Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Jobs to be assigned (Medium)
• Has the craft beer industry's keg finally kicked (NYT)
• Why is soda so popular again (The Cut)
• No one has to settle for bad pizza anymore (The Atlantic)
• Why US department stores have most to fear as credit card debt soars (FT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• The epic mess at TGI Fridays (WSJ)
• Why coffee prices are soaring (again) (NYT)
• How a $12.98 t-shirt is made in America - at a profit (WSJ)
• The great American alcohol debate (FT)
• As tariffs loom, how one retailer aims to keep prices low on Asics and Nikes (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The luxury makeover of the worst pastry on earth (The Atlantic)
• The Walmart effect (The Atlantic)
• Holiday sales reveal a split in consumer spending (WSJ)
• Boxing Day retailers see smaller crowds, cautious spending this year despite GST break (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2012): Wal-Mart outlines strategy (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The dangers of locking and loading (Medium)
• Are Amazon's drones finally ready for prime time (NYT)
• Thoughts on 'consumer culture' for the last-minute shopper (Bloomberg)
• Nordstrom family reaches $4 billion deal to take retailer private (WSJ)
• How a viral TikTok video led to a year-long global shortage of Swedish candy (CBC)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Why online returns are a hassle now (The Atlantic)
• Party City to close all stores by February, company says (NYT)
• What consumers want from personalization (BCG)
• H&M's comeback plan: Try to be cooler (WSJ)
• Canadian Tire tightens recruiting roles for temporary foreign workers (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Why India's food is the best in the world (Bloomberg)
• Oreo owner Mondelez taps AI to tweak its classic snacks (WSJ)
• Walmart's 82% surge leaves retail foes big and small in the dust (Bloomberg)
• The dynasty behind Walmart passes some control to the next generation of heirs (WSJ)
• From the archives (1992): Planet of the M&M's (Washington Post)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• A 7-Eleven heirs $50 billion fight to keep the company in the family (NYT)
• Albertsons is mad at Kroger (Bloomberg)
• Nearly a fifth of Canada's food production facilities deemed low risk without being assessed, data reveal (Globe and Mail)
• Walmart has a tough battle ahead in India (Bloomberg)
• Why Christmas trees in Europe are so much cheaper than in Canada (CBC)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• What killed a $20 billion merger? Albertsons says Kroger did (WSJ)
• The secret history of risotto (The New Yorker)
• Inflation is coming down, but prices won't stand still in 2025 (Bloomberg)
• Canada's inflation rate edges down to 1.9% (CBC)
• Lego flowers are a hot holiday gift for kids, adults (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• GST break begins with business owners frustrated at the last-minute measure (Globe and Mail)
• Americans are stockpiling to get ahead of tariffs (WSJ)
• The $1 billion cookie empire that teens love and parents hate (WSJ)
• Tiff Macklem on kicking inflation, tariffs, and uncertainty ahead (Globe and Mail)
• Not falling for the old McRib ruse? Then why are there 12 in your freezer (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Sobeys parent Empire sticks with bet on full-service stores despite discount trend (Globe and Mail)
• You can buy a car on Amazon now (Wired)
• Lina Khan goes out with a bang (The Atlantic)
• An algorithm was supposed to fix Canada's food safety system. Instead, it missed a deadly listeria outbreak (Globe and Mail)
• Shopping shouldn't be instantaneous (The Atlantic)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Martha Stewart's empire monetized more than just domesticity (Bloomberg)
• Macy's probe found employee acted alone in $151 million accounting scandal (WSJ)
• Hershey's main owner rejects Mondelez's offer as too low (Bloomberg)
• Failure of Kroger-Albertsons merger may curb grocers' advertising ambitions (WSJ)
• From the archives (2016): Back-stabbing and threats of a 'suicide parachute' at Hershey (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Leaders shouldn't try to do it all (HBR)
• Walgreens is in talks to sell itself to private equity firm Sycamore Partners (WSJ)
• Why is it so hard for clothing resale platforms to make money (Bloomberg)
• Albertsons sues Kroger, terminates merger after judge blocks supermarket megadeal (WSJ)
• Bank of Canada cuts rate by half point, signals 'more gradual' approach to further easing (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Ozempic killed diet and exercise (The Atlantic)
• How an app selling second-hand clothes went from near collapse to worth $5 billion (WSJ)
• The state of grocery retail in Latin America (McKinsey)
• Kroger-Albertsons merger blocked by the courts (WSJ)
• Trump won't be able to save the struggling US beef industry (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Identifiability and segmentation strategy (Medium)
• Mondelez made a takeover approach for Hershey, sources say (CNBC)
• One of Japan's great sushi masters is working, quietly, in Manhattan (NYT)
• Canadian Tire to keep 100% of financial services division after review (Globe and Mail)
• Tricked by a fake viral food product? You've just been snackfished (Wired)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Canada's unemployment rate jumps to near eight-year high in November at 6.8% (Globe and Mail)
• How America lost its taste for the middle (The Atlantic)
• Frasers to launch takeover bid for Norwegian sports retailer XXL (WSJ)
• A menu for success in a challenging restaurant market (BCG)
• Ulta Beauty raises outlook amid financial discipline push, sees 'transitional' year ahead (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• CEO of the year: All hail the almighty Dollarama (Globe and Mail)
• Why everybody is drinking Guinness (NYT)
• Amazon deliveries are slower in low-income D.C. zip codes, lawsuit says (Washington Post)
• Campbell's new chief inherits strengthened business, but big challenges loom (WSJ)
• From the archives (2012): How Dollarama turns chump change into billions (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Ms. Rachel's improbable journey from toddler whisperer to holiday toy story (NYT)
• How raw milk went from hippie to MAGA (The Intelligencer)
• How Amazon delivers packages within a day (NYT)
• Dollarama expedites growth plans to 2,200 stores by 2034 (Globe and Mail)
• European nongrocery retail: Transition and transformation (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Unilever CEO looking to sell food brands with $1 billion in sales (Reuters)
• The great grocery squeeze (The Atlantic)
• Amazon announces supercomputer, new server powered by homegrown AI chips (WSJ)
• Whole Foods chases shoppers with minimarket concept (WSJ)
• From Pong to Pokémon, a history of holiday 'it' toys (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy & branding (Medium)
• The most hated way of firing someone is more popular than ever (WSJ)
• With discounts on offer, shoppers begin to bite (NYT)
• Buy now before tariffs hit, retailers are telling shoppers (WSJ)
• As cash fades, small retailers embrace efforts to rein in swipe fees (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• The sand wars dividing cranberry growers and their neighbours (WSJ)
• At 7-Eleven, Couche-Tard wins by losing out (Globe and Mail)
• How Harry & David gest 20,000 pears to doorsteps for the holidays (WSJ)
• Grupo Bimbo suing Maple Leaf Foods for more than $2 billion over alleged bread price fixing probe (Globe and Mail)
• Shoppers fight back as retailers crack down on returns (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Delivering the strategy: The COO agenda (McKinsey)
• Target's slide from cheap chic to dull chore (WSJ)
• Licking this 'lollipop' will allow you to taste virtual flavours (Ars Technica)
• Kohl's CEO gives a mea culpa (WSJ)
• From the archives (2016): How a hedge fund saved Olive Garden by fixing its breadsticks (Vanity Fair)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Taylor Swift's new Era's tour book might be Target's Black Friday megahit (WSJ)
• Beef prices hit record high at the grocery store - and on the ranch too (CBC)
• Amazon's moonshot plan to rival Nvidia in AI chips (Bloomberg)
• Businesses face stiff competition for price-sensitive holidays hoppers (Globe and Mail)
• Walmart, once eager to promote diversity, pulls back amid conservative pressure (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Amazon invests $4 billion in Anthropic, deepening its A.I. ties (NYT)
• Are value meals worth it for restaurants (WSJ)
• Why luxury cheese is being targeted by black market criminals (BBC)
• These bricks-and-mortar stores are thriving in an online world (WSJ)
• Inside your body, aging unfolds at remarkably different rates (Washington Post)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Generating strategy possibilities (Medium)
• Macy's discovers employee hid millions in delivery expenses (NYT)
• A nostalgic tour of the New York department store (The Strategist)
• The shopping method that isn't going anywhere (The Atlantic)
• The hidden truth linking the broken border to your online shopping cart (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Maple Leaf Foods suing Canada  Bread, parent company, for defamation related to alleged price-fixing scheme (Globe and Mail)
• Instacart CEO says Wall Street undervalues grocery tech bet (Bloomberg)
• McCain's Max Koeune is building the farm of the future (Globe and Mail)
• Asda appoints former boss Leighton to help turn struggling retailer around (Bloomberg)
• Annual beauty advent calendar craze is changing how cosmetics brands court new shoppers (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Trudeau announces two-month partial GST holiday, $250 cheques for many Canadians (Globe and Mail)
• How Froot Loops landed at the centre of U.S. food politics (WSJ)
• Don't get out of the points game, says the Points Guy (Bloomberg)
• Walmart and Target: A tale of two retailers (WSJ)
• From the archives (2010): Tesco's triumphs under Sir Terry (BBC)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Metro plans to open more discount stores next as inflation-hit shoppers hunt for value (Globe and Mail)
• Target's stock plunges 21% on weak sales ahead of holiday season (NYT)
• Alleged potato cartel accused of conspiring to raise prices of frozen fries, tater tots across U.S. (CBC)
• Ozempic could crush the junk food industry. But it is fighting back (NYT)
• Canada's largest bottled water producer to pull out of Ontario (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Robots struggle to match workers on 'really hard' jobs (NYT)
• Walmart raises outlook on strong spending from value-seekers (Bloomberg)
• Blackstone strikes deal for Jersey Mike's subs (WSJ)
• CVS strikes deal with activist Glenview Capital for four board seats (CNBC)
• The case against deli meat (Grub Street)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Racing to the bottom (Medium)
• Delivery Hero aims to raise around $1.5 billion in Talabat IPO (WSJ)
• Jose Andres aims to transform dining. This time, at the airport (NYT)
• What we can learn from chicken economics (Bloomberg)
• For decades, installing E.V. chargers didn't pay off for retailers. Now it does (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• 7-Eleven owner considers going private in Japan's biggest $58 billion buyout (Bloomberg)
• The 25 most influential cookbooks over the last 100 years (NYT)
• Amazon Haul is an omen (The Atlantic)
• Returns are a headache. More retailers are saying 'just keep it' (NYT)
• FedEx's new CEO is charting his own path - in the Smith family's shadow (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Generative AI: The packaging and paper industry's next frontier (McKinsey)
• General Mills to acquire cat food, pet treating business for $1.45 billion (WSJ)
• Ben & Jerry's says parent Unilever silenced it over Gaza stance (Reuters)
• Marc Lore's startup Wonder to buy Grubhub (WSJ)
• From the archives (2018): Chinese grocery's age of empires (Oliver Wyman)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Loblaw to cut prices at Shoppers Drug Mart as customers pull back (Globe and Mail)
• 7-Eleven owner receives buyout offer from founder's son (WSJ)
• Amazon launches online digital storefront to better compete with Shein and Temu (Globe and Mail)
• The case for wine with less alcohol - and fewer calories (WSJ)
• Canada's government intervenes to end port shutdowns (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The secret world of Aldi Australia (The Guardian)
• The state of fashion 2025 (McKinsey)
• Alcohol brands tap the art world to woo younger drinkers (NYT)
• Amazon targets delivery operations in bid for bigger grocery business (WSJ)
• Many retailers offer 'returnless refunds'. Just don't ask them to say for which products (AP)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy on rugged landscapes (Medium)
• Galen Weston on facing his critics and changing Canada's economic narrative (The Logic)
• Voice of the global farmer 2024 (McKinsey)
• A food allergy fix hiding in plain sight (The Atlantic)
• Asda has 'slightly lost the plot', says supermarket's chair Stuart Rose (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Walmart's antidote to locked-up products: A key on your phone (Bloomberg)
• Spending rebound may be on the way, but consumer sentiment remains low, Canadian Tire CEO says (Globe and Mail)
• Sainsbury's backs guidance on hopes of Argos sales rebound (WSJ)
• A turning point for private brands: How retailers can seize the opportunity (McKinsey)
• Blackstone to take Retail Opportunity Investments private in $4 billion deal (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The next big arenas of competition (McKinsey)
• In praise of ghee (Globe and Mail)
• NielsenIQ considers an IPO at a valuation close to $10 billion (Bloomberg)
• America has an onion problem (The Atlantic)
• From the archives (1995): The political economy of food: A global crisis (Harriet Friedmann)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• In changing climate, retailers turning to weather strategies (Reuters)
• Power and influencers: CEOs on social media (FT)
• Is your 'conglomerate discount' a performance discount or a communication problem (McKinsey)
• Why you can probably ditch fabric softener (Washington Post)
• Amazon CEO denies full in-office mandate is 'backdoor layoff' (Reuters)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Tim Hortons parent misses analysts' estimates as demand slows (Globe and Mail)
• Dollar Tree, squeezed by weak spending, appoints interim CEO (Bloomberg)
• Kroger finalizes $1.37 billion opioid settlement (WSJ)
• Primark owner AB Foods profit rises ahead of expectations (WSJ)
• Bernard Marcus, a billionaire founder of Home Depot, dies at 95 (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The origins of business strategy & Playing to win (Medium)
• Couche-Tard targets more fresh food in 7-Eleven pursuit (WSJ)
• Competition Bureau says preferred pharmacy networks may reduce patient choice (Globe and Mail)
• TGI Fridays files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (NYT)
• Whether 7-Eleven is bought or not, convenience store consolidation looms (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Sainsbury's to rival Aldi prices in smallest stores (BBC)
• It took 3 years to convince Costco to buy her snacks - that was the easy part (WSJ)
• Starbucks CEO promises 4-minute coffee in sales turnaround (Bloomberg)
• Toronto luxury retailers are reviving in-store shopping (Globe and Mail)
• The mysterious fees inflating your grocery bill (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Loblaw, Empire call for end to real estate exclusivity clauses amid Competition Bureau probe (Globe and Mail)
• Per Bank: To improve grocery competition, end all commercial property controls (Globe and Mail)
• Reckitt shares surge after baby formula lawsuit win (WSJ)
• Amazon keeps profit margins in orbit (WSJ)
• From the archives (2022): The baby formula crisis (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Inside the colorful, cultish world of Nerds gummy clusters (NYT)
• Amazon reportedly sets out ultra-low pricing plans for Temu rival store (Globe and Mail)
• Is the Kindle Colorsoft too late? Amazon reveals what took so long to catch up (Wired)
• Big Food is learning to love weight-loss drugs (WSJ)
• Woolworths cuts expectations for Australian food earnings (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• A 'high touch' warehouse for exacting brands (NYT)
• Police investigate 'large-scale' butter stores from Guelph (Globe and Mail)
• Walmart, LCBO are the latest retailers to embrace plastic bags. Environmentalists are concerned (CBC)
• Scammers steal $390,000 of British cheese (NYT)
• Food banks in Newfoundland are so desperate, they're even cutting back on instant coffee (CBC)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Home Depot's 12-foot skeletons spawned an industry of giant Halloween decor (Bloomberg)
• Albertsons taps Donald as sole chairman, Galbato to step down (WSJ)
• How Starbucks became a sugary teen emporium (Bloomberg)
• Gen AI in corporate functions: Looking beyond efficiency gains (McKinsey)
• At Boeing and Starbucks, different problems but similar CEO messages (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• America's newest hit candy is gummy, crunchy, and printing money (WSJ)
• Mr. Bezos went to Washington. But he never arrived (NYT)
• 'Back to Starbucks' could have a retro feel - and valuation (WSJ)
• Efforts to add Maple Leaf Foods to bread-price fixing class action denied (Globe and Mail)
• Coffee price war burns Keurig and Starbucks (WSJ)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Keurig Dr. Pepper to buy energy-drink maker Ghost for over $1 billion (WSJ)
• Canada tightens immigration after years of expansion (NYT)
• Walmart to offer prescription delivery, challenging Amazon (Bloomberg)
• Kroger and Walmart deny 'surge pricing' after adopting digital price tags (NYT)
• From the archives (2018): Keurig to acquire Dr. Pepper Snapple for $19 billion in largest soft-drink deal ever (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Coke, Twinkles, Skittles, and ... whole-grain bread? (The Atlantic)
• Costco has a magazine and it's thriving (NYT)
• How Spindrift broke through the cluttered seltzer space (Bloomberg)
• The quest to save the 'king' of Japanese rice from rising temperatures (NYT)
• Closed for business? Confusion reigns: Canada needs credible immigration anchors (Scotiabank)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Is there still any pop left in California's fight against soda (Politico)
• Nestle says slowdown in rising food costs isn't soothing pinched shoppers (WSJ)
• At the grocery store, blinded by the light of the 'health halo' (NYT)
• The weird history of the barcode (BBC)
• Bed Bath & Beyond stores to return in $25 million partnership with Kirkland's (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Statistical process control and strategy (Medium)
• The old school spy tactics helping to set your grocery prices (WSJ)
• CVS ousts Karen Lynch as CEO and shares fall (NYT)
• The new e-commerce innovation imperative for retailers (BCG)
• The powerful companies driving local drugstores out of business (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• CVS names David Joyner new chief executive (WSJ)
• Canada's dairy farms dump 7 per cent of all milk produced, study contends (Globe and Mail)
• P&G earnings: Sales slip but it holds the line on prices (WSJ)
• Couche-Tard says it won't back down from pursuit of 7-Eleven's owner (Globe and Mail)
• An enclave of wealth mourns the loss of Kmart (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Measuring the moat (Morgan Stanley)
• Shareholder urges 7-Eleven owner to engage in talks with Couche-Tard over takeover offer (Globe and Mail)
• Couche-Tard executives make case to buy Seven & i in Tokyo (Bloomberg)
• Hope stirs in the fight to free the milk and sugar at Starbucks (WSJ)
• From the archives (2004): 7-Eleven plans to move into malls (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday picks

• Walgreens says it will close 1,200 stores (NYT)
• Home Depot is dropping warehouses in a shifting retail market (WSJ)
• Shoplifters gone wild (The Atlantic)
• Amazon joins Big Tech foray into nuclear power (WSJ)
• Project to revive Montreal melon hopes Quebecois nostalgia will bear fruit where others have failed (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Portfolio and performance: Priorities for CPG leaders (McKinsey)
• How U.S. fast food took over the world - and then went local (The Dial)
• Bakers brace for costly Christmas as butter prices surge (Reuters)
• What a crackdown on immigration could mean for cheap milk (NYT)
• Attention Kmart shoppers - it's closing time (NYT)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The strategic choice structuring process - theory and practice (Medium)
• The most miraculous, and overlooked, type of milk (The Atlantic) 
• The scandal of food waste - and how we can stop it (The Guardian)
• Falling earnings put pressure on Seven & i to engage with Couche-Tard's $47 billion offer (Globe and Mail)
• The family that went against the grain - and built a billion-dollar company (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The real value of a digital and AI transformation in CPG (McKinsey)
• IKEA annual sales fall after lowering prices (WSJ)
• Amazon could be forced to treat drivers as employees (NYT)
• 7-Eleven owner plans revamp of non-core businesses amid buyout interest from Couche-Tard (WSJ)
• From the archives (2016): IKEA forever (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• At a Brooklyn warehouse, robots are reshaping the grocery delivery business (WSJ)
• Ontario to allow sales of fortified wines like port and sherry in convenience stores (CBC
• Gen Z and millennials go to wine bars for the vibes, as well as for the wine (NYT)
• How Walmart's Donna Morris manages the largest work force in America (NYT)
• Couche-Tard sharply raises its offer for 7-Eleven owner to $47 billion (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Geoffrey Hinton, who warned of AI's dangers, co-wins the Nobel Prize in Physics (Globe and Mail)
• Shein's founder heads to U.S. to meet with investors ahead of London IPO (WSJ)
• Rotting rice in India fuels discontent over Modi's food policy (Bloomberg)
• How e-commerce is making China's deflation worse (NYT)
• The battle over robots at U.S. ports is on (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The signs of a good CEO (Medium)
• Amazon and Temu's new battleground: Winning over sellers (WSJ)
• How online retailers can avoid costly out-of-stock issues (HBR)
• Sometimes the best restaurant is inside the grocery store (NYT)
• Winemaker Duckhorn agrees to be taken private in $1.95 billion deal (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Can a neon-blue gummy worm cocktail save the movies (NYT)
• How far would you go for a single bite (NYT)
• We're drowning in reusable bags. Are bag profits preventing big grocers from adopting sustainable solutions (CBC)
• The price of private equity may be too high for Asda (FT)
• The airline retailing opportunity (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Families are shrinking as people have fewer children - or none at all (CBC)
• Boar's Head disaster shows the price of deregulation (Bloomberg)
• Behold dairy lobby's power, as Bloc holds Liberals hostage over supply management (Globe and Mail)
• How Bogg bags, the Crocs of totes, won over America's moms (Bloomberg)
• From the archives (2017): The many failings of supply management are the government's problems, not the farmers' (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Walmart's terrible, horrible, no-good, very badly timed JD.com block trade (FT)
• FTC can proceed with its antitrust claims against Amazon, judge rules (Washington Post)
• CVS, considering a breakup, will find its hard to do (WSJ)
• Canadian Tire store in Toronto under investigation for alleged mistreatment of temporary foreign workers (Globe and Mail)
• The Whole Foods 'Chantilly Gate' saga shows complaining works sometimes (Eater)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• CVS explores options including breakup, sources say (Reuters)
• PepsiCo nears deal for tortilla chip maker Siete Foods (WSJ)
• Meet the star of Sushi-Con: A 400-pound tuna (NYT)
• The great $4.5 billion container heist (Bloomberg)
• How chicken tenders conquered America (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Personal effectiveness strategy (Medium)
• Vintage shopping is booming. Banana Republic and others get in on the action (NYT)
• Major CVS shareholders plans activist push (CNBC)
• Is food the new fuel? Convenience stores look to become food destinations (Globe and Mail)
• Inside Domino's quest to revive sales with 'emergency pizza (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Food influencers are eating old school critics for lunch (Globe and Mail)
• Putting olive oil in a squeeze bottle earned this company a cult following (Bloomberg)
• Uber's next act: Taking on Amazon (FT)
• First came the $100 wide-leg jean. Then the $700 shopping spree (Bloomberg)
• Couche-Tard's Alain Bouchard: "Pathological entrepreneur" swooping on 7-Eleven (FT)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Nearly 1 in 10 people in B.C. are non-permanent residents (Globe and Mail)
• Taking on food emissions at their origin and consumption (NYT)
• Some 7-Eleven owners in Japan welcome foreign bid (Reuters)
• Couche-Tard's 'Cowboy Canadian' eyes his 7-Eleven prize, but the stakes are high (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2013): Canadian population passes 35 million (CBC)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Restaurant portions are about to get smaller. Are Americans ready? (NYT)
• Shein faces Italian antitrust scrutiny over environmental claims (WSJ)
• One bright spot amid the industry's gloom: Natural wine (NYT)
• How Hello Kitty took over the world (WSJ)
• Statistics Canada says the population grew 0.6% in the second quarter to 41,288,599 (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Norway's high-stakes gamble on sustainable salmon farming (Globe and Mail)
• How food critic Keith Lee reviews restaurants (NYT)
• Grocery chains are bigger than ever. See who runs the stores near you (Washington Post)
• The magic behind Shein's rise comes under threat: duty-free shipping (WSJ)
• China to investigate U.S. retailer, sending message over Xinjiang (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Overcoming the integrative strategy challenge (Medium)
• Ontario grocery store operators raise concerns about requirement to take back empty alcohol containers (Globe and Mail)
• Shaking the wild banana (NYT)
• Australia supermarkets sued over fake discount claims (BBC)
• Tesco's Aldi price-matched items are not like-for-like, report says (The Guardian)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Why 'chaos wheat' is the future of bread (Washington Post)
• To sell their merger, two supermarkets try to redefine the 'grocery store' (Bloomberg)
• The hidden environmental cost of food (NYT)
• Target names PepsiCo's Jim Lee as finance chief (WSJ)
• These seven food entrepreneurs are changing eco-conscious diners (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Maveron's investment in Rebelstork (Medium)
• Amazon's new 'Shark Tank'-style show gives winners top billing in its store (WSJ)
• The French parfumer behind the internet's favourite fragrance (The New Yorker)
• Dollar stores expand aggressively even as sales shrink (WSJ)
• From the archives (2014): How a lopsided recovery fueled the dollar store wars (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Women in the workplace 2024 (McKinsey)
• The Tupperware party is over: Iconic kitchenware maker files for bankruptcy (WSJ)
• The beauty boom and beyond: Can the industry maintain its growth (McKinsey)
• Kroger antitrust case could open up a new bag of M&A possibilities (WSJ)
• Tesco plans to expand use of AI to personalize how people shop (FT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The customized drink is out of control (NYT)
• What's ahead for food (WSJ)
• Amazon tells employees to return to office five days a week (NYT)
• Couche-Tard tests Japan's foreign investment reforms with 7-Eleven bid (Globe and Mail)
• Softbank-backed Swiggy said to eye India IPO filing this week (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy for start-ups - redux (Medium)
• From bad to worse: Canada's productivity slowdown is bad for everyone (TD)
• He used to bag groceries. Now Kroger's CEO is trying to save a $20 billion deal (WSJ)
• The plastics industry wants to redefine what's 'recyclable' (Propublica)
• Lego's business cards are made of Lego - but not for long (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Why loyalty programs fail (HBR)
• Sobeys parent Empire sees modest sales increase in first quarter (Globe and Mail)
• Lululemon is seeing a slowdown in its women's business. Has it reached its ceiling (WSJ)
• The man who made Nike uncool (Bloomberg)
• New tariff rules could reverse a 'paradigm shift' in retail (NYT)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Canada Bread seeks damages from Maple Leaf Foods related to alleged bread price-fixing scheme (Globe and Mail)
• General Mills to sell North American yogurt business for $2.1 billion (WSJ)
• Just miles from Kroger's court battle, a food desert shows what's at stake (NYT)
• Amazon Fresh introduces new grocery savings for Prime members (Amazon)
• From the archives (2019): Amazon's press-to-order Dash buttons are officially discontinued (The Verge)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Combining fresh with grocery convenience (Deloitte)
• Lidl boosts UK sales as Asda struggles (Bloomberg)
• A TikTok fad fills grocery stores with singles (NYT)
• Asian sunscreens are all the rage, so why can't you buy them in Canada (CBC)
• Dollarama sees rise in second-quarter profits, sales as customers hunt for deals (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Mario Draghi: The future of European competitiveness (European Commission)
• Warmer temperatures have put chinook salmon - and a way of life - in grave danger (CBC)
• Starbucks's new CEO targets hectic stores, overwhelming menus (WSJ)
• Canadian GDP likely fell short of Bank of Canada's forecast, economist say (Globe and Mail)
• Campbell Soup sets sights on name change, new growth (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: (Playing to Win) x 5 (Medium)
• Couche-Tard urges 7-Eleven parent to continue talks (Globe and Mail)
• What the real estate industry needs to know about the future of experiential retail (McKinsey)
• Grocery price inflation: Is corporate greed to blame (NPR)
• Discount retailer Big Lot files for bankruptcy (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• How Staples Canada is pivoting as tech joins pens and paper in the new hybrid world (The Star)
• The story of the great Lego spill (NYT)
• Warmer temperatures have put chinook salmon - and a way of life - in grave danger (CBC)
• The Kroger-Albertsons deal has a chance (FT)
• How machines learned to discover drugs (The New Yorker)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Rexall's U.S. owner sells pharmacy chain to Canadian private equity firm Birch Hill (Globe and Mail)
• Retail's outperformers: Lessons in value creation (McKinsey)
• Couche-Tard says it is 'confident' about takeover as questions swirl over price (Globe and Mail)
• Pivotal week ahead in Kroger-Albertsons case as F.T.C. lands early blows (WSJ)
• From the archives (2016): Rexall takeover shakes up the drugstore industry (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Temu's parent, a victim of competition or its own success (WSJ)
• The anatomy of the chief of staff role in eight charts (McKinsey)
• Nordstrom family bids again to take company private (WSJ)
• Organize your kitchen like a chef, not an influencer (Vox)
• Stores are small now (The Atlantic)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• How Athletic Brewing conquered the drink market (Fast Company)
• How dynamic pricing spread from plane tickets to concerts (Bloomberg)
• A new era dawns as beer and wine hit convenience store shelves (Globe and Mail)
• The takeover fight that could reshape Japan (FT)
• From Starbucks to specialty cafes, the new arms race in the coffee wars (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: 7 Powers and Playing to Win (Medium)
• Ina Garten and the age of abundance (The New Yorker)
• What happens after the baby boomers retire (Statistics Canada)
• Nerf blasters and Lego rockets: Another mall evolution (NYT)
• Economist Eugene Fama: Efficient markets is a hypothesis, not a reality (FT)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The hidden life of seeds (Washington Post)
• The U.S. corn crop is great. Farmers finances? Not so much (WSJ)
• Canada's wildfires were a top global emitter last year, study says (NYT)
• What is corn sweat and is it making the Midwest more dangerous (Vox)
• From the archives (1973): The Russian wheat deal - hindsight vs foresight (St. Louis Fed)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• What was up with grocery prices (Liberty Street Economics)
• Amazon aims to launch delayed AI Alexa subscription in October (Washington Post)
• Shoppers are still spending in the mall - but they are picky (WSJ)
• Lego to replace oil in its bricks with pricier renewable plastic (Reuters)
• Gloom falls over one of China's most successful e-commerce giants (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Like it or not - more of us are bagging our own groceries (CBC)
• Small grocers feel squeezed by suppliers, and shoppers bear the pain (Washington Post)
• Kroger and Albertsons confront a skeptical F.T.C. in court (NYT)
• Little known company key to $20 billion Kroger-Albertsons deal (WSJ)
• What went wrong for Nestle CEO Mark Schneider (Reuters)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The best strategy icebreaker (Medium)
• Ontario government seeks input on whether to regulate deals between insurers and pharmacies (Globe and Mail)
• How Crayola makes crayons for back to school (Bloomberg)
• How learning to adapt makes CEOs better (McKinsey)
• Red Lobster set to bring on former P.F. Chang's leader as CEO (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Why 7-Eleven is a national treasure in Japan (NYT)
• How Lidl accidentally took on the big guns of cloud computing (FT)
• Dino falls victim to price war between Polish supermarket chains (Bloomberg)
• A TikTok cucumber salad trend sets of shortage in Iceland groceries (NYTNYT)
• How consumers saved money on groceries in 1982 (CBC)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Loblaw piloting ultra hard discount No Name grocery stores in Ontario (Globe and MailGlobe and Mail)
• Walmart dumps entire stake in JD.com (NYT)
• Discount-hungry shoppers propel gains for Target, T.J. Maxx (WSJ)
• Asda owners under pressure as chain's share of market hits new nadir (The Guardian)
• From the archives (2013): Loblaw tests new discount store as grocery rivalry heats up (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• How Costco hacked the American shopping psyche (NYT)
• 7-Eleven deal talk reflects allure of Japanese convenience stores (Bloomberg)
• Shein sues Temu over copyright infringement, alleges rival loses money on every sale (CNBC)
• Businesses prepare for turmoil ahead of possible Canadian rail shutdown (Globe and Mail)
• Can plastic waste be transformed into food for humans (Undark)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Food industry pushes back against Kamala Harris' 'price gouging' claim (WSJ)
• Alain Bouchard takes one more big swing to cement his Couche-Tard legacy (Globe and Mail)
• Starbucks's new boss gets an unusual perk: Remote work (WSJ)
• How Walmart became an advertising powerhouse (FT)
• SkipTheDishes and Just Eat cut about 800 jobs in Canada mid restructuring (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Exceptions and rules (Medium)
• Most Pusateri's locations to shutter amid bankruptcy filings (CBC)
• Couche-Tard approaches 7-Eleven owner about takeover in potentially historic transaction (lGlobe and Mail)
• One of TikTok's favourite restaurants is totally made up (NBC)
• Harris plans to ban grocery 'price gouging'. What does the evidence say (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Why Canada is on the verge of an unprecedented rail labour stoppage (Globe and Mail)
• In Mars megadeal, Big Food wants to get bigger (WSJ)
• How online influencers got addicted to Swedish candy (Bloomberg)
• Berkshire Hathaway likes Ulta. Should you (WSJ)
• The future of junk food could be healthy food (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Fueling growth through moments of delight (McKinsey)
• Walmart earnings and July retail sales show consumers aren't quitting (WSJ)
• The British have finally learned to love peanut butter (NYT)
• On target: Our food and beverage journey (Target)
• From the archives (1974): Potential implications of trends in world population, food production, and climate (CIA)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Berkshire Hathaway takes Ulta Beauty stake, sending shares up (WSJ)
• 'Stress on shelves' - The battle for space in store aisles (WSJ)
• How food prices have changed over the last four years (NYT)
• Kroger and Albertson's spend more than $800 million on merger fees (Bloomberg)
  
• The end-to-end excellence playbook for retailers (McKinsey)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The cult of wellness (Toronto Life)
• Why the new Starbucks CEO is worth $20 billion (WSJ)
• How the most powerful environmental groups help greenwash Big Meat's climate impact (Vox)
• California's rice royalty is stepping down (NYT)
• Starbucks pushed its customers too far (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The importance of strategic tension (Medium)
• Atlantic Superstores hoping to 'educate' customers with new branding (CBC)
• Boston Pizza scales down in bid to expand into underserved markets (Globe and Mail)
• Loblaw's health care empire is growing. But can it earn the trust of Canadian patients (Globe and Mail)
• The annual disappointment of strawberry season (The New Yorker)