Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Move over quinoa. There's a new 'it' crop in town (WSJ)
• Deliveroo shares jump after $3.6 billion DoorDash offer (Bloomberg)
• Colgate-Palmolive cuts outlook as economic uncertainty spooks shoppers (WSJ)
• Sweetgreen's CEO on robots, 'MAHA', and why salads are so expensive (NYT)
• Costco switched its Kirkland diapers and parents aren't happy (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Dealing with intuitive, non-strategists (Medium)
• A sign that consumers are anxious: They're cutting back on snacks (NYT)
• P&G CEO says price hikes are likely (CNBC)
• How Chili's won when America raged over fast food prices (WSJ)
• Protein is in everything these days. Even popcorn (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• The fall of Hudson's Bay: How Richard Baker presided over the failure of a retail icon (Globe and Mail)
• Empire CEO Michael Medline to retire in May 2026 (Globe and Mail)
• Once shunned by Japanese customers, Korean rice now flies off the shelves (NYT)
• My matcha-dusted, lemon-scented, tahini-drizzled adventures in flavormaxxing (NYT)
• Mountain Equipment Co. finds buyer with textile executive set to gain control (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Hudson's Bay to begin clearance at six stores originally left out of liquidation (Globe and Mail)
• Nestle sales get boost from coffee, chocolate price hikes (WSJ)
• Starbucks opens its first 3D-printed store. Is it cheaper than the real thing (Fast Company)
• Unilever confident for 2025 amid turnaround plan, ice cream spinoff (WSJ)
• From the archives (2008): Woolworths: The rise and fall of a department store empire (The Guardian)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon and Walmart sellers hoard goods in Canada to avoid tariffs (FT)
• Could strawberries grow in Canada year-round? An Ontario greenhouse is trying (Globe and Mail)
• Danone sales rise as consumers seek healthier products (Bloomberg)
• Hudson's Bay leases draw interest from bidders (Globe and Mail)
• Frank and Oak to close all stores, sell intellectual property (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Value retailers have been waiting for the higher-income consumer. They've arrived (WSJ)
• Three factories, $355,000, and the maddening quest to make a clear can (WSJ)
• Trump's tariffs threats chill Italy's cheese makers (NYT)
• Premium chocolatiers thrive as consumers develop taste for luxury (FT)
• Chobani plans to invest over $1 billion in new New York factory (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The myth of objectivity and strategy (Medium)
• Snack makers are removing fake colors from processed foods (Bloomberg)
• How organ meat got into smoothies (The Atlantic)
• Supermarket price war looms as Sainsbury's joins fight (BBC)
• Amazon is better prepared for the trade war than investors think (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Nestle chided over lack of transparency in Perrier filtering (Bloomberg)
• Inside Home Depot's $20 billion secret garden (WSJ)
• Pepsi vs. Coke: How the soda rivals are faring in the tariff war (WSJ)
• Temu and Shein will raise prices for US customers due to Trump's tariffs (AP)
• Americans are obsessed with protein and it's driving nutrition experts nuts (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The rise of the 'it' shake (FT)
• Worth thousands on the black market, Lego sets are now targeted by thieves (NYT)
• How Bentonville became an epicenter of the biking world (NYT)
• 'Ghost stores': The online retailers promoting closing-down sales for physical shops that don't exist (The Guardian)
• From the archives (2011): Zellers CEO rewrites the book on liquidation (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Deal for Mountain Equipment Co. under review by Competition Bureau (Globe and Mail)
• The energy drink that hooked young women - and Celsius (Bloomberg)
• How Costco's Jim Sinegal built the $400 billion retailer (WSJ)
• Trade war starting to show up in higher grocery prices for some items (CBC)
• Loblaw CEO's pay drops in 2024 after getting signing bonuses the year before (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Albertsons sales grow on boost from pharmacy business (WSJ)
• A scientist is paid to study maple syrup. He's also paid to promote it (NYT)
• At China's wholesale hub, U.S. orders have suddenly halted. One example: socks (WSJ)
• HBC employees could use disability benefits with company's court restructuring (Globe and Mail)
• The colourful cult of Le Creuset (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Stop working for loser strategists (Medium)
• The locker-room mentality for managing Gen Z employees (WSJ)
• Reckitt home care suitors temper valuations amid tariff worries (Bloomberg)
• Luxury confectioner looks to take LVMH-backed Saudi brand global (Bloomberg)
• Amazon wants to keep prices low. One sellers' tariff woes show why it's hard (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Andy Jassy's 2024 Letter to Shareholders (Amazon)
• Will the U.S.-China tariff war drive up online shopping prices for Canadians (CBC)
• How Costco's CEO went from forklift driver to Kirkland's final signoff (WSJ)
• Are you paying more than before to buy Canadian? Experts say it's complicated (CBC)
• Shein's bargain-app formula crumbles under Trump (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Tesco braces for price war with rivals (FT)
• Multiple potential Hudson's Bay bidders interested in sale (Globe and Mail)
• Walmart's missing prices show trade chaos coming for consumers (Bloomberg)
• Is the restaurant good? Or does it just look good (NYT)
• From the archives (2015): Tesco posts $9.5 billion loss in latest hurdle (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• State of Grocery Europe 2025 (McKinsey)
• Harry's razor brand seeks to build consumer goods empire (NYT)
• A frenzy at Trader Joe's: Everyone's here for the tote bags (NYT)
• 7-Eleven owner targets profit growth despite tariff uncertainty (WSJ)
• How can I find a healthy breakfast cereal (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Walmart confident about tariff resilience despite sales volatility (WSJ)
• Apparel brands grappling with 'tariff hell' (CBC)
• Hershey strikes $750 million deal for LesserEvil popcorn brand (WSJ)
• Leaders in Latin American CPG: A commercial excellence revolution (McKinsey)
• Walgreens sales rise on U.S. retail pharmacy segment growth (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Personality and strategy (Medium)
• The journey of an Ontario-grown cucumber into U.S. cities offers a glimpse into a delicate supply chain (Globe and Mail)
• Beef is expensive. Meatpackers are scraping every morsel from bones (WSJ)
• More grocery stores that are also great restaurants (NYT)
• Loyalty points aren't worth what they used to be (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Carrefour raises offer to take Brazilian grocery unit private (Bloomberg)
• As it seeks sale, Hudson's Bay mulls fate of trove of art, artifacts, including 1670 charter (Globe and Mail)
• Dollarama CEO expects trade war with U.S. to hit discount stores (Globe and Mail)
• Where will we eat when the middle class restaurant is gone (NYT)
• A Danish supermarket hits back against U.S. tariffs (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The new Pepsi challenge: Saving Pepsi from years of decline (WSJ)
• Hudson's Bay pitches plan to save six stores and e-commerce business (Globe and Mail)
• Steak fries: Deservedly reviled or underappreciated edible spoons (NYT)
• Eating your way through Europe. Or anywhere really (NYT)
• From the archives (2003): Kmart's Eddie Lampert struggles to bring profit to retailer (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon's new AI agent is designed to do your shopping (The Verge)
• Chipotle went on a seven-year quest to find avocados outside of Mexico (WSJ)
• Walmart keeps price pressure on suppliers after Beijing pushback (Bloomberg)
• Ben & Jerry's co-founder calls on Unilever to 'set it free' (WSJ)
• Amazon's new movie strategy starts with theatres (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Walmart bets $6 billion on Mexico even as economy slows (Bloomberg)
• That H&M model showing off a new look might be a digital clone (NYT)
• How Costco's Kirkland Signature brand became a powerhouse (WSJ)
• Ultra luxe food supplier thrives on cravings for snow crab and wagyu (WSJ)
• With Shake Shack in first class, airline food is no longer a joke (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Playing to win & regional strategy (Medium)
• Why is it so hard to find a good nonalcoholic wine (NYT)
• New Zealand mulls interventions to break supermarket duopoly (Bloomberg)
• Is Ozempic really the reason Americans are snacking less (WSJ)
• Is the doggy bag dead (NYT)