Stephan's Friday Picks

• A user's guide to the end of the world (as we know it) (RBC)
• The country where you can buy meat in a lab (NYT)
• Reckitt to sell some home-care brands, review infant formula unit in shake-up (WSJ)
• The real reason Erewhon is a cult brand (Bloomberg)
• From the archives (2021): Pellet ice is the good ice (The New Yorker)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Why millennials and Gen Z-ers fight over socks (Bloomberg)
• Abercrombie won by leaving teens behind. Sibling brand Hollister is taking the opposite approach (WSJ)
• Caisse de depot sells $700 million of Couche-Tard shares back to the company (Globe and Mail)
• Searching for the next hot cooking oil? It could come from algae (WSJ)
• Bank of Canada cuts key rate to 4.5%, tees up additional easing with focus on downside risks (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Online shopping has become a giant fake product machine (Bloomberg)
• Returns of the 'Amazombies': Unwanted packages are a retail nightmare (Washington Post)
• Halal meat is big business both within and beyond Muslim communities (CBC)
• Buyout firm L Catterton approaches Mattel with buyout offer (Reuters)
• Competition Bureau outlines what can be considered corporate greenwashing (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: A strategic framework for growth (Medium)
• Fairfax strikes $1.7 billion deal to buy Sleep Country Canada (Globe and Mail)
• Shipping costs are spiking again (Globe and Mail)
• Why couches aren't built like they used to be (Bloomberg)
• Luxury brands need to win back middle-class shoppers (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Big box retailers can't raise prices forever (BloombergBloomberg)
• Fast food chains' value menu wars are a boon to consumers (Washington Post)
• The zombie mall king doesn't want to be a bottom-feeder forever (Bloomberg)
• The billionaire criminal who secretly profited off Jack Ma's deals (NYT)
• All major Canadian grocers agree to sign on to code of conduct (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Shoppers Drug Mart strikes partnership with blood testing startup Truvian Health (Globe and Mail)
• How retailers can attract and retain a strong frontline workforce in 2024 (McKinsey)
• Kroger-Albertsons deal is haunted by 'spectacular' previous failure (BloombergBloomberg)
• Plan Automation seeing growing demand for x-ray machines for food (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2015): Albertsons struggling after trying to digest Haggen stores (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Kraft Heinz names new North American CMO amid moves to make its foods healthier (WSJ)
• What was up with grocery prices (\Liberty Street Economics)
• Rise in sales at Quebec liquor storesnear Ontario amid LCBO strike (Globe and Mail)
• The secret meaning of Prime Day (The Atlantic)
• EssilorLuxxotica taps streetwear audience with Supreme deal (Reuters)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Think your grocery bill is high? Try eating gluten-free (CBC)
• Amazon's Prime Day is a 'major cause of injuries' for workers, Senate probe finds (WSJ)
• Pete Wells is stepping down as New York Times food critic (Food and Wine)
• Hugo Boss joins Burberry in warning about luxury spending (WSJ)
• Britain approves lab-grown meat for pet food (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Positional goods and strategy (Medium)
• Amazon hits prime time for earnings expansion (WSJ)
• How Joy ice cream cones are made (Bloomberg)
• The real estate scion behind the Saks and Neiman Marcus marriage (WSJ)
• Matty Matheson on balancing fame on The Bear with Ontario farm life at home (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Gen AI: Too much spend, too little benefit? (Goldman Sachs)
• Food companies feel the pain as consumers reject higher prices (Washington Post)
• Have potato chips reached peak price (WSJ)
• Why America's berries have never tasted so good (WSJ)
• How Janet Yellen became an unlikely culinary diplomat (NYT)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Costco hikes membership fee for the first time since 2017 (CNBC)
• The sad future of grocery shopping (The Atlantic)
• Robot-packed meals are coming to the frozen-food aisle (MIT Technology Review)
• TikTok Shop is intentionally annoying (Vox)
• From the archives (2017): Costco to raise membership fees, higher costs take toll on profits (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon says it reached a climate goal seven years early (NYT)
• Coffee prices set to rise even higher, warns Lavazza (FT)
• The high cost of misaligned analytics and business goals (HBR)
• What your grocery cart says about you (NYT)
• US retailers paying premium to place big bets on holidays (FT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Maple Leaf Foods to spin off pork business into new public company (Globe and Mail)
• The enduring allure of Hamptons private chefs (Washington Post)
• Daniel Guidara opens up (NYT)
• Inside Coty's makeover (McKinsey)
• America's biggest nonalcoholic beer brand doubles its valuation (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The five deadliest strategy myths (Medium)
• Shein and Temu are swamping air freight capacity, sending rates soaring (WSJ)
• Carlsberg to buy soft drink maker Britvic for $4.2 billion (WSJ)
• The un-branding of Abercrombie (The Cut)
• The House of Arnault (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Costco, Sam's Club are full of Gen Z shoppers (WSJ)
• The century-long saga of the Caesar salad (NYT)
• The fried chicken sandwich wars are more cutthroat than ever before (Bloomberg)
• Why refrigerators and other kitchen appliances break so easily now (Washington Post)
• What do bagged chickens have to do with sliced cheese (NYT)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Ozempic is changing the way people eat. Snack companies are paying close attention (CBC)
• Windsor has a problem: Not enough tech workers to work on their farms (Globe and Mail)
• Your old clothes are worth billions (WSJ)
• Want an iced coffee. Brands want you to make your own (WSJ)
• From the archives (2022): What we write about when we write about food (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Hudson's Bay to buy Neiman Marcus - with help from Amazon (WSJ)
• Australian supermarket chains could be broken up as a 'last resort' under Coalition proposal (The Guardian)
• Investor group raises Macy's buyout offer - again (WSJ)
• Costco's rotisserie chicken is now sold in a bag. Cue the panic (Washington Post)
• The fast food fight over the $5 deal meal (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• How the Kindle became a must-have accessory (again) (WSJ)
• Online shopping warehouses are reshaping America (Bloomberg)
• Sainsbury's backs guidance after robust growth in grocery (WSJ)
• RBI signs two deals in China to bolster presence (Globe and Mail)
• Why cheap toilet paper sets off alarm bells for some investors (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy & sustained innovation (Medium)
• Amazon, built by retail, leans into its AI future (WSJ)
• The world of luxury fruit (NYT)
• The Save Mart Companies acquired by Jim Pattison Food Group (Grocery Dive)
• Walgreens plans 'significant' store closures, citing weak consumer spending (NYT)