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)