Can Rite Aid recover yet again?: Before it filed bankruptcy last month, Camp Hill, Pa.-based Rite Aid’s six decades of history included debt-fueled expansion, financial fraud, mergers and acquisitions, and a slew of opioid-related lawsuits. But the company has bounced back from its past downslides again and again, as chronicled in this Philadelphia Inquirer article. Now Rite Aid is counting on bankruptcy to ease some of its financial pressures, such as the $80 million annual payments it makes on long-term leases for closed store locations. The article also cites two failed attempts to sell the company — one that the Federal Trade Commission nixed, which would have seen Walgreens buy the chain (Walgreens did end up buying almost half of Rite Aid’s stores), and another that Rite Aid’s own shareholders opposed, in which Albertsons would have taken over. Now, Rite Aid may go on the market again, hoping for another buyer to come to its rescue. —Mark Hamstra
No tip, no priority: DoorDash recently added a pop-up disclaimer in its app for some customers who choose not to tip their delivery driver. “Orders with no tip might take longer to get delivered – are you sure you want to continue?” the warning reads. DoorDash delivery drivers, or Dashers, have the option to choose what orders they pick up. And since they receive 100% of the added tip, it’s likely that drivers prioritize more profitable orders. Right now, the food delivery service says it’s only testing the disclaimer in some regions. But DoorDash said that, based on feedback from the test, the company could make a decision to roll out the disclaimer nationwide. The moral of the story? Put your money where your mouth is. Especially if you want that mouth to be full of that sandwich you just ordered. —Chloe Riley
The eerie convenience of paying with your palm: Over the summer, Amazon announced that it would roll out its palm-scanning payment tech to all of its 500-plus Whole Foods U.S. locations by end of year. Insider contributor Kylie Kirschner recently tried out the tech at a Whole Foods in New York City, and said she was sort of shocked by just how easy and convenient it is — she now uses it all the time. Kirschner does acknowledge that the technology has been criticized by some, especially those with privacy concerns and worries that the biometric data Amazon is collecting could be misused. But we all know that siren song of convenience. It’s powerful, and it’s not going anywhere anytime soon. —CR
Grocery ads for the apocalypse: What products will your stores carry when nuts and bananas have gone extinct, and meat has become too difficult to produce at scale? Korean designer Gawon Lee seeks to tackle those questions with humor and artistic flair in a series of nostalgic-looking ad posters from the future, according to this Fast Company report. Products include banana-flavored powder and a plastic mold to shape it (“Mix with water — Your favorite fruit ready in 5 minutes!”) under the Monkey’s Pleasure brand, and the Meat Market catch-your-own cockroach kit for making proteins at home. The goal of the artwork, dubbed Super Nostalgia, is to show the potential impact of climate change on agriculture. Super Nostalgia was recently displayed during Dutch Design Week, and the posters were slated to go on sale this month at an art book fair in Seoul called Unlimited Edition. Just some food for thought. —MH
104 years, Winn-Dixie-style: Winn-Dixie employee Romay Davis celebrated her 104th birthday the other day, complete with a bonafide in-store party. Davis has worked at Winn-Dixie since 2001, organizing, stocking shelves, and chatting up customers. She’s a World War II veteran – the last surviving member of a battalion that sorted backlogged mail for soldiers. She also went on to have a career as a fashion designer and a model. Later in life, she earned her second-degree black belt in Taekwondo. “I say any time in life you get a hunch you really want to do it, I say go for it,” Davis said. Wise words from a woman who’s lived life well. —CR
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DoorDash recently added a pop-up disclaimer in its app for some customers who choose not to tip their delivery driver. “Orders with no tip might take longer to get delivered – are you sure you want to continue?” the warning reads. Should tipping (or not) determine a shopper’s priority? Let us know what you think in the comments below, or email the SN staff at [email protected].
