The Profit Prophet

Bed Bath & Beyond's iconic 20%-off coupon wasn't a marketing strategy — it was a slow-acting poison the company voluntarily swallowed for decades. We trace how a single piece of direct mail rewired consumer psychology, destroyed the company's pricing power, and created a loyalty so dysfunctional that customers only showed up when the discount did.

The American funeral industry is a masterclass in pricing power — where grief is the product, comparison shopping feels obscene, and a single federal rule from 1984 is the only thing standing between consumers and complete financial ruin. We trace how Service Corporation International quietly bought up independent funeral homes across the country, kept the local names on the signs, and built a near-monopoly that most people don't know exists until the worst day of their lives. It's not a conspiracy — it's just very, very good business.

You've never heard of them, but they decide which products sit at eye level on your grocery store shelf, which brands get end-cap displays, and whether your favorite regional snack ever makes it out of its home state — and they charge for all of it. This week, we pull back the curtain on slotting fees: the legally murky, rarely discussed pay-to-play system that determines what you eat, quietly funnels billions away from small food producers, and explains why your grocery store looks exactly the same in Tampa as it does in Tacoma.

You've never heard of them, but they decide which products sit at eye level on your grocery store shelf, which brands get end-cap displays, and whether your favorite regional snack ever makes it out of its home state — and they charge for all of it. This week, we pull back the curtain on slotting fees: the legally murky, rarely discussed pay-to-play system that determines what you eat, quietly funnels billions away from small food producers, and explains why your grocery store looks exactly the same in Tampa as it does in Tacoma.