Stephan's Friday Picks

• 10 restaurant and food predictions for 2023 (NYT)
• Behind Michael Medline's fierce defense of  profitable grocers (Financial Post)
• Consumers change food delivery habits (WSJ)
• Don Christopher, who turned lowly garlic into a household staple, dies at 88 (NYT)
• From the archives (2013): Why a trader named after a Bond villain could make your cappuccino cheaper (The Guardian)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy, choice, and the road not taken (Medium)
• He's an outspoken defender of meat. Industry funds his research, files show (NYT)
• Restaurant staffers are returning to work after Covid flight (WSJ)
• Fast food, grocery chains sued over mobile-ordering patents (Bloomberg)
• Misleading ads fueled rapid growth of online mental health companies (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Why Hot Wheels are one of the most inflation proof toys in American history (NPR)
• Delivery drivers can't find your house number (WSJ)
• In Amsterdam, a mostly vegan, all-cashmere feast (NYT)
• Target recalls over 200,000 children's weighted blankets after two girls die (NYT)
• Shoplifting fuels a $94.5 billion problem at American stores (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Capital allocation: Results, analysis, and assessment (Morgan Stanley)
• Amazon agrees to settle EU antitrust cases, avoiding fines (WSJ)
• Inflation rate drops to 6.8% as gas got cheaper - but food keeps getting more expensive (CBC)
• Hundreds of Tyson Foods employees expected to depart as company closes offices (WSJ)
• From the archives (2016): Want to be a better leader? Observe more and react less (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Retail spending in Canada shows signs of slowdown (Globe and Mail)
• Dollar stores lead a surge in new store openings (WSJ)
• Manufacturing, importing of straws and other single-use plastics now banned in Canada (Globe and Mail)
• You're at the office and so are the unwanted holiday goodies (WSJ)
• Once considered a no-no, Canadians are turning to second-hand gifts amid inflation and high prices (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Designing jobs right (HBR)
• Walmart's plastic bag ban leaves some customers saddled with mounds of reusable bags (CBC)
• Retailers and the terrible, horrible, not bad, pretty good holidays (WSJ)
• Where corporate governance still falls short (Globe and Mail)
• Mondelez sells gum business to Perfetti in $1.35B deal (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Striving to follow the Golden Rule (Medium)
• Foodtastic acquires Freshii at a fraction of its IPO value five years ago (Globe and Mail)
• How self-checkouts failed to live up to their promise (The Guardian)
• How Panettone became a must-have for the holidays (Globe and Mail)
• Who controls Panettone? The gold rush is on (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• The first lab-grown seafood will be fancy (Vox)
• Shopify scraps big Toronto move, dealing blow to office market (Globe and Mail)
• Amazon signs deals with Games Workshop for Warhammer 40k films (Bloomberg)
• Malls welcomed dogs. The results have been ruff (WSJ)
• Empire takes $25-million hit as cyber attack disturbs operations (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• How Budweiser salvaged its World Cup (NYT)
• Canadian debt payments climb at record pace as interest payments rise (Globe and Mail)
• Supermarkets offer more store brands to lure cost-conscious customers (WSJ)
• The state of grocery in Southeast Asia (McKinsey)
• From the archives (2019): P&G puts its focus on reach (Marketing Week)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Your wallet is being drained by subscriptions. Wall Street thanks you (WSJ)
• Hospitality lessons from a Michelin-starred restauranteur (McKinsey)
• Is Moore's Law actually dead this time (Ars Technica)
• European food delivery shapes up with Getir's Gorillas buy (Reuters)
• Why is Howard Schultz taking a Starbucks union so personally (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Stores do double duty as distribution centers for online orders (WSJ)
• Designing out of difficult times (McKinsey)
• The price of 'sugar free' (The Guardian)
• Rapid-delivery startup Getir buys rival Gorillas in $1.2 billion deal (Bloomberg)
• Costco sales growth cools as customers shift discretionary spending (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Why 'execution' is a bankrupt management concept (Medium)
• In defense of IRL shopping (The Atlantic)
• Activist Loeb may seek board changes at Bath & Body Works (Bloomberg)
• How retailers in Europe are navigating inflation (McKinsey)
• UK supermarkets launch Christmas price war with 19p veg offer (The Guardian)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Amazon launches TikTok-style feed in push to accelerate social shopping (WSJ)
• Fuel made from ramen, dishes from coffee grinds: Japan rethinks food waste (Washington Post)
• Unilever weighs $3 billion US ice cream brands sale (Bloomberg)
• New York passes sweeping bills to improve conditions for delivery workers (NYT)
• Egypt's soaring bread prices are chewing a hold in the unsubsidized lower middle class (Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• FTC asks Kroger for more information on Albertsons deal (WSJ)
• Dollarama hikes sales forecast as high inflation drives shoppers to seek cheaper groceries, household goods (Globe and Mail)
• Secrets of the Christmas tree trade (Curbed)
• Black Friday status dims as sales in stores fall short (WSJ)
• From the archives (1995): Dwayne's world (Mother Jones)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Bank of Canada raises rate 50bps to 4.25% - but opens the door to staying there (CBC)
• Goldman's guide to the rest of your life (FT)
• Murray's Cheese opens 1,000th shop within Kroger stores (Kroger)
• Indoor lettuce farm Goodleaf gets backing from two Canadian heavyweights to expand nationally (FP)
• Rising thefts at Walmart could lead to price jumps, store closures, CEO says (CNBC)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• PepsiCo to lay off hundreds of workers in headquarters roles (WSJ)
• MPs call for grocery CEOs to face questioning over rising food prices (Globe and Mail)
• Why Christmas trees could cost more this year (NYT)
• The secret diary of a Tesco manager (The Guardian)
• The role of the chief transformation officer (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Canada's Food Price Report 2023 (Dalhousie University)
• Forecasters split on how high Bank of Canada will push next rate hike (Globe and Mail)
• Fashion in the metaverse: What avatars are wearing (WSJ)
• Census shows high rate of undergraduate and college education among Canadians, but complex trends lie behind it (Globe and Mail)
• Ad firms predict slower advertising growth in 2023 (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Why markdown pricing matters more than other (McKinsey)
• Cutting-edge tech made the Netherlands a major food exporter (Washington Post)
• What kind of man was Anthony Bourdain (The Atlantic)
• What are whole grains, anyway (NYT)
• Amazon's quest for the holy grail of robotics (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• State of Fashion 2023 (McKinsey)
• Food commodities are getting cheaper - unlike groceries (WSJ)
• Inside Amazon's quest to seize the skies (Wired)
• PepsiCo's Mauro Porcini talks meaningful design and mentorship (McKinsey)
• From the archives (1979): Jimmy Pattison is feeling like his old self again (Maclean's)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Nestle may sell allergy unit in health strategy U-turn (Bloomberg)
• Alexa, is the voice assistant industry doomed (CBC)
• Amazon wants to review your sleep (NYT)
• Why Christmas trees are scarce and more expensive this year (CBC)
• Dumpster diving to shame stores and fight waste (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Globalized supply chains bring more turbulent food prices (WSJ)
• Where does all the cardboard come from (NYT)
• Kroger, Albertsons CEOs will testify before senate about merger (Bloomberg)
• It's not your imagination. Shopping on Amazon has gotten worse (Washington Post)
• Popeyes, Wingstop, others step up chicken offerings as poultry prices drop (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Toy makers are betting on last-minute holiday shopping to save the year (WSJ)
• Meet the man on a mission to expose sneaky price increases (NYT)
• If the price ended in 99, you probably overpaid (WSJ)
• Teamsters accept Loblaw offer, preventing potential lockout hours before it was set to begin (CBC)
• Salted ants. Ground crickets. Why you should try edible insects (Washington Post)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Michael McCain and his successor dish on the transfer of power at Maple Leaf Foods (Globe and Mail)
• Don't skip Doordash's side dishes (WSJ)
• Couche-Tard shares have had a good year. Here's why investors shouldn't shy away from a winner (Globe and Mail)
• Why retailers are trying extra hard to woo holiday shoppers (NYT)
• Restaurants, grocery stores battle over consumers' stretched dollars (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• How retailers are reshaping the advertising industry (FT)
• Is wine fake (Asterisk)
• Black Friday deals are extra good this year as retailers look to draw down inventory before end of holiday season (Globe and Mail)
• Bed Bath & Beyond struggles to keep its stores stocked (WSJ)
• From the archives (2014): The capitalist's dilemma (HBR)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon's customer satisfaction slips with customers (WSJ)
• Playing chicken with lab-grown meat (Globe and Mail)
• Meet the underground network of bargain butter hunters (WSJ)
• A huge merger's collapse breaks a pattern of consolidation in publishing (NYT)
• What exactly is cultivated meat, and when can we eat it (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Beyond Meat plant's dirty conditions revealed in photos, documents (Bloomberg)
• Beyond Meat is slumping, and the plant-based meat industry worries (NYT)
• Beyond Meat's very real problems: Slumping sausages, mounting losses (WSJ)
• Groups ask for investigation into Canadian Tire's poverty-level wages in Bangladeshi warehouses (Globe and Mail)
• An offshore warehouse is training Amazon's warehouse-monitoring algorithms(The Verge)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Do you really want a new kitchen counter (The Atlantic)
• A few good stories (Collaborative Fund)
• The psychology of meeting overload (HBR)
• What one importer's legal fight says about the power of cargo carriers (NYT)
• Ottawa is moving to reduce credit card fees. What it means for businesses, banks, and your loyalty points (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Fading supply-chain problems signal season of plenty for holiday shoppers (WSJ)
• Amazon CEO Andy Jassy says layoffs will continue into next year (CNBC)
• Sears limps through what could be its final holiday season (Bloomberg)
• Making your CEO transition a catalyst for renewal (McKinsey)
• Winn-Dixie owner Southeastern Grocers weighs a sale (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Social media conversations about unhealthy food and beverages in Canada (Outlive Lab)
• The new office status symbol holds a lot of water - and has a waiting list (WSJ)
• The sad pragmatism of inflation-era cuisine (The Atlantic)
• At RBI, the only winners are its lavishly compensated executives (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2010): Roaring out of recession (HBR)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Loblaw, Metro sales and profit grow as Canadian grocers face inflation scrutiny (Globe and Mail)
• Canada's inflation rate unchanged in October at 6.9% (CBC)
• How Hot Wheels became the largest automobile manufacturer out there (FT)
• Inside the turmoil at Sobeys-owned stores after ransomware attack (CBC)
• Target shares plunge on weak earnings, outlook (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Walmart sales rise as retail giant gains more shoppers (WSJ)
• How to make corn more like cactus (Knowable Magazine)
• TikTok builds itself into an ad juggernaut (NYT)
• How something as common as rain in Vancouver can send shockwaves through Canada's entire food system (FP)
• How droughts in Mexico could affect the future of the beer industry (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Coffee market goes cold as Brazilian weather normalizes (WSJ)
• Have Canadian policymakers made Shopify untouchable (Globe and Mail)
• This farmer says he reluctantly throws out enough cauliflower to feed a province (CBC)
• The private equity guys trying to shoplift a supermarket chain before they sell it (Slate)
• How to make corn more like cactus (Knowable Magazine)
• Amazon is said to plan to lay off thousands of employees (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Kohl's chief executive, Michelle Gass, to depart to join Levi's (NYT)
• Canadian Tire profits falls 20% as costs rise, consumer habits shift amid high inflation (Globe and Mail)
• Giant Tiger CEO departs amid efforts to position retailer as go-to discount store for inflation weary shoppers (FP)
• The rise and fall of the drugstore chains (Slate)
• The scent of flavour (Inference)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• How to get the most from our customer data (Knowledge@Wharton)
• Opposition shadows Cerberus windfall from Albertsons supermarket deal (FT)
• Graham & Dodd Annual Breakfast 2022 (Investment Management Insights)
• Amazon, in broad cost-cutting review, weighs changes at Alexa and other unprofitable business units (WSJ)
• From the archives (1997): Quaker to sell Snapple for $300 million, takes $1.4 billion writedown (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Leger polling company acquires U.S. market research firm to expand into consumer goods (Globe and Mail)
• Inside the underground market for fake Amazon reviews (Wired)
• Empire tight-lipped about IT issues impacting its pharmacies (CBC)
• Crunch time as crisp makers adopt plastic-free packets (BBC)
• Chief performance officers can be a secret ingredient for private equity success. Here's why (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• It's important to bring the spirit of emergencies to the long term (McKinsey)
• The ugly story of how Corporate America convinced us to spend so much money on boxed water (Vox)
• Walmart-owned Flipkart curbs M&A and hiring as losses mount in India (FT)
• Jamie Oliver vs inflation (The Atlantic)
• Canada's moonshot: The green farming revolution is here, but we must help it grow (FP)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Restaurant Brands profit, sales gain as Tim Hortons looks to expand lunch, dinner offerings (Globe and Mail)
• Very important and hard to teach (Collaborative Fund)
• Sobeys, Safeway grappling with IT issues as Maple Leaf Foods announces cybersecurity incident (CBC)
• Walgreens unit close to roughly $9 billion deal with Summit Health (WSJ)
• Macy's plans to invest millions to fund minority-owned businesses (NYT)

CBC

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Washington sues to stop Albertsons $4 billion dividend plan (Bloomberg)
• The DOJ should now take on Amazon (The Atlantic)
• Why Amazon Music VP Steve Boom just made the entire music catalog free with Prime (The Verge)
• Ocado shares soar as it signs a deal with a South Korean retailer (The Guardian)
• Good luck returning your unwanted cothes and electronics (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Lowe's selling Canadian retail operations, including Rona, to Sycamore Partners (Globe and Mail)
• CVS, Walmart, Walgreens reach $13 billion opioid settlement (Bloomberg)
• Freeland's economic update warns of 2023 recession, announces tax on corporate share buybacks (Globe and Mail)
• Was Jack Welch the greatest CEO of his day - or the worst (The New Yorker)
• From the archives (2008): Ontario's store wars marching west (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• A Carbone on every continent: Major food group is going global (NYT)
• Companies under growing pressure to recoup executive pay (WSJ)
• The role of the chief operating officer (McKinsey)
• Ottawa reveals plan to welcome 500,000 new immigrants per year by 2025 (CBC)
• Can J. Crew be cool again (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Cumulative vs cyclical knowledge (Collaborative Fund)
• The home-improvement boom isn't over yet (WSJ)
• The push to scale plant-based plastics (Wired)
• Food prices soar, and so do companies profits (NYT)
• J&J agrees to buy medical device maker Abiomed for $16.6 billion (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Another year of strategy (Medium)
• Of course instant groceries don't work (The Atlantic)
• Target will sell products from Marks & Spencer this holiday season (Food & Wine)
• The takeover law that has Bay Street rattled (Globe and Mail)
• What Moneyball for everything has done to American culture (The Atlantic)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• How do you make a Halloween costume? A lot of data and a little luck (WSJ)
• Solving Shopify's misery (Globe and Mail)
• Justice Department probes how poultry companies pay farmers (WSJ)
• Amazon returns to growth but signals slowness ahead (NYT)
• The fantasy of instant delivery is imploding (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Coca-Cola keeps raising prices, driving profits higher (NYT)
• How Hershey beat the market meltdown (WSJ)
• A&W CEO Susan Senecal won't let a recession slow down the burger chain's expansion (Globe and Mail)
• TikTok creators are reinventing the scathing restaurant review (Bon Appetit)
• From the archives (2013): Why Rona turned to a grocer in its search for a cleanup CEO (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Bed Bath & Beyond tries to turn itself around, again (NYT)
• Rising shipping costs prompt businesses to get creative with deliveries (WSJ)
• Transforming the EU retail and wholesale sector (McKinsey)
• How confidence is weaponized against women (HBR)
• Jagmeet Singh thinks he knows why food prices are rising. He's wrong (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The smash and grab of Kroger-Albertsons (Matt Stoller)
• Lego fanatics come apart over new packaging (WSJ)
• Canada's Competition Bureau to study grocery sector as inflation hits shoppers (Globe and Mail)
• NYC restaurants aren't about to give up outdoor dining (Curbed)
• How food powers your body (The New Yorker)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: My least favourite business book of all time (Medium)
• When a country's cuisine becomes a cultural export (NYT)
• Social commerce: The future of how consumers interact with brands (McKinsey)
• Beyond Meat rolls out a steak substitute in Walmart, Kroger stores (WSJ)
• Consumer giants keep raising prices as profits come under pressure (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Women in the workplace 2022 (McKinsey)
• Instacart is said to pull plans to go public this year (NYT)
• Nestle to acquire Seattle's Best coffee brand from Starbucks (WSJ)
• Why the price of vegetable oil has spiked more than other food items (CBC)
• How to shop amid inflation and supply chain challenges (Vox)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Third Point takes stake in Colgate-Palmolive, urges pet food spin-off (Reuters)
• The mysterious rise of food allergies (Vox)
• Kroger-Albertsons antitrust review likely to focus on local store overlap (WSJ)
• The fast food stars of TikTok (The New Yorker)
• From the archives (2009): (Re)making a name in No Name (Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon's October attempt at Prime Day falls flat, analysts say (WSJ)
• An activist investor has a garbage plan for Coca-Cola (Semafor)
• Instacart cuts its valuation for a third time to $13 billion (Bloomberg)
• A salt-loving nation tries to shake the habit (WSJ)
• Retailers, brands, and tech platforms bet big on live-streamed shopping in the U.S. (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Loblaw to freeze prices on No Name products until end of January amid spiking inflation (Globe and Mail)
• Secret menus and online order hacks are out of control (Eater)
• Why food keeps getting more expensive (Vox)
• Poland eyes grocer as it takes back control of economy (Bloomberg)
• Kroger-Albertsons merger would create a big player in retail media (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The precision modern company (Medium)
• Unlocking Loblaw Digital's next phase of growth (Medium)
• Amazon abandons autonomous home delivery robot tests in latest cost cuts (WSJ)
• The economics of Costco rotisserie chicken (The Hustle)
• The great post-Covid online shopping bet was a costly delusion (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Presenting about data to your board: 6 tips from experts (MIT Sloan)
• Howard Schultz's fight to stop a barista uprising (Washington Post)
• Retailers kick off Black Friday in October again, this time with too much stuff (WSJ)
• Are reward points over, now that retailers can charge credit card transaction fees (Globe and Mail)
• Kroger to buy Albertsons in $24.6 billion deal (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Digital twins: The foundation of the enterprise metaverse (McKinsey)
• Why shaving dulls even the sharpest of razors (MIT News)
• Engaging with history (Collaborative Fund)
• The Canadian wheat odyssey (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2008): Pomegranate princess (The New Yorker)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The state of grocery retail around the world (McKinsey)
• Paying with a credit card will soon cost more as some businesses add transaction fees (Globe and Mail)
• Ben & Jerry's vs Unilever: How a star acquisition became a legal nightmare (FT)
• That reusable Trader Joe's bag. It's rescuing an Indian industry (NYT)
• Look at all the money Cargill made (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy & sunshine (Medium)
• Delivery startup Getir in advanced talks to buy Gorillas (Bloomberg)
• Burger King's new U.S. CEO seeks to restore chain's luster (WSJ)
• The oat milk backlash begins (Eater)
• Processed food was linked to 1970s inflation. Today's health savvy Canadians are finding other cheap options (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Hungry and confused: The winding road to conscious eating (McKinsey)
• 'I am energy': Inside the Bang billionaire's reeling empire (Bloomberg)
• Why don't grocery stores stock the most American fruit (The Atlantic)
• You must respect candy corn (The Atlantic)
• Loblaw puts self-driving delivery trucks on Canadian roads for the first time (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Loblaw expects e-commerce grocery shopping to 'grow significantly' (Globe and Mail)
• Costco not ready to cut prices as commodity, shipping costs fall (WSJ)
• House committee to probe big grocers' profits, prolonging industry's PR problem (Financial Post)
• Mint chocolate on fried chicken? A food craze has everyone taking sides (WSJ)
• From the archives (1991): Tracking Robert Campeau's spectacular fall (Maclean's)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Why everyone is suddenly slamming energy drinks (WSJ)
• Butter boards are spreading across TikTok (NYT)
• Retail real estate is enjoying its biggest revival in years (WSJ)
• Liquid Death water startup valued at $700 million (Bloomberg)
• What will management look like in the next 100 years (HBR)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Owner economics and strategy (Medium)
• F.D.A moves to change 'healthy' food definition (NYT)
• Americans struggle with high food prices (WSJ)
• Amazon freezes corporate hiring in its retail business (NYT)
• Unilever urged to seek outside chief after Alan Jope tenure (FT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Why bosses should ask employees to do less - not more (WSJ)
• Backing Lindt, Swiss court orders Lidl to 'destroy' its chocolate bunnies (NYT)
• Indigo's new CEO plans to sell $450 pizza ovens and collagen face mists at the bookstore (Globe and Mail)
• Useless meetings waste time and $100 million a year at big companies (Bloomberg)
• Our food system could have been so different (The Atlantic)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• What is inflation (McKinsey)
• How about them apples? Research orchards chart a fruit's future (NYT)
• Why plant-based meat's sizzle fizzled in the U.S. (The Guardian)
• Unilever CEO Jope to retire at end of 2023 after GSK setback (Bloomberg)
• Kroger announces 2022 fall food trends (Kroger)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Why it's so hard to get a restaurant reservation right now (The Atlantic)
• CEOs can't solve our biggest problem with return to office: commuting (Bloomberg)
• Morrisons profits plunge 50% after 'unprecedented' inflation (The Guardian)
• General Mills backs GrubMarket at more than $2 billion valuation (Bloomberg)
• From the archives (1930): Has the chain grocery store come to stay (Maclean's)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• How China targets the global fish supply (NYT)
• Founder of Paramount Fine Foods locked in legal battle with investors over the future of the company (Globe and Mail)
• Aldi's UK profits fall but chain says customers 'are switching to it in droves' (The Guardian)
• Best Buy, Home Depot lock up goods to fight theft (WSJ)
• Amazon's robots are getting closer to replacing human hands (Vox)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Shutting down losers (Medium)
• Incentives: The most powerful force in the world (Collaborative Fund)
• Is Silicon Valley coming for farm workers jobs (The Guardian)
• Lots of food gets tossed. These apps let you buy it, cheap (NYT)
• Why Jack Welch wouldn't cut it today (Institutional Investor)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Amazon routinely hired dangerous trucking companies, with deadly consequences (WSJ)
• Lidl raises pay above Aldi for UK staff as cost of living soars (Bloomberg)
• The family that built a ballpark nachos monopoly (The Hustle)
• The restaurant industry is broken (Toronto Life)
• Food Barons 2022 (ETC Group)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Costco sales rise as inflation continues to weigh on consumers (WSJ)
• Activist investor pushes Kohl's to oust its CEO and chairman (CNBC)
• Jana Partners has nearly 10% stake in Freshpet, sources say (WSJ)
• Why India's small sellers still don't trust Amazon (Rest of World)
• The YouTube baker fighting back against deadly 'craft hacks' (MIT Technology Review)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• 2022 Digital Commerce Ecosystem Map (Fire Ant)
• How the apparel industry can ADAPT to inflation (McKinsey)
• 'Big four no more': Where now for UK grocers as Aldi overtakes Morrisons (The Guardian)
• Canada's inflation rate eases to 7% in August as gas prices fall but food costs continue to climb (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2008): Making Loblaw the Best Again (Loblaw)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Still feeling good: The U.S. wellness market continues to boom (McKinsey)
• Couche-Tard, stymied on deals, goes on food marketing push (Bloomberg)
• Nordstrom adopts poison pill after Mexican retailer buys stake (WSJ)
• For New Yorkers, 6pm is the new 8pm (NYT Magazine)
• Where's the pumpkin ice cream? The Trader Joe's hoarders have snagged it all (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• High grocery prices are getting to people. A scene at one grocery store shows why (WSJ)
• How Patagonia's ownership bombshell changes the game for American business (Fast Company)
• Instacart plans to focus IPO on selling employee shares (WSJ)
• Beyond Meat COO arrested for biting man's nose during college football game (Bloomberg)
• Etsy sellers frustrated by company's confusing approach to new sales tax law (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Becoming a better strategist (Medium)
• It's one more way to save at the grocery store - so why isn't unit pricing mandatory (CBC)
• In the city that never sleeps, some doors now close at 10pm (NYT)
• Grocery delivery startups with low margins might drop IPO dreams for M&A reality (Tech Crunch)
• Why bananas have avoided inflation - so far (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Market share (Morgan Stanley)
• Looking for the next big culinary trend? Follow FoodTok (Globe and Mail)
• The evolution of U.S. retail concentration (BLS)
• A GMO purple tomato is coming to grocery aisles (Wired)
• The shift to remote work: How workers in Canada are adapting to working from home (Future Skills Centre)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Wine industry iconoclast Fred Franzia dies at 79 (Wine Spectator)
• Amazon to fund raises for delivery drivers amid tight labour market (WSJ)
• How Europe's CPG leaders can navigate inflation (McKinsey)
• California sues Amazon, alleging antitrust violations inflated prices and stifled competition (WSJ)
• From the archives (1998): A Pictou empire (Maclean's)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Michelin Guide awards 13 Toronto restaurants with prestigious stars (Globe and Mail)
• Billionaire no more: Patagonia founder gives away the company (NYT)
• Zara billionaire Ortega bets $700 million on U.S. warehouses (Bloomberg)
• Aldi becomes fourth largest U.K. supermarket (BBC)
• PM aims to give inflation relief to low-income Canadians with $4.6 billion package (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Kanye West is done with Corporate America, will go it alone (Bloomberg)
• Reducing food loss: What food retailers and manufacturers can do (McKinsey)
• Amazon wanted a Lord of the Rings show. It turned to Frodo and Sam (WSJ)
• SkipTheDishes lays off as many as 350 employees, latest in food delivery downturn (Globe and Mail)
• Starting a CRISPR revolution isn't enough (The Atlantic)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Quiet quitting & strategy (Medium)
• The olive oil capital of the world is parched (NYT)
• U.S. heat wave hits supermarkets' produce sections (WSJ)
• Curbside pickup is here to stay and retailers are going all in (Washington Post)
• New Starbucks CEO to learn ropes alongside Howard Schultz (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Dr. Amazon will see you now (WSJ)
• France clamps down on delivery depot 'dark stores' (BBC)
• Can Japan feed itself (FT)
• What happened to Amazon Prime two-day shipping (Vox)
• What's keeping women from management roles (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The illusion of knowledge (Oaktree Capital)
• Target CEO to stay three more years in bid for stability (Reuters)
• Amazon really believed it could sell you a health care fantasy (NYT)
• Inside Bed Bath & Beyond, concerns over mounting stress for CFO (WSJ)
• From the archives (1998): Kraft being sold to Philip Morris for $13.1 billion (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Waitrose admits blocking rivals from opening nearby after CMA investigation (The Guardian)
• CVS agrees to buy home healthcare company Signify  for $8 billion (WSJ)
• Travis Kalanick quietly expands kitchen venture across Latin America (FT)
• Why you should warn customers when you're running low on stock (HBR)
• Indigo founder Heather Reisman becomes executive chair, Peter Ruis named new CEO (Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy for generating trial (Medium)
• Yeti coolers are luxury goods for bros (The Atlantic)
• Chobani withdraws IPO plans after yogurt maker filed in November to go public (CNBC)
• The unlikely rise of Slim Pickens, the first Black-owned outdoors retailer in the country (Texas Monthly)
• Starbucks is rethinking almost everything, including how to make frappuccinos (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Canada's economic growth lags expectations, but unlikely to deter another BoC rate hike (Globe and Mail)
• The people's republic of Shein (NYT)
• Droughts hurt world's largest economies (WSJ)
• Sam's Club raises membership fee for the first time in nine years (CNBC)
• Strategic courage in an age of volatility (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Why Totino's needs 25 ways to make pizza rolls (NYT)
• Bed Bath & Beyond to cut jobs, close stores in bid to reverse losses (Reuters)
• Couche-Tard sees better environment for M&A as it seeks out next big deal (Globe and Mail)
• Foreign candy puts American candy to shame (The Atlantic)
• From the archives (2017): Not all moats are created equal (Morningstar)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The startups racing to shake up the baby formula industry (Intelligencer)
• Mushrooms are growing on publishing, fashion, Hollywood (WSJ)
• Breakfast belongs on the back-to-school menu (Globe and Mail)
• Algonquin Power & Utilities appoints Darren Myer as CFO (Newswire)
• Canada's critical minerals strategy discussion paper (Government of Canada)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• California fast food wages would be set by government under bill set by state legislature (WSJ)
• Would you take out a loan to buy this week's groceries (NYT)
• Ottawa urged to label alcohol after report links moderate use to increased risk of cancer, other fatal illnesses (Globe and Mail)
• It's not just you - Blank Street coffee is suddenly inescapable (NYT)
• Could removing best before dates help reduce inflation and food waste (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Why planning over strategy (Medium)
  
• Behind every Trader Joe's sign is a working artist that painted it (Washington Post)
• How Canadians are coping with rising grocery bills (Globe and Mail)
• How Whole Foods has changed in the five years since Amazon took over (CNBC)
• Meta and Jio launch grocery shopping on WhatsApp in India (Tech Crunch)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Strategy making in turbulent times (HBR)
• Why it may be a good time to ditch dairy (Globe and Mail)
• Dollar stores report higher sales as shoppers seek inflation relief (NYT)
• The future of private labels: Towards a smart private label strategy (Science Direct)
• Big beliefs (Collaborative Fund)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Amazon to shut down Amazon Care telehealth unit (WSJ)
• Peloton will sell fitness apparel and equipment on Amazon (NYT)
• Should your company sell on Amazon (HBR)
• The rocky road of running an ice cream truck this summer (WSJ)
• From the archives (1981): Sears to purchase Dean Witter in plan to offer financial services (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Stop undervaluing exceptional women (HBR)
• The nation that gave the world avocado toast now has too many avocados (WSJ)
• The history and future of crisis management (McKinsey)
• Bed Bath & Beyond clinches loan deal (WSJ)
• Donald Sobey's sexual assault of a young man was an open secret. Now his victim is finally telling his story (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Instacart revenue growth accelerates ahead of planned IPO (WSJ)
• Ben & Jerry's loses bid to halt sales in West Bank (Reuters)
• Meme stock's big bet on Bed Bath & Beyond (The Atlantic)
• Tip-flation has some restaurants asking for up to 30% in tips (CBC)
• Pizza? Bagels? Nope - you need Banh Mi to get employees back into the office (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: What would have to be true (Medium)
• Weak business investment threatens Canadian prosperity (CD Howe Institute)
• Amazon among bidders for Signify Health (WSJ)
• Canadian agtech Vive raises $26 million as 'farmaceutical' nanotechnology wins over growers (Globe and Mail)
• Amazon's acquisition of the Roomba is dangerous (The Atlantic)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• How the chile became hot (NYT)
• Inflation is hitting middle-income Canadian families the hardest (Globe and Mail)
• Global food security: New risks and disruptions (McKinsey)
• Drink more alcohol, Japan tells young people (NYT)
• Using analytics to address inflation risks and strengthen competitive positioning (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Demand for Italian beef is booming. Thank 'The Bear' (NYT)
• Reality catches up (Collaborative Fund)
• HBC to resurrect Zellers with outlets inside Bay stores by end of year (Globe and Mail)
• While English and French are still the main languages spoken in Canada, linguistic diversity continues to grow (Statistics Canada)
• From the archives (1988): Chicago's Brennan brothers (Chicago Tribune)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Tencent plans to divest Meituan stake worth $24 billion (Reuters)
• Walmart, after lowering expectations, reports rise in sales (NYT)
• MEC to open stores within select Hudson's Bay stores to expand reach (Globe and Mail)
• At salvage stores, the fan base for food deals grow (NYT)
• FTC probe hounding Bezos, execs; subpoenas too broad, Amazon says (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Africa's cold rush and the promise of refrigeration (The New Yorker)
• For Lululemon, men's pants are a secret to success (WSJ)
• Daily milk drinking linked to higher prostrate cancer risk, new study shows (Globe and Mail)
• Walmart strikes streaming deal with Paramount (CNBC)
• Restaurant meals become a relative bargain as grocery prices soar (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: What makes for a great strategist (Medium)
• The lipstick index is back (CNBC)
• Four ways to achieve pricing excellence in retail marketplaces (McKinsey)
• What the great mayonnaise inflation mystery can tell us about inflation (Bloomberg)
• Critics accuse Canada's grocers of greed-flation but quarterly earnings suggest otherwise (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• The Great Resignation has arrived in Canada (Globe and Mail)
• Why aren't more Canadians switching jobs (Globe and Mail)
• Purina's Fancy Feast opens NYC restaurant for humans (Grub Street)
• How Costco invented Kirkland Signature (CNN)
• Why 'box fatigue' may be hitting the apparel industry (CNBC)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Does ESG still matter - and why (McKinsey)
• Metro shoppers 'trading down' as inflation weighs, executives say retailer absorbing some cost increases (Globe and Mail)
• The work-from-home revolution is also a trap for women (Bloomberg)
• Amazon begins large-scale rollout of palm print-based payments (Ars Technica)
• From the archives (2007): Slippery business: The trade in adulterated olive oil (The New Yorker)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The new J. Crew (GQ)
• Fairfax proposed taking Swiss Chalet owner Recipe Unlimited private in $1.2 billion deal (Globe and Mail)
• Ben & Jerry's tells court that Unilever could undermine its social mission (WSJ)
• Robot arms are replacing shelf stockers in Japan's stores (Bloomberg)
• The dinner tab has soared. Here are all the reasons (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Untangling value proposition and competitive advantage (Medium)
• Walmart lays off corporate employees after slashing forecast (CNBC)
• How one grocery chain in Pennsylvania is preparing for a downturn (WSJ)
• Win the town to win the future of retail (BCG)
• McDonald's customers love salads - who knew? (WSJ)