Texas-based American and Southwest Airlines say they would comply with U.S. President Joe Biden's executive order to require that their employees be vaccinated for COVID-19 by a Dec. 8 deadline. “The two Texas-based carriers said the federal mandate superseded an order by Republican Governor Greg Abbott barring COVID-19 vaccine mandates by any entity, including private employers,” according to Reuters. 

Amazon and Zappos both had the  “fake it till you make it” philosophy that ran rampant in later companies like Theranos, whose founder is currently on trial for wire fraud. "Stories abound of well-established Silicon Valley companies that played Catch Me If You Can before they could fly....Before Zappos had warehouses, the company’s founder, Nick Swinmurn, would run to a store and buy the shoe each time his website got an order," notes New York magazine's Intelligencer section. "Which is why the difference between visionary and fraud isn’t so much a line, but 'a blurry house of mirrors,' according …

Kroger plans to enter the Northeast by offering Kroger Delivery and to expand in California and Florida. The grocery chain will open new customer fulfillment centers to “expand its operations, combining vertical integration, machine learning, and robotics to provide an affordable and fast-fresh food delivery service,” per Abasto. “Kroger Delivery is a thriving part of our dynamic ecosystem and is transforming grocery e-commerce,” according to the company. 

TGI Fridays is partnering with ghost kitchen platform Reef Technology to launch 300 delivery kitchens across North America and other international markets throughout the next five years. The first location will open in Miami, where Reef is headquartered. “The partnership is the latest in a flurry of restaurant deals for Reef," including one with Wendy’s to open 700 delivery kitchens, per Restaurant Dive.

Walmart and other big retail players, such as Target, Home Depot, Costco and Dollar Tree, are chartering ships to deal with the pandemic-driven slowdown of sea networks that handle 90% of the world's trade. “U.S. retailers' traditional lifeline from Asia is freezing up due to a resurgence of COVID-19 in countries like Vietnam and Indonesia plus a power-supply crunch in China,” per Reuters.

Forbes has released its annual list of most influential CMOs. “This year, chief marketing officers were tasked with much more than navigating their own companies out of the Covid-19 crisis: They assisted with vaccine marketing and distribution, addressed politics and other issues, including racism and climate change, and pushed for innovation ranging from e-commerce and new content platforms to adopting emerging technologies and complying with data privacy,” per the publication.

Southwest Airlines canceled more than 2,000 flights Friday through Sunday, and the disruption continued into Monday with about 337 flights canceled so far today. “The company blamed the cancellations on air traffic control problems and limited staffing in Florida as well as bad weather,” per CNN. The company says getting operations back to normal was more difficult and prolonged because of schedule and staffing reductions made during the pandemic. In a statement, the Federal Aviation Administration said there have been no air-traffic-related cancellations since Friday. The agency said that airlines are experiencing delays because of aircraft and crews being …

The Home Depot has teamed up with Walmart GoLocal to expand same- and next-day delivery for U.S. customers. The partnership brings the home improvement retailer closer to its goal of offering same-day or next-day delivery to 90% of the U.S. population. “Customers will be able to schedule delivery for certain items, among them tools, fasteners, paint and other supplies that fit easily in a car, during online checkout,” per Progressive Grocer. 

A national fast food chain has a solution to the restaurant industry's labor shortage. Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers is asking corporate employees to work as fry cooks and cashiers. "The privately held Baton Rouge, La.-based company has a total of 750 corporate employees, 500 in its Dallas office. Of those, 250 will be going in the field as front-line employees,” per CNN. “Another 250 who work as marketers and trainers will shift to restaurant and recruiting jobs.”

Lego announced plans for an enormous and expensive Titanic replica set. The $629 replica is "the largest Lego set ever created," according to the toymaker, made up of 9,090 pieces and stretching over 4 feet. It includes a “First-Class grand staircase” and “Jacobean-style dining saloon,” according to the company. “Social media users were quick to react to the model’s size and price -- in addition to making comparisons to the real ship,” per USA Today.