Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Costco sells vacations, gas, and soon, Medicare plans (WSJ)
• Ice cream: How the big firms innovate to stay ahead (BBC)
• Udon billionaire bets thick noodles will win over Americans (Bloomberg)
• Target raises fiscal year forecast as turnaround gains traction with consumers (WSJ)
• TJX says self-inflicted issues hurt sales (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Home Depot posts higher sales, backs outlook (WSJ)
• Big Food is fighting to tempt taste buds in the era of weight-loss drugs (WSJ)
• Target bets shoppers want to buy trendy snacks and drinks in grocery revamp (Bloomberg)
• A slice of the market: Canada-US tensions over cheese import permits (CD Howe Institute)
• Top French grocers ease produce rules as heat hits farmers (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Trump cuts to grocery subsidies bite US food companies (FT)
• Target reports largest sales gain in years (WSJ)
• Calls for 'no seed oil' push companies to order up on butter and beef tallow (NYT)
• UK Treasury pushes supermarkets to cap prices (FT)
• Celebrating 50 years of great American wines (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Target's tech chief has a big role to play in the retailer's turnaround (WSJ)
• JD.com's European push pits Chinese retailer against Amazon (Bloomberg)
• Pop Mart bets on new toys as Labubu mania fades (Bloomberg)
• Big bargains and 'white knuckle' buying: Inside the rise of TJ Maxx (FT)
• Amazon launches 1-hour delivery in hundreds of U.S. cities (WSJ)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Target boycott over DEI charges winding down (WSJ)
• Coffee prices stay at record highs despite drop in market for beans (Bloomberg)
• The highly exclusive way that everyone is shopping now (The Atlantic)
• Rene Redzepi steps down at Noma amid allegations of past abuse (NYT)
• From the archives (1997): What price the Snapple debacle (Bloomberg)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Pizza Hut takes fans on a trip to its past (NYT)
• Can Reese's have too many pieces (FT)
• Target accelerates in-store investments as part of turnaround strategy (WSJ)
• Inside the unraveling of seafood magnate John Risley's billion dollar empire (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2019): How Target became the model in U.S. retail (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• He's Reese's biggest advocate - and Hershey's biggest headache (WSJ)
• Are European supermarkets actually better and cheaper than American (Washington Post)
• Target's new CEO has a $6 billion plan to turn the tide (WSJ)
• B&M tries to win back Britain's discount shoppers (FT)
• The 13-second video that supercharged the McDonald's - Burger King rivalry (WSJ)

 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 Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy and opportunistic holdup (Medium)
• Target's stores become an ICE battleground in hometown Minneapolis (WSJ)
• Amazon is planning Walmart-style big-box store near Chicago (Bloomberg)
• Lululemon sees quarterly profit at high end after strong holiday sales (WSJ)
• Walmart expanding drone delivery to hundreds more stores (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The battle for The Bay (Toronto Life)
• You know Panettone. Now meet its rarer, even more difficult cousin (NYT)
• Target, Walmart, Whole Foods targeted in botulism suits (Bloomberg)
• Nestle's Nespresso appoints new North American chief executive (Bloomberg)
• From the archives (1979): The bid to buy Hudson's Bay fought (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Target needs more than a vibe shift to turn its business around (Bloomberg)
• Couche-Tard surges after earnings beat as CEO signals deal hunt (Bloomberg)
• How Ocado's American dream fell apart (FT)
• Bakers overpower automakers in energy consumption (Globe and Mail)
• Candymakers hard-won deal with Big Sugar shows clout of Washington lobbies (Bloomberg) 

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Target mandates worker smiles, friendliness to boost sales (Bloomberg)
• Pizza Hut's parent says struggling chain may go up for sale (NYT)
• Ontario to ban exclusivity deals between insurers, pharmacies (Globe and Mail)
• Facing Trump's tariffs, Swiss farmers find themselves with too much milk (NYT) 
• Discount chain takes aim at 7-Eleven in Japan with $2 Tonkatsu (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: How I do strategy - Part Two (Medium)
• Can AriZona's 99-cent iced tea survive Trump's tariffs (NYT)
• Inside Target, frustrated employees and search for new CEO (WSJ)
• First Nations groups raise questions about lack of consultation before sale of 1670 Hudson's Bay Company charter (Globe and Mail)
• Landlords say Ruby Liu's plan to take over 25 Hudson's Bay properties defies 'commercial sense' (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Once a retail empire, Carrefour struggles to win back investors (Bloomberg)
• The new 'perfect combination': The Reese's Oreo cup? The Oreo Reese's cookie (WSJ)
  
• Target executive says stores in-stock levels are improving (Bloomberg)
• Why the Mediterranean diet is so good for you (Washington Post)
• Haribo only makes gummies. Why this single-product strategy works (WSJ)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Misplaced shoulds in strategy (Medium)
• Kraft Heinz's $4.3 billion pension gives company leverage as it considers options (Bloomberg)
• Target to end price matching policy (Bloomberg)
• The problem with the U.S. using sugar in soda? It doesn't make enough (WSJ)
• Canada shores up New Zealand trade with dairy concessions in the face of U.S. pressure (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Do we need another green revolution (The New Yorker)
• General Mills' outlook misses on consumer pullback (Bloomberg)
• Target explores factory direct shipping model used by Temu (Bloomberg)
• Walmart looks to speed up delivery by opening 'dark stores' closed to public (Bloomberg)
• After a bruising year, casual dining chains try to stage a comeback (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Target sees sales falling this year as turnaround falters (NYT)
• Amazon gives refunds for years-old returns (Bloomberg)
• Marks & Spencer expects $400 million hit from cyber attack (WSJ)
• Kraft Heinz mulls deals after Berkshire Hathaway exits board (Bloomberg)
• Home Depot maintains guidance as US spending holds up (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Couche-Tard says ready to boost bid if Seven & i engages (Bloomberg)
• The fall of Hudson's Bay Co, a Canadian retail icon (Globe and Mail)
• Pet owners are changing. How will the industry respond (BCG)
• PepsiCo is near $1.5 billion-plus deal for soda brand Poppi (Bloomberg)
• Supply management is the trade barrier Canadian politicians are reticent to tear down (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• PepsiCo adding healthier snacks as consumers shun salt and fat (NYT)
• The last days of American orange juice (The Atlantic)
• As big retailers like Target pull back from DEI, what happens to Black sellers (NYT)
• Why Canada is safe, for now, from very high egg prices (CBC)
• A hot new brand for luxury brands to consider: Made in America (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)