The Drive-Thru: Nordstrom layoffs, bizarre beverage pivots, and the rise of the 'day gown'

Happy Friday! It was a hectic week in retail, especially if you were trying to listen to as many fast-food earnings calls as possible like I was.

If this is your first time reading The Drive-Thru, welcome! You can subscribe here to get me, Kate Taylor, and my colleague, Shoshy Ciment in your inbox every Friday. Now, onto the news.

Nordstrom quietly lays off workers

Madeline and Hayley report that Nordstrom workers have been receiving calls from their managers asking them whether they would be comfortable returning to work. Three workers said they were let go after expressing doubts to their managers during those phone calls.

Those who responded they are comfortable going back to work said that they faced reduced hours and new roles.

"I sat there like, 'what the hell just happened? I think I just lost my counter manager job,'" one manager said. "There's no promise of hours and no job description. I don't even know the title."

Read the full story here.

California Pizza Kitchen files for bankruptcy

CPK filed for bankruptcy on Thursday, highlighting how hard sit-down-centric restaurants have been hit by the coronavirus pandemic. The chain already has closed some locations, but said that it does not plan to shutter any more during the restructuring process.

A week of fast-food earnings showed that the entire industry is seeing a fundamental shift. McDonald's is closing 200 locations, and Dunkin' is closing 800. Norms of the industry have completely changed — even what time people are going on their daily Starbucks runs.

Read more about CPK's bankruptcy here.

Bizarre brand pivots take over the beverage industry

This week was full of drinks refusing to be what they were invented to be, such as:

• Coke announced that Coca-Cola with Coffee is coming to the US.
• Coca-Cola also announced that it's making a hard seltzer version of Topo Chico.
• Budweiser rolled out an alcohol-free version of the brew.

Why are these beverage brands trying to be something that they aren't? Coca-Cola has explicitly said it is doubling down on its most successful drinks, which include heavy-hitters like trademark Coke and rising stars like Topo Chico. The beverage giant is killing off less successful brands, instead rolling out slightly tweaked versions of drinks that they already know will sell.

Read more about the strategy behind Coca-Cola with Coffee here.

The rise of the "day gown"

Bethany reports on the rise of the day gown and the nap dress — pajama inspired gowns that are perfect for people adjusting to the idea that they might be working from home for months.

Demand for midi dresses is up 126%, while smock dresses are up 57%, as people seek out comfortable, somewhat shapeless options.

"This idea draws parallels with that of a 1940s-style house dress yet modernized with easy-to-wash fabrics," said Kayla Marci, marketing analyst at retail data analytics firm Edited. "Think last year's 'throw it on' style dresses, popularized by Zara, but with a whimsical update."

Read the whole story here. (Warning — it may convince you to buy a flowing, semi-sheer nightgown.)

Inside Disney World's reopening

Resident Disney expert Shoshy talked with four Disney World workers about what it is like returning to work during the pandemic. In general, employees said that they felt safe — but that the park had undergone a strange shift in the coronavirus era.

"We're very grateful to be at our jobs and to be back and it's so nice to see everyone," cosmetologist Kristen Gainey said. "But it's very, very different. And stressful."

Read more on what it's like inside Disney World during these strange times.

Everything else you need to know

• I didn't even touch on the antitrust hearings, in which CEOs of Apple, Amazon, Facebook, and Google's parent company Alphabet testified before the US House of Representatives. You can read the liveblog here. Plus, Avery has a good roundup of how CEOs responded, Rachel covered infuriated Amazon sellers, and Becky broke down documents that show how execs think about startup acquisitions.
• Linette had my favorite headline out of the hearings: "Now we know what Jeff Bezos' worried face looks like."
• More people are buying cleaning products, but they don't actually know how they work.
• Victoria's Secret is laying off 850 employees.
• Some Chick-fil-A and Taco Bell locations are giving customers free food in exchange for coins, as the US faces a coin shortage.
• Diesel is selling "virus-fighting" denim. Experts tell Bethany that the idea is very dumb.
• Dunkin' wants to cash in on local coffee shops that are going out of business.
• Americans are now drinking so many things out of cans that it's causing a can shortage. Madeline reports on why that's bad news for small breweries.
• Áine explained why President Trump was tweeting about a small Long Island pizza place. (Hint: It was featured on Fox Business.)