No Retreat, No Surrender
Analyzing and commenting on the hot topics in business, politics, and economics globally
I do not play favorites nor do I criticize to be malicious or disrespectful. My goal is simple: Provide opinions that help cut through noise, educate, uncover lies and half-truths, and provide clarity.
The Sad Saga of Food Rocket and Couche-Tard
Imagine you’re the CEO of an $8B convenience global retail chain with approximately 9,300 c-stores in North America - 7,100 in the United States and 2,100 in Canada - for a worldwide total network of 14,200 stores. As the CEO, you want to maximize sales at each store,...
Uber’s ‘Bridge Too Far’
One of my favorite books is 'A Bridge Too Far' by Cornelius Ryan. The book recounts one of the largest military operations in WW ll code-named Operation Market Garden. The offensive called for three Allied airborne divisions (the “Market” part of the operation) to...
The Wait is Over: Meta is Killing Most of its Focus on the Metaverse
I received many comments from LinkedIn members regarding my opinion that ChatGPT AI from OpenAI has made Meta’s pursuit of the Metaverse irrelevant, and that sooner rather than later, Meta would pivot away from the metaverse to focus on AI. Some Linkedin members...
The brutal truth about Amazon Go
Amazon has announced that they’re closing eight Amazon Go stores located in Seattle, San Francisco and New York City. Amazon operates 29 Amazon Go stores - they will soon only operate 21. Amazon stated that closing the stores is a normal part of business, and that...
ChatGPT: How It All Began
On the day that ChatGPT was unveiled, I wrote this paragraph on a post: “ChatGPT just made the metaverse irrelevant. Meta and other companies pursuing the metaverse will now have to pivot. Why? The metaverse is a neat idea but AI can destroy companies...
Automated Last-Mile Delivery has Arrived
During multiple supply chain conferences in 2022, DoorDash, Uber, Instacart, Grubhub, Amazon, Walmart, Target, Domino's, McDonald's, Walgreens, CVS Health, and Yum! Brands, to name a few, were among the companies asked this question: What do you want to see most of...
Kohl’s Proves You Can Pay A CEO $60M And Have Nothing To Show For It
Retailers fail or succeed for one reason - the ability of their CEO to do their job. I can make the argument that Walmart is doing very well as a company thanks to the leadership of their CEO, Doug McMillon. I would be remiss if I didn't mention that I believe Walmart...
The Graveyard Of Empires: New York City Is Killing Rapid Grocery Delivery Companies
In 280 B.C., the Greek King, Pyrrhus of Epirius, arrived in Italy with a force of 25,000 men, and 20 war elephants. Pyrrhus considered himself to be a leader and strategist on par with Alexander the Great, and he intentionally placed he and his Army in harm’s way. ...
Micro-fulfillment as a Service (MaaS): Is it an Option Retailers Should Pursue?
Walmart recently announced that they’re installing micro-fulfillment centers inside select stores. Is micro-fulfillment the next big thing? What should retailers like Albertsons do? Will Amazon invest in micro-fulfillment? Has the time come for retailers to ask and answer this question: What’s our micro-fulfillment strategy?
Amazon Should Acquire CVS Pharmacy’s Retail Business
I often write about the topic of retail strategy because I find the topic interesting, and I have a way of coming up with ideas that generate a lot of interest from Wall Street, retail analysts, business executives and casual followers of the retail industry. For...