Stephan's Friday Picks

• Harnessing analytics and AI to shape the future of mobility retail (McKinsey)
• This is peak subscription (The Atlantic)
• Mindshare matters. Now markets can measure it (BCG)
• Why Lululemon's stock is going out of fashion (WSJ)
• From the archives (2015): Lululemon combines Ayn Rand and yoga (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• How Slutty Vegan puts the party in plant-based food (The New Yorker)
• Resellers: The unseen engine of Indonesian e-commerce (McKinsey)
• What the lack of premium grocery stores says about disinvestment in Black neighbourhoods (Brookings)
• People are sick and tired of all their subscriptions (WSJ)
• Fresh grocery strategy needs a data-led reboot (Bain)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Why Air Miles needs more than just a new owner to appeal to customers (CBC)
• Subscription services are hitting their limit with customers (Bloomberg)
• Shrinkflation deals a surprise ice cream tax to customers (Globe and Mail)
• The secret behind Japan's delicious strawberries: kerosene (NYT)
• Starbucks's new CEO, Laxman, Narasimhan, takes coffee chain's helm (WSJ)

 Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Your wallet is being drained by subscriptions. Wall Street thanks you (WSJ)
• Hospitality lessons from a Michelin-starred restauranteur (McKinsey)
• Is Moore's Law actually dead this time (Ars Technica)
• European food delivery shapes up with Getir's Gorillas buy (Reuters)
• Why is Howard Schultz taking a Starbucks union so personally (NYT)

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 Monday Picks

• The beauty of 78.5 million followers (NYT Magazine)
• Frozen pizza sales are red hot and expected to outlast the pandemic (CBC)
• What brands can learn from Australia about the post-Covid consumer (Bain)
• Google aims to be the anti-Amazon in e-commerce. It has a long way to go (NYT)
• Michael Medline: There is room for principle-based dealings in Canadian grocery retail (Financial Post)

 Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• Roger Martin: Where's the business model in playing to win (Medium)
• Revealed: Seafood fraud happening on a vast global scale (The Guardian)
• Subscriptions are getting out of hand. Here's how to manage them (WSJ)
• Low tips, long waits: DoorDash takes on drivers' Walmart gripes (Reuters)
• Greg Hicks on the role of stores and e-commerce during the pandemic (Toronto Star)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Once the innovators, department stores fight to stay alive (WSJ)
• Walmart has again delayed the launch of its Amazon Prime competitor Walmart+ (Vox)
• A record number of companies have filed for creditor protection (CBC)
• The bizarre fall of the CEO of Coach and Kate Spade's parent company (Propublica)
• Padma Lakshmi wants us to eat more adventurously (NYT)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Hard seltzer craze makes White Claw maker a billionaire (Bloomberg)
• The human cost of chicken farming (The Atlantic)
• You need to prioritize sleep (Wired)
• Tesco seeks to gain edge over rivals with Clubcard subscription service (FT)
• Biggest U.S. milk company Dean Foods files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (WSJ)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Second Cup to change name to Aegis Brands (Globe and Mail)
• French baguettes from a vending machine. 'What a tragedy' (NYT)
• Amazon confirms plans to launch grocery store under new brand (Bloomberg)
• Alibaba seals $38 billion Singles Day record (Bloomberg)
• How targeted ads and dynamic pricing can perpetuate bias (HBR)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• 'Tajin is a lifestyle': An appreciation of the Mexican seasoning mix (NYT)
• Big Dairy wants you to know that 'vegan butter' isn't actually butter (Bloomberg)
• How Amazon cloned a neighbourhood to test its robots (Wired)
• Inside the black (cherry) market of vintage Kool-Aid packet collectors (The Takeout)
• Walmart Grocery is now offering a $98 per year 'Delivery Unlimited' subscription (Tech Crunch)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Target takes on Sephora with a revamped beauty section (BoF)
• Trudeau government to ban single-use plastics as early as 2021 (CBC)
• Processed foods is a much bigger problem than we thought (Vox)
• Amazon ends restaurant delivery in face of fierce competition (WSJ)
• Owning nothing is now a luxury, thanks to a number of subscription startups (NYT)

Stephan's Monday Picks

• Retailers are tracking where you shop - and where you sleep (Bloomberg)
• From apples to popcorn, climate change is altering the foods America grows (NYT)
• H-E-B runs True Texas BBQ, the best barbecue chain in Texas (Texas Monthly)
• How the Ikea effect explains today's startups (Fast Company)
• How Amazon created the Prime membership program (Vox)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• What retail recovery? Malls under pressure as stores close (WSJ)
• Meal kits struggle to reach customers in supermarkets (Bloomberg)
• Walmart partners with subscription-based children's clothing startup Kidbox (Tech Crunch)
• The global diversity of french fry dips is a window into the way we eat today (Gastro Obscura)
• From the archives (2013): Canadian chocolate makers to pay $23.2 million fine in price-fixing lawsuit (Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Reviving the grocery industry: Six imperatives (McKinsey)
• The cookware startups that could topple the All-Clad establishment (Eater)
• The bizarre world of beauty advent calendars (The Guardian)
• Deriving value from conversations about your brand (MIT SMR)
• How subscription businesses are taking over (Fast Company)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• How the acquisition of Grocery Gateway positioned Longo's to compete in the digital age (Canadian Business)
• Edward Lampert, the hedge fund start that bet on Sears, is unrepentant (WSJ)
• America is drowning in milk nobody wants (Bloomberg)
• Inside the $2.6B subscription wars (Fast Company)
• From the archives (2004): The architect behind Kmart's surprising takeover of Sears (NYT)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Meat labs pursue once impossible goal: Kosher bacon (NYT)
• Procter and Gamble tries to break a cycle of stagnation (WSJ)
• Why the U.K. has such cheap food (BBC)
• You should be eating pie for breakfast (Eater)
• Parents are embracing subscription-based delivery of baby food (Forbes)

Stephan's Tuesday Picks

• How subscription business models are changing business and investing (25iq)
• The inside story of how McDonald's invented the Quarter Pounder (Fast Company)
• Strawberry jam: Urban farming startups tackle a problem crop (WSJ)
• Walmart eyes virtual reality shopping system (Bloomberg)
• Pepsi to buy SodaStream for $3.2B in shift to healthier drinks (WSJ)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Deciem, the upstart Canadian skin care company aiming for global domination (CBC)
• A french fry gets soggy in 5 minutes. This company wants to keep it crispy for 60 (NYT)
• Amazon Go: The sequel (Geekwire)
• A toothpaste club? Colgate to invest in online subscription startup (WSJ)
• From the archives (2005): The interpreter (Fast Company)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Is America ready to love cottage cheese again (NYT)
• Subscription box market faces fatigue (AdAge)
• The SEC has had its own questions about La Croix (WSJ)
• McDonalds wants to win breakfast by selling the best part of the muffin (Bloomberg)
• Welcome to Blaine, the town Amazon Prime built (The Verge)