Judge Pauses NYC Delivery Worker Pay Hike
99 Ranch hits 58 stores, USPS launches Ground Advantage, NRF Top 100 Retailers
It’s a happy Monday if you’re a litigator at one of the big 3PDs, as a judge paused NYC’s roll-out of a minimum wage for delivery workers. We’ve also got a freshly made chart for you, tracking the rise of America’s largest Asian grocery store. Plus, new USPS option promises cheaper deliveries, and NRF lays out the top 100 retailers.
Today:
NYC Delivery Minimum Wage Increase Paused
USPS Launches Ground Advantage
Chart Time | 99 Ranch’s Road to Riches
Who’s Up & Who’s Down in NRF’s 2023 Top Retailer List?
3PD | Temporary Injunction Against NYC Delivery Worker Minimum Wage Law
Late Friday night saw a significant update in the battle over NYC delivery worker wages: a judge issued a temporary restraining order, preventing the pay increase from going into effect. Los Deliveristas Unidos Founder Sergio Ajche responded to Judge Moyne’s decision, calling it “disappointing” and “sad,” while representatives of the 3PDs hailed it as a promising win for consumers and local businesses. The law aims to bring food courier wages to $17.96 an hour starting Wednesday, $18.96 next year and $19.96 in 2025.
The Big Picture: More interesting details on the case are starting to shake out. For starters, there are actually a few separate lawsuits at play here: Uber filed its own, while DoorDash and Grubhub teamed up to file separately; local player Relay also filed its own suit. We also think its worth examining why this law only applies to restaurant delivery; grocery delivery (both traditional and ultrafast) is unaffected. If NYC likes the way payments work for grocery ICs, perhaps it should push that model onto the food delivery ecosystem?
GOING POSTAL | USPS Gunning for UPS, FedEx
Another front opens up in the delivery wars, as Uncle Sam makes a play for package volume. The U.S. Postal Service is launching Ground Advantage, hoping to undercut the private carriers. Under the new rates, a 3-day, 10-pound package from Indianapolis to Dallas now costs 72 cents less than it used to. USPS also touts that its on-time performance now matches those of FedEx and UPS.
The Big Picture: Sometimes USPS and the private couriers are friends - the Postal Service often handles the last mile for some longer haul packages. But in its quest for profitability, it looks like the postal worker can’t play nice — USPS has been investing in its package-sorting equipment and facilities, and the fact that the world is worried about a potential UPS strike means this is the perfect time to grab some marketshare. Ecommerce and ship-to-home players are salivating for the competition, the private players jacked their rates up 5.9% last year.
CHART TIME | 99 Ranch Market Hits 58 Units
First opening in Orange County, CA in 1984, 99 Ranch Market has since grown to be the nation’s largest Asian supermarket. While Founder Roger Chen grew the chain across California, his children Alice and Jonson have since taken over and supercharged the grocer’s growth. With lots of imports, plus an eye-catching array of live fish, logistics has always been an important part of the business. Those skills are now being put to work in the front of the business as well; a quick visit to its website shows how important delivery has become for the brand: it offers same-day, next-day, and ship to home.
RETAIL | 2023 Top 100 Retailers Revealed
The National Retail Federation announced its 2023 list of top 100 retailers, and the biggest dogs should come as no surprise: Walmart, Amazon, Costco, Kroger, Home Depot, Target, CVS, Walgreens, Lowe’s, and Albertsons. At this point essentially every competitive retailer has integrated delivery into its business model on some level: Amazon speaks for itself, Walmart has quietly reworked itself to become as much of an Amazon as Amazon (while still having hundreds of billions of in-store sales,) and even most of the humble convenience store chains have launched instant delivery options.
The Big Picture: What’s more notable is which companies are struggling. Bed Bath & Beyond went from being number 64 last year, to being bankrupt and off the list this year, as it famously couldn’t figure out an online strategy to compete with Amazon. People wanted those measuring cups and linens delivered, dammit! Also trending downward are Macy’s, Ross, J.C. Penney, Staples, Academy Sports and other brands that haven’t figured out how to deliver quick convenience to needy consumers.
A Few Good Links
Recap of recent delivery-tech layoffs - Grubhub, Gopuff, Nextbite, Olo, etc. Restaurant hiring slows in June. But overall layoffs lessen month over month. Five Guys partners with Uber Eats in the U.K. Joint liability proposal in California rankles restaurateurs and franchisees. Tim Horton’s aiming for 1,000 stores in China by year’s end, that’s more than they have in the U.S. Yellow gets loan waiver. Alto names DoorDash veep as new head of growth. Arrive raises $1.3 million for drone delivery boxes.
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