Emily Flippen

Jason, I want to start with you.

When you hear that and when you look at the Black Friday and holiday data this year, what stands out to you about the consumer?

Yeah, it sounds like more of that K-shaped economy that is the new buzzword.

It feels like they talk about the economy in the second half of this year.

I've heard more about the K-shaped economy and the pressured middle class more this year than any other year in the past.

But it does seem like that is true, right?

Big spenders are willing to

still spend big.

But unfortunately, the middle class is being pushed out for a lot of these retailers.

If you aren't positioned to be a discount retailer, it is concerning.

And Asit, I know we've talked a lot about how resilient the consumer has been over the last few years.

You're pretty good at zooming out.

I'm surprised that the resiliency has been what it is, despite the inflation, the tariffs, the challenges that we've seen.

But when you look at the holiday season,

Is there any trends in particular you're watching that would indicate the status of the consumer for you heading into 2026?

I consider myself a little bit of an AI laggard, unfortunately.

But even the people like myself, I used AI tools to help me with some holiday shopping over the course of the past weekend.

And I expect that, to your point, Asit, A, it's probably driving a lot of the e-commerce expansion, but also just providing a new avenue for consumers who are willing to spend.

But to your earlier point, it does seem like consumers have been picky with

what they're purchasing in terms of their hypothetical stocking here.