Aldi Cult | WA Min $17.13 | Sheetz Dies
The Curious Cult of Aldi at Bloomberg. “A cross-section of Brooklynites stretched down several city blocks—a Birkenstocked hipster, a school custodian, health-care workers, people receiving government-provided food assistance benefits…You don’t have to squint too hard to see the commonalities between Aldi and TJ’s: Both are known for compact stores, limited selections, fanatical shoppers and low prices…” Bloomberg subs.
Instacart Returns to the Super Bowl at Adweek/Yahoo. “Instacart is working with its internal creative agency Local Produce as well as BBDO and McCann on the campaign.” Read more
Sweeping Minimum-Wage Hikes Take Hold Across the Country at WSJ. “A mix of 19 states, both red and blue, bumped their minimum wages this month, several to over $15 an hour…Washington state adopted the highest state-level rate at $17.13 an hour, becoming the first state to enact an hourly minimum above $17…” WSJ subs.
DoorDash’s CEO blasts ‘appalling’ claim that a major delivery app gives drivers a desperation score at Fortune. “The user…alleges drivers are given a “desperation score” depending on their behavior at work. The hidden metric supposedly flags drivers who accept low-value “garbage” orders without hesitation, and then prevents them from viewing higher-paying orders.” Fortune subs.
NYC Wegmans storing shoppers’ facial scans and biometric data to ID customers, boost security at NY Post. “A Wegmans rep told The Post that the tech is only being used in a “small fraction of our stores that exhibit an elevated risk…Other grocery and retail locations in the five boroughs – like Fairway Market, Westside Market and Walgreen’s – already implement biometric data collection in stores…” Read more
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Do Tariffs Cause Inflation? New Studies Offer Surprising Answer at WSJ. “Economists at the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco combed through data from 1886 to 2017 and found that previous tariff increases usually didn’t lead to higher inflation. On the contrary: They slowed down price growth. A separate recent paper by economists at Northwestern University found that inflation picked up following tariff increases, but only a little. That’s the good news. The bad news: Both papers conclude that tariffs tend to hurt the economy and that a blow to consumer and business demand likely explains why the impact on inflation is so limited.” WSJ subs.
Amazon is bringing Alexa+ to the web at GeekWire. “Amazon is competing against consumer AI rivals such as ChatGPT and Gemini…It’s looking to leverage its more than 600 million Alexa-enabled devices, and areas of differentiation such as smart-home controls and device integrations.” Read more
Nestle recalls infant formula batches across Europe over toxin risk Reuters subs.
Forbes Best Customer Service 2026 (REI #5, Publix #6, Trader Joe’s #10, Buc-ee’s #13) Full list
Former Sheetz CEO Steve Sheetz dies at age 77 at CBS News. “During his time as president and CEO, Sheetz introduced Made-to-Order, entered the fuel business and expanded the company into new states. These days, there are more than 800 stores with 27,000 employees across several states, including Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Ohio and North Carolina.” Read more | NY Times subs.
Amazon revamps Fire TV, launches its own ‘Artline’ televisions with frames at CES at TechCrunch
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