Stephan's Thursday Picks

• London's Oxford Street battles new retail scourge: Candy stores (WSJ)
• Online ratings are broken (The Atlantic)
• How continuous learning keeps leaders relevant in the age of AI (MIT Sloan)
• Governments have put $1 billion toward making better meat alternatives. A lot more is needed (Vox)
• Metro and Unifor reach tentative deal with grocery workers' union after monthlong strike (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• America is draining its groundwater like there's no tomorrow (NYT)
• Southern Ontario's greenhouse operators warn lack of infrastructure is slowing down growth in booming sector (Globe and Mail)
• At the top, it's all about teamwork (Bain)
• Chinese robot waiters fuel Korean anxiety over labour shortages (FT)
• Best Buy sales drop on falling demand for electronics, appliances (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Performance measurement transparency (Medium)
• Climate change is coming for your olive oil (Fast Company)
• Heating waters force change in industries that rely on the ocean (WSJ)
• Supermarkets are being asked to cut plastic waste. What would that look like (CBC)
• Consumers are spending like it's 2019 (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Eater. Resy. Blackbird? (Grub Street)
• Instacart IPO filing arrives with red flags (Bloomberg)
• Kleenex pulling out of Canadian market (CBC)
• The company that created a return-to-office plan that employees actually like (WSJ)
• A centuries-old bean is making a comeback in the form of vegan ice cream (CBC)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Walmart, Diesel, and Hugo Boss face federal probe for alleged sale of items made with forced labour (Globe and Mail)
• Subway sandwich chain agrees to sale to Roark Capital (WSJ)
• Shein strikes deal with fast fashion retailer Forever 21 that will expand reach of both brands (CNBC)
• Bud Light continues marketing blitz with 'relatable' NFL push (WSJ)
• From the archives (1934): Report of the Royal Commission of Price Spreads (Canada)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• How stores sucked the fun out of going shopping (Vox)
• Hudson's Bay ramps up rewards program with app and personalized offers (Financial Post)
• A bright spot in commercial real estate: retail shops (WSJ)
• No longer niche: Climate-conscious purchasing in Canada (BCG)
• Dick's Sporting Goods, Macy's, flash warning signs on U.S. consumer spending (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Kraft Heinz sees a $25 billion opportunity - in schools (WSJ)
• The price of sauce (The Atlantic)
• How Kroger became the biggest sushi seller in America (WSJ)
• Olive oil prices soar as climate change-related catastrophes shrink Mediterranean harvest (Globe and Mail)
• Subway Sandwich chain nears sale (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The downside of go-to-market strategy (Medium)
• Instacart plans for US IPO as early as September (Bloomberg)
• Parmesan producers fight fakes with microtransponders (The Guardian)
• Retailers are fleeing downtown San Francisco. IKEA is moving in (WSJ)
• Inside Quebec's crumbling pork empire (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Sam's Club's war against Costco started with $1.38 hot dog combo (Bloomberg)
• Sustainability in packaging 2023 (McKinsey)
• Unifor refuses Metro's request for a mediator as Ontario grocery strike continues (Globe and Mail)
• Are chatbots a threat to fine dining (The Guardian)
• Using a credit card? At these restaurants it will cost you (NYT)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The life and death of the Amazon brands (Intelligencer)
• What happens to all the stuff we return (The New Yorker)
• LCBO customer data hacked for a second time this year (Globe and Mail)
• Aldi to acquire Winn-Dixie and Harvey's Supermarket to continue growth in the Southeast (Aldi)
• From the archives (2008): Aldi grocery stores: The allure of plain vanilla (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The sriracha shortage is a very bad sign (The Atlantic)
• Canada's inflation rate ticks up to 3.3% in July, raising odds of September hike (Globe and Mail)
• U.S. sunscreen is stuck in the 90s. Is this a job for Congress (NYT)
• Target sales are punished by Pride Month backlash (WSJ)
• B.C. seafood producers, conservation groups, wary of marine heat wave (Globe and Mail) 

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• What happens when you let a chatbot plan your meals (WSJ)
• A brief history of the corporate presentation (MIT Technology Review)
• The best boxed Mac and Cheese for no-sweat meals (WSJ)
• In retail's top echelons, female CEOs lose a bit of ground (NYT)
• 5-Hour Energy founder to buy majority stake in Sports Illustrated publisher (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy, strategy everywhere (Medium)
• A Japanese candy tasted like nothing. So why do people miss it (NYT)
• Amazon wants you to pay with your palm. It's a sneak attack on Apple and Google (WSJ)
• It interest in meatless burgers is waning, how can plant-based eating be sustained (CBC)
• Restaurants and supermarkets are brawling over your dollar (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Direct-to-consumer in appliances: A strategic growth opportunity (McKinsey)
• Birth, death, and wealth creation (Morgan Stanley)
• Amazon cuts dozens of house brands as it battles costs, regulators (WSJ)
• The triple play: Growth, profit, and sustainability (McKinsey)
• Amazon wants to deliver your next package without the box (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• L'Occitane's boss in advanced talks on $6.5 billion buyout (Bloomberg)
• Metro reports jump in sales, profit as Toronto-area strike continues (Globe and Mail)
• A few stories about decisions (Collaborative Fund)
• Canadian Tire reports profit, revenue drop in quarter, withdraws three-year forecast (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2010): Loblaw COO leaves to head British grocer (CBC)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• MIT's Zeynep Ton on the case for good jobs (McKinsey)
• Fast food customers are giving up on dining in (WSJ)
• This scorching summer is taking a toll on your favourite foods (Wired)
• Amazon's grocery business needs a massive makeover (Bloomberg)
• Are cooking videos making us better cooks (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Why nobody can seem to solve Canada's cybersecurity problem (Globe and Mail)
• The chief strategy officer's evolving role (McKinsey)
• Amazon delivers surprisingly strong profit as retail business improves (WSJ)
• Profits did not cause inflation, Bank of Canada researchers contend (Globe and Mail)
• Campbell Soup to acquire Rao's parent company for $2.7 billion (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The strategy lesson from the Bud Light fiasco (Medium)
• Why India's rice ban could trigger a global food crisis (BBC)
• Amazon expands virtual clinic to all 50 states in health push (Amazon)
• Canada's pork industry faces a painful reckoning (Globe and Mail)
• RBC to offer Taylor Swift pre-sale tickets, for her six Canadian concerts, opening loyalty program to non-customers (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Enjoy alcohol, without the hangover (WSJ)
• Amazon unveils biggest grocery overhaul since buying Whole Foods (Bloomberg)
• How people shop for groceries internationally (The Guardian)
• The economic impact of Walmart Supercenters (Annual Review)
• From the archives (2017): Who killed Sears Canada (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Whose fault is obesity? Primarily the food industry's (Washington Post)
• Erewhon, the cult favourite luxury grocer to the stars, gets a digital makeover (Fast Company)
• Local malls, stuck in 'death spiral', plunge in value (WSJ)
• Metro workers vow to stay 'off the job' as long as it takes as strike enters 3rd day (CBC)
• Amazon mastered the internet. Grocery stores are another story (Washington Post)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Rocks and bugs: A week of recalls for Trader Joe's (WSJ)
• Birkenstock owner plans September IPO at $8 billion value (Bloomberg)
• TikTok pivots towards shoppable content (The Atlantic)
• Fast fashion aims to mend its image with repairs (WSJ)
• Avion rewards program expands to customers that don't bank with RBC (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: How Brands Grow & Playing to Win (Medium)
• Shein and Temu ramp up war for U.S. shoppers (WSJ)
• The rise and fall of Bud Light (The Atlantic)
• The perils of highly processed food (The New Yorker)
• A multi-lens approach to finding growth in consumer brands (McKinsey)