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 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)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Gourmet Magazine is back It's not exactly sanctioned (NYT)
• Former Neiman Marcus chief is picked to lead Saks through bankruptcy (WSJ)
• Shopify embraces agentic AI with Google, Microsoft partnerships (Globe and Mail)
• Daily Bread to cut off Scarborough food bank after reporting financial concerns to police (CBC)
• Ozempic users actually spend more dining out. Smart restaurants are adapting (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• As Ikea's iconic meatball turns 40, the company looks ahead to its plant-based future (Globe and Mail)
• From potential to performance: Using gen AI to conduct outside-in diligence (McKinsey)
• Keurig Dr Pepper slumps as deal risk spurs rare sell call (Bloomberg)
• Saks in talks to sell 49% of Bergdorf Goodman for about $1 billion (WSJ)
• A city built on Corn Flakes pins hopes on new Kellogg owner (WSJ)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• World food prices at two-year high on rising meat and edible oils, FAO says (Reuters)
• The social media trend machine is spitting out weirder and weirder results (Bloomberg)
• Data monetization in the age of Gen AI (McKinsey)
• Trump tariffs and jabs push Canadians to exit Florida enclave (Bloomberg)
• Simons is a rare success story during tough times for department stores (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• Can Bloomingdale's bring the magic back to department stores (McKinsey)
• He's not the milkman. He's the Milk Guy (Grub Street)
• When omnichannel retailers don't deliver what customers ordered (HBR)
• Amazon asks corporate workers to 'volunteer' help with grocery deliveries as Prime Day frenzy approaches (The Guardian)
• From the archives (2013): A history of the chocolate chip cookie (The New Yorker)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Make healthy food more appealing, government tells supermarkets (BBC)
• Jell-O with natural dyes? It's not easy being green (NYT)
• Snoafers, a hybrid sneaker-loafer, become footwears hottest trend (Bloomberg)
• Home Depot wins bidding war to buy GMS for $4.3 billion (WSJ)
• Saks is at a crossroads, facing creditor and vendor unease (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Saks warns suppliers they will have to wait for payments (WSJ)
• Coke $7 billion bet on milk hits big (Bloomberg)
• With falling U.S. sales, companies are trying to hit the sweet spot for prices (WSJ)
  
• Meet the flavour engineers working to make plant-based food taste more like meat (Globe and Mail)
• The quest to make the perfect toothbrush (WSJ)

 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 Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Jobs to be done and playing to win (Medium)
• The godfather of A.I. leaves Google and warns of danger ahead (NYT)
• Amazon rebounds from post-pandemic doldrums, but says cloud growth is slowing (WSJ)
• Meet the first outsider to lead La Maison Simons in 183 years (Globe and Mail)
• Inflation is taking a bite out of your snack fix (CBC)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The seduction of the big-box superstore (The New Yorker)
• This department store stock has trounced Apple, Amazon, and Tesla (WSJ)
• Making luxury ice at home (NYT)
• Weight Watchers moves into the Ozempic market with telehealth deal (WSJ)
• Why Toblerone is dropping the Matterhorn from its packaging (NYT)

 Stephan's Friday Picks

• How to turn data into competitive advantage (MIT Sloan)
• Nordstrom closing down in Canada, shuttering all 13 stores (CBC)
• Whiskey fungus fed by Jack Daniel's encrusts a Tennessee town (NYT)
• Interest rate hikes have yet to bring down food prices. Here are some tools governments could try (CBC)
• From the archives (1985): Scandal over poisoned wine embitters Austria (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Still feeling good: The U.S. wellness market continues to boom (McKinsey)
• Couche-Tard, stymied on deals, goes on food marketing push (Bloomberg)
• Nordstrom adopts poison pill after Mexican retailer buys stake (WSJ)
• For New Yorkers, 6pm is the new 8pm (NYT Magazine)
• Where's the pumpkin ice cream? The Trader Joe's hoarders have snagged it all (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon adds Grubhub delivery to Prime membership to bulk up foods business (WSJ)
• The lost glamour of the department store restaurant (Atlas Obscura)
• Shopify delays compensation overhaul, lays off 50, as fallen stock price complicates plans (Globe and Mail)
• Walmart tells suppliers new fuel and pickup fees are coming  (WSJ)
• New Zealand reluctantly pushes Canadian dairy dispute (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Macy's opts against separation of e-commerce business (WSJ)
• Why is it so hard to find a good floor lamp (The Atlantic)
• Frito-Lay stops shipments to Loblaw stores over pricing dispute (Globe and Mail)
• Why business must heed customer reviews (McKinsey)
• The diet worked for them. Now their pets are on it (NYT)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Deliveroo to trial 'Hop' rapid delivery service with Waitrose (Reuters)
• The rise of the inclusive consumer (McKinsey)
• Two years into pandemic, shoppers are still hoarding (WSJ)
• The death of the department store (The Guardian)
• Business booms at Kroger-owned grocery stores, but workers left behind (NYT)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Alibaba has invented the supermarket of the future (Wired)
• The thriving business of Ikea-hacking (The Hustle)
• Retail workers are leaving at record rates for higher-paying jobs (Washington Post)
• Beyond Meat sparked a run on peas and a protein revolution (Bloomberg)
• Hudson's Bay turns Saks Off Fifth e-commerce business into standalone company, sells stake for $200 million (Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• What the demise of cookies and third-party identifies means to digital advertising (McKinsey)
• The quality of your coffee may soon be determined by a robot (Bloomberg)
• Oprah-backed Oatly files for IPO (WSJ)
• Walmart+ usage is hampered by customer confusion, survey says (Bloomberg)
• Mall department stores are struggling. The pandemic has pushed them to the edge of extinction (Washington Post)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The death of the department store and the American middle class (Vox)
• 'Bleak Friday' for stores as pandemic pushes holiday shopping online (NYT)
• Philip Green loses battle to retail of 21st century (Bloomberg)
• Kohl's to open 850 Sephora beauty shops in its stores by 2023 (CNBC)
• Debenhams collapse deals another blow to struggling UK retail sector (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Agriculture ministers to examine grocery retailers' fees charged to suppliers (Globe and Mail)
• What transporting ice cream across the country teaches us about vaccine logistics (CBC)
• Black Friday hints at chaotic shopping period to come (Globe and Mail)
• HBC's big plan to survive Covid may be to go small (CBC)
• Shoppers who shun credit cards will still borrow $20 for candy (Bloomberg)