Every great ‘80s coming-of-age movie has that one scene: the lead tries on outfit after outfit to the soundtrack of a synth-pop banger, getting disapproving looks until – bam – the perfect fit. Cue the slow-mo strut.

Well, that’s kind of what’s happened in investing. And the retail sector? It’s the outfit everyone’s saying “yes” to right now.

In 2019, global retail sales crossed $25 trillion – and $319 billion of that was just from luxury goods. So, yeah, retail matters. Take Amazon, for example: the company’s shares have surged by 2000% in the last two decades. Chinese giant Alibaba? It’s doubled in five years.

In this Pack, we’re diving into a key slice of the retail world: “consumer discretionary.” These aren’t the everyday essentials – groceries, soap, toothpaste. They’re the wants: sneakers, phones, furniture, handbags. Basically, the fun stuff.

You can break it down into two camps: the ones who make the products (like Nike, Apple, and Louis Vuitton), and the ones who sell them (like Walmart, Amazon, and Best Buy). But those lines blur fast – many brands sell directly, and many retailers now make their own products. We’ll dig into that more later. For now, we’re asking a simpler question: what’s behind a $3,000 handbag?

👉 Key Idea: Consumer discretionary = products we want, not need. The sector includes both makers and sellers.