the ADA, Americans with Disabilities Act, requires wide doors, which require a big space to swing open, but not having a door avoids that. So this story is about so much more than an 80-inch wooden frame that is a door. That is right, Jack. The disappearing hotel bathroom door is a microcosm of travel, of post-pandemic business norms, and of our construction red tape.

9:15And of the importance of bringing the eye mask and earplugs anytime you travel.

9:22For our second story, Davos was the center of the world yesterday. Heads of state, CEOs all making world-changing announcements in one Swiss ski town. And yeah, the fondue wasn't free. But what actually is Davos and where is it actually going? We're going to dive into the history. Yeah, it is Davos, the short name for the World Economic Forum created by Klaus Schwab back in 1971. No relation to Charles, Professor Klaus Schwab believed that, quote-unquote, lasting progress requires cooperation within business, government, and civil society. So Schwab chose Davos, a ski enclave nestled in the Swiss Alps because, well, private jet pilots, they already knew the route.

10:06Over time, Davos became an offsite of the rich and powerful to make deals and determine the winners of the future. At least that's how it seemed from the outside. Which is why every big tech company set up glitzy parties, sponsored events, and has a seven-minute walk become a 45-minute Escalade security convoy. Salesforce alone has a building that's called the Davos Agentic Innovation Center. Okay, but Jack, I'm sorry, not to be confused with Salesforce's Lodge at Davos as well. Which is across the street from the Salesforce Chalet, which is also at Davos this year. Yeah, they say the Rolexes feel better when you get them fresh from the factory next door, Jack.

10:42Zuckerberg is probably at that chalet, showering some prime minister with champagne so he doesn't regulate Instagram. That's what happens at Davos. At all often, that's why we call it Burning Man for billionaires. Jack, don't forget the dress code, by the way. Patagonia inner vest, Montclair outer vest, and a strong sense of moral urgency. Moral urgency. I love how ambiguous that is. If you have to ask, you clearly haven't been, Jack. But besties, this is what we find fascinating. Many people are questioning if Davos is still relevant after all these 55 years. But this Davos was more relevant than ever, and the headlines were about AI, Trump, and Davos itself.

11:21All right, Jack, let's jump in T-boy style and start with AI, specifically Dario Amadei, the CEO of Anthropic. He made headlines on Tuesday after saying that the United States selling its top AI chips to China is like selling nuclear weapons to North Korea, something we probably shouldn't do. Yetis, that bold statement puts the Anthropic CEO at odds with NVIDIA and the Trump administration. And Dario also said that if left unregulated, AI would result in the future in a world where just 10 million people own all of the world's wealth. Another huge hot take. And then Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella agreed that policy must ensure that riches of AI gets spread out among people.

12:01But Nick, the headlines weren't just about AI. They were also about geopolitics and trade. The biggest headlines on those topics in a year. Like we told you yesterday, Canada's prime minister and the European Union declared the United States no longer a reliable partner. And they said that at Davos. And on Wednesday, President Trump finally made his big speech. He showed up, he actually got a literal red carpet and said he would get Greenland one way or another, but ruled out using military force to do it. And to those who hoped for a taco moment yesterday, including us, we got a taco moment. Yeah, the news.

12:33Trump said that he has a framework, quote unquote, of a future deal on Greenland. So he's canceling his tariffs on eight European countries. To those who think Trump always chickens out, that kind of happened. The stock market rebounded yesterday. All of that happened in like 24 hours. That would have made Andy Cohen blush. Andy Cohen was probably at Davos, wasn't he? It feels like he should have been there, Jack. But besties Trump and his America First policies are bringing the entire World Economic Forum into question, which leads to our takeaway. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies?

13:05Pardon it up over in Davos. Davos and the World Economic Forum are a symbol of globalism, but globalism is in crisis. You see, Eddie, every year, the World Economic Forum announces a theme to reflect the biggest global issue of the day. In 2002, the World Economic Forum held their meeting in New York City to show support to New York post 9-11. It's the only time the UMED has not been in Davos. In 2018, the theme was gender diversity on corporate boards. And in 2019, the theme was climate. Post-COVID, it was stakeholder capitalism. That is, corporations shouldn't just be focused on profits. But you see, besties, all those themes were in retreat with the rise of populism across the globe.

13:43Globalism is about countries cooperating and collaborating together and using trade as a force of peace. And the assumption was that the private jet crowd would determine that future. Well, Larry Fink, the CEO of BlackRock, has taken over as the head of the World Economic Forum this year. And if we know Larry Fink, we know he knows that globalism is in crisis, so he's trying to make changes at Davos. So next year's Davos will probably be a lot different than this year's. That is, if Davos wants to remain relevant. If it even stays in Davos. Now, a quick word from our sponsor.

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15:31Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter? Right? And the best part? They accept Discover. Accept Discover? In a little place like this? I don't think so, Jennifer. Oh, yeah, huh. Discover's accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby, get with the times. Right, so we shouldn't get the parachute pants? These are making a comeback. I think. Discover is accepted at 99 % of places that take credit cards nationwide. Based on the February 2025 Nielsen Report.

16:05For our third and final story, Amazon is opening its biggest store ever just outside Chicago. This thing is bigger than Walmart. it is the size of two targets. But Amazon's first big box store isn't going to be about buying. It's actually going to be about returning. Ah, Yetis, everyone knows the suburban shopping plaza smorgasbord, even if you grew up in the big city. Huge parking lot in the middle with like six big box stores. Mine is called Maple Tree Plaza, probably owned by private equity. You got a Bob's Discount Furniture on the left. Huge store. You got a Best Buy on the right. Even huger.

16:44You got a Walmart right down the center. Usually the hugest in the whole plaza. Maybe we'll hit Home Depot. I don't know if we'll have enough time, Jack. And right next to Dick's Sporting Goods and Petco is going to be a huge new store with the word Amazon on top. Voila, yet is that will soon be true in Orland Pork, Illinois, which just approved a 230 ,000 square foot Amazon store. To be clear, it's Orland Park, not Orland Pork. Although being near Chicago, I get why you made the mistake. You never know, Jack. Could you please sprinkle on 230 ,000 square feet of context for us, though? That is the size of four football fields or three New York City residential blocks.

17:24It could hold 200 American homes inside that store. Or 231 Starbucks. Yetis, this Amazon Super Megastore will be the third largest store in America. Behind just Macy's New York City flagship location and Walmart's biggest store, which happens to be in Albany, New York. Now, besties, Amazon made headlines on Tuesday for admitting that tariffs are raising prices on Amazon.com. That should not be a shocker. But this headline was a shocker. Amazon is trying once again to crack the code on physical retail. Amazon is protein maxing to the extreme. They're maxing retail right now. But Nick, pause the pod.

18:03Physical stores have been Amazon's Achilles heel for over 10 years. They're great at e-commerce. They're terrible at regular commerce. Amazon does clicks. They don't do bricks. They have so many failures. We would include more, but we have a 20-minute pod. We got to keep this thing short, Jack. Amazon's physical retail journey began with 24 Amazon bookstores, all of which have been closed. And then came Amazon's$14 billion acquisition of Whole Foods, widely seen as a GMO-free failure. Have you ever visited an Amazon four-star store? This is a store only with items rated four stars or higher on Amazon.com.

18:42Well, guess what? They're all closed now. Oh, Jack, how about an Amazon Fresh store? What about those these days? It's a grocery store that awkwardly competes with Whole Foods in a sibling rivalry. And they are still open, but officially they're in re-evaluation status by Amazon management. Amazon Go, that's the innovative just-walk-out technology with no cashiers. Yeah, half of those have been closed too. Which brings us to Amazon Style. Two fashion stores were opened in 2022. Two fashion stores were closed in 2023. Amazon style basically went out of fashion. So you got to give Amazon some credit for failing fast.

19:16Totally, Jack. It's better to kill your losing experiments quick than let them drag out and generate losses. But besties, Amazon's obsession with the white whale of physical retail is borderline Captain Ahab right now. It's six previous attempts have all failed. And now, instead of like moving on to something else, they're trying again with the third biggest store in American history. So Jack, we all get asked, why is Amazon obsessed with this white retail whale? It's because 80 % of retail sales in this country are still done in person, according to data from the US census. But besties, Jack and I think this Amazon ultra super mega store is actually about the opposite of buying.

19:56It's about the other side of the transaction. So Jack, what's the takeaway for our buddies, is maxing over at Amazon. Amazon's super megastore isn't about buying things. It's about returning things. Yetis, look, you don't use Amazon for groceries. You use it to buy USB cords and curtain rods and batteries and vacuums and thytastrosol. And slippers to wear in your gym's shower. I don't know. Stuff like that. What's going on in that gym shower, Jack? That was my most recent purchase on Amazon. Well, guess what? Those kind of products, 15 to 40 % of them get returned. That's why this information from the Wall Street Journal's reporting is key.

20:30Amazon's big box store is actually going to be one half store, one half distribution center. And distribution centers aren't about retail at all. They're about logistics, like return processing. And that is why we think this Amazon superstore will be able to do something never, ever done before. You'll be able to return your thing and swap it for the right one because there's also a distribution center. Emergingofamazon.com and Amazon in person, that's never happened before. And that is the real consumer problem that Amazon's physical stores just haven't solved for yet. So when Amazon officially announces this store and opens it up next year, we'll know for sure.

21:07But in the meantime, we think Amazon's big box superstore isn't about buying things. It's actually about returning them. Jack, could you whip up the takeaways for us for the new Friday? Hotels are eliminating bathroom doors to save material costs, energy costs, repair costs, and real estate costs. Oh, the disappearing hotel bathroom door. It's actually a microcosm of today's economy. For our second story, Davos has been the center of the world this week. And stocks rose on Wednesday as Trump taco'd on tariffs. But Davos is also a symbol of globalism. And globalism is in retreat across the globe.

21:41And our third and final story, Amazon is building a 230 ,000 square foot super ultra mega store just outside Chicago. Ah, they're a retail max. And our guess, the differentiator won't be the sales. The differentiator will be the returns. But besties, this pod's not over yet. Here's what else you need to know today. First, the company behind the Las Vegas Sphere is building another one in Washington, DC. It's a sequel. It's a sequel. The Sphere is a giant performance venue shaped like a sphere with screens on the inside and on the outside. Okay, but this DC one, it's going to be smaller. They call it a mini-sphere.

22:16We call it a hemi-sphere. It should be called a hemi-sphere. It's got 6 ,000 seats instead of 18 ,000 in Vegas. And by the way, Sphere is actually a publicly traded stock worth$4 billion, and they're making another big one over in Abu Dhabi in the Middle East. Second, according to Bloomberg, the newest user of artificial intelligence is college admissions offices. That's right. Admissions officers are using AI to read your essays, review your transcripts, and see who you are. The goal is to speed up the application process so that they can let you know if you got in in like December instead of waiting until April.

22:47But here's the plot twist. Colleges are also using AI in the application process to make sure you didn't use AI in the application process. So OpenAI has found a way to sell AI that will make sure that students didn't use OpenAI as AI. And finally, wouldn't it be nice if you got refunded for tickets when your team loses the game? Well, that's happening. Because Man City, a top-tier football club in England, had to travel all the way to the Arctic Circle to play a club up in Norway. A epic Champions League game, but then Man City shockingly lost to a much lower team 3-1. It's a cool thing about European soccer.

23:24You can play against a team completely at a different level than yours. Well, Man City was so embarrassed, they're refunding fans for their tickets and for their travel. Now time for the best fact yet, which because it's my birthday, I whipped up a little surprise for you in this one. You ready for this, Jack? It's a T-boy tradition. What do you got, Nick? Jack, you're always like a good theme for my birthday, you know, host the party you wish you were invited to. And this year, it's a tiki bar, a Polynesian theme called the Tonga room, this crazy place in San Francisco. Yeah, it's in the Fairmont, which is the same hotel that Sean Connery stayed in in the movie The Rock.

23:57So it's a classic. Well, I got curious about tiki bars, Jack. Turned out the tiki bar searched in popularity after World War II because American soldiers returned from fighting in the Pacific. Makes sense. But it also turns out that the Mai Thai tiki cocktail, the one made with rum, was also invented in the Bay Area. And do you know why this cocktail is called the Mai Tai? Wait a minute. The Mai Tai is a cocktail that was invented in the Bay Area of California? Well, it's because a visitor from Tahiti tried the Mai Tai cocktail and said the words, Mai Tai Ro Ai. And do you know what that means in Tahitian, Jack?

24:34No. Out of this world, the best one yet. You're kidding me. The Mai Tai basically is a Polynesian term for the T-boy. What are the odds of that, man? Okay, let me tell you, at every one of our live shows this year, we're going to go to the after party and that's got to be like the house drink. Besties, Mai Tai, Roi. Amazing. Yetis, you're looking fantastic over there, Jack. Thank you for looking fantastic and remembering the fourth quarter birthday. I appreciate it, man. Dude, happy birthday, man. I can't wait to see you in person so I can give you a gigantic bear hug. I mean, well, Jack, you know what I wished for on that breakfast cupcake candle?

25:09What? It's hitting all-time highs. I hope Kim Kardashian comes on the pod. I don't want Guac to be extra. And I hope on your next flight over, you don't get a windowless seat. I think three of those four things are definitely going to happen. Kim, if you know, you know. Jack and I will see you tomorrow.

25:30And before we go, a happy birthday to all the other 22ers out there. Madeline Sillinger is turning nine years old. Jack, she's over in Brooklyn. She's on the way to school. And this is her best birthday yet. Happy birthday to Royce Yasevel, who's listening on the way to school, but in Berkeley. And Melody Bryant, enjoy the best birthday yet down in Nashville, Nash City. Happy birthday to John Loop Key, who's pickleballing in Charlotte right now to celebrate. And Brandon Lex, celebrating a fantastic birthday over in Springfield, Illinois. Happy birthday to the best girlfriend yet, Akoli Vungala in Seattle.

26:03And Issy Sampson, happy birthday down in Sugarland, Texas. And happy birthday to Devin L. Devmeister-Lagloughlin, who's turning 31 in New York City. And a shout out to Katie and Derek Borowski with their son Nolan, who are celebrating Katie's birthday down in Denver. And a big shout out to Rihanna Singh. Thank you for sharing the show. H-Y-H-T-B-O-Y. Have you heard the best one yet. This is Jack. I own stock of Amazon and Nick own stock of Lululemon.

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