RETAIL

Chinese Shoppers Try to Return H&M

Your guidance counselor wasn’t kidding when they said everything you post online can come back to haunt you. 

Ex.: Last September, H&M released a statement saying it was concerned about allegations of forced labor in Xinjiang, a Chinese territory that produces an estimated 20% of the world’s cotton. This week, that statement got attention from internet users in China, who joined state officials and businesses there in making this a week from hell for H&M.

Popular Chinese e-commerce platforms pulled H&M products. State media outlets called out other apparel brands, including Nike and Adidas, that've made statements about boycotting Xinjiang cotton. And celebrities including Wang Yibo and Victoria Song are dropping H&M and/or Nike endorsements. 

• Beijing helped fuel consumer anger using social media. On the Weibo app, users are posting videos of their burning Nike kicks.

Zoom out: There's a lot at stake for H&M. China is its third-largest market and in 2019 accounted for 500+ stores and $1.4 billion in sales.

Retailers aren't alone figuring this out

Businesses across industries walk a careful line to stay on Beijing's nice list and get access to its massive consumer market. Calls to support pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong rocked the boat in 2019, but Xinjiang may prove a harder issue to dodge. 

China is accused of detaining an estimated 1–2 million members of Muslim ethnic minorities and subjecting them to torture, forced labor, sterilization, and more. 

The US, Canadian, and Dutch governments recently labeled what’s happening as genocide. And this week, the US, Britain, Canada, and the EU sanctioned Chinese officials with links to Xinjiang abuses. 

An emerging business case study 

In light of Xinjiang, calls are growing to boycott the 2022 Beijing Olympics. Some of the games' top sponsors—which include Airbnb, Visa, Coca-Cola, and P&G—are already fielding questions.  

• On Tuesday, a human rights group coalition sent a letter to Airbnb asking it to pull out, questioning the company's commitment to "social responsibility." 

As they weigh commenting on the situation in Xinjiang, execs are surely watching what happens to these apparel brands and considering their options.

SHIPPING

"Like An Enormous Beached Whale"

The chief executive of a Dutch company trying to free the 220,000-ton container ship that's currently stuck in the Suez Canal said it could take days, if not weeks, to unstuck it. 

Describing the ship's "enormous weight on the sand," Boskalis CEO Peter Berdowski said workers might need to try a combo of dredging the sand and unloading the ship, called the Ever Given, to get it floating again. 

Zoom out: This is the worst marine traffic jam since Crush got a flat fin on the East Australian Current. About 185 cargo ships carrying billions of dollars in goods—from livestock to crude oil—are waiting to enter the waterway.

The situation for global trade is so dire that two of the largest ocean shipping companies in the world are considering rerouting ships around the Horn of Africa to get their cargo to its destinations. But that's like driving from New York to Philadelphia via Calgary: It adds 6,000 miles and $300,000 in fuel costs to the journey. 

RESTAURANTS

When You're Here, You're Making More Money

Darden Restaurants, the parent company of Olive Garden, said hourly workers will make at least $10/hour in wages + tips combined starting Monday. It will also give $17 million in one-time employee bonuses.

• Though a proposed $15 federal minimum wage was scrapped from the last Covid relief bill, other companies like Amazon and Costco have set minimum wages of at least $15 and encouraged other retailers to follow.

Darden isn’t just trying to outshine Bezos and…Mr. Costco (?): The restaurant business is starting to look better. The CEO of Darden, which also owns LongHorn Steakhouse, said he was “cautiously optimistic” about the future of sit-down dining.

Then vs. now. Covid did a number on restaurants, specifically those that make their money off of middle school soccer team banquets. At one point during the pandemic, same-store sales at Darden restaurants dropped 75%. But last week, same-store sales topped levels from the same week in 2019 by 5.4%.

Bottom line: Darden’s positive outlook could point to the beginning of a restaurant industry recovery, and signal you’re one step closer to getting back into a big leather booth.

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GRAB BAG

Key Performance Indicators

Stat: The full Epic Pass, which grants access to dozens of Vail ski resorts across the world, costs $783 for the 2021-22 ski season—a 20% reduction from years past. 

Quote: "You don't really believe the peeing in bottles thing, do you?"

This was how the Amazon News Twitter account replied to accusations from US Rep. Mark Pocan that company employees were forced to urinate in water bottles because work quotas were so demanding. Amazon's labor practices are in the DC spotlight as workers at an Alabama warehouse vote on whether to unionize. 

Read: The geopolitical fight to come over green energy. (Engelsberg Ideas)

CURRENCY

Bank of England Honors One of the Coolest People Ever

Yesterday, the Bank of England unveiled the design for its new £50 banknote featuring legendary codebreaker Alan Turing. 

Missed The Imitation Game? Turing was a computer scientist and mathematician who helped crack the Nazis' Enigma code during WWII, and is therefore credited with helping bring the war to a close.  

• In his work solving Enigma, he came up with the "Turing bombe," a precursor to the modern computer. He also developed the "Turing Test," which measures artificial intelligence. 
• After the war, Turing was persecuted by the UK government for his homosexuality. The government apologized for its treatment of him in 2009, and in 2013, Turing was royally pardoned. 

The banknote includes an image of Turing, one of his quotes, and lots of nerdy Easter eggs such as a string of ticker tape displaying Turing's birthday in binary code. There's even a set of 12 puzzles, together called The Turing Challenge, baked into the design. 

Looking ahead...the notes will enter circulation on June 23, Turing's birthday. 

QUIZ

The Quiz Canal

The feeling of getting a 5/5 on the Brew's Weekly News Quiz has been compared to randomly applying a SAVE20 promo code that works.

It’s that satisfying. Ace the quiz.

WHAT ELSE IS BREWING

• Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said his company played a role in the Capitol riots on Jan. 6 during testimony on Capitol Hill yesterday. Meanwhile, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the responsibility "lies with the people who took the actions to break the law…"
• Here's more on the hearing, which featured Dorsey, Zuckerberg, and Google CEO Sundar Pichai talking about misinformation. 
• Robinhood is reportedly building a platform to “democratize” IPOs and allow regular investors to buy into public offerings (like its own) as big banks do.
• New York City is aiming to open Broadway shows in September.
• The New York Times sold an NFT of a column for $560,000.

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BREW'S BETS

Follow Friday: Bjorn Steinbekk flew a drone over lava in Iceland, Hamza Gulzar baked up an oddly satisfying lemon tart, and KarenBritChick has the best Street Style series. 

Best Biden impression: Dana Carvey of SNL fame is the GOAT.

Weekend baking rec: Rachel Cantor, the writer of our Sidekick newsletter, is obsessed with this pillowy cinnamon roll recipe. 

GAMES

Friday Puzzle

This one will either take you 30 seconds or 30 days. 

ANSWER

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