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)