Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Hudson's Bay shakeup to see return of Liz Robell as president and CEO (Globe and Mail)
• The McDonald's theory of why everyone thinks the economy sucks (Nate Silver)
• Retailers worry about shoppers' mood this holiday season (NYT)
• A strange, short journey through Shein's world (The Verge)
• Can you trust a robot with your holidays hopping (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Scientists and farmers race to save the world's banana supply (Bloomberg)
• Fast fashion giant Shein files to go public (WSJ)
• Americans love avocados. It's killing Mexico's forests (NYT)
• Scientists are turning basically everything into gluten-free pasta (The Atlantic)
• E-commerce stocks rally after Black Friday shoppers spend record online (CNBC)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Playing to win & pivoting (Medium)
• The biggest delivery company in the U.S. is no longer UPS or FedEx (WSJ)
• Mastermind Toys granted creditor protection, plans to close stores (Globe and Mail)
• Will livestreaming be TikTok's Amazon-killer (WSJ)
• Owners keep zombie malls alive even when towns want to pull the plug (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• The FTC puts your lunch on its plate (Politico)
• American shoppers have plenty of dry powder (WSJ)
• Retailers worry about shoppers' mood this holiday season (NYT)
• Inside Lego's quest for the next hit toy set (WSJ)
• Toy shoppers come down with a case of the holiday blahz (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• At 40, J. Crew shakes off a midlife crisis (NYT)
• \How Walmart is leveraging AI and automation to deliver faster (WSJ)
• How healthy is your gut microbiome (NYT)
• The juicy secrets behind food styling (NYT)
• From the archives (2020): Reviving agricultural innovation in seeds and crop protection (BCG)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Why several big box stores have ditched their self-checkouts (CBC)
• It's too easy to buy stuff you don't want (The Atlantic)
• Temu is burning cash to challenge Shein and Amazon on Black Friday (Wired)
• Labour group plans board fight at Starbucks (WSJ)
• HBC sells off $340 million in real estate as it falls behind on payments to suppliers (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Are Canada's food giants finally stabilizing prices (The Star)
• Cathie Wood and Walmart aren't speaking the same deflation language (Bloomberg)
• Canada's inflation rate slowed to 3.1% in October (Globe and Mail)
• Middle-aisle mayhem: How Aldi and Lidl changed British shopping (The Guardian)
• Canada's debt charges are ballooning as Freeland tables a gloomy fall economic statement (CBC)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Being fired - repeatedly. (Medium)
• Who chooses the world's colour of the year (The Hustle)
• At Lululemon, being Black is 'off-brand' (Business of Fashion)
• How Starbucks lost the top spot in China's coffee race (WSJ)
• Carlyle exits China McDonald's stake with 6.7x return (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• The Estee Lauder family built a beauty empire. A succession rift threatens it (WSJ)
• Nitrogen wars: The Dutch farmers' revolt that turned a nation upside down (The Guardian)
• At McDonald's, a growing appetite for fashion (NYT)
• No Frills reaches deal with Unifor workers to avert strike at 17 Ontario stores (Globe and Mail)
• Bargain hunters set to drive record Black Friday (BCG)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Here's why a New York City lobster roll (with fries) costs $32 (NYT)
• Why everyone you know is wearing On running shoes (Washington Post)
• U.S. giant Mars to buy Britain's Hotel Chocolat for $662 million (Reuters)
• FTC cracks down on food industry for paid dietitian 'influencer' posts (Washington Post)
• From the archives (2000): U.K.'s Tesco, Asda try to make online groceries more profitable (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Loblaw profit rises more than 11% as grocery, drug store sales continue to climb (Globe and Mail)
• The corner lot where all the world's Vegemite comes from (NYT)
• Furniture retailer Bad Boy to file for bankruptcy over financial troubles, debts to vendors (Globe and Mail)
• How China took over the world's online shopping carts (Rest of World)
• Metro sales, profit rise as shoppers flock to grocer's discount banners (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Dietary guidelines may soon warn against ultra-processed foods (Washington Post)
• How to hijack a quarter of a million dollars worth of rare Kit Kats (NYT)
• Target tries to find its mark after a year of misfires (WSJ)
• General Atlantic to buy majority stake in Joe & the Juice (Bloomberg)
• Can tequila really go global? This booze boss is giving it a shot (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy for natural monopolies (Medium)
• Food delivery apps catering to Chinese speakers deliver a piece of home (NYT)
• A grocery chain just fired its self checkouts (NYT)
• Amazon to expand grocery delivery, resume supermarket openings (Bloomberg)
• The fruit aisle is getting trippy (The Atlantic)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Why is coffee so expensive (Washington Post)
• Our world of organizations (Henry Mintzberg)
• The biggest 'shrinkflation' scandal yet: Oreo fans think cookies have less filling (WSJ)
• Can friction improve your customers' experiences (MIT Sloan Management Review)
• The global wellness industry is now worth $5.6 billion (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• How farmers are teaching old tractors to think for themselves (WSJ)
• Do big companies cut dividends to grow (McKinsey)
• Canadian Tire laying off 3% of its work force, cutting costs as economic pressures hit consumers (Globe and Mail)
• Holiday shopping 2023: Consumer caution and retailer resilience (McKinsey)
• From the archives (2017): Fresh, ready-to-go food fuels Farm Boy's growth (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon dedicates team to train ambitious AI model codenamed 'Olympus' (Reuters)
• Indigo reports $22.4 million second quarter loss as consumers pull back (Globe and Mail)
• Shein targets up to $90 billion valuation in US IPO (Bloomberg)
• How Germany got hooked on Canadian maple syrup (Globe and Mail)
• Aldi and Lidl are now just as middle class as other UK grocers (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Amazon's drones are delivering cans of soup (NYT)
  
• It's time to define your company's principles (HBR)
• What is Erewhon? The strange history of the LA cult grocer (The Cut)
• Disney hires veteran Pepsico finance chief Hugh Johnston as CFO (CNBC)
• Innovative growers: A view from the top (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The work and workings of leadership teams (Medium)
• Retailers brace for drop in holiday spending as stretched Canadian consumers pull back (Globe and Mail)
• All stores want for Christmas is the right amount of stuff (WSJ)
• Companies are a lot more willing to raise prices - and it's making inflation worse (CBC)
• LVMH to buy eyewear brand favoured by the stars (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Sweet tasting proteins could be the cure for your diet soda habit (proto.lite)
• Restaurant industry facing bleak outlook, as costs mount even faster than skyrocketing prices (CBC)
• Jeff Bezos urged Amazon to flood search results with junk ads, FTC alleges (CNBC)
• Starbucks gets U.S. sales bump as Pumpkin Spice Latte returns (Reuters)
• No tip for your delivery driver? Then be prepared to wait, DoorDash says (NYT)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Where is the brand growth potential? An examination of buyer groups (Byron Sharp)
• 10 things I know about food - that people don't want to believe (Washington Post)
• The 'Ozempic effect' on Wall Street has gone overboard (WSJ)
• Years into a climate disaster, these people are eating the unthinkable (Washington Post)
• From the archives (2010): How Sobeys is taking on Loblaw (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• AB InBev beats forecast, but Bud Light boycott continues to hit U.S. revenues (CNBC)
• Why pharmacy workers at CVS and Walgreens are protesting (NYT)
• Chains are using theft to mask other issues, report says (CNN)
• Canadian Tire buys back stake in financial services arm of Bank of Nova Scotia for $895 million (Globe and Mail)
• The junk is winning (The Atlantic)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Why Aldi is the fastest-growing grocer in the U.S. (WSJ)
• The power of partnership: How the CEO-CMO relationship can drive outsized growth (McKinsey)
• The apple-picking apocalypse of upstate New York (NYT)
• Sainsbury's declares it is winning back Aldi and Lidl customers (The Guardian)
• Instacart's delicious little secret (The Information)