Raphael Stevens

In this articleLEVIFBLevi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh said Thursday the jeans maker is shopping for more space as commercial rental vacancies are up.The San Francisco-based company wants to add to its 40 stores and 200 outlet locations in the U.S. in order to boost its direct-to-customer operations, the executive said. “That represents a huge opportunity especially with the, you know, the commercial real estate tsunami that is happening right now,” Bergh told CNBC’s Jim Cramer in a “Mad Money” interview. Vacancy rates at regional malls rose to a record 11.4% in the first quarter, up from 10.5% in the fourth quarter, according to data from Moody’s Analytics. “It gives us an opportunity to secure great locations at great leases and we’re capitalizing on that,” he said.Direct-to-consumer sales accounted for about 40% of Levi’s total revenue last year, the company said in February. For this year, Levi wants those sales to make up 60% of total revenue.Part of its new store roll out is what the company calls NextGen Stores. These are designed to be smaller, as little as 2,500 square feet, and equipped with machine learning to help with inventory, Bergh said.”These really do represent significant opportunities and we’ve declared we’re going to be DTC-led going forward,” he said. “It’s really critical to us, gross margin accretive and we’re successful at it.”Levi’s direct-to-consumer strategy includes its mainline and outlet stores, online operations and department stores it partners with. Sales in the category dropped 26% last quarter, losses it blamed on less foot traffic in its stores.Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer’s world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter – Jim Cramer Twitter – Facebook – InstagramQuestions, comments, suggestions for the “Mad Money” website? [email protected] More

In this articleCCLDISRCLMaiden voyage of the Symphony of the Seas, the world’s biggest cruise ship delivered by STX shipyards in Saint-Nazaire to the American ship-owner Royal Caribbean cruise Ltd (RCCL).Andia | Universal Images Group | Getty ImagesFlorida Gov. Ron DeSantis announced Thursday that the state will file a lawsuit against the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, demanding cruise ships be allowed to resume sailing immediately.”On behalf of the tens of thousands of Floridians whose livelihoods depends on the viability of an open cruise industry, today Florida’s fighting back,” he announced in a press conference. “We don’t believe the federal government has the right to mothball a major industry for over a year, based on very little evidence and very little data.”DeSantis called the CDC’s decision to delay the opening of the U.S. cruise industry “irrational” and said he believes that this lawsuit will have a “good chance for success.”The CDC was not immediately available for comment.In the first 6 months of the pandemic, Florida lost $3.2 billion from the cruise industry shutdown, including almost 50,000 jobs paying $2.3 billion in wages, according to a September 2020 report from the Federal Maritime Commission. Since the CDC shut down the U.S. cruise industry last year, the state’s seaports have seen a decline in operating revenue of almost $300 million, and that figure is expected to reach nearly $400 million in July, the Florida Department of Transportation told CNBC.Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis speaks to the media about the cruise industry during a press conference at PortMiami on April 08, 2021 in Miami, Florida.Joe Raedle | Getty ImagesThe governor signed an executive order on Friday banning so-called vaccine passports, which will also apply to the cruise industry, saying that businesses and government agencies cannot require customers or patrons to show proof of vaccination.In October, the CDC, in its Framework for Conditional Sailing order, said research showed that Covid spread more easily on cruise ships than in other environments. The agency cited, among other research, a study published in the Journal of Travel Medicine that found that the virus on the Diamond Princess cruise spread at a rate that was four times higher, averaging one person spreading it to 15 people, than in its original epicenter in Wuhan, China, where it averaged one person spreading it to four people.Cruise lines extend trip suspensionsRoyal Caribbean announced Thursday that it will be extending the suspension of some of its trips leaving from U.S. ports.Royal Caribbean International, Celebrity Cruises and Silversea Cruises trips will be suspended until June 30, according to a press release. However, trips leaving from new home ports in other areas of the world are still operating on schedule.The Silversea extensions exclude Silver Moon, Silver Origin and Silver Explorer.”Safety is the first priority, and we know that cruising can be safe, as we have seen in Europe and Asia,” said Richard Fain, Royal Caribbean Group chairman and CEO, in a press release. He remains optimistic about the second half of this year, citing President Joe Biden’s promise for society to return to normal by July 4.Disney Cruise Line also announced on Monday that it will be further suspending its U.S. trips through June. This will affect its Disney Dream, Disney Fantasy and Disney Wonder sailings.Industry asks to be treated like airlinesRoyal Caribbean has carried over 100,000 guests on its ships outside the U.S. since the pandemic and has only seen 10 Covid cases, Fain said on “CBS This Morning” on Thursday. He said he “would like to be treated in a very similar way to the airlines and other forms of transportation.”Arnold Donald, CEO of Carnival Corporation, expressed a similar sentiment in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday. He said cruise lines would “like to be treated the same as other sectors and travel and tourism and entertainment.”While airlines are able to fly across the world during the pandemic, the cruise industry, which had over 100,000 American jobs pre-Covid, has faced about a year without any trips from its U.S. ports.”The irony is that today an American can fly to any number of destinations to take a cruise, but cannot board a ship in the U.S.,” the Cruise Lines International Association said in a statement on Monday, calling for the CDC to lift its conditional sail order, which outlines a phased return to U.S. cruise operations with no specified date.Last week, the CDC released technical instructions for cruise ships, including increasing the frequency of Covid case reporting from weekly to daily, establishing a plan for all staff members to be vaccinated and implementing routine testing. However, this update did not specify a date for cruise lines to return to operation in the U.S.Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that Arnold Donald is CEO of Carnival Corporation. More

In this articleWYNN1128-HKWynn Resorts will not require employees to be vaccinated against Covid-19, but the Las Vegas-based casino operator is leaving a program in place in an effort to keep coronavirus at bay.Matthew Maddox, chief executive of Wynn, told CNBC’s Jim Cramer Thursday that staff can choose to be tested weekly or get inoculated, both of which can be done on-site.”I don’t think it’s our job to be mandating vaccines for everybody, but what I am mandating is that we’re Covid free in our staff,” he said in an interview on “Mad Money.”About 60% of Wynn employees have been vaccinated, Maddox said. The company reported having about 27,500 employees at the end of last year, 14,400 of which are in the United States.The Wynn Las Vegas Encore hotel is a community vaccine site where more than 40,000 inoculations have been administered, Maddox said, including 4,000 employees.”We’re just continuing to do everything we can to create a safe environment and one that we know is going to be fun, because it’s coming,” Maddox said. “The fun is coming.”Wynn is one of many companies that decided against requiring that workers receive a Covid-19 vaccine, though many experts say it would be legal for employers to mandate the health precaution. About 3 million people in the U.S. are now getting shots each day as states drop age restrictions.”I think our best days are ahead of us in the not-so-distant future.”Shares of Wynn rose 0.61% to close at $133.49 Thursday. The stock has gained 18% this year, outgaining the S&P 500 to date.Questions for Cramer? Call Cramer: 1-800-743-CNBCWant to take a deep dive into Cramer’s world? Hit him up! Mad Money Twitter – Jim Cramer Twitter – Facebook – InstagramQuestions, comments, suggestions for the “Mad Money” website? [email protected] More

In this articleDISViews of the Disneyland theme park, still closed due to COVID-19 on July 11, 2020 in Anaheim, California.AaronP/Bauer-Griffin | GC Images | Getty ImagesIt’s been more than a year since Disney’s two California theme parks were forced to shutter due to the coronavirus pandemic. However, the company’s theme park division hasn’t been standing idly by waiting to reopen.From refurbishing the iconic carousel to putting the final paintbrush strokes on Avengers Campus, which opens June 4, Josh D’Amaro and Disney’s parks, consumer products and experience division has been keeping busy.As it looks to reopen Disneyland and California Adventure on April 30, the company shared a number of updates with media and stakeholders during a webcast Thursday.To start, the parks will operate at around 15% capacity, and only be open to California residents. Mask-wearing and social distancing will be required for guests visiting the park.10,000 workers recalledLast year’s shutdown led Disney to lay off tens of thousands of workers and slashed an important source of revenue for the media company. The parks, experiences and consumer products segment accounted for 37% of the company’s $69.6 billion in total revenue in 2019, or around $26.2 billion.A year later, revenue shrank to $16.5 billion, or around 25% of the company’s $65.4 billion in total revenue.”That was probably one of the hardest things I have personally had to do in my career,” D’Amaro said of the layoffs in an interview with CNBC ahead of the webcast. “I’m very passionate about the cast members here. I think they are the real reason that people come to these parks. These small interactions that they have with guests strung together are big and I think that is the reason we are different from the rest of the world.”D’Amaro said that when the Disneyland Resort opens at the end of April, the company will have called back more than 10,000 cast members.”We’ve changed a lot of our processes in terms of how people are accessing and experiencing the parks at Walt Disney World and we are doing the same here at Disneyland,” he said.Cashless pay and other tech optionsGuests are encouraged to use cashless pay options, either via the parks’ Magic Bands or through their phones, and to use the parks’ mobile ordering system to purchase food.”The idea of these things had been around and, in fact, in some cases, it had actually been in existence in our theme parks,” D’Amaro said. “This Covid era that we’ve been through has put that on hyperspeed in terms of adoption and how we are employing it in the parks.”In fact, before the coronavirus, Disney saw single-digit adoption of its mobile ordering system. Now, around nine out of every 10 guests opt to use it.”Cashless transactions are faster. Avoiding queues is better,” D’Amaro said. “So we know what this has done is create a better guest experience.”Other tech innovations include virtual ride queues, which help maintain social distancing, and an online reservation system, which helps with crowd control. The parks will continue to offer these different technologies even after the pandemic because of how it has helped improve the guest experience at the parks.Disney is also getting closer to launching “Genie,” a new digital offering that helps guests plan their whole trip the parks. Guests tell the app exactly what they want to do and eat during their stay and the program creates an optimized itinerary. It’s designed to be customizable and flexible, so if guests decide they don’t want to go on a ride or want to try a different in-park restaurant, Genie will reorganize the schedule.And Disney’s focus on technology goes behind monetary consumer transactions. The Imagineers that work behind the scenes have been busy creating new ways for guests to experience the company’s iconic stories and characters.CNBC got a peek behind the curtain at the research and development lab and saw first-hand how Disney is inventing new technologies to turn the parks experience into something no other company can easily replicate. Disney is expected to share more about these innovations in the future.”Innovation, inventing new technologies and trying new things is just core to our parks DNA,” D’Amaro said during the webcast.The park will also continue to implement pop-up cavalcades and impromptu character meet-and-greets, which have replaced large-scale parades and fireworks shows. Even when the parks are able to once again produce massive pyrotechnic shows and processions, these smaller surprise events will remain.”Particularly, over the last year, the parks group has gotten a lot more nimble in terms of our ability to react to what is hot and relevant,” D’Amaro said. More

In this articleDISNew superhero recruits will be able to experience Disneyland’s Avenger Campus on June 4, Disney said during a theme park webcast Thursday.The new area is an extension to Disney’s California Adventure theme park in Anaheim, California and features Marvel’s mightiest heroes from Earth and the stars.”What I can tell you is, it’s awesome,” Josh D’Amaro told CNBC ahead of the webcast. “I think it’s going to be an unbelievable addition to California Adventure. If you think about the [Marvel Cinematic Universe] and what’s happening on that front, as recently as ‘WandaVision,’ it’s hot. It’s a hot franchise. And we now have the ability to open this thing up to the world.”The park was initially set to open in July of last year, however, due to the coronavirus pandemic, theme parks in California have been shuttered since March 2020.Disney’s two parks in Anaheim will reopen April 30 and will operate at around 15% capacity to start.The Avengers Campus park land in Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, California.DisneyThe new land has taken the place of A Bug’s Land and includes the preexisting Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission: Breakout ride at the edge of Hollywood Land. It will also feature a new Spider-Man attraction, a dining location called Pym Particles Test Kitchen and an area based on Dr. Strange.”We’ve got the ultimate playground for Marvel,” D’Amaro said. “As quickly as Kevin [Feige] and that Marvel team can create characters and create stories, we can integrate them.”An entrance into Disney California Adventure’s Avengers Campus.DisneyDisney has already teased that the Spider-Man ride will be based on the Worldwide Engineering Brigade aka WEB, a company that helps give regular people super powers. The attraction gives guests the chance to test out their webslinger vehicle. While driving the vehicle, little spider bots are let loose and riders must snatch them up with their new web-slinging powers.Character meet-and-greets will be a big part of Avengers Campus. Thor, Black Panther, Black Widow, and more will be walking around the land — visitors might also catch of a glimpse of the trickster Loki.The Sanctum at Disney California Adventure’s Avengers Campus.DisneyD’Amaro teased “over-the-top” entertainment and technological innovation, including the potential for the company’s stuntronics tech to be showcased in the land. Stuntronics is a project that Disney pulled the curtain back on in 2018. In essence, Disney’s Imagineering team and development lab has created a robot that can swing and flip through the air like a real stunt person.In this case, the robot may look like Marvel’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.”There are just going to be some spectacles,” D’Amaro said. “There’s just going to be stuff that you can’t believe is happening in front of your eyes.” More

Rolls-Royce GhostRolls-RoyceRolls-Royce Motor Cars had its best quarter in its116-year history, setting a sales record in the first quarter as the world’s wealthy snapped up its $330,000 SUV and other models.The luxury car company, which is owned by BMW, delivered 1,380 cars in the first quarter, up 62% from the same quarter in 2020 as the pandemic started impacting sales and manufacturing. The quarter set a record for the company, surpassing its previous high in 2019.The company said demand is especially strong for its the Cullinan, its nearly 3-ton SUV that starts at $335,000 but typically sells for over $400,000 with options and customizations. Sales are also strong for its new Ghost model, which starts around $332,000 and has an optional LED interior roof to simulate a starry sky.Rolls-Royce’s record-breaking quarter offers the latest sign that the world’s wealthy, who have added trillions of dollars to their wealth since the start of the pandemic thanks to rising markets, are ready to spend. Other high-end car companies, like Bentley and Lamborghini, have also seen strong recent sales.Rolls-Royce said demand continues to remain strong “with order books extending well into the second half of 2021.””We’ve responded to recent challenges with our customary boldness, imagination and inventiveness, underpinned by meticulous planning and a relentless focus on our customers’ needs and requirements,” CEO, Torsten Muller-Otvos, said in a statement. More

U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt. Nathan Korta, medical technician with Joint Task Force Steelhead’s mobile vaccination team, administers the COVID-19 vaccine to an Orcas Island resident, March 2, 2021, Orcas Island, Washington.Senior Airman Mckenzie Airhart | U.S. Air National GuardWASHINGTON — National Guard leaders on Thursday called for people in the U.S. keep adhering to Covid-19 mitigation measures as the military races to vaccinate the population.”We’re excited to follow the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] science that tells us what the smart thing is to continue to protect the civilians around us,” U.S. Air Force Col. Russell Kohl, commander of the 131st Medical Group for the Missouri National Guard, told CNBC when asked if there were concerns of more states relaxing guidance.”You’ll still see us social distancing, you’ll still see us in masks and you’ll see us trying to encourage as many folks as possible to get the vaccine because I think it really is a multi-step process for us to get through this pandemic and get back to any sort of normalcy, to the extent that there will be such a thing as normalcy as opposed to a new normal,” Kohl added.Kohl’s comments came after California — the nation’s most populous state — announced this week it would lift most Covid-related restrictions by June 15. Last month, a slew of states also relaxed restrictions to varying degrees.”We are the instruments of national power, not the deciders of it, and what the elected leaders do at the national and local and state levels is their decision,” said U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Adam Flasch, director of joint staff for the Maryland National Guard and dual-status commander for Title 10 active duty troops.”But there’s good solid science behind masks and social distancing and handwashing as a means to deny the virus or vector until we can get vaccinated,” Flasch added.The National Guard has mobilized 2,250 vaccinators at more than 1,000 sites working to administer the coronavirus vaccines to Americans. The service said earlier this week it hit a milestone by administering 6 million shots to the public.Federal health officials have recently warned the U.S. is still in a battle with the coronavirus, even as vaccine production ramps up and record-breaking vaccine doses are administered.White House chief medical advisor Dr. Anthony Fauci cautioned Monday that Americans should still follow public health measures as warmer summer months approach.”You might remember a little bit more than a year ago when we were looking for the summer to rescue us from surges. It was, in fact, the opposite,” Fauci said at a coronavirus briefing.”We saw some substantial surges in the summer. I don’t think we should even think about relying on the weather to bail us out of anything we’re in right now,” he added. More