S05.E18: Baby Bump/Kool Kids

[Gregg247]

"Marcus Lemonis is in New Orleans, Louisiana hoping to make a deal with Baby Bump. Baby Bump is a maternity and children's clothing business owned by Robbie and Julie Allen.  The store has been open for 10 years and Robbie and Julie aren't sure of their roles and do not know their numbers.  Also Robbie was recently treated for cancer which put even more stress on their business and marriage."

 

This was old-school "The Profit" at its finest!  A struggling business, Marcus has some actual good ideas for improving things, the owners are friendly and willing to follow Marcus' direction, and everything works out in the end.  Plus, some good lessons from Marcus regarding margins, P&Ls, and streamlining "the process"  What's not to love?

I'll bet the store opening in Jacksonville, which Marcus mentioned at the grand opening near the end of the episode, will somehow involve Sweet Pete's.

Marcus took the owners to the children's store, where he let them know that he gets a big discount on the wholesale prices.  Great use of Marcus' buying ability and leverage of his other businesses to help this one.

I liked the portion about the little kid selling lemonade outside Marcus' office.  How much you want to bet that he'll start a competing lemonade stand right across the street and cut that kid's margins in half?  Plus, it'll give Julie ("The Partner", not the owner of Baby Bump) something to do! LOL

[attica]

The best part of the episode (which wasn't bad, tbh) was the promo for next week's Behind the Scenes treatment of LA Dogworks. Laying in stores of popcorn now!

[Ray Adverb]

1 minute ago, attica said:

The best part of the episode (which wasn't bad, tbh) was the promo for next week's Behind the Scenes treatment of LA Dogworks. Laying in stores of popcorn now!

Oh god no.  They chose LA Dogworks?  That was good for trashy TV but I found it terribly depressing and will not be watching that. 

[Inspector Bucket]

Kool Kids with a "K" and with sunglasses??? That's as cool as Poochie!

Edited August 1, 2018 by Inspector Bucket

[Inspector Bucket]

Did Marcus really say that he wanted Kool Kids to be a "safe space"? (As we all know, Sweet Pete's and Tonnie's Minis have ego-crippling customer limitation policies. And, oh Jesus, don't set foot in Tea2Go if you're Norwegian-American -- they will kick your ass!)

I must have heard him wrong.

[BusyOctober]

I was just so relieved that the new ‘cool’ clothes didn’t include any of those effing BRKN heart sweaters in the mix.  

[Gregg247]

I understand the appeal of a store like Kool Kids for infants, toddlers, and maybe the kindergarten set, but I disagree with Marcus about targeting kids up to 10 years old.  If you have a 7-10 year old boy, you're going to be focused on clothes that are cheap and durable.  Cheap because they'll grow out of them in no time, and durable because they'll still get worn out really fast.  That's why Sears made so much money in the 1970s with Toughskins jeans (oh, how I miss those!).  "Cheap" and "durable" sounds like WalMart, not a Mom & Pop specialty children's boutique. 

I'll bet that. over time, they'll find it more profitable to narrow their clothing focus to ages 0-6 (much like they eventually dropped the maternity clothing line).

Somewhere in America exists an unmarked, nondescript warehouse, filled to the rafters with crates full of broken heart sweaters (and the Lost Ark of the Covenant).  It's Marcus' secret shame.

[Ray Adverb]

Okay but what was the message of the product?  I need to know the message before I make any purchasing decisions.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Ray Adverb

[Inspector Bucket]

Lemonade kid stuff was a nightmare. My theory: Marcus promised somebody their kid could be on the show; later, a producer told the editors to make the sequence as fast as humanly possible.

Still, I enjoyed the episode. Two relatable owners in a complicated relationship who are strong actors! But there was too much dumbing down. The husband didn't know Baby Bump's crucial numbers. That became "he's like a 6th grader who doesn't understand percentages." And even worse: "by sitting here with Marcus and a P&L Statement for 45 seconds on camera, the husband is repairing his marriage" Come on, tv, we can handle complexity.

Finally, "OMG will they be ready for the big opening?!?!?!" Again. I'm watching that again on this show.

Edited August 1, 2018 by Inspector Bucket

[seacliffsal]

7 hours ago, Gregg247 said:

 

I'll bet the store opening in Jacksonville, which Marcus mentioned at the grand opening near the end of the episode, will somehow involve Sweet Pete's.

 

I figured that's where they got all of the gumballs for the ceiling from...By the way, I would never put an actual food (gum?) product in an enclosed case like that-I would opt for brightly colored small plastic balls instead.

More importantly, I don't know if I could shop there without knowing their charitable connection.  I know there was a LOT of discussion about cancer, but they did not make an overt connection so I may have to find a children's shop that clearly has a charitable connection (sarcasm...)

It's to the point that Marcus' broken-hearted clothing has become a huge distraction for me.  I can't look away...

[hurrrz]

This felt like old-school Lemonis in a way.

However:

During the "pick items from these racks" segment - he was really setting them up for failure. "you know what's missing? A story!" They could've made the best picks possible, and still they wouldn't have done a proper job at the task, because it wasn't set up properly to begin with.

 

That lemonade thing felt incredibly forced and set up.

 

Didn't like the gumball idea. I first heard "gumbo" and thought that was neither a visually pleasing nor sanitary choice. I did chuckle at the thought though. :D

I didn't think the final store looked that nice, to be honest.

 

Kool Kids? Will they Kollaborate with Kars4Kids?

 

Also - wtf is the website url? www.shopthekoolkids.com or something? Good job, dude!

 

Lastly, I feel like they travel around the US a lot more this season.

[ae2]

"This is called modern day clienteling."

No, Marcus, it isn't. Those words have literally been said only once before in the history of the Internet. If you want to make up words to describe new processes or technologies, go for it, but don't pass it off as if it's a thing.

"The clothes you carry are nice, but they're not... cool"

Said wearing a terrible, tacky broken heart varsity-style jacket.

All in all this episode wasn't bad. Low on forced drama and high on business. Still, another clothing store? 

When Marcus mentioned that the guy sent a thousand emails (which ended up being 300+, more than I expected in reality, and a little obsessive...), I couldn't help but think that all of those emails were ignored until he got cancer and finally had a sob story to be told on air. Maybe that's harsh and pessimistic, but it fits with the show.

Kool Kids? Blech. And not only blech, but there are at least a half dozen other Kool Kids clothing companies out there. (Or is it Klothing?) I had to search Kool Kids Clothing The Profit to find the link through the Profit Update site.

I visibly cringed when Marcus mentioned the product lines should "tell a story" but for once he used this in the proper, traditional business sense! Not that there needs to be a literal story behind every business and every product. He simply meant that there should be brand coherence between all the products. Or that they should at least be divided up in the store into various product segments. 

[Jesse]

Yeah, I also googled Kool Kids just now, and found a Yelp link at the bottom of the page. Shouldn't all this clienteling and whatever come with SEO?

[FastLou]

I liked this one a lot because the owners seemed like decent people & there wasn't a ton of interpersonal drama. I agree that "up to 10" seems too old but I'm sure a baby clothes store can do very well. 

Just fixing their inventory MGMT & online shit ought to make a huge difference. 

I was a little surprised the guy didn't get an online management course or am I mixing this up with other similar shows?

[Kenz]

This show was better than the last few, but I'm getting tired of Mr. Broken Heart Marcus being a fashion expert. It seemed to me that yes, they might have needed some more colorful clothes and should have discontinued the maternity section, but their main problem seemed to be that they needed a new POS computer system and a website. I don't understand how Marcus invested only 100k, when he spent 50k for new fixtures, 45K (!) for lighting fixtures, 50K for new inventory, and he didn't even mention how much he spent for the new POS system and website development. Did I miss any mention of the fact that he spent way more than the 100,000 he offered?

As a long time retail store owner, I am skeptical when Marcus just says that margins have to be higher. That sounds simple, but will their clientele support higher price merchandise? They never get into the nitty gritty of details like that. Mainly Marcus likes to show off, and in this case he predicts that more Kool Kids will pop up all over the country because he has added his magic touch. 

Edited August 2, 2018 by Kenz

[ae2]

6 hours ago, Kenz said:

This show was better than the last few, but I'm getting tired of Mr. Broken Heart Marcus being a fashion expert. It seemed to me that yes, they might have needed some more colorful clothes and should have discontinued the maternity section, but their main problem seemed to be that they needed a new POS computer system and a website. I don't understand how Marcus invested only 100k, when he spent 50k for new fixtures, 45K (!) for lighting fixtures, 50K for new inventory, and he didn't even mention how much he spent for the new POS system and website development. Did I miss any mention of the fact that he spent way more than the 100,000 he offered?

As a long time retail store owner, I am skeptical when Marcus just says that margins have to be higher. That sounds simple, but will their clientele support higher price merchandise? They never get into the nitty gritty of details like that. Mainly Marcus likes to show off, and in this case he predicts that more Kool Kids will pop up all over the country because he has added his magic touch. 

I don't recall him mentioning the money spent on the POS and website, but my assumption is these are done in-house and through affiliate promotions. There's nothing particularly unique about the Kool Kids site (unlike the lighting designer interface a few episodes back), so it's just a theme up on Shopify which already ties into the new POS system that they showed on the computer screen but I already forgot.

Usually when Marcus tries to get their margins up it's by eliminating low-margin items and focusing on those with higher margins that sell better. In other words, he's fixing an inefficiency in their system to optimize their margins. How well this works in reality? Who knows. I've never been in retail to have any idea how realistic that is. He also allows them to tap into his business network and also buy in bulk, which surely reduces their costs and boosts margins. 

[Showthyme]

Loved seeing New Orleans. That is all.

[Amarsir]

6 hours ago, Showthyme said:

Loved seeing New Orleans. That is all.

That reminds me that they had beignets. Which reminds me that this is the first time I can ever remember food during the restaurant negotiation!

[sskrill]

On 8/1/2018 at 7:33 PM, FastLou said:

I was a little surprised the guy didn't get an online management course or am I mixing this up with other similar shows?

Hotel Impossible?

[Kenz]

I know everyone is clamoring for a Larchmont Lemonade t shirt for their kids at $22.00 each, so here's the link:

https://shopthekoolkids.com/collections/graphic-tees/products/larchmont-lemonade-shirt

It's the koolest. Lemonis Lemonade would be even cooler!

Edited August 3, 2018 by Kenz

[stitcher73]

Wasn't that Marcus' new wife, towards end at the grand opening, bending down and talking to that kid?  Blondish hair, short hair, spaghetti strap shirt?  

[bioprof]

53 minutes ago, stitcher73 said:

Wasn't that Marcus' new wife, towards end at the grand opening, bending down and talking to that kid?  Blondish hair, short hair, spaghetti strap shirt?  

Yep....

[stitcher73]

No words.   She really is so much older and looks it.  

[TVbitch]

Ooh, an action hero shot of Marcus cleaning a small section of a window. 

Marcus could have totally put the Kool Kids brand together all on his own. (He pretty much did anyway.) It seemed like a genial couple with a sufficiently sympathetic backstory who were willing to cry on camera was plucked from his inbox so they could make an episode out of it wherein Marcus could play mentor, confidence-rebuilder, and marriage counselor. And they all live happily ever after.

They needed the break, so it's kool with me, but I did not see any particularly unique talents or expert skills that either of the couple brought to the table. However, I will always admire Robbie for blowing powdered sugar all over one of Marcus' broken heart sweaters. 

[ae2]

23 minutes ago, TVbitch said:

Marcus could have totally put the Kool Kids brand together all on his own.

This point gets brought up frequently. While there's some merit to the idea that Marcus could just enter market X without these business owners, the fact is that someone has to run those businesses. He could hire an MBA fresh out of a top flight university with no experience for $70k/yr, invest a couple hundred thousand in setting up stores, and then be completely on the hook if it fails. Or he can invest in an existing business that's shown some signs of success, likely spend less money upfront, and have an entrepreneur with some existing experience in the market. He can then train those entrepreneurs up on their business skills and use his existing network to fill in any gaps. And he has less to lose if it fails.

[Showthyme]

3 hours ago, ae2 said:

This point gets brought up frequently. While there's some merit to the idea that Marcus could just enter market X without these business owners, the fact is that someone has to run those businesses. He could hire an MBA fresh out of a top flight university with no experience for $70k/yr, invest a couple hundred thousand in setting up stores, and then be completely on the hook if it fails. Or he can invest in an existing business that's shown some signs of success, likely spend less money upfront, and have an entrepreneur with some existing experience in the market. He can then train those entrepreneurs up on their business skills and use his existing network to fill in any gaps. And he has less to lose if it fails.

And...Marcus doesn't have to front all of the money to put together the business on his own when he partners with someone. The existing businesses already have a clientele so Marcus saves money on customer acquisition costs. Marcus isn't paying what an angel investor would pay and he also doesn't expect as much. 

KoolKids isn't a bad name but I immediately thought that it is a name that a Kardashian would use for a children's line. Marcus is terrible at choosing names. 

[tobeannounced]

On 8/1/2018 at 1:08 PM, Ray Adverb said:

Okay but what was the message of the product?  I need to know the message before I make any purchasing decisions.

That every kid is kool! Great message there, Marcus. How about, unless you're Keith Richards, someone will always be cooler than you, and that's okay.

[cooksdelight]

On 8/3/2018 at 12:32 PM, stitcher73 said:

Wasn't that Marcus' new wife, towards end at the grand opening, bending down and talking to that kid?  Blondish hair, short hair, spaghetti strap shirt?  

Great.... we have another Mrs. Nev in the making.

[sarthaz]

I'm not buying kids denim unless it reminds me of ball kancer. Just being honest here.

[LuvMyShows]

My snark for the show:

• With the name Kool Kids, I would never think to buy baby clothes.  And for a baby store, I would not do shopping for my 10-year old.  I think that co-mingling them is a terrible idea, and the name reflects the confusion.
• Why on earth did Marcus put all of that responsibility on the husband, to do stuff that he has no business doing, like designing the web site???  Sure, the husband wanted to re-gain his confidence, but it shouldn't be at the expense of having a professional result, especially since he said he had no idea about thow to do the web site design.
• Marcus brought them to that Kidville ostensibly to look at the decor to get a better idea for their stores, but even though the Kidville was bright, I found it depressing-looking.  I think the Kidville must have been one of his other investments.
• At Kidville, in the background, there was a kid climbing on big blocks, right up to a very large fan, that looked like it could eat a little girl's fingers for lunch!
• The new stuff that the wife showed as ordering, didn't look hip or fun or cute...or anything.
• The New Orleans store looked no different afterward at all...it just looked like there were a few brighter pieces of clothing.
• In the end, Marcus did end up having the personalization done by an outside shop, but at the beginning when he was learning about costs and they said it only costs 50 cents to do it, he should have right away said "No, it's not...that's only the supplies cost, and does not take into account your time"...especially since when the wife recounted her day, there was so much of it taken up by doing the personalizing.

[CrazyInAlabama]

I agree with LuvMyShows, KoolKids is a name for kid clothes, not baby clothes.     And they're making a big mistake featuring clothes for kids from 6-10 too.    Kids grow so fast at that age that the parents I know shop at cheaper stores during those ages, because the kids will outgrow the clothes very quickly.    Overpriced designer clothes for 6-10 year olds won't be profitable.   Also, they need a professional buyer, because the wife buys what she likes, and the buyer needs to buy what will sell, and make the store profitable.  

Edited August 21, 2018 by CrazyInAlabama