Stephan's Friday Picks

• Saks owner says he saved department stores. Never mind the bankruptcy (NYT)
• The protein bar delusion (The Atlantic)
  
• The billionaires behind Japan's cultural icons (Bloomberg)
• Will Americans get over their fear of eating animal blood (NYT)
• From the archives (2002): Power steer (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon takes the #1 spot on the Fortune 500, ending Walmart's 13-year run (Fortune)
• Loblaw misses quarterly revenue estimates as Canadians tighten household budgets (Globe and Mail)
• Made in Canada: Snack attack (Globe and Mail)
• Keurig Dr Pepper sales rise on higher prices (WSJ)
• Home Depot profit falls as home improvement downturn continues (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Online shopping could be AI's next victim (Bloomberg)
• Retailers court Gen Z with splurges that look good on TikTok (Bloomberg)
• Teens have doused themselves in Axe for decades. Even Axe is over it (WSJ)
• Starbucks needs you to buy an afternoon refresher (WSJ)
• Packaged foods producers turn to price cuts as sales stagnate (FT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Danone sales rise on high-protein, medical nutrition demand (Bloomberg)
• How Paris' working class dining experience is reshaping restaurant experiences in France (The Conversation)
• Egg prices collapse as once-empty shop shelves now overstuffed (Bloomberg)
• There's a reason American kids are such picky eaters (NYT)
• Walgreens cuts hundreds of jobs after private equity buyout (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Nestle unveils ice cream disposals, stresses fast formula recall (Bloomberg)
• Primark's fast fashion crown slips with shoppers lured to Shein (Bloomberg)
• The problems piling up at fast fashion giant Shein (FT)
• Some Reese's treats drop the milk chocolate. Mr. Reese disapproves (NYT)
• Etsy sells Depop, a secondhand clothing app popular with Gen Z, to eBay (NYT)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Food companies simply can't get enough of the word 'simply' (Bloomberg)
• The beef industry has a message for consumers: Get used to high prices (WSJ)
• Walmart cites worrying economic indicators in cautious forecast (Bloomberg)
• Amazon is now Amazon's biggest company. It's 17-year journey to surpass Walmart (WSJ)
• From the archives (1997): Michael Mauboussin: Competitive Advantage Period: The Neglected value driver (First Boston)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Food companies sink as executives warn of consumer stress (Bloomberg)
• General Mills cuts outlook due to weak consumer sentiment (WSJ)
• Home Depot gets stricter on bonuses amid housing market freeze (Bloomberg)
• US restaurants downsize meals to counter anti-obesity drugs and affordability crisis (FT)
• Carrefour drops in disappointing sales, overseas pullback (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• What CPG companies can learn from disruptor brands (McKinsey)
• Seattle's gig worker law was supposed to boost wages. It did at first, until orders dropped (NPR)
• Cocoa's boom and bust is re-writing long-held rules of the market (Bloomberg)
• Uber targets $1 billion boost with 2026 European expansion (Reuters)
• How blockbuster films and bingeworthy streaming hits slipped into our showers (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Loblaw introducing ChatGPT integration (Globe and Mail)
• The challenges of a weight-loss economy (FT)
• Even Dollar Tree is going after rich customers now (Bloomberg)
• Farmers made a fortune on durian. Now it is piling up (NYT)
• Couche-Tard unveils new back-to-basics strategy to boost growth (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The booming business of luxury grocery stores (WSJ)
• How Jeff Bezos brought down the Washington Post (The New Yorker)
• Canada's food price misery has company south of the border (TD)
• McDonald's says its value campaign is paying off (WSJ)
• From the archives (2009): Food fighter (The New Yorker)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Kraft Heinz pauses plan to split into two companies (WSJ)
• Fibermaxxing is a diet trend even nutritionists can love (Bloomberg)
• Toys 'R' Us filling leaves a slew of creditors in its wake (Globe and Mail)
• The HBR interview with outgoing Walmart CEO Doug McMillon (HBR)
• Coca-Cola is sticking with its pricing plan, CEO says (WSJ)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Target to lay off 500 workers as new CEO shakes up leadership team (WSJ)
• Pizza supreme (Slate)
• Red Lobster CEO says seafood chain needs to get smaller (WSJ)
• What fast food's downturn in the US says about the economy (FT)
• Coca-Cola rises on higher volume, prices (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• The Utah mom who got the world hooked on 'dirty soda' (WSJ)
• Tainted baby milk hits billionaire clan's empire (Bloomberg)
• Ferrero wants to conquer America's breakfast tables (Bloomberg)
• Kroger names Greg Foran as its next CEO (WSJ)
• Italian olive oil farmers say flood of imports is causing price collapse (FT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• 3G Capital: Built to own (Colossus)
• America has reached peak sauce, and some people won't leave home without it (Washington Post)
• New Nestle boss plots overhaul to reignite growth (FT)
• Hershey's outlook tops estimates on price hikes, new items (Bloomberg)
• Snack inflation is biting Canadians harder than Americans (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• The expensive decision Walmart's CEO made that changed everything (WSJ)
• Why is there a martini on every menu right now (Bloomberg)
• How food delivery is reshaping mealtime (NYT)
• How specialty retail is getting its groove back (BCG)
• From the archives (2019): Uber Eats opens up about the future of food delivery in Canada (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Let them eat goo (NYT)
• Food and drink companies suffer as US shopper sentiment sinks (FT)
• Nestle adds Deutsche Bank for water business stake sale (Bloomberg)
• Walmart's new CEO asks workers to air paint points in first memo (Bloomberg)
• Target's new CEO acknowledges 'lack of trust' with shoppers (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The new key to restaurant success? A simple but clever model (NYT)
• MPs agree to fast-track GST credit bill through Commons (Globe and Mail)
• PepsiCo to cut prices for Doritos and other snacks (WSJ)
• What happened to hype brands (FT)
• Walmart joins tech giants with $1 trillion market valuation (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Fixing strategy (Medium)
• Lululemon blames customers again after see-through leggings fiasco (Bloomberg)
• America's convenience store conundrum (The Atlantic)
• With generic Ozempic coming to Canada, the race is on (Globe and Mail)
• Nestle's chief is in turnaround mode. He drinks eight cups of coffee a day (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Can department stores be fun again (NYT)
• Saks has to look luxury to sell luxury (Bloomberg)
• How chatbots might reshape retail (FT)
• Walmart's new CEO takes over with $1 trillion valuation within reach (Bloomberg)
• So long, frozen juice from concentrate. The once-popular canned drink leaves shelves this year (CBC)