The Importance Of The Barbell Economy In 2020

Avoid “The Middle” In Targeting Gen Z In 2020

The barbell economy is probably the number one piece of advice I give to anybody going in business. There is opportunity in two places in this country. On the value side, and on the luxury side. There's not much opportunity in between. Why is the Gap closing down more stores? Because they sell $100 jeans. Well, the value side is buying $25 Lee jeans from Walmart, and the luxury side is buying $250 J Brand jeans from boutique in Soho, and not many people are buying $100 jeans.

And, I think there's $100 jeans in almost every single category. Tide is $100 jeans. Why? Because the wealthy affluent urban mom is buying Method detergent with organic ingredients because she's not bringing that crap into her home. And the value side, they can't afford to spend the extra $2 on Tide, so they're buying private label, store brand detergent, and Tide is in the middle. One of the biggest issues facing so many big companies right now is that they play in the middle in a world where there is no middle.