World’s Ugliest Shoes Aren’t Having a Pretty IPO
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Today’s Agenda
BIRKs On Sale
Is it just me, or does it feel like this is the 179th Prime Day of this year?? Like, didn’t we just have one of these? How many air fryers does a girl really need? Seems like overkill. Anyway, Birkenstocks are on sale on Amazon today, which is funny, considering the stock went on sale this morning, too.
Last night, the 249-year-old German footwear brand priced its New York IPO at $46 a share — a valuation that Andrea Felsted says “looks as pricey as its Dior collaboration clog.” And its close at 13% below that price is evidence of that. Bloomberg News is calling its opening drop “one of worst ever for $1 billion-plus US IPOs.” Even so, I am living for these photos at the New York Stock Exchange. They brought props!! And the bearded (natch) CEO looks so proud. It’s all rather adorable.
Plus, I’m happy that a lot of traders took inspiration from Timothée Chalamet and opted to wear socks underneath their Birks. Nobody wants to see dogs on the stock exchange floor! Although this one guy clearly didn’t get the memo. Don’t worry, I censored them for you:
So how did the Boston clog company make it to Wall Street? Its secret lies partly in its ability to maintain a cult-like following. The average Birkenstock owner in the US has 3.6 pairs. The other half of its growth story stems from a long history dating back to 1774, when the company was founded. It didn’t make a name for itself until 1896, when it developed the “orthopedic chic” cork footbed that we know and love today. And even then, it wasn’t until the 1990s that the shoes really took off, largely thanks to this Kate Moss photoshoot in The Face magazine:
Up until 2012, it was a family business, run by the three sons of Carl Birkenstock. But the Birkenstock brothers weren’t exactly seeing eye-to-eye on the direction of the company, so they brought in professional help to shepherd the shoemaker. The decision to hire a CEO clearly paid off: In the past decade, the shoes have become a wardrobe staple for all walks of life (young and old and plastic alike!) and revenue is up by over 20% in the first nine months of this year alone.
But is the company really worth upward of $8.6 billion? Andrea has her doubts, writing that its projected enterprise value is well ahead of Dr. Martens and Crocs, and closer to the ratings of Nike and Lululemon. “That looks a stretch, and assumes that Birkenstock continues with its growth trajectory,” she writes. None of those brands is immune from the fashion cycle, including Birks. W?rishofer, for instance, could easily dethrone the footwear company next year as the new It-Girl shoe. For those snatching up the Amazon Prime Day deal, faith in the Jesus sandal is as strong as ever. But for others, the debut flop might be a sign that the shoe brand is already beginning to buckle, just like its signature look.
Bonus Fashun Reading: If LVMH is struggling this much, then you know the luxury slowdown is bad. — Andrea Felsted
The War of Images
I saw this post from the Atlantic’s Charlie Warzel yesterday on Threads and I can’t get it out of my head:
If you’ve spent even a minute on social media this past week, chances are you know what he’s talking about. Everyone from celebrities to influencers to law school student senates to your college roommate has taken it upon themselves to post paragraphs (often in minuscule font) about the attack in Israel. Some of the posts feel sanitized and performative, as if they’ve been run through a PR washing machine. But a lot of them are genuine, earnest displays of support for Jewish people — a welcome message to see after the awful cascade of violence in Israel.
At this point, we’ve seen the videos, the photos and the firsthand accounts of the brutality in Gaza and beyond. Perhaps our need to release these statements has to do with the images themselves, which are incredibly upsetting and difficult to comprehend.
“Within hours of the attack, Hamas was posting videos to show off its stunning ‘success.’ As with the kinetic operations, it was keen to draw first blood in the war of images, to inspire its supporters and demoralize its enemy,” Bobby Ghosh writes. Hamas attempted its own PR, but instead of drawing praise, its bloody images of unconscious victims had the opposite effect. The videos of their captors “drew widespread revulsion and reprobation, and if anything, strengthened Israeli resolve to exact retribution,” he says. And “rather than demonstrate patriotic resistance by brave Palestinian fighters, the images invited comparisons with the brutal terrorists of the Islamic State.” Sympathy is now firmly with Israel, and the “human shield” of Palestinians that Hamas has used to its advantage is likely to bear the brunt of Israel’s vengeance.
Meanwhile, those Palestinian families have spent the last 16 years trapped in a tiny coastal enclave by a land, sea and air blockade, enforced by Israel and Egypt, Ruth Pollard writes. “There are at least two million people in Gaza — most of them civilians — yet the West risks seeing only Hamas. Israel must of course defend its citizens and borders. But as depraved and savage as Hamas’ attacks have been, the response must not be to further devastate innocent Palestinians. One set of war crimes does not justify committing another against an already long-suffering people,” she argues. Hamas’ assault on Israel is now imprinted in our brains — and our browser histories — and we’re never going to be able to erase it. The last thing the world needs is more images of bloodshed. Read the whole thing.
She Put Him on the Map
If Gen Z had it their way, the NFL would stand for Not For Long, because their appetite for sports is, uh, lacking:
Still, some think the patron saint of pop music, Ms. Taylor Alison Swift, is destined to save Roger Goodell’s crusty football empire. Her latest relationship, with Travis Kelce of the Kansas City Chiefs, AKA “the greatest tight end of ALL TIME” — in the eyes of every man in the universe, at least — has drawn the attention of football fans and critics alike.
Before Traylor (or Tayvis or Swelce), non-sports watchers had no idea who this Travis dude was. To them, football was an annual occasion to eat nachos and watch Rihanna or Lady Gaga or Jennifer Lopez sing their hearts out at the Super Bowl Halftime Show. Now, Taylor’s fans have suddenly taken interest in the sport. The girlies are snatching up #87 jerseys in droves. They’re live-TikTok-ing his games. They’re buying tickets to see the Jets, of all teams.
This past weekend, Adam Minter witnessed the fanatics firsthand, having sat in US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis to watch the Chiefs play the Minnesota Vikings. “Behind me, a couple wondered whether Taylor Swift, who had attended the last two Kansas City games, had decided to attend this one, too. In front of me, I could see a couple leaning over a phone, looking at search results for Taylor Swift Minneapolis,” he writes. Sadly, she didn't show up (god forbid Taylor doesn’t want to hang out with her boyfriend’s mom every Sunday!). “Her presence and undefined relationship with Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce surely sold a few extra Chiefs jerseys over the last several weeks. But if the NFL and other leagues are interested in the long-term growth of their fanbase and its connection to the community, they’ll need to do more than rely upon celebrity pop-ups,” he argues. Although I still firmly ship it, a new breakup song would be a nice consolation prize.
领英推荐
Telltale Charts
Hahaha I sure chose a convenient time to stop working as a social media editor, didn’t I? In January, I started writing this newsletter full-time, which, in hindsight looks like a pretty wise move. Meta’s “relationship with the news business has slowly unraveled over the past few years. Beginning with the fallout from the election of Donald Trump as president, promoting the news became more trouble for Facebook than it was worth —though it’s only now that it dares say it out loud,” Dave Lee writes. Now, Facebook traffic to news sites has all but disappeared after the social network stopped giving publishers support. While it marks the end of an era in which media brands catered to the whims of algorithms and app updates, it also could lead to a less-informed citizenry overall. “When people say the important news will always find them, it’s likely social media doing that work,” he writes. But newsletters can do that, too. You, dearest reader, are proof of that!
Mark Gongloff has an incredible zinger in his column today: “If you hired a financial adviser and the first nugget of wisdom for you was ‘Stop being poor,’ then you would probably fire that adviser. Oh, and meanwhile, the adviser’s family owes you a fortune. That’s a bit how developing nations should feel about the IMF at the moment.” You see, the International Monetary Fund published a paper that essentially says the poors of the world should fight climate change and avoid debt all at once. Mark says the advice ignores a multitude of “real-world complications.” Instead, we should direct our ire toward wealthy nations, which have consistently failed to deliver climate aid to developing countries. “Advanced economies and China — which continues to declare itself a developing nation and therefore exempt from developed-nation responsibilities — can help by forgiving or restructuring” the debts of the world’s poorest countries, he writes, freeing them to invest in environmental solutions that will ensure the longevity of their people and the planet.
Further Reading
Don’t worry EU, the UK still dominates the derivatives business. — Bloomberg’s editorial board
Exxon’s $64.5 billion deal to buy Pioneer shouldn’t ring antitrust alarm bells. — Liam Denning
The SEC’s probe into Wall Street’s WhatsApp messages may ruin its moral authority. — Aaron Brown
The UK’s dream to re-create Japan’s high-speed rail is all but dead. — Gearoid Reidy
Europe needs a new strategy to stop Indonesia and Malaysia from burning forests for palm oil. — David Fickling
US-China trade records are proof that globalization is still going strong. — Daniel Moss
Have a housing headache? It’s easy to get mixed up over mortgage risks. — Paul Davies
ICYMI
The GOP nominated Steve Scalise for House speaker.
Bing’s AI image generator has new guardrails.
Teens are developing online gambling addictions.
Air-traffic control lapses nearly killed 131 people.
Mary Lou Retton is fighting for her life in the ICU.
Kickers
The next big solar storm could fry the grid.
A bird’s eye view can be very colorful. (h/t Scott Kominers )
The early bird reservation is all the rage.
Meet the TikTok trend of your nightmares.
Florida swans connected to Queen Elizabeth II get their annual physical.
Notes: Please send royal swans and feedback to Jessica Karl at [email protected].
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.