Target is lowering prices on nearly 2,000 home and apparel & accessories items “Apparel and shoes: …select items priced 20% or more lower than last year…Home: A fully refreshed bedding assortment, with prices 15% lower, on average…” Press release

 

An outright ban on certain Canadian products took effect Tuesday at NY Times. “On Monday, U.S. officials released a notice saying Canadian products including whey protein, molasses, nonalcoholic beer, wine, vermouth and a variety of liquor would be “unconditionally rejected” by U.S. Customs and Border Protection starting at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.” NY Times subs.

 

Inside McDonald’s push to have AI price your Big Mac at Reuters. “McDonald’s pricing engine uses machine-learning algorithms to continually analyze data from millions of daily transactions across McDonald’s nearly 14,000 restaurants and generate what the company calls “the optimal price” at each location for each menu item…The engine has widened existing price differences for the same product between restaurants, including from neighborhood to neighborhood within the same area, three franchisees told Reuters.” Reuters subs.

 

RFK Jr.’s Push to Revamp American Food Runs Into White House Resistance at WSJ. “At a July meeting convened by senior White House officials, tensions were running high…The definition (of ultraprocessed food) that health officials pushed for: Processed food should be considered ultraprocessed if it contains ingredients such as artificial colors, nonnutritive sweeteners or chemical preservatives…White House staffers were concerned that definition could cover the vast majority of food in U.S. grocery stores and support existing efforts to sue food companies over bad health outcomes.” WSJ subs.

 

Forbes 250: America’s Most Successful Builders (Bezos #1 / Blank #5 / Menard Jr. #35) Full list (subs.)

 

H&M Discovers It’s Tough to Make Money Selling Used Dresses for $5 at Bloomberg. “Sellpy, a used-clothing retailer, runs a warehouse where it processes and sells secondhand items, with over 20 million items passing through its facilities last year. The company, 82% owned by Hennes & Mauritz AB, makes it easy for customers to sell their unwanted items by taking care of the process, but it’s still not profitable after 12 years in business.” Bloomberg subs.

 

Adobe: U.S. Online Holiday Shopping to Hit Record $275.1 Billion, Rising 6.7% YoY “Cyber Monday is expected to set a new milestone for U.S. e-commerce…over $15 billion online in a single day ($15.1 billion, up 6.2% YoY). The second biggest day of the season will be Black Friday ($12.9 billion, up 9.2% YoY)…Thanksgiving is set to drive $6.9 billion (up 8.5% YoY)” Press release

 

China, US pledge tariff cuts on $60 billion of goods including agriculture, toys, toasters at Reuters. “Beijing will look to reduce levies on US fish and seafood, logs and wood products, cosmetics and medical devices…​Washington’s proposed reciprocal tariff cuts for Chinese consumer goods, including small appliances such as coffee makers and toasters, tableware, blankets and bed linens.
The broad category for toys, including children’s bicycles, topped the US list…” Reuters subs.

 

…US-China pledge to cut toy tariffs could give battered industry a Christmas miracle NY Post

 

McKinsey:  AI could force 11 million workers into new jobs “…more than 70 percent of declining employment could be in the bottom two quintiles, primarily in office and administrative support, retail and sales, and transportation and logistics occupations.” Read more

 

A Supermarket Opened a Pub to Get Around Liquor Laws. Now It Needs Bouncers. “(Lidl) opened its first in-house pub this summer in Belfast’s eastern suburbs. Called the Middle Ale after the store’s center aisle…On some nights so many people show up that Lidl employs a team of bouncers to keep the thirsty clientele in check.” WSJ subs.

 

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