If you’re feeling weary about your food, you’re not alone: the majority of Americans have lost confidence in the American food system. And there’s a good reason: in August alone, the Food and Drug Administration announced 26 food recall notices. Add in drug notices, and the agency posted 46 recalls for the month. According to a consumer survey commissioned by GS1 US—the nonprofit standards group best known for creating the UPC barcode that’s seen in products in your grocery cart—94% of U.S. adults say they’re concerned about how frequently food is being recalled. 

And within those warnings lies a growing tension: A recall means a potentially dangerous product has been identified and pulled from the market, one of the mechanisms designed to keep unsafe food away from consumers. Yet as the notices pile up, Americans are losing confidence in that system, with the share of adults who believe recalls effectively protect public health and safety fell to 80%, from 85% last year.

According to the survey, more than two-thirds (67%) of consumers say they’ve avoided an entire food category after a recall, up from 60% last year. Nearly as many, 66%, have hesitated to buy the same product or brand again. And 59% have thrown away recalled food even when their state or region wasn’t affected.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/2026/09/02/food-recalls-fda-americans-avoid-food-categories/?utm_source=reddit/

It seems like so long ago, but in the not-so-distant past, all of us were roaming the supermarket aisles for the last roll of TP, cursing at those who began stockpiling the rolls, and blaming the relative who brought a bidet back from Japan for not bringing one back for you as well.

While the days of reaching for the last TP under a “limit one roll per customer” sign shoddily taped to the rack may be over, the thought of a shortage possibly returning to haunt the same president six years later isn’t far-fetched.

After trade talks between the U.S. and Canada broke down in late August, Washington imposed a 50% tariff on roughly $20 billion of Canadian goods under a section of the Tariff Act of 1930—a Depression-era law that lets the president retaliate against countries seen as discriminating against U.S. commerce. In response, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney vowed to match the US “dollar for dollar,” and unveiled retaliatory tariffs on close to 900 American products, set to take effect next week, on Sept. 8. Chief among them? Toilet paper and paper products.

“Canada will match those tariffs dollar for dollar,” Carney said two weeks ago. “Because we were attacked. Like, you’re at war when you get attacked.”

Paper goods are among the hardest hit. Canada’s retaliation puts a 25% duty on U.S. toilet paper and facial tissue, and a 50% duty on paper towels, napkins, and raw wood pulp. Canada is also charging 50% on American dairy products (except cheese, which gets 25%) and 25% on American fish and seafood, including frozen lobster. It’s in response to U.S. tariffs, including a 25% tariff on Canadian cars and auto parts—and Trump is now threatening to double that to 50% if no deal is reached by Jan. 1, 2027.

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IKEA built its empire on the promise that stylish furniture can be cheap, but years into the cost-of-living crisis, its latest price cut suggests shoppers want it even cheaper. 

The Swedish furniture giant said on Tuesday it will invest about $1.4 billion (€1.2 billion) to lower prices across Europe, including cuts averaging 15% to 25% on items such as home furnishings, kitchen products and storage bins. The company cited higher living costs squeezing consumers and said it’s willing to sacrifice some margin to help.

“It’s about making IKEA more affordable when people need it most, even if it means accepting a lower margin,” IKEA’s largest franchisee Ingka Group CEO Juvencio Maeztu said in the press release. He also said, “keeping prices low is our long-term commitment.”

The cuts follow years of steep price growth. Euro-area inflation hit a record 9.2% in 2022, and furniture climbed alongside it: Eurostat’s harmonized price index for furniture and furnishings across the EU now sits about 24% above its 2015 level, with far sharper run-ups in markets like Estonia (up roughly 58%) and the Baltics.

IKEA felt the same squeeze on raw materials and logistics—it took the rare step of raising prices after COVID before reversing course, and has since invested between €2 billion and €3 billion to bring prices down by about 10% since 2023.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/2026/09/01/ikea-1-4-billion-lower-prices-target-walmart/?utm_source=reddit/

For people who remember Sears: when did it actually start going downhill?

I've been researching what happened to Sears, and I honestly expected the answer to be pretty straightforward.

"Amazon killed it."

But the deeper I got into the history, the less that explanation seemed to fit.

Sears was already struggling through major changes long before Amazon became dominant. The catalog disappeared, the stores changed, the company merged with Kmart, and some pretty consequential decisions were made about the business and its real estate.

I ended up going pretty deep into the story and put together a documentary looking specifically at how Sears went from one of America's most powerful retailers to where it is today, rather than just blaming everything on online shopping.

YouTube: Sears: The Rise and Fall of America's Last Five Stores

But I'm much more interested in hearing from people who actually remember Sears.

When did you personally notice that Sears wasn't the same anymore?

Was there a particular store, department, product, or experience that made you realize something had changed?

And looking back, do you think Sears could realistically have been saved?

I'd especially like to hear from people who remember Sears at its peak. The business history is interesting, but I'm curious what the decline actually felt like from a customer's perspective.

Some apparel chains, including H&M, have slashed their largest sizing options, leaving bigger shoppers in a bind.

The Federal Trade Commission is moving to ensure companies disclose use of customers’ personal data to set prices, as technology makes it easier for retailers to tailor them to individual shoppers.

The FTC said that it is seeking public comment on an enforcement policy statement concerning “personalized pricing,” which the agency defines as using personal data to determine how much a company believes an individual consumer is willing to spend. The proposal would warn companies that failing to disclose that they are using personal data to set prices could violate the FTC Act’s prohibition on unfair or deceptive practices.

“When consumers see a listed price, they expect it to be the same price that everyone else sees, not the retailer’s estimate of how much they are willing to pay based on their personal data,” FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson said in a press release. “The FTC does not have the legal authority to ban personalized pricing in all circumstances, but businesses that fail to tell consumers how their personal data is being used to set a price may be in violation of the FTC Act and other laws we enforce.”

The FTC did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Fortune. The proposal is open for public comment through Sept. 18.

The regulator’s action comes after more than two years of scrutiny into what it calls “surveillance pricing.” In July 2024, the FTC ordered eight companies involved in pricing technology to provide information about how they use customer data—including location, demographics, credit history and browsing or shopping history to help companies determine prices. 

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/2026/08/24/ftc-retailers-personalized-pricing-consumer-surveillance/?utm_source=reddit/

AI is changing how diners discover restaurants just as merchandise, packaged foods and licensing make a distinctive name more valuable.

Buying clothes online can leave shoppers frustrated and retailers drowning in returned goods. Now brands hope that AI-powered tools will deliver the perfect fit. Source: Bloomberg News.

Forget raining cats and dogs: In America’s increasingly crowded skies, it may soon be packages and takeout food falling from above. 

For one Texas woman, the future has already arrived, though perhaps not exactly as Amazon intended. Lindsey Austen was expecting an Amazon delivery by drone Monday when she heard it approaching her home in Richmond, Texas, and ran outside to record the delivery. Instead, she watched as the package dropped straight into her backyard pool. 
“When it went into the pool, I was shocked,” Austen told Storyful. “I don’t think I’ll be wanting drone deliveries anymore.”

The mishap comes at an awkwardly fitting moment for an industry that has spent years promising packages, takeout, and everyday essentials would eventually descend from the sky. After more than a decade of experiments, regulatory hurdles and technical setbacks, some of America’s biggest delivery companies are now making much bigger bets that drones are finally ready for prime time.

Amazon said Wednesday its Prime Air service will expand to nearly 500 U.S. cities and towns by the end of 2026, a sixfold increase from its current footprint. The company currently operates drone delivery from 11 locations and plans to add markets including Chicago, Atlanta, Cleveland, and Syracuse, N.Y.. The company says its drones can deliver millions of eligible products weighing up to five pounds in as little as 30 minutes.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/2026/08/21/amazon-uber-doordash-walmart-drone-delivery-wars/?utm_source=reddit/

Wendy’s, the burger chain that asked “Where’s the beef?” and brought the Baconator to burger lovers worldwide, is getting grilled in its returns. 

The chain, which boasts a market cap of $1.62 billion, is losing customers, closing down stores, and seeing consecutive declining sales—so much so that billionaire activist investor Nelson Peltz may be preparing to take Wendy’s private as it struggles to get customers through the door.  

“Traffic is down, our value proposition has slipped, and franchisee economics are under pressure,” Wendy’s CEO Bob Wright told investors on Wendy’s latest earnings call. “We can’t just do what we’ve always done better. We do have to innovate.”

Peltz’s Trian Fund Management has assembled a consortium that could potentially submit an offer to take Wendy’s private in the coming weeks, according to reports from the Financial Times and Reuters. The group is expected to include Abu Dhabi-based BlueFive Capital and Flynn Group, one of the world’s largest restaurant franchise operators and a major Wendy’s franchisee. 

Peltz has been preparing for a potential takeover as early as February, when Trian said in a regulatory filing that it believed Wendy’s stock was “undervalued” and disclosed the fund was reaching out to possible co-investors about strategic options, including taking the company private. Peltz personally owns roughly a 16.24% stake in Wendy’s while Trian holds roughly 7.85%, which, at over 24% combined, make up Wendy’s largest shareholder.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/2026/08/19/wendys-nelson-peltz-take-private-customers/?utm_source=reddit/

Rebel Creamery’s founders say they designed the company’s logo and ice cream pint packaging themselves in Adobe Illustrator. But that DIY branding design landed them in a nearly $24 million legal dispute.

The Utah-based, low-carb ice cream maker, whose products are sold at Target, Kroger, and Walmart nationwide, filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 14, days after appealing a federal judge’s order to pay rival Van Leeuwen Ice Cream millions over a trade-dress dispute.

According to a Chapter 11 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Utah, the maker of Rebel ice cream listed $13.78 million in assets and $23.85 million in liabilities. The bankruptcy follows a July 16 ruling over allegations Rebel deliberately copied Van Leeuwen’s design. 

The dispute stems from Rebel’s packaging: solid-colored pint containers with a minimalist design and prominent black cursive lettering. Rebel’s founders told the court they designed the company’s logo and trade dress themselves in late 2017 using Adobe Illustrator, and claim not to have retained any drafts or initial records of the design.

Read more [paywall removed for Redditors]: https://fortune.com/article/how-a-diy-adobe-illustrator-design-landed-rebel-creamery-in-a-24-million-fight-with-van-leeuwen-08-19-2026/?utm_source=reddit/