| This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, the supreme authority of Bloomberg Opinion's opinions. Sign up here. This week, New York City lost one of its last public(ish) restrooms: The Starbucks on Astor Place, which opened on March 30, 1995. The 11th Starbucks to open in the city was known for many things. It was a watering hole for drunk NYU students. It was a haven for sightseers needing to pee. And most famously, it was where Carrie and Louise met on Sex and the City:  Credit: Evan Ross Katz via Instagram But its doors are closed forever. On Sunday, the EV Grieve reported that the sign had been taken down and the windows were papered over.  Photo: Jessica Karl Perhaps you're wondering: "Why should I care about one Starbucks closing in a city with more than 350 locations?" I'll tell you why: Astor Place, the one-block street bordering the East Village and NoHo, goes through cultural transformations every few decades or so. In 1994, the New York Times reported the area was in for a "less-funky" future after a series of businesses shut down: An auto workers union went bankrupt and its building turned into loft-style apartments. Cooper Square Books shuttered and a Barnes & Noble opened down the road. A 24-hour diner, Astor Riviera Cafe, closed, and in its place sat a Seattle-style coffee house called ... Starbucks. As someone who takes the 6 train from Astor Place station to work every day, I can tell you we're in the midst of another such transformation. Since I've lived in the area, the Kmart became a Wegmans. The Walgreens turned into a Raising Cane's. The Gap is now a weed dispensary. Whatever business will eventually occupy the former Starbucks space will say a lot about the state of the city. But it also says a lot about our growing distaste for Starbucks, too. The bottom line? All that bathroom foot traffic wasn't translating into Frappuccino orders. This chart from Andrea Felsted and Chris Hughes says as much. "Second-quarter results were dismal. The shares trade on a forward price-earnings ratio of 19, about a third below their five-year average of 28," they write. But that poor performance may soon change: Less than two weeks ago, the Wall Street Journal revealed that Elliott Management Corp. took a big stake in the company and is engaging with the board. Andrea and Chris say the activist investor can give Starbucks "a needed shot of caffeine." Starting, possibly, by shrinking the chain's footprint. They argue that the board and chief executive officer Laxman Narasimhan ought to "suspend plans to increase the number of US stores by 3% to 4% from 2023 through 2025." For Elliott, the Astor Place location was probably just a red number on a spreadsheet. But for the rest of us, it was a beloved place to people-watch, now lost to the winds of time. Today's Olympic debrief is brought to you by South Korean style icon Kim Yeji. Millions of people have now watched her nonchalantly set the world record for the women's 25m pistol. She has cemented her place in history as The Coolest Person to Ever Walk the Face of the Earth. Chills!!! Elsewhere in Olympic happenings: - Short kings with glasses are (still) all the rage.
- Flávia Saraiva made Brazil proud.
- The men's triathlon got postponed.
- Snoop Dogg has the best Olympic collectible.
- And the best meme reaction, maybe.
- Swimmers are real snatched this year.
- Hong Kong taunted Italy with pineapple pizza.
- It's FLAVOR FLAV not Flava Flav.
- Did you even win a medal if there's no TikTok?
- Almond croissants have a pretty good view.
So much going on! And we're just getting started; these games go on until August 11. It may feel counterintuitive to look beyond that, but Adam Minter says representatives from Salt Lake City formally accepted the hosting role for the 2034 Winter Olympics. There's a catch: The IOC is making Salt Lake City lobby the US Congress and president (current and future) to recognize the "supreme authority" of the heavily criticized World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). "That was a mistake," Adam argues. The city had the upper hand in negotiations, not the IOC: It was the only bidder for 2034, needs no new permanent venues to host the games, and has the optimal climate. "It's a shame that Salt Lake City didn't recognize this leverage, while also missing an opportunity to promote a better anti-doping system," he writes. Am I surprised that Donald Trump is helping propel Bitcoin to new heights? No. But am I tired? Yes, of course, absolutely. Lionel Laurent says the former president "has raised more than $4 million in crypto donations and sold almost 200,000 baseball-card-style NFTs depicting him as 'America's Superhero.' At a crypto event on Saturday, under the slogan 'Make Bitcoin Great Again,' Trump, the twice-impeached convicted felon, vowed to fire top securities regulator Gary Gensler in favor of a more pro-crypto watchdog."  Happy Fed Day Eve, to all those who celebrate! John Authers says Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell is making clear progress toward his inflation target. "That has revived hopes for rate cuts in the US and across developed markets," he writes. "With the seemingly eternal exception of Japan, rate cuts are expected across the developed world, although the direction of travel is different. In the UK, the eurozone and the US, there is less optimism about cuts than back in April; in Switzerland and Canada, where cutting is underway, expectations have reduced." Apprenticeships aren't working well for Britain. They could be. — Bloomberg's editorial board Deep-sea mining could produce the minerals needed to generate cleaner power. — F.D. Flam How an EV maker's graphite supply deal became enmeshed in geopolitics. — Liam Denning Josh Shapiro would bring a key swing state and policy chops to the Harris campaign. — Mary Ellen Klas Microsoft, Apple, Amazon and Meta shareholders want an AI debrief during earnings calls. — Dave Lee The woeful state of the German economy presents policymakers with a dilemma. — Marcus Ashworth Ridding US homes of termites is a good business. Can it get any better? — Chris Hughes Since Harris isn't about to dump Taiwan, China still cheers for Trump. — Karishma Vaswani Harris has erased Trump's lead. Meta is scrapping celebrity chatbots. America's homeless are clocking into jobs. POV: Your $13 billion Hermès fortune vanishes. Janet Yellen devoured this cheesesteak. Pavlova who? Trifle is the dessert of the summer. Notes: Please send whim wham, tipsy laird, zuppa inglese and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. Sign up here and follow us on Threads, TikTok, Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. | 
No comments:
Post a Comment