Best of Pax Westona: December 2018

• Meet the saviour of Sobeys (The Globe and Mail)
• San Marzano tomatoes: The fake Rolex of canned foods (Taste)
• Reviving the grocery industry: Six imperatives (McKinsey)
• What's really happening to retail (The Atlantic)
• Your apps know where you were last night, and they're not keeping it a secret (NYT)
• Why does Texas love H-E-B so much (Eater)
• Gillette used to rule razors. Then came Harry's and Dollar Shave Club (Vox)
• J&J knew for years that asbestos lurked in its baby powder (Reuters)
• The dollar store backlash has begun (City Lab)
• The future of retail: Asia's ecosystems (Bain)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Department store of the future: Selling art off the wall and car insurance at checkout (WSJ)
• Will Amazon finally kill New York (Longreads)
• Blue Apron links with dieters in comeback effort (WSJ)
• India curbs power of Amazon and Walmart and Walmart to sell products online (NYT)
• Literally every single food trend predicted to take over in 2019 (Eater)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• The future of retail: Asia's ecosystems (Bain)
• Hot mess in home goods has lessons for retailers (Bloomberg)
• Hudson's Bay CEO working hard and fast on fixing the fundamentals (Globe and Mail)
• Lab grown meat is coming, whether you like it or not (Wired)
• From the archives (2009): Applying design thinking to your business (HBR)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Last minute shoppers increasingly trust only Amazon to deliver (NYT)
• Forget drones, Amazon needs lots of delivery humans (Bloomberg)
• Even pharmacies need physical locations (L2)
• Aldi Nord occurs loss for the first time in Germany (Retail Detail)
• Why it's hard to escape Amazon's long reach (Wired)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• The dollar store backlash has begun (City Lab)
• Dirty dealing in the $175 billion Amazon marketplace (The Verge)
• Juul closes deal with tobacco giant Altria (NYT)
• Cigna closes $54 billion purchase of Express Scripts (Reuters)
• Amazon's grocery push keeps stumbling after Whole Foods purchase (Bloomberg)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• With a pinch of innovation, food makers raise prices (WSJ)
• Amazon flexes its muscle on private label (Bloomberg)
• Amazon Prime 2-day shipping doesn't ship for Christmas (Fast Company)
• Altria is nearing a deal to take a 35% stake in Juul (WSJ)
• From the archives (2011): Weston supremacy (FT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The high price of efficiency (HBR)
• The rise of anxiety baking (The Atlantic)
• The Amazon HQ2 document we weren't supposed to see (NYT)
• Kroger-owned grocery store begins fully driverless deliveries (Ars Technica)
• Pfizer, Glaxo to create an over-the-counter drug giant (WSJ)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• J&J knew for years that asbestos lurked in its baby powder (Reuters)
• A toaster on wheels to deliver groceries? Self-driving tech tests practical uses (NYT)
• America can't move its cheese (WSJ)
• Going head-to-head in beauty retailing (Coresight Research)
• Tilray, Novartis deal to distribute medical marijuana globally (Bloomberg)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Starbucks to offer coffee delivery across U.S. (WSJ)
• Delivery robot spontaneously bursts into flames in California (The Verge)
• Top 10 restaurants in digital (L2)
• US retail REITs review (Coresight Research)
• Amazon targets unprofitable items, with a sharper focus on the bottom line (WSJ)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• From grass-fed to lab-grown: How meat is evolving (WSJ)
• Instacart is breaking up with Whole Foods (Fast Company)
• Using AI to improve electronic health records (HBR)
• Amazon is rewriting the rules for loyalty cards (FT)
• How CBD and THC became health foods instead of illicit substances (GQ)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Plastic water bottles, which enabled a drinks boom, now threaten a crisis (WSJ)
• When the makers of Marlboro and Corona get into marijuana (NYT)
• Gillette used to rule razors. Then came Harry's and Dollar Shave Club (Vox)
• Procter & Gamble acquires Walker & Co. (Tech Crunch)
• From the archives (2017): How Amanda Chantal Bacon perfected the celebrity wellness business (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Why does Texas love H-E-B so much (Eater)
• Here's how Nike, Alibaba, and Amazon or reinventing retail (Wired)
• Farmstead takes a tech-first approach to online grocery (Grocery Dive)
• Costco's 100 million chickens will change the face of Nebraska (Civil Eats)
• Value Village thrift stores in $30M tax fight with CRA over 2012 restructuring (Financial Post)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Your apps know where you were last night, and they're not keeping it a secret (NYT)
• Why dollar stores are bad business for the communities they open in (Fast Company)
• The cloud as catalyst for retail (McKinsey)
• Glossier hits $100 million in sales and takes aim at Big Beauty (Bloomberg)
• Dad's solution to buying presents. Hire someone else to do it (WSJ)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Why kombucha may never make it really big (Bloomberg)
• Pioneering perspectives from online grocery (Winsight Grocery Business)
• The business value of design (McKinsey)
• The big lies of strategy (Rotman Management)
• Altria makes big controversial bets in search of growth (WSJ)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Why trendy cauliflower will dominate the entire grocery store (Fast Company)
• UPS is testing tricycle deliveries in traffic-choked Seattle (Wired)
• Amazon targets airports for checkout-free expansion (Reuters)
• Admit it Britain. You love your German grocers (Bloomberg)
• Walmart acquires Art.com to boost online home decor business (Reuters)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• The inside story of how Deciem, the Abnormal Beauty Company, lived up to its name (Financial Post)
• Retailers are testing Facebook-style shopper profiles to battle Amazon (Bloomberg)
• What big consumer brands can do to compete in a digital economy (HBR)
• The AI that knows exactly what you want to eat (The Atlantic)
• From the archives (2016): How Americans pretend to love 'ethnic food' (Washington Post)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• What's really happening to retail (The Atlantic)
• Alibaba takes on Amazon in European cloud (WSJ)
• Sleep-tracking ring Oura surpasses $20 million in funding (Tech Crunch)
• Grocery stores are bars now (Vox)
• Eddie Lampert shattered Sears, sullied his reputation, and lost billions of dollars. Or did he (Institutional Investor)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Reviving the grocery industry: Six imperatives (McKinsey)
• The cookware startups that could topple the All-Clad establishment (Eater)
• The bizarre world of beauty advent calendars (The Guardian)
• Deriving value from conversations about your brand (MIT SMR)
• How subscription businesses are taking over (Fast Company)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• How restaurants got so loud (The Atlantic)
• Why many Canadians don't love self-checkout (CBC)
• San Marzano tomatoes: The fake Rolex of canned foods (Taste)
• The trouble with tuna (WSJ)
• Sears bankruptcy 2018: Workers fight for severance pay (Vox)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Meet the saviour of Sobeys (The Globe and Mail)
• How wellness influencers made Indian food a trend (Bon Appetit)
• Slowly but surely, the Amazon Prime backlash is coming (Vox)
• Inside the hedge fund war at Sears (Bloomberg)
• Marriott hacking exposes data of up to 500 million guests (NYT)

Best of Pax Westona: November 2018

• Rural America's favourite store is moving into the big city (Bloomberg)
• Jeff Raider on founding Warby Parker and Harry's (NYT)
• Pets or people: Big Food faces the same supermarket battle (WSJ)
• How Impossible Foods makes its plant-based 'blood' (Fast Company)
• How clothing brands hooked men on stretch jeans (The Atlantic)
• How restaurants use data to capture competitive advantage (BCG)
• How two young entrepreneurs used relentless online marketing to build Away into a $700M luggage brand (Forbes)
• Kohl's cracks the retail code (Fortune)
• How tech bros fell in love with baking bread (Eater)
• The state of fashion 2019 (McKinsey)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• The state of fashion 2019 (McKinsey)
• Unilever names new CEO as big brands regroup, tackling consumer shift (WSJ)
• Urban grocery stores squeezing into tight spaces (The Globe and Mail)
• An Amazon revolt could be brewing as the tech giant exerts more control over brands (Recode)
• From the archives (2006): Junior faces the big test (Macleans)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• How do you justify selling a $3 shirt (BBC)
• Celebrities like Kylie Jenner are upending the $52 billion beauty industry (WSJ)
• Unilever in exclusive talks to land GSK's Indian Horlicks business (Reuters)
• Hudson's Bay activist pushes for major change at retailer (The Globe and Mail)
• The Amazon warehouse comes to Soho (NYT)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• How tech bros fell in love with baking bread (Eater)
• The death of the Montreal bagel (The Globe and Mail)
• Campbell Soup, Third Point settle proxy fight (WSJ)
• How to manage morale when a well-liked employee leaves (HBR)
• The monopolization of America (NYT)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Kohl's cracks the retail code (Fortune)
• Casper co-founder predicts the death of (bad) retail (WSJ)
• Agile to the rescue in retail (BCG)
• Don't let lazy managers drive away your top performers (HBR)
• How companies get you to pay more for the same product (Bloomberg)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Beyond the list price (BCG)
• Walgreens, Humana are in preliminary stages of buying stakes in each other (WSJ)
• The art of woke wellness (The Atlantic)
• For a buck and sometimes a buzz, brewers are putting cannabis into cans (NYT)
• How two young entrepreneurs used relentless online marketing to build Away into a $700M luggage brand (Forbes)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Global payments 2018: Re-imagining the customer experience (BCG)
• Is Amazon primed to conquer Christmas again (Bain)
• KKR, Bain form $20M fund to pay Toys 'R' Us workers (Bloomberg)
• The neo-banks are finally having their moment (NYT)
• From the archives (2003): German discounter plans major Canadian expansion (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The great promise of China (NYT)
• What Amazon's Black Friday is like for workers (Vox)
• Loblaws cranks up self-checkout with app that scans items while you shop (CBC)
• Checking out New York's online grocery stores (WSJ)
• How restaurants use data to capture competitive advantage (BCG)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Corner Office: Michael Evans of Alibaba on Singles Day and Olympic rowing (NYT)
• Kobe Bryant wants to sell you a sports drink (Bloomberg)
• Sainsbury's to stock edible insects on shelves in a UK first (The Guardian)
• Why 'many model' thinkers make better decisions (HBR)
• Kroger and Ocado to build first robotic warehouse in Cincinnati (Reuters)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Everything on Amazon is Amazon (NYT)
• Sour Patch Kids cereal is real. Here's how to get it (Food & Wine)
• Beyond Meat files for an IPO (Bloomberg)
• Whole Foods reveals top food trends for 2019 (Whole Foods)
• Why America's best burger spot closed down (Thrillist)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• How retail responds to disruption (MIT SMR)
• For better retail promotions, ask these questions (HBR)
• Walmart adopts virtual reality to train its workforce for Black Friday (Vox)
• Walmart's roar is getting loud enough to rattle Amazon (Bloomberg)
• Online shopping gets more complicate (WSJ)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• How Impossible Foods makes its plant-based 'blood' (Fast Company)
• Sears finalizing $350 million bankruptcy loan with Great American (Reuters)
• How clothing brands hooked men on stretch jeans (The Atlantic)
• Secrets of a Barneys personal shopper (Bloomberg)
• From the archives (2012): How companies learn your secrets (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Pets or people: Big Food faces the same supermarket battle (WSJ)
• Amazon faces a challenge: German grocer Rewe's new warehouse (Bloomberg)
• Battle lines drawn in Sainsbury's-Asda probe (FT)
• Loblaw sees food prices rise, predicts further increases likely (The Globe and Mail)
• Ahold Delhaize strategy eyes Stop & Shop repositioning, doubling online sales (Winsight Grocery Business)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The war inside 7-Eleven (Bloomberg)
• Generation Z and its implications for companies (McKinsey)
• Diageo trades profit for growth (WSJ)
• 'Bleeding' vegan burger arrives on UK supermarket shelves (The Guardian)
• Amazon selects New York City and Northern Virginia for new headquarters (Amazon)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Pepsi expands LaCroix fight by putting sparkling water on campus (Bloomberg)
• Here's how Black Friday, Prime Day stack up against Singles Day (CNBC)
• For skincare brands, urban pollution is good for business (Quartz)
• The Instagrammers next door, plugging brands for peanuts (or shampoo) (NYT)
• Court pares back Tim Hortons franchisee lawsuit against parent company (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Alibaba's on-demand online services unit valued at $30 billion (Reuters)
• P&G moves to streamline its structure (WSJ)
• Galen Weston tops CEO poll despite bad news at his companies (Financial Post)
• Coca-Cola proposes energy drinks in clash with Monster Beverage (Reuters)
• The curse of the Honeycrisp apple (Bloomberg)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Why it's a golden age for grocery shopping (Grub Street)
• Meat has a replacement but no one knows what to call it (Bloomberg)
• Canadian Tire not rushing to offer free shipping (The Globe and Mail)
• Pot is no miracle cure for what ails Big Food (Bloomberg)
• From the archives (2014): Why you always seem to choose the slowest line (Wired)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Commercial excellence in China: Lessons from top CPG companies (McKinsey)
• Bangladesh fights for future of its garment industry (Nikkei Asian Review)
• The slow, painful death of mass-market goods (Ad Age)
• Kraft to sell Canadian natural cheese business to Parmalat (Reuters)
• Black Friday 2018: Consumers are eager, more digital, and willing to spend (McKinsey)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Unlocking growth in CPG with AI and advanced analytics (BCG) 
• Success in the apparel industry depends on retail data analytics (McKinsey)
• Food halls are everywhere now. It's because we crave 'authenticity' (Vox)
• Dollar Tree's $9 billion problem: Family Dollar isn't paying off (WSJ)
• Jeff Raider on founding Warby Parker and Harry's (NYT)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Amazon plans to split HQ2 in two locations (NYT)
• Sainsbury's in a stew over mash-up of 'Persian' dish (The Guardian)
• Where 'Yes! to affordable groceries really' means 'No' to a soda tax (NYT)
• How a 205-year-old grain dynasty won activist victory over Bunge (Bloomberg)
• Founder Chip Wilson takes aim at Lululemon (Forbes)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Amazon in late stage talks with cities for HQ2 (WSJ)
• How America became a nation of yoga pants (Bloomberg)
• What's wrong with bananas (Nautilus)
• New Toys 'R' Us owners mull physical stores next year (Bloomberg)
• Food delivery apps a double-edged sword for Canadian restaurants looking to grow business (Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Rural America's favourite store is moving into the big city (Bloomberg)
• The LaCroix of cannabis? The beverage market bets on cannabis (Fast Company)
• Sears prepares for a big holiday season, bankruptcy and all (Bloomberg)
• On hold for 45 minutes? It might be your secret customer score (WSJ)
• From the archives (2001): Some hard lessons for online grocer Webvan (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Restaurants shrink as food delivery apps get more popular (Bloomberg)
• Four ways to pressure test strategic decisions (HBR)
• How private label candy wins with consumers (Food Dive)
• From coca to cocoa (Eater)
• Forget airline miles. Retailers pile on the perks for big spenders (WSJ)

Best of Pax Westona: October 2018

• What can save the struggling Marks & Spencer (NYT)
• Self checkout is terrible: Why Walmart, Target, and others still do it (Vox)
• To see where retail stores are heading, look to China (BCG)
• Target's answer to discounters is even cheaper store brand (WSJ)
• Sears, the original everything store, files for bankruptcy (NYT)
• Food companies seek to boot their dated brands (Bloomberg)
• Inside the $2.6B subscription wars (Fast Company)
• Amazon's quest to win in India (Bloomberg)
• Haste makes waste (The Collaborative Fund)
• How one man built The Sharper Image into the world's wackiest gadget store (The Hustle)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Best Halloween candy, ranked (The Cut)
• Grocers enlist robots to chase e-commerce (WSJ)
• Higher wages aren't enough to turn mediocre jobs into good ones (HBR)
• Third Point wants Campbell Soup to explore a split (WSJ)
• How one man built The Sharper Imagine into the world's wackiest gadget store (The Hustle)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• The case for Kellogg, Campbell Soup, and other legacy companies to go private (CNBC)
• Why is CBD everywhere (NYT)
• Asda says 2,500 jobs are at risk before Sainsbury's merger (The Guardian)
• The dream of virtual reality is dying (The Outline)
• How did athleisure take over American fashion (The Atlantic)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Why is chardonnay still America's best selling wine (New York Magazine)
• Walmart looks to radical supercenter reinvention (Winsight Grocery Business)
• In Amazon we trust, but why (Vox)
• Gilroy, the garlic capital of the world (Curbed)
• A lollipop made for looking, not licking (NYT)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Uber's secret restaurant empire (Bloomberg)
• In Japan, the Kit Kat isn't just a chocolate, it's an obsession (NYT)
• Investors are pouring money into food delivery companies (WSJ)
• India's Paytm, Flipkart, Myntra haven't figured out AI, big data (Quartz)
• From the archives (2004): Longo's to acquire Grocery Gateway (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Dunkin' takes shot at Starbucks with less expensive espresso (WSJ)
• They said Seattle's higher base pay would hurt workers. Why did they flip (NYT)
• A counter-intuitive way to keep shelves stocked and prices down (Kellogg Insight)
• Costco builds Nebraska supply chain for its $5 rotisserie chickens (NPR)
• How a tiny tea company is poised to become one of Coca-Cola's next $1B brands (Food Dive)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The retail apocalypse can't keep Tractor Supply Co. down (Bloomberg)
• How Best Buy survived the retail apocalypse (The Week)
• K-beauty: The rise of Korean makeup in the West (BBC)
• How fish and chips migrated to Great Britain (Gastro Obscura)
• Target undercuts Amazon with free two-day shipping (WSJ)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Amazon's quest to win in India (Bloomberg)
• Uber ambitiously eyes 2021 for food-delivery drones launch (WSJ)
• Why Sainsbury and Asda can survive without merging (FT)
• Haste makes waste (The Collaborative Fund)
• Wide recalls are latest jolt to food-supply chain (WSJ)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Quaker bets oat milk is more than just a passing fad (NYT)
• How robots and drones will change retail forever (WSJ)
• The fancy convenience store trend is spreading (Eater)
• Pardon the disruption. Field notes from the battle of Richmond (Grocery Dive)
• Walmart unveils high tech grocery warehouse (Bloomberg)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• How the acquisition of Grocery Gateway positioned Longo's to compete in the digital age (Canadian Business)
• Edward Lampert, the hedge fund start that bet on Sears, is unrepentant (WSJ)
• America is drowning in milk nobody wants (Bloomberg)
• Inside the $2.6B subscription wars (Fast Company)
• From the archives (2004): The architect behind Kmart's surprising takeover of Sears (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Fish: The final frontier in fake meat (WSJ)
• Bringing managers back to work (BCG)
• Six things you need to know about the future of retail (Wired)
• Aldi and Lidl included in Sainsbury's-Asda competition probe (BBC)
• Food companies seek to boot their dated brands (Bloomberg)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Jeff Bezos wants us all to leave earth - for good (Wired)
• The billionaire who led Sears into bankruptcy court (NYT)
• With Flamingo, Harry's shaving launches a women's line (Fast Company)
• Walmart's largest acquisition ever will hit profit (WSJ)
• GTA Deciem stores reopen after company founder is ousted (The Toronto Star)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Sears, the original everything store, files for bankruptcy (NYT)
• What data is and isn't good for (HBR)
• World's most consumed liquor tries to make it in the U.S. (WSJ)
• Can marijuana save this Ontario town (The Globe and Mail)
• CEO of Deciem cosmetics brand removed at the request of Estee Lauder (CBC)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Food scientists are getting fed up with picky customers (WSJ)
• This is how Amazon loses (Newco Shift)
• Saving Sears from potential bankruptcy should have started six years ago (NYT)
• The Walt Disney of retail (Forbes)
• The race to reinvent the banana is on before its too late (Wired)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Is Alexa dangerous (The Atlantic)
• Tesco to scrap 'best before' dates from fruit and vegetable lines (The Guardian)
• Luxury brands are going direct-to-consumer (Quartz)
• Amazon is diversifying its private brand strategy (Retail Dive)
• From the archives (2013): Dave Nichol, a legend within the grocery world (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Walmart Canada ponders selling cannabis-based products (Bloomberg)
• Online orders force supermarkets to rethink their stores (WSJ)
• Marriott's merger of hotel rewards programs tests members' loyalty (NYT)
• Sears hires advisers to prepare bankruptcy filing (WSJ)
• Canadian skin care company Deciem closes stores - for now (CBC)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Nestle CEO's vision takes shape (WSJ)
• The future of delivery may turn the idea of 'restaurants' on its head (Food & Wine)
• Salmon farmers are scanning fish faces to fight killer lice (Bloomberg)
• Six technologies that could shake the food world (WSJ)
• The VC behind Warby Parker, Glossier, and Jet.com has raised a new $360 million fund (Fast Company)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Best Global Brands 2018 (Interbrand)
• To see where retail stores are heading, look to China (BCG)
• Why you're buying products from companies you've never heard of (WSJ)
• Unilever reverses plan to close London headquarters (NYT)
• Target's answer to discounters is even cheaper store brand (WSJ)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• What can save the struggling Marks & Spencer (NYT)
• Self checkout is terrible: Why Walmart, Target, and others still do it (Vox)
• Pepsi slides after CFO says it has no plans for cannabis (Bloomberg)
• Barnes & Noble evaluates possible sale (WSJ)
• From the archives (2007): Wal-Mart execs amuse themselves playing favorites (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Why agile goes awry - and how to fix it (HBR)
• Macy's hires employees to be influencers (The Atlantic)
• Dan Loeb ramps up pressure on Campbell Soup, urges asset sales (Bloomberg)
• Amazon to raise its minimum U.S. wage to $15 an hour (WSJ)
• Amazon's $15 minimum wage is a brilliant business strategy (The Atlantic)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Meat labs pursue once impossible goal: Kosher bacon (NYT)
• Procter and Gamble tries to break a cycle of stagnation (WSJ)
• Why the U.K. has such cheap food (BBC)
• You should be eating pie for breakfast (Eater)
• Parents are embracing subscription-based delivery of baby food (Forbes)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Canada, U.S. have reached a new NAFTA deal, now called the USMCA (CBC)
• What Steak-umm's viral tweetstorm says about how companies advertise now (Vox)
• Amazon enters bed market with low-cost basic foam mattress (Bloomberg)
• Hershey steps up e-commerce efforts (WSJ)
• Sainsbury's plans push into U.K. beauty market (The Guardian)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Sainsbury's and Asda may have to offload 460 stores to seal merger (The Guardian)
• Inside the new Amazon 4-star store, a novelty gift shop (WSJ)
• Keurig Dr Pepper to acquire drink maker Core for $525 million (Bloomberg)
• Aldi is gaining ground in grocery war (Bloomberg)
• Hot mess in home goods has lessons for retailers (Bloomberg)

Best of Pax Westona: September 2018

• Hard lessons breathe new life into retail stores (NYT)
• Frozen dinners make a comeback (WSJ)
• Why U.S. grocery chains need more (and better) store brand products (HBR)
• Fast food's got a Netflix problem (Bloomberg)
• Everything you need to know about Daniel Zhang, Alibaba's new king (Wired)
• Bezos unbound: What the Amazon founder plans to conquer next (Forbes)
• Tesco's new discount chain Jack's takes on Aldi and Lidl (BBC)
• Will we ever stop eating animal meat (The Atlantic)
• Amazon Prime Day: What the real lessons are (McKinsey)
• Meet the woman running Walmart's biggest deal ever (Fortune)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Meet the woman running Walmart's biggest deal ever (Fortune)
• The existential void of the pop-up 'experience' (NYT)
• Farm Boy won't change after Sobeys deal, co-CEO promises (CBC)
• Amazon turns to toys, hard goods in latest bricks and mortar trial (Reuters)
• From the archives (2006): Wal-Mart finds that its formula doesn't fit every culture (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon Prime Day: What the real lessons are (McKinsey)
• Can beauty department makeovers keep traditional retailers relevant (Retail Dive)
• Lululemon, the brand that invented athleisure, plans its second act (Fast Company)
• Shoppers love rewards credit cards. Retailers hate them (WSJ)
• Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings parent to buy Sonic for $2.3 billion (Bloomberg)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Steven Sinofsky: Amazon: Retailers gonna retail (Medium)
• Want to see what's up Amazon's sleeve? Take a tour of Seattle (NYT)
• French retailer Carrefour denies takeover talks with Casino (WSJ)
• From farm to blockchain: Walmart tracks its lettuce (NYT)
• Sears CEO pushes a rescue plan to avoid bankruptcy (WSJ)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Will we ever stop eating animal meat (The Atlantic)
• Uber looks to Deliveroo to expand food delivery in Europe (FT)
• Store of the week: Jacks (TCC Global)
• Grocery retailers try new bag of tricks to slow sales decline (CBC)
• Sobeys parent looks to beef up with $800 million acquisition of Farm Boy (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Monday picks

• The Prime effect: How Amazon's 2-day shipping is disrupting retail (WSJ)
• Ranch nation (NYT)
• Walmart got Flipkart but Amazon now has more (Quartz)
• Walmart will use VR headsets to train all its employees (MIT Technology Review)
• Shoppers Drug Mart clears first hurdle to selling medical cannabis (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Walmart is trying to take on Amazon in fashion (Quartz)
• Amazon will consider opening up to 3,000 cashierless stores by 2021 (Bloomberg)
• Nestle sharpens focus on food and beverages with review of skin-health unit (WSJ)
• How to engage and retain your B players (HBR)
• From the archives (2015): Pierre Lessard knows how to make an exit (Montreal Gazette)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Artificial intelligence in business gets real (MIT SMR)
• Bezos unbound: What the Amazon founder plans to conquer next (Forbes)
• Tiger Global leads $300 million investment in Postmates Delivery (Bloomberg)
• Tesco's new discount chain Jack's takes on Aldi and Lidl (BBC)
• Chobani CEO says he would consider going public - but won't sell to an industry giant (Recode)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Why are legacy consumer firms suddenly keen on Indian startups (Quartz)
• Shiseido CEO explains why the cosmetics giant buys start-ups (CNBC)
• IKEA is now interested in self-driving cars (Fast Company)
• Instacart expands Aldi partnership (Tech Crunch)
• The great, American supermarket is not finished with you, yet (Food & Wine)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Customer Experience Tools and Trends 2018 (Bain)
• Walmart finally makes it to the Big Apple (NYT)
• Coca-Cola is eyeing the cannabis market (Bloomberg)
• CEO of Tyson Foods to step down for personal reasons (WSJ)
• The environment's new clothes: Biodegradable textiles grown from live organisms (Scientific American)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Everything you need to know about Daniel Zhang, Alibaba's new king (Wired)
• Walmart eyes Mexico grocery delivery with $225 million purchase (Bloomberg)
• Can Tesco's secret plan defeat Aldi and Lidl (The Guardian)
• Walmart expands test of its giant grocery vending machine (Food Dive)
• Management consulting's AI-powered existential crisis (MIT SMR)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Fast food's got a Netflix problem (Bloomberg)
• Cannabis comes to your coffee and candy - but is it legal (WSJ)
• Paying is voluntary at this selfie-friendly store (NYT)
• Walmart teams up with Instacart for same-day delivery in Canada (Reuters)
• From the archives (2001): Montreal grocers cry foul at chain (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• TV ratings provider Nielsen expands review to include company sale (Reuters)
• Unilever Dutch row misses the danger of pricey M&A (Bloomberg)
• Amazon starts selling Christmas trees (AP)
• Tuft & Paw is basically the West Elm of cat furniture (Racked)
• Is office politics a white man's game (HBR)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The crazy, contentious history of Taco Tuesday (Thrillist)
• Amazon is stuffing its search results pages with ads (Recode)
• Tokyo's long lines lead to magic (and life-changing ramen) (Afar)
• A brief, bitter history of wild watermelon (Gastro Obscura)
• Hudson's Bay Co., Austria-based Signa form joint venture in European retail (CBC)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• The #1 office perk? Natural light (HBR)
• Alibaba's chairman, Jack Ma, plans to step down (NYT)
• Italy defied Starbucks, until it didn't (The Atlantic)
• Tackling the 1.6 billion-ton food loss and waste crisis (BCG)
• From lab to leader: How consumer companies can drive growth at scale with disruptive innovation (McKinsey)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Frozen dinners make a comeback (WSJ)
• Why U.S. grocery chains need more (and better) store brand products (HBR)
• Amazon's antitrust antagonist has a breakthrough idea (NYT)
• Walmart tries out home delivery service (WSJ)
• Kraft Heinz sees rising costs, weighing M&A deals: CEO (Reuters)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Why data culture matters (McKinsey)
• After 28,000 stores in 78 countries, Starbucks turns to Italy (WSJ)
• H-E-B to hire hundreds of employees for new digital HQ (Houston Chronicle)
• Third Point aims to replace Campbell Soup's entire board (WSJ)
• From the archives (2012): Discount birthday: Walmart, Kmart, Target hit 50 (USA Today)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Move over quinoa, Nestle is looking for the next superfood (Bloomberg)
• Tim Hortons escalates fight with dissident franchisee group (The Globe and Mail)
• Russia's top web store? Founded by a mom on maternity leave (Bloomberg)
• What does monopsony mean? Chicken farms offer an answer (The Atlantic)
• Loblaw rallies after selling Choice Properties REIT assets to George Weston (Financial Post)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Hard lessons breathe new life into retail stores (NYT)
• Why Walmart shoppers are finding more items 'out of stock' (WSJ)
• The shady world of beauty influencers and the brands that pay them (Vox)
• Inside Alibaba's new kind of retail (CNBC)
• New CEO Calvin McDonald looks to invoke Sephora experience as Lululemon surges ahead (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Beverage makes explore entries to Canadian cannabis sector (The Globe and Mail)
• Coca-Cola bets on coffee with $5.1 billion deal for Costa (NYT)
• Indian retail isn't a pot of gold (Bloomberg)
• Walmart adds toys and shelf space for holidays, expands online offering (Reuters)
• Google and Mastercard cut a secret ad deal to track retail sales (Bloomberg)

Best of Pax Westona: August 2018

• The freshest ideas are in small grocery stores (NYT)
• Meet the kinder, gentler - and Canadian - face of Tim Hortons (CBC)
• The decline and fall of Diet Coke (The New Yorker)
• Nestle has a plan to bring customers back to 'Big Food' (Washington Post)
• How Dollar General took over rural America (The Guardian)
• Food halls are the new food truck (Eater)
• Amazon's ripple effect on grocery industry: Rivals stock up on start-ups (NYT)
• Beyond soda: How and why your beverage options are exploding (WSJ)
• Paul Singer, doomsday investor (The New Yorker)
• The rise of giant consumer startups that said no to the money (Recode)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• The rise of giant consumer startups that said no to the money (Recode)
• Campbell Soup to sell international, fresh food units (Reuters)
• The long, monstrous reign of the Red Delicious apple is ending (NYT)
• Nestle wants your DNA to sell you supplements (Bloomberg)
• From the archives (2001): Two CEOs dined, one got apple pie (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Why adding more products isn't always the best way to grow (HBR) 
• JD turns to Google, Walmart to build global e-commerce empire (Bloomberg)
• Stadium food is suddenly getting cheaper (Eater)
• Whole Foods is starting to steal Trader Joe's shoppers (Bloomberg)
• With its new grocery concept, Meijer thinks big by scaling down (Food Dive)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• As Sears withers, its former stores fuel a new fortune (NYT)
• Dull skin? Restless sleep? There's a drink for that (WSJ)
• Here's the ugly truth behind the ugly produce movement (New Food Economy)
• The world's first self-driving grocery delivery cares are on the road in San Jose (Fast Company)
• Rising 'near me' searches show why grocers must improve their search engine rankings (Progressive Grocer)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Brands try to convince new generations products aren't just for their parents (NYT)
• Paul Singer, doomsday investor (The New Yorker)
• Beyond soda: How and why your beverage options are exploding (WSJ)
• What do you know, retailers are figuring it out (Bloomberg)
• Natural Grocers shrugs off Amazon-Whole Foods threat (WSJ)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• What will the world eat in the next decade (Bloomberg)
• Taking agile beyond the tipping point (BCG)
• Kroger says it is phasing out its plastic bags (NPR)
• There's only one way to break into China's crowded retail market (HBR)
• How the coffee industry is building a sustainable supply chain in an unstable region (Kellogg Insight)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Online shopping is making us accumulate more junk (The Atlantic)
• China's consumption downgrade: Skip avocados, cocktails and kids (NYT)
• How analytics and digital will drive next-generation retail merchandising (McKinsey)
• Target posts its best quarterly results in more than a decade (WSJ)
• From the archives (2003): The card up their sleeve (The Guardian)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon's ripple effect on grocery industry: Rivals stock up on start-ups (NYT)
• How direct-to-consumer brands are reshaping marketing (Marketing Week)
• Contact lenses are a surprising source of pollution (Scientific American)
• Beyond procurement: Transforming indirect spending in retail (McKinsey)
• Serta Simmons just merged with bed-in-a-box startup Tuft & Needle (Fast Company)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Welcome to checkout-free retail. Don't mind all the cameras (Wired)
• Tyson Foods to acquire Keystone Foods in $2.16 billion deal (WSJ)
• Farfetch, online retailer, plans to go public as luxury e-commerce grows (NYT)
• Air Canada-led consortium to buy back Aeroplan (CBC)
• The $29 billion battle to own how America sleeps is heating up (Fast Company)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• How subscription business models are changing business and investing (25iq)
• The inside story of how McDonald's invented the Quarter Pounder (Fast Company)
• Strawberry jam: Urban farming startups tackle a problem crop (WSJ)
• Walmart eyes virtual reality shopping system (Bloomberg)
• Pepsi to buy SodaStream for $3.2B in shift to healthier drinks (WSJ)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Americans are spending like crazy at restaurants (Bloomberg)
• DoorDash raises another $250M, nearly triples valuation to $4B (Tech Crunch)
• The benefits of an engaged, empowered workforce (MIT Sloan)
• What if the museum of ice cream is the future of retail (Bloomberg)
• Bribes, backdoor deals, and pay to play: How rosé took over (Bon Appetit)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Constellation Brands invests $5B in Canopy Growth (CBC)
• Firms that bossed agriculture for a century face new threat: Farmers (WSJ)
• Food halls are the new food truck (Eater)
• Walmart just put Amazon no notice (Bloomberg)
• From the archives (2017): Aldo shoe empire founder donates $25 million to McGill for new retail management school (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Casper, a web pioneer, to open 200 stores (WSJ)
• The Super Bowl of beekeeping (NYT)
• Drugstores, in-store pharmacies push for right to sell cannabis (The Globe and Mail)
• Playing catch-up with Walmart, Amazon offers grocery pickup at Whole Foods (NYT) 
• Credit card firms to trim merchant fees, but retailers group 'underwhelmed' (CBC)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Coca-Cola invests in Body Armor as it chases Gatorade (WSJ)
• Kroger partners with Alibaba in China grocery sales venture (Reuters)
• More recycling won't solve plastic pollution (Scientific American)
• Sears CEO bids $470 million for Kenmore, home improvement units (Bloomberg)
• Alibaba eyes revamp in food sector (China Daily)