Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Amazon's ripple effect on grocery industry: Rivals stock up on start-ups (NYT)
• How direct-to-consumer brands are reshaping marketing (Marketing Week)
• Contact lenses are a surprising source of pollution (Scientific American)
• Beyond procurement: Transforming indirect spending in retail (McKinsey)
• Serta Simmons just merged with bed-in-a-box startup Tuft & Needle (Fast Company)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Welcome to checkout-free retail. Don't mind all the cameras (Wired)
• Tyson Foods to acquire Keystone Foods in $2.16 billion deal (WSJ)
• Farfetch, online retailer, plans to go public as luxury e-commerce grows (NYT)
• Air Canada-led consortium to buy back Aeroplan (CBC)
• The $29 billion battle to own how America sleeps is heating up (Fast Company)

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 Monday Picks

• Americans are spending like crazy at restaurants (Bloomberg)
• DoorDash raises another $250M, nearly triples valuation to $4B (Tech Crunch)
• The benefits of an engaged, empowered workforce (MIT Sloan)
• What if the museum of ice cream is the future of retail (Bloomberg)
• Bribes, backdoor deals, and pay to play: How rosé took over (Bon Appetit)

Stephan's Friday Picks

• Constellation Brands invests $5B in Canopy Growth (CBC)
• Firms that bossed agriculture for a century face new threat: Farmers (WSJ)
• Food halls are the new food truck (Eater)
• Walmart just put Amazon no notice (Bloomberg)
• From the archives (2017): Aldo shoe empire founder donates $25 million to McGill for new retail management school (The Globe and Mail)

Stephan's Thursday Picks

• Casper, a web pioneer, to open 200 stores (WSJ)
• The Super Bowl of beekeeping (NYT)
• Drugstores, in-store pharmacies push for right to sell cannabis (The Globe and Mail)
• Playing catch-up with Walmart, Amazon offers grocery pickup at Whole Foods (NYT) 
• Credit card firms to trim merchant fees, but retailers group 'underwhelmed' (CBC)

Stephan's Wednesday Picks

• Coca-Cola invests in Body Armor as it chases Gatorade (WSJ)
• Kroger partners with Alibaba in China grocery sales venture (Reuters)
• More recycling won't solve plastic pollution (Scientific American)
• Sears CEO bids $470 million for Kenmore, home improvement units (Bloomberg)
• Alibaba eyes revamp in food sector (China Daily)