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The Millennial Urban Lifestyle Is About to Get More Expensive
The Atlantic ^ | October 15, 2019 | Derek Thompson

Posted on 10/16/2019 6:49:53 AM PDT by C19fan

Several weeks ago, I met up with a friend in New York who suggested we grab a bite at a Scottish bar in the West Village. He had booked the table through something called Seated, a restaurant app that pays users who make reservations on the platform. We ordered two cocktails each, along with some food. And in exchange for the hard labor of drinking whiskey, the app awarded us $30 in credits redeemable at a variety of retailers.

(Excerpt) Read more at theatlantic.com ...


TOPICS: Society
KEYWORDS: bluezones; economic; economy; gig; millennials; nyc; urban
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So called Unicorn wanna be, for example, WeWorks, lose money on each customer effectively subsidizing Millenial urban lifestyles. The horror of Millenials actually having to go to a supermarket to but food instead of having it delivered at a money losing price by Blue Apron.
1 posted on 10/16/2019 6:49:53 AM PDT by C19fan
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To: C19fan

S “she mentions the hard labor of drinking whiskey, but does not discuss the cost of the labor or the cost of the food.


2 posted on 10/16/2019 6:55:36 AM PDT by coon2000 (Give me Liberty or give me death)
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To: C19fan

What? No full service retirement home for the 40 and under set? Taking care of oneself is so exhausting!


3 posted on 10/16/2019 7:00:12 AM PDT by goldstategop (In Memory Of A Dearly Beloved Friend Who Lives In My Heart Forever)
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To: C19fan
The horror of Millenials actually having to go to a supermarket to but food instead of having it delivered at a money losing price by Blue Apron.

The real horror is that they are not investing in 401k's, real estate (HOME), and are spending $50-$100/day to eat? That's fuzzy math and poor planning.

4 posted on 10/16/2019 7:02:35 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: C19fan

Very good article illustrating that sales and profit aren’t the same thing. If you lose money on every sale, more sales simply means more losses.

I’ll assume that the author understood that he left out the cost of food in the Blue Apron example and was just using it to make a point. The actual margin on $100 sales of Blue Apron food is probably under $20.


5 posted on 10/16/2019 7:15:33 AM PDT by FXRP (Cogito, ergo Spam!)
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To: C19fan

Like loss leader Twitter they’ll make it up in inflated stock value


6 posted on 10/16/2019 7:16:23 AM PDT by a fool in paradise (Recall that unqualified Hillary Clinton sat on the board of Wal-Mart when Bill Clinton was governor)
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To: C19fan

Seems reminiscent of the first Internet Bubble circa 1999 — a lot of companies didn’t have products, but they had ideas. Billions of dollars flowed in but eventually a lot of it came crashing down.

Lesson from that bubble: You need to actually have a product.

Lesson from the current bubble: You need to actually have profits.


7 posted on 10/16/2019 7:25:04 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (If White Privilege is real, why did Elizabeth Warren lie about being an Indian?)
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To: 1Old Pro

I’ve heard some people, especially younger people, are having lunch delivered to their offices every day. That sort of thing gets expensive. That sort of habit, along with habits such as going to Starbucks every day, adds up.

People really need to review their budgets, and it should be easy to cut back on certain fluff expenses such as lunch delivery and Starbucks.


8 posted on 10/16/2019 7:32:55 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Dilbert San Diego
I’ve heard some people, especially younger people, are having lunch delivered to their offices every day

I see it too, and days before payday they go around the office begging for gas money.

9 posted on 10/16/2019 7:35:15 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: ClearCase_guy

Lesson from the current bubble: You need to actually have profits.


This made me think of Uber, which I’ve heard has never made a profit.

And for Uber stockholders, whoever bought at the IPO price of $45 per share, is well underwater. It’s trading about $32 per share now.

I’m no stock analyst, but the price of any stock reflects the collective judgement of investors, as to the future outlook for that business.


10 posted on 10/16/2019 7:36:29 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: 1Old Pro

Meanwhile Japanese office workers bring a cup of noodles with them for lunch — cheap...and not so many calories.


11 posted on 10/16/2019 7:37:56 AM PDT by CondorFlight
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To: CondorFlight
Meanwhile Japanese office workers bring a cup of noodles with them for lunch — cheap...and not so many calories.

And our millennials are getting fat on delivered lunch then they go out and spend $8 for a craft beer and complain they can't pay off their student loans.

12 posted on 10/16/2019 7:41:48 AM PDT by 1Old Pro
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To: KC_Lion; dp0622

Ping.


13 posted on 10/16/2019 7:43:02 AM PDT by Army Air Corps (Four Fried Chickens and a Coke)
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To: C19fan

It’s not about building a sustainable profitable business, it’s about doing something that will be seen as so cool and edgy that you’ll be able to do it with other people’s money, and then cash out via IPO or sale before it all falls apart.

Then you can call yourself a serial entrepreneur and do it all over again!


14 posted on 10/16/2019 7:44:14 AM PDT by bigbob (Trust Trump. Trust the Plan.)
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To: FXRP
Very good article illustrating that sales and profit aren’t the same thing. If you lose money on every sale, more sales simply means more losses.

But you make it up on volume. {cymbal crash}


15 posted on 10/16/2019 7:52:19 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer)
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To: bigbob

Well, Millenials believe that profit is EEEEEEEEVIL.

So you see, it works for them.


16 posted on 10/16/2019 7:53:06 AM PDT by Buckeye McFrog (Patrick Henry would have been an anti-vaxxer)
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To: C19fan

Echos of the “new economy” all over again. The idea that you don’t need to make profits was stupid then and it’s stupid now.


17 posted on 10/16/2019 7:55:30 AM PDT by aquila48 (Do not let them make you care!)
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To: 1Old Pro

For millennials, life is all about the experience. It doesn’t matter how much it costs, or whether or not it’s affordable or sustainable (money wise). Budgets are for other people, like their parents.


18 posted on 10/16/2019 7:58:24 AM PDT by FamiliarFace
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To: 1Old Pro

LOL. Yep $8 craft beers and $10+ delivering lunch every day, and $5 or more to go to Starbucks or similar places — these discretionary expenses add up. How sad they spend so much on this other stuff, and claim they can’t pay back their loans.


19 posted on 10/16/2019 7:59:51 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: FamiliarFace

How crazy, that these people are very big on “sustainability” when it comes to the environment, but not going for sustainability in their personal finances.


20 posted on 10/16/2019 8:01:09 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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