Saks Turns the Page on Bankruptcy as Exemplar Luxury Group; Prime Day Hits $26.4B but Inflation Tells the Real Story; the Last Affordable Ferrari

HOW TO RECORD THIS EPISODE (new workflow):

• TONIGHT (4-6 PM window): record the BODY below — everything EXCEPT the

[THE MARKETS — MORNING SPLICE] block. Record intro -> news -> quick hits -> outro

straight through (the outro does NOT reference the live open, so it's fine to record now).

• TOMORROW AM: run morning_market_segment.py -> read the ~90s segment it writes ->

record it -> splice it into the [THE MARKETS] slot (before the outro) -> publish ~6 AM.

======================== BODY (record tonight) ========================

INTRO

Good morning. It's Tuesday, June 30. I'm Sharon, and this is Open Bid from ALT/FNDATA.

This episode of Open Bid is brought to you by ALT/FNDATA, the market intelligence platform for insights on the luxury markets and related public equities. With a membership, you can unlock access to dashboards, reports and cutting-edge insights to keep your finger on the pulse of the market and drive your competitive advantage. Learn more at altfndata.com/membership.

Today: one of America's most storied luxury retailers turns the page on bankruptcy, a record jewelry sale in Paris, what a record Prime Day really tells us about the consumer, and where the bargains still hide in the Ferrari market. Plus a look at how Europe opens, and Art Market is out later this morning.

SAKS TURNS THE PAGE

We begin with a turning point for American luxury retail. Saks Global, the privately held owner of Saks Fifth Avenue, has formally exited bankruptcy and rebranded itself as Exemplar Luxury Group. Its chief executive, Geoffroy van Raemdonck, says the new identity is meant to mark a new chapter, and to hold the company to a higher standard in how it works with brands, customers and staff. The reinvention of one of the best-known names in American luxury is a reminder that even when the top of the market is thriving, the business of selling luxury, the department stores and the multi-brand retailers, has been under real pressure. The brands have rarely looked stronger. The middlemen who sell them have had a much harder decade.

AND THE TOP KEEPS PRINTING

And even as the retailers struggle, the trophies keep climbing. In Paris this week, Christie's closed its luxury season with a jewelry sale that totaled 10.5 million euros, double its presale estimate. It is the contrast that runs through this whole market. The houses that sell luxury are under pressure, while the objects themselves have rarely been worth more.

A RECORD PRIME DAY, AND WHAT IT REALLY MEANS

Now a read on the everyday consumer. Amazon, ticker AMZN on the Nasdaq at 242 dollars, just ran a record Prime Day, 26.4 billion dollars in spending over four days, up 9 percent on last year, by Adobe Analytics' estimate, since the company itself, as ever, keeps its own numbers private. But look closer, and the picture is more sobering. Adobe attributes much of that growth not to people buying more, but to inflation, to shoppers paying more for the same goods. It is the same split we keep returning to. At the very top of the market, demand is real and the prices are records. At the everyday level, the bigger numbers are as much about higher prices as they are about a healthy appetite to spend.

THE ACCESSIBLE END OF COLLECTING

A note for the collectors. In a market where the trophy Ferraris trade for eight figures, Robb Report makes the case that one Ferrari is still within reach: the Mondial. You can buy one for somewhere between 40,000 and 80,000 dollars, the cheapest way into the marque by some distance. It is cheap for specific reasons. The Mondial is a four-seater, it was never the fastest or most powerful Ferrari, and collectors long overlooked it. But the catch is worth knowing. A cheap Ferrari is not a cheap car to own. Servicing costs the same as on any Ferrari, with a major service running past 30,000 dollars, more than half the price of the car itself. All of which makes the Mondial a useful reminder. Even Ferrari, ticker RACE on the NYSE at 369 dollars and one of the strongest businesses in all of luxury, has an accessible corner to its market. The collector car world is not only its record-setting trophies. There is a reachable end to it, and that is often where the quiet value sits. We will have more on the cars this Thursday, on Auto Market.

QUICK HITS

Two quick notes to close. Hearts on Fire, the diamond brand owned by Chow Tai Fook, ticker 1929 in Hong Kong at 11 Hong Kong dollars, is marking its 30th anniversary by remaking itself from a diamond wholesaler into a fine-jewellery house, with its sights set firmly on Asia. And shareholders of Lululemon, ticker LULU on the Nasdaq at 114 dollars, have backed the company's board, settling a public standoff with its founder.

[THE MARKETS, A SOFT EUROPEAN OPEN] (this morning's open, 06-30 — from morning_market_segment.py)

Finally, a look at how the European luxury names opened, and they opened under pressure this morning. Among the majors, LVMH was down about 0.9 percent and Hermès down about 0.7 percent, with Richemont little changed. Kering was the soft spot, down more than 3 percent. The US names open later this morning, and we will have the full read tonight on Closing Price.

======================== /BODY ========================

[OUTRO] (record tonight, after the body — it does not reference the open)

That's it on Open Bid for today, Tuesday, June 30. Art Market is out later this morning with the week in the art world, and Closing Price covers the day's signals this evening.

For insights on the data behind today's stories, the ALT/FNDATA membership gives you access to a rich library of market data dashboards, reports and insights. Get started at altfndata.com/membership or reach us anytime at info@altfndata.com.

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I'm Sharon, from ALT/FNDATA. I'll talk with you in the next episode.