We saw the F1 movie on Monday.
They were hyping it up on the Pivot podcast we listened to on the way back from our cabin, so we got the irrepressible itch. We had initially planned to see it in IMAX, but we live far from the closest IMAX-equipped theater, and the decision was spur-of-the-moment. The showtimes didn’t work at our go-to local cinema either.
See, our four-year-old Aussie, Toby, needs to take two pills for epilepsy, every twelve hours for the rest of his likely shortened life. Since the drugs are addictive, missing even one dose by a couple hours could trigger nonstop seizures. To say our lives revolve around it is not an overstatement. All the alarms on our phones and our Alexas in our house are scheduled for 7:30 am and 7:30 pm. Someone always needs to be home at those times, without fail.
So, we found one theater at a nearby mall with a 7:45 pm showtime. We gave Toby his pills and hauled ass, getting there just in time.
The movie was awesome, particularly for a family of F1 fanatics. It won’t win any Oscars, aside maybe from some second-tier category like sound editing, but it was everything you want from a popcorn movie. Go see it while it’s in theaters.
But today’s prologue isn’t about the movie. Or Toby.
It’s about the mall.
The Galleria at Pittsburgh Mills opened to great fanfare exactly 20 years ago. At over a million square feet, it was the second largest mall in Western Pennsylvania, replete with all the mall mainstays, from Macy’s to Foot Locker to Johnny Rockets. When we first moved here in 2007, we went often. The stores, the food court, and the 18-screen movie theater were hopping.
This week, we were the only ones there, not just in the F1 theater, but the entire cinema complex (notwithstanding four teenagers “working” at the popcorn counter), and the whole mall, which we quickly perused. We literally didn’t see another patron, anywhere. Stores were shuttered, paint was peeling off the walls, and the potholes in the empty parking lot were knee-deep. It felt post-apocalyptic.
In retrospect, opening Pittsburgh Mills in 2005 goes down as historically awful timing. The plight of hundreds of malls like it across the country is well-documented. That’s not news. But seeing it up close was a staggering reminder of how much the world has changed in just 20 years.
I really, really hope movie theaters (and Toby) can survive the next 10.
Here’s what we’re seeing:
Consumer confidence declined, slightly, again as Q2 came to a close. Since I skipped writing last week, this isn’t the freshest of news, but our latest Economic Sentiment Index had its third consecutive barely-worse-than-flat reading last week. The underlying metrics moved more dramatically, some up – like optimism for the longer-term U.S. economy – and others down – like confidence in major purchases and the housing market (see: unchanged interest rates). Optimism for the employment market also waned, despite a rosier-than-expected jobs report last week. Overall, and perhaps most importantly, people still feel okay about their personal finances.
Older (and wiser) Americans are managing economic uncertainty better than anyone else. In our latest collaboration with the brilliant folks at ROAR Forward, we examined how U.S. adults aged 55 and older are plotting their course through the current, chaotic socio-political-economic climate. For starters, they’re decidedly more pessimistic than younger generations about the overall economy – a relationship that flipped entirely one year ago – and the gap has been widening over the past three months. But the 55+ crowd is being more measured in how they adapt, like not pulling expenses forward to beat potential tariff costs, while delaying certain purchases altogether until the dust clears. We also looked at where they’re still spending, how their rates of cord-cutting are accelerating, and what drives their brand loyalty.
Speaking of oldsters, Baby Boomers are getting a ton of their news from social media and YouTube. In our 3 Things to Know this week, we looked at the continued growth of social media platforms as a primary source of news and information for U.S. consumers. While TV still reigns as the number one place for breaking news, social platforms are now equal to news websites in 2nd place. Notably, when we look at usage of these platforms by age, Baby Boomers outpace every other age group in news consumption – aside from Instagram and TikTok, where they rank second to Gen Z. We also learned that FICO’s impending move to factor Buy Now, Pay Later data into credit scores is not dissuading Gen Z from using it. Finally, we looked at renewed calls for boycotts against brands that’ve duped their DEI policies – with Starbucks drawing the strongest ire.
It could be a good year for back-to-school retail, perhaps surprisingly. Our most recent data confirms a lot of other things we’re hearing about back-to-school spending (and intent) thus far in the season. Over half of BTS shoppers have already begun buying their supplies, with over one in four of those early shoppers citing concerns about potential rising prices and supply shortages in the coming months (see: tariffs). At the same time, these consumers aren’t deal-seeking as aggressively as they did last year and, instead, are simply willing to pay higher prices now to get ahead of potentially even higher prices later. Apparel and footwear companies seem to be the biggest beneficiaries.
The MLB’s rebound in ratings this year could bode well for the All-Star Game. Major League Baseball is experiencing a healthy surge in viewership this season, as evidenced by our data and that of Nielsen and others. The trend seems to be driven by a number of factors, including better access to local broadcasts via streaming services, the shortening of games, the success of recent rule changes, and overall excitement for the games and players. All of it points to what could be an uptick in audience for next week’s All-Star Game (and/or Home Run Derby), heavily owing to enthusiasm among Gen Z fans.
More awesomeness from the InsightStore:
- In our latest GLP-1 Consumer Tracker, a few highlights jumped out, including increased challenges people are facing in accessing the drugs, opportunities for food and supplement companies to develop tailored products for GLP-1 users, and the rise of new hobbies among our 100K+ segment of users.
- In last week’s 3 Things to Know, we looked at the rise in early Halloween shopping (also: tariffs), trends in sports memorabilia buying, and consumer cutbacks in spending on vision care;
- If you missed our Prime Day Preview, we found that while intent to shop was down slightly this year, expected shoppers planned to spend more. See where and why.
- Next week, we’ll be hosting the latest in our biweekly “Uncertainty” webinars, sharing our post-Prime Day findings, the most recent data on tariff concerns (and related behaviors), with an emphasis on food and beverage categories. Sign up here.
The most popular questions this week:
Do you think it’s important for students to learn cursive handwriting in school?
Do you typically attend a Renaissance faire every year?
How often do you eat at local restaurants in your area?
Do you consider yourself an art enthusiast or a casual admirer?
Are you more of an “always on the go” or “take it slow” type of person?
Answer Key: Important, no, but they still should; Not every year, but every chance I get; Several times a week; Casual admirer, at best; Regrettably, always on the go.
Hoping you’re well.
JD
