Jul
17
The Channel Checkers are observing an interesting trend in our Starbucks research. It appears that despite the buzz about Pike’s Peak coffee that sales of drip coffee are actually slowing.
43% of employees in a recent Starbucks survey stated that 30%-50% of their customers come in more than four times per week. Sales of plain drip coffee are weak, with 55% stating that drip coffee accounts for less than 10% of their sales, up from 34% in April. 75% of customers stated that they order a specialty drink rather than drip coffee, up from 71% in April.
One of our partners, wrote to us in response to this piece:
“To counter the perennial issue of burnt coffee, Howard Schultz rolled out Pike’s Peak, a milder roast. If drip coffee is falling from a sales mix standpoint, that gives clues as its performance and also margin: the drip coffees have a much lower gross margin per drink versus a espresso/mixed drink beverage. SBUX is claiming its drip coffees are up in the WSJ article.”
Starbucks crummy drip coffee could actually be leading to better gross margins which might be amplified by recent cost cutting efforts as well.
We’ll see on July 30th.
Jul
7
The Channel Checkers surveyed 50 Macco auto body shops across the U.S and 50 oil and transmission stations like Jiffy Lube’s and Pep Boys. The well documented fall in new car sales in might suggest that business would be increasing for the auto maintenance and repair market.
The Channel Checkers found that 50% of Maaco locations contacted reporting that business was down over the past few months, while 44% business had remained steady. Only 6% reported an increase in business levels. 56% of respondents reported that customers were now more likely to pay for major body work at a Maaco location as customers were trying to maintain resale values for their vehicles and wanted to forestall purchasing a new vehicle as long as possible. In another tip to the economic difficulties facing Maaco clients, it appears that more customers are opting to use insurance for repairs, despite the hit they are likely to take on future insurance premiums which rise as claims are made for damage to cars.
At the big oil change locations like Jiffy Lube, PepBoys and PitStop The Channel Checkers found that while business had slowed somewhat the incidence of minor repairs appears to be increasing. 62% of respondents reported seeing an increasing in minor repairs as consumers look to keep their cars running as well and for as long as possible without incurring major expenses. 76% of oil change locations reported seeing increased usage of coupons or promotions for oil changes and other routine maintenance services. This statistic is supported by our Maaco survey where 66% of those respondents were seeing increased usage of coupons and promotions.
While business appears to be steady or slowing for the automotive care and repair service stations our surveys suggest that as cars are stretched further into their useful lives that the flow of drivers seeking minor repairs and even major repairs to postpone the purchase of a new vehicle is likely to increase. The Channel Checkers will be repeating this survey in July and August to track the changes in car owner behavior as the summer and economic malaise continue.
Jul
2
The Channel Checkers Announce Their Reports Are Now Available On Bloomberg Professional Service
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“Respected San Francisco Based Research Firm Offers Their Equity Research Via The Bloomberg Professional Newswire Service”
The Channel Checkers a well respected boutique research firm based in San Francisco announced today their research is now available on Bloomberg Professional Newswire Service. In an effort to provide unique channel data to the buy-side community and hedge funds alike, founder and CEO Casey Ryan has put together a team of analysts and sales professionals who work to provide research to the buy-side community, “as an analyst there is great opportunity to drive insights from our unique channel data reports”
Selected reports are available daily on Bloomberg terminals and provide readers real time channel information and allow investors to evaluate The Channel Checkers service. We look forward to our relationship with Bloomberg and we feel with our reports now on Bloomberg the buy-side and hedge fund community will now have access to never before seen levels of channel data.
Please contact Jason Katz directly at 415-867-0959 for information on how to subscribe to our premium idea generating service or for customized channel checks.