Best of Pax Westona: October 2020

• Are you ready for the new era of customer data (Bain)
• Why Americans have turned to DIY nesting (The Atlantic)
• The U.S. Army rolls out a new weapon: strategic napping (NYT)
• The path forward for U.S. retail (McKinsey)
• Behind China's 'pork miracle': How technology is transforming rural hog farming (The Guardian)
• The surprising upside of expensive products that don't sell (HBR)
• Roger Martin: How to think about market share (Medium)
• Influencers next frontier: Their own shopping channels (The Verge)
• Can The Gap become cool again (WSJ)
• Aritzia's Jennifer Wong built a fashion empire by leading with style - and plenty of substance (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Sunrise Records owner scoops up former DavidsTea leases, plans to launch competing tea stores (Globe and Mail)
• The three building blocks of successful customer experience transformations (McKinsey)
• Aritzia's Jennifer Wong built a fashion empire by leading with style - and plenty of substance (Globe and Mail)
• J.C. Penney enters asset purchase agreement with Brookfield, Simon (Reuters)
• From the archives (2006): Starbucks economics: The mystery of the 'short' cappuccino (Slate)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Canadian company Spin Master buys Rubik's brand for $50 million (Globe and Mail)
• Modern CPG product development calls for a new kind of product manager (McKinsey)
• How does one of the world's biggest pork firms go bust in a boom (The Guardian)
• Amazon launches shopping website in Sweden (Reuters)
• Michael Medline open to regulation of grocery industry (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Expect more marketing texts and emails in 2021 than ever before (CNBC)
• Dunkin Donuts is in talks to sell itself and go private (NYT)
• Can The Gap become cool again (WSJ)
• The second food stockpiling wave is here (Bloomberg)
• How the Coronavirus changed consumer behaviours and company valuations (Morningstar)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Sustainability in packaging: Inside the mind of the US consumer (McKinsey)
• Online associate is the job of the future (Bloomberg)
• How to trace a path to resilient, sustainable supply chains (Bain)
• Commodities king ADM pivots to pet food, veggie burgers, and probiotics (Bloomberg)
• Strategy is what you do, not what you say (Medium)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Influencers next frontier: Their own shopping channels (The Verge)
• America doesn't need so many Gap stores. Gap agrees (Bloomberg)
• Le Chateau files for creditor protection (Globe and Mail)
• Loblaw follows Walmart in imposing new fees on suppliers (Financial Post)
• How paid loyalty programs can help bring customers back to your brand (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Covid puts a spotlight on the food industry's role in obesity (Bloomberg)
• To survive, customers are taking takeout to the next level (WSJ)
• The story of America's first culinary celebrity (American Scholar)
• What's ahead for US restaurants (McKinsey)
• From the archives (2015): The war on Big Food (Fortune)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Uber founder turns real estate mogul with ghost kitchens startup (WSJ)
• What outdoor dining may look like in winter (Bloomberg)
• Whole Foods now offers free one-hour delivery (The Verge)
• Kraft Heinz gets into the food delivery business with its own 'ghost kitchen' (Globe and Mail)
• How Clorox's new CEO plans to turn to turn disinfectant wipes into future wins (Fortune)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• M&S and Ocado cause anger with different pricing on same item (The Guardian)
• Alibaba takes on Walmart in China with $3.6 billion investment (WSJ)
• Retailers revel as stuff, not experiences, makes a comeback (Bloomberg)
• P&G, Reckitt, clean up on pandemic-driven hygiene (WSJ)
• People don't need bottled water in a pandemic (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Eating direct and local is harder than it sounds (The Counter)
• Re-imagining consumer-goods innovation in the next normal (McKinsey)
• Scientist at the DFO says Ottawa is too beholden to fish farm industry (Globe and Mail)
• Retail workers to get new training: How to handle fights over masks (NYT)
• How to think about market share (Medium)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Why Target, Walmart and Best Buy are thriving amid the pandemic (Forbes)
• Ikea will buy back some used furniture to stop 'excessive consumption' (NYT)
• New ambitions for automation (Bain)
• How to think about market share (Medium)
• How the Coronavirus, the internet, and tons of money fueled sports card biggest boom (ESPN)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Pret A Manger will try anything to survive (NYT)
• Japan vending machines struggle amid pandemic (Bloomberg)
• The surprising origins of fried chicken (BBC)
• Loblaw to refer shoppers to health services, ties loyalty points to wellness behaviours (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2004): Workers assail night lock-ins by Walmart (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The surprising upside of expensive products that don't sell (HBR)
• Spirit Halloween rises from the dead. Again and again (NYT)
• Beer can battle: Inside a war over recycling in B.C. (Globe and Mail)
• End of an era as Unilever UK shareholders back unification plan (Reuters)
• Amazon's Prime Day steals rival's Black Friday spotlight (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Behind China's 'pork miracle': How technology is transforming rural hog farming (The Guardian)
• Say goodbye to your local coffee shop in America's cafe shakeup (Bloomberg)
• Can Amazon upend the luxury sector (FT)
• The path forward for U.S. retail (McKinsey)
• Is the opposite of your choice stupid on its face (Medium)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Dollar General to open stores aimed at wealthier shoppers (WSJ)
• Customers still like to shop in person, even if they only get to the curb (NYT)
• The human touch at the center of customer-experience excellence (McKinsey)
• The role of management systems in strategy (Medium)
• Metro's Eric La Fleche named Canada's Outstanding CEO of the Year (Financial Post)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Department stores decade of decline (Retail Dive)
• Grocery giant Tesco sets its sights on Ocado (Bloomberg)
• Kroger launches on-premise ghost kitchens (Kroger)
• Six chicken-industry officials are indicted in price-fixing probe (WSJ)
• From the archives (1991): The MAC attack: A Canadian firm takes on the cosmetics giants (Macleans)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The U.S. Army rolls out a new weapon: strategic napping (NYT)
• 17 retailers that could go bankrupt as the COVID-era wears on (Retail Dive)
• What Joe's Stone Crab can teach CEOs about the quest for profit (Fast Company)
• Amazon accused of using monopoly power as e-commerce gatekeeper (WSJ)
• Delivery workers and e-bikes are a perfect fit: This program puts them together (Fast Company)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• China pushes 'clean plate' amid food supply squeeze (Washington Post)
• Food makers add staff capacity as pandemic persists (WSJ)
• Why Americans have turned to DIY nesting (The Atlantic)
• People are eating healthier and cooking more, food execs say (WSJ)
• The history of mashed potatoes (Mental Floss)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Are you ready for the new era of customer data (Bain)
• U.S. consumer-packaged-goods advertising in the next normal (McKinsey)
• Clorox wipes are still the hard-to-find pandemic item (NYT)
• Heat lamps are tough to find (Bloomberg)
• Coca-Cola to discontinue Zico, may drop Coke Life (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Are you really innovating around your customers' needs (HBR)
• How supermarkets are dodging a second panic-buying calamity (Wired)
• The weird impact COVID-19 is having on the fast-food industry (The Ladders)
• Leaders need to harness Aristotle's 3 types of knowledge (HBR)
• Microsoft thinks you've been missing your commute during lockdown (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Walmart's new store design proves browsing is dead (Fast Company)
• Restaurants hit with skyrocketing insurance costs, dropped coverage (Globe and Mail)
• Ozaki beef is the premium upgrade on wagyu (Bloomberg)
• Store landlords face a battle for a cut of online sales (WSJ)
• From the archives (2014): Tesco's downfall is a warning to data-driven retailers (HBR)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• How Gen Z and millennials are shaping the future of US retail (McKinsey)
• Ocado overtakes Tesco as UKs most valuable retailer (The Guardian)
• How delivery apps ruined grocery shopping (Grub Street)
• Costco CFO juggles managing inventory for products in high, low demand (WSJ)
• Giant Tiger's new CEO on the popularity of discount retailers (Globe and Mail)