Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• The hidden way using a rewards card can cost you more (Washington Post)
• The Loyalty Trap (Vanderbilt Policy Accelerator)
• Can you trademark peanut butter and jelly. Smuckers says yes (NYT)
• Walmart creates roles to lead drone and autonomous delivery tech (Bloomberg)
• Amazon plans to replace more than half a million jobs with robots (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Inside the automated warehouse where robots are packing your groceries (The Verge)
• JD.com's revenue climbs after foray into food delivery (Bloomberg)
• Bag charms selling for $1,000 are retail's next little luxury (Bloomberg)
• The U.S. alcohol industry is reeling from Canada's booze boycott (WSJ)
• Ulta Beauty, Target to end partnership (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Roger Martin: The writing vs editing distinction (Medium)
• Strategic and annual planning in chaotic times (BCG)
• Inside Gap's last-ditch, tariff-addled, turnaround push (Bloomberg)
• The CMOs comeback: Aligning the C-suite to drive customer-centric growth (McKinsey)
• Amazon is on the cusp of using more robots than humans in its warehouses (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Dinner is terrible (The Atlantic)
• Harnessing revenue growth management for sustainable success (McKinsey)
• Owners of Canadian clothing brands Frank + Oak, Ricki's file for creditor protection (Globe and Mail)
• Shein's lack of answers on China forced-labour concerns angers U.K. lawmakers (WSJ)
• Robotic technology automating mushroom harvest as industry facing labour challenges (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Robots struggle to match workers on 'really hard' jobs (NYT)
• Walmart raises outlook on strong spending from value-seekers (Bloomberg)
• Blackstone strikes deal for Jersey Mike's subs (WSJ)
• CVS strikes deal with activist Glenview Capital for four board seats (CNBC)
• The case against deli meat (Grub Street)

 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 Friday Picks

• Highly caffeinated version of Prime Energy ordered recalled by federal government (CBC)
• Hack your workweek to leave early on summer Fridays (WSJ)
• Farm robots poised for growth as labour costs rise (FT)
• Mushrooms have taken over fashion and wellness. Up next: chocolate (NYT)
• From the archives (2007): Why cottagers like to roar through Giant Tiger (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Monday Picks

• Big Dairy is trying to get Gen Z to drink more milk (NYT)
• One hundred years of vegemite (BBC)
• How did Hokas become so popular (NYT)
• Chipotle peppered with complaints over salsa spiciness (WSJ)
• Walmart bets on warehouse robots, dangles profit potential (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Being 'too busy' means your personal strategy sucks (Medium)
• Amazon axes 'Smile' charity program, citing limited impact (NYT)
• How Noma made fine dining far worse (The Atlantic)
• Inside the battle for the future of Amazon (Vox)
• The secret world of Japan's robot sushi chefs (The Guardian)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• How China targets the global fish supply (NYT)
• Founder of Paramount Fine Foods locked in legal battle with investors over the future of the company (Globe and Mail)
• Aldi's UK profits fall but chain says customers 'are switching to it in droves' (The Guardian)
• Best Buy, Home Depot lock up goods to fight theft (WSJ)
• Amazon's robots are getting closer to replacing human hands (Vox)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• The new J. Crew (GQ)
• Fairfax proposed taking Swiss Chalet owner Recipe Unlimited private in $1.2 billion deal (Globe and Mail)
• Ben & Jerry's tells court that Unilever could undermine its social mission (WSJ)
• Robot arms are replacing shelf stockers in Japan's stores (Bloomberg)
• The dinner tab has soared. Here are all the reasons (NYT)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Strategy in high-growth industries (Medium)
• Nike sues Lululemon over patent infringement over Mirror home gym, fitness apps (CBC)
• The biggest fast food rollout of meatless fried chicken is happening this week (Vox)
• We're one step closer to self-farming farms (Recode)
• Morrisons scraps 'use by' date on milk in favour of sniff test (BBC)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Andy Jassy says the company could do more to treat workers better (CNBC)
• PepsiCo juggles strong demand and supply chain challenges (WSJ)
• Robots take over Italy's vineyards as wineries struggle with labour shortages (WSJ)
• Canada's smallest canola harvest in 13 years forces importers to turn elsewhere (Globe and Mail
• Dick's Sporting Goods' new CEO: Being a female leader is a huge asset (WSJ)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Why do strategy anyway (Medium)
• The new marketing model for growth (How CPGs can crack the code) (McKinsey)
• Amazon's Astro home robot is like having Alexa on wheels (The Verge)
• For flagging Amazon Games unit, New World 'has to be a breakthrough' (NYT)
• Workers are putting on pants to head to the office only to be on Zoom all day (Washington Post)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• A bubble tea making robot is a portent of things to come (Slate)
• Is it time to break up Big Ag (The New Yorker)
• Walmart opens local delivery service to other sellers (WSJ)
• The farmers market is moving online (The Verge)
• Fairfax sells Toys 'R' Us to Putman Investments, excluding real estate (Globe and Mail)

 Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Inside P&G's robot ambitions (Reuters)
• Grill makers are the hottest things in post-pandemic IPOs (Bloomberg)
• Ben & Jerry's to stop selling ice cream in Israeli-occupied territories (NYT)
• Israel warns Unilever chief over Ben & Jerry's boycott (Bloomberg)
• Virgil Abloh gets a seat at the power table (NYT)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• TikTok is taking the book industry by storm, and retailers are taking notice (NBC)
• Almonds swept California farms. Then the water ran out (WSJ)
• Price and politics set stage in three-way Morrisons bidding war (Bloomberg)
• Shopping mall giants back expanded, delivery-only ghost kitchens in food courts (WSJ)
• Ocado gains Alcampo as a client for its warehouse robotic warehouse services (Bloomberg)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Cold storage for food is a hot real estate play (Bloomberg)
• What data can't do (The New Yorker)
• The curious case of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch box (NYT)
• For all the hype, robots are limited in what they can do in their home (Washington Post)
• Torys LLP partner to become President of Wittington (Toronto Star)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Private equity-owned retail is as vulnerable as ever (Retail Dive)
• Demand for robot cooks rise as kitchens fight COVID-19 (Washington Post)
• Coronavirus has Americans hooked on canned tuna, and producers are playing catch-up (WSJ)
• Making faux meat taste like the real thing (Bloomberg)
• Toronto online product sampling company Sampler sees business soar as in-store sampling comes to a halt (Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Can salad bars be saved (Bloomberg)
• DavidsTea to 'significantly reduce' number of stores and shift to online selling (CBC)
• Bed Bath & Beyond to sell 200 stores as sales fall by 50% (WSJ)
• As debt soars, Ottawa banks on record low interest rates (Globe and Mail)
• From the archives (2017): A first look at how Lidl plans to conquer the U.S. (Washington Post)