Walmart’s mega sale is more bad news for the economy

Plus: Millennials have no free time. [Bloomberg]( Follow Us [Get the newsletter]( This is Bloomberg Opinion Today, an appetizer of Bloomberg Opinion’s opinions. [Sign up here](. Today’s Agenda - [Walmart’s inventory glut]( is giving it major indigestion. - Millennials have [less time for fun](. - Caskets are a [dying business](. - [Evergrande]( is not a bondholder’s friend. Someone Needs to Buy the Dickies Here is a universal truth about eating out at restaurants, according to a [TikTok that recently went viral](: “You either grew up in a soda and appetizer family or a ‘just water is fine’ family.” This dynamic spreads into just about every aspect of life, including grocery shopping. While the appetizer family buys Oreos and Jimmy Dean breakfast sandwiches, the “water is fine” family opts for such generics as “Twist & Shout Chocolate Sandwich Cookies” and “Great Value” sausage egg & cheese croissants. Here’s an illustration: The family on the left is stretching its cash. The family on the right has some income to toss around. But during a [not-technically-a-recession-recession](, a lot of soda-and-appetizer families are transforming into water-is-fine families. Under normal circumstances, this would be great news for Walmart, which has a pricing regime lower than [Julia Fox’s pants](. But the weirdness of the current economy is even hurting America’s retail poster child, whose recent results made its share price tumble like some kind of meme stock: The problem is that families focused on getting food on the table and gas in the tank effectively [leave Walmart’s clothing and home-goods sections to collect dust](, Andrea Felsted explains. And unfortunately for Walmart, it profits far more from your impulse purchase of a [leopard print waffle maker]( than from groceries. Worse, Walmart stocked up on all that high-margin stuff to avoid supply-chain headaches and now has a mountain of undesirable discretionary items such as [inflatable truck-bed pools]( and [dickies]( (those fake collars your uncle wears underneath his sweaters because he sweats too much). Making Walmart and other stores even drearier for shoppers is a [stealthy new form of shrinkflation](, which eats away at quality as well as quantity, writes Virginia Postrel. Less noticeable than a shrinking bag of potato chips, stores are putting fewer staffers on the floor. Last month, one Walmart shopper [had to cut her own fabric]( because no one was around to help her. If there’s any hope for consumers, it’s that Walmart — like [its rival Target]( — is putting [its island of misfit goods on sale](, hoping the few soda-and-appetizer families left out there will buy its godforsaken dickies and save America’s economic engine. 41-Year-Olds Can’t Catch a Break Everything that could have gone wrong for millennials has already gone wrong, right? Alas, wrong. Why do bad things keep happening to history’s avocado-toast discoverers? When will the awful news stop? Not today, apparently: Americans between the ages of 35 and 44 [lost a collective 4.3 billion leisure hours last year](, writes Justin Fox, which translates to 16 minutes per day per person: This alarming trend for “elder millennials” (what a concept!) is partly the result of typical time-consuming midlife activities such as working and childcare, Justin notes. But this pattern of leisure-time loss began all the way back in 2012, thanks to the Great Recession’s god-awful job market. Justin suggests other generations can help out by, say, offering to babysit. Maybe take those kiddos to the local Walmart. I hear [L.O.L Surprise!]( dolls are on sale. Nobody Wants to Star on Coffin Flop Long before “I Think You Should Leave” gave us “[Coffin Flop](,” turning traditional burials into nightmare fuel, [Americans were favoring cremation]( over interment, writes Brooke Sutherland: Cremations are cheaper and more environmentally friendly than burial, which helps explain their growing popularity. But this creates a life-or-death issue for casket makers. Brooke notes they’re trying to build other stuff instead and hoping not to flop. Telltale Charts [Evergrande bondholders keep getting the short end of the stick]( as the struggling developer keeps being wishy-washy about plans to restructure its debt, writes Shuli Ren. Vladimir Putin’s endless mind games are [wreaking havoc on European natural gas supplies](, causing prices to creep back toward record highs, writes Clara Ferreira Marques in the latest edition of Elements, Bloomberg’s all-you-can-eat energy newsletter. It’s electric! No, but seriously, please [sign up here]( for the crude jokes. Further Reading The House’s move to [protect gay marriage]( is a bipartisan accomplishment to celebrate. — Bloomberg’s editorial board [Monkeypox might not be as deadly as Covid](, but still needs a robust global response, [including wider access to tests](.  — Therese Raphael and Lisa Jarvis UBS thinks [trying to be like Goldman Sachs is overrated](. — Chris Hughes [Mexico’s energy policy]( is endangering its prosperity. — Eduardo Porter The secret behind why [some states have higher levels of gun violence than others](. — Francis Wilkinson Let this [travel story from hell]( teach you a lesson so that you don’t fall victim to a scam. — Alexis Leondis ICYMI Shopify said bye-bye to [10% of its workers](. Biden might scrap [$10,000 in student loan debt]( per borrower. Donald [Trump sets foot in Washington]( for the first time since he left office. Kickers Stay away from [TikTok’s pink sauce](. [Bees might fear pain](. A math nerd’s guide to [grilling the quickest burger](. A Polish scientific institute says [your house cat is an invasive alien species](. (h/t Mike Nizza) Notes:  Please send cheeseburgers and feedback to Jessica Karl at jkarl9@bloomberg.net. [Sign up here]( and follow us on [Instagram](, [TikTok](, [Twitter]( and [Facebook](. Like getting this newsletter? [Subscribe to Bloomberg.com]( for unlimited access to trusted, data-driven journalism and subscriber-only insights. Before it’s here, it’s on the Bloomberg Terminal. Find out more about how the Terminal delivers information and analysis that financial professionals can’t find anywhere else. [Learn more](. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Opinion Today newsletter. [Unsubscribe]( | [Bloomberg.com]( | [Contact Us]( [Ads Powered By Liveintent]( | [Ad Choices]( Bloomberg L.P. 731 Lexington, New York, NY, 10022