Peloton desperately needs a Cody Rigsby ride to snap out of its current malaise. The at-home exercise company that boomed during the early days of the pandemic is temporarily pausing production of its bikes and treadmills starting in February, according to a CNBC report. Peloton’s stock tanked 25% after that news broke; closing at $24.22 a share, it’s given up all of its pandemic gains.

Funnily enough, the company had exactly the opposite problem last winter as it was scrambling to ship more bikes to meet the soaring demand of gym rats trying to piece together a lockdown workout.

• With some customers waiting as long as two months for their bikes, Peloton spent $420 million to buy exercise equipment manufacturer Precor to help expedite production.
• In May, Peloton announced it was dropping $400 million to build its first US factory in Ohio that would be completed in 2023.

But it clearly overestimated how many people wanted to get sweaty in their living rooms when they could get sweaty near someone’s dad on an elliptical. Demand for Peloton’s products have sagged as gyms reopened, customers balked at the high price point, and competitors flooded the market. Next thing it knew, more Pelotons were sitting on Facebook Marketplace than in delivery vans.

Zoom out: The news of a production pause follows a wave of damaging reports and rough PR for Peloton:

1. On Tuesday, CNBC reported that Peloton hired consulting firm McKinsey to put the company’s cost structure through a HIIT class.
2. Some of the top execs at the home workout empire have reportedly discussed laying off 41% of the sales and marketing teams, slashing underperformers in the e-commerce department, and closing retail locations.
3. Unfortunate product placement in the SATC reboot, where the character Mr. Big has a heart attack and dies after a Peloton workout, didn’t help.

Looking ahead…Peloton will try to rally behind the launch of Peloton Guide, a $495 strength training program that would rival Lululemon’s Mirror. The product was supposed to launch last October, but might not arrive until April.—MM

It’s not just people with monkey avatars who are asking. The Federal Reserve released a highly anticipated report yesterday on the question of whether to issue a US digital dollar.

• Note: A central bank digital currency (CBDC), is not like bitcoin. Whereas the entire point of cryptocurrencies is to sidestep central bank regulation, the US digital dollar would be an electronic version of the Fed-backed cash in your wallet.

In this initial report, the Fed stayed as noncommittal as Switzerland, writing that it “takes no position on the ultimate desirability” of a digital dollar. But it did present some of the potential advantages and disadvantages of one.  

• The promise: A digital dollar could speed up payments (particularly between countries), and help preserve the dominance of the US dollar as other countries, like China, launch their own CBDCs.
• The peril: The Fed noted that the digital currency would need to “preserve monetary and financial stability,” as well as guard against illicit uses and protect people’s privacy.

In the months ahead, the nitty-gritty work of assessing those opportunities and risks will happen, but lawmakers will have the ultimate say. The Fed said it would not move forward with a digital dollar “without clear support” from the White House and Congress.

It also wants your take: If you have strong opinions on the digital dollar, the Fed wants to hear from you. Fill out this form to weigh in.—NF

Amazon has looked into the future and the future is Kohl’s. The mega corporation announced Thursday that it plans to open its first physical clothing store later this year in sunny Glendale, California.

The store, called Amazon Style (a clever combination of the company’s name and the concept of style) will feature some techy upgrades to old-school physical retail. Okay, maybe it’s more like, future Kohl’s.

• Customers can send items to a fitting room via the Amazon Shopping app.
• QR codes on items can be scanned to see additional sizes, colors, and ratings.
• Fitting rooms will offer new recommendations based on what customers want to try on.

Rather than being a glorified outlet store for AmazonBasics, Amazon Style plans to “meet every budget and price point”—with offerings ranging from $5 socks to $500 shirts with complicated patterns.

Why? Aside from being closer to Auntie Anne’s, you mean? Well, the customer base is there. A survey from last year showed that 34% of millennial consumers said they start with Amazon when searching for clothes. Plus, even in the age of e-commerce shoppers still love touching every item on a rack: 85% of US retail sales still happen in-store.

PS: If you want more retail news, we've got a newsletter for that. Sign up for Retail Brew here.—MK

Stat: Union membership fell to record lows in 2021 in the US, despite the flurry of strikes and union drives at corporations like Amazon, Starbucks, and Kellogg. The percentage of wage and salary workers who were part of a union dropped to 10.3% last year from 10.8% in 2020.

Quote: “If you have the opportunity—go for it.”

19-year-old Zara Rutherford is encouraging people to “do something crazy with your life” after she became the youngest woman to fly solo around the world yesterday. It took her five months in total to circumnavigate the globe—two months more than planned due to bad weather.

Read: How Nike turned its brand into a $35 billion cognitive “shortcut.” (Fast Company)

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