QSRs weren’t always the boxy, gray structures dotting highways across the US. (Case in point: The design evolution of McDonald’s; as restaurant architect Glen Coben told Vox, “One thing that I’ve learned in the industry is that fast-food restaurants are essentially just designed in a lab to produce the biggest returns possible.”)

Call us suckers for nostalgia, but with Retail Brew focusing on the fast-changing world of QSRs this month, we first wanted to take a drive through memory lane.

McDonald’s: Above is the first location opened in 1955 in Des Plaines, Illinois, by Ray Kroc, who would build McDonald’s into the fast-food giant we know today.

Burger King: Originally called “Insta-Burger King” in the 1950s, credit David Edgerton and James McLamore with dropping the “Insta” and expanding the fast-food chain into the second-largest in the US (after McDonald’s).

Wendy’s: Now, if you thought founder Dave Thomas named the chain—which he started in 1969—after one of his children, you’re kind of right. Wendy is apparently a nickname for his daughter Melinda.

Taco Bell: Founder Glen Bell apparently tried his hand at hamburgers and hot dogs before he focused all of his energy on tacos; he opened the first Taco Bell in 1962 in—where else?—California.

Click here to keep reading.—GT

Target is getting out ahead of a big problem: unwanted inventory. Yesterday, the big-box retailer warned profits could take a hit in the short term as the company executes a plan to do away with excess stuff.

It’s gotta go: CEO Brian Cornell told CNBC that Target plans to make room for in-demand inventory like groceries, beauty products, household items, and back-to-school supplies, and shift away from popular pandemic-era categories.

• The plan entails slashing prices and canceling orders for those unwanted items.

Billions of dollars in excess inventory are plaguing a handful of retailers, including Walmart and Gap, as a result of stocking up on products amid supply-chain shortages from late last year, Suzy Davidkhanian, principal analyst at Insider Intelligence, told Retail Brew. She noted, however, retailers being stuck with too much product is hardly a new problem.

“People are making different decisions about where they’re going to spend their money, and so retailers need to sort of get ahead of it and have the right merchandise at the store or online for when the consumer is ready to make that purchase,” Davidkhanian said. “It’s always been a little bit of a dance, but I think it’s just exacerbated because consumers are making changes much more quickly.”

Looking ahead…For Target—and other retailers—Davidkhanian said it’s important to use predictive analytics to forecast future demand. Cornell told CNBC Target wants to get out ahead of seasonal shopping periods like back to school and the holidays to avoid overstocked stores.

• Target predicts its profit margins in the latter half of the year will still exceed pre-pandemic levels at 6%.

“I don’t think there’s less demand; people are still shopping,” Davidkhanian said. “They’re just buying different things.”

TL;DR: Got a minute? Dan Toomey summed up Target’s oversupply season in a video here.—KM

On Wednesdays, we wear pink spotlight Retail Brew’s readers. Want to be featured in an upcoming edition? Click here to introduce yourself.

Adela Cardona Puerta thinks a lot about her employer’s carbon footprint, which is fitting, since they make shoes. As the responsibility coordinator for Beckett Simonon, a made-to-order footwear and accessories brand based in Bogotá, Colombia, Cardona Puerta helps the company reduce its environmental impact. She also focuses on well-being measures, including efforts to pay a fair wage to artisans the brand works with and partnering with nonprofits.

Cardona Puerta, who lives in Bogotá, has a journalism background, primarily writing for online publications about fashion and mental health. When she’s not at work, chances are she’s working on the podcast she hosts, La Bombillera, which she told us “aims to highlight all sorts of emergent Latinx creatives: rappers, chefs, makeup artists, and radio hosts, among others.”

But here we’re turning the tables and asking the questions, because we wanted to learn more about her.

How would you describe your job to someone who doesn’t work in retail? I [work] with the team to determine and evolve our philosophy regarding social and ecological responsibility, as well as making sure every aspect of the company can work in a manner as close as possible to that philosophy. 

One thing we can’t guess about your job from your LinkedIn profile: That it entails working with a lot of actors and communities, like artisan hubs that teach students how to handle leather with the scraps left [in] our workshops from pre-consumer waste. 

What’s your favorite project you’ve worked on? My favorite project so far has been producing video profiles of our artisan partners at Beckett Simonon—men and women that have dedicated themselves to the art of shoemaking for decades, who can soon be known by our broader community.

One emerging trend that you’re most excited about: Regenerative agriculture and cattle raising. More than a trend, it is a sustainable solution to climate justice, biodiversity, [and] food security.

What was the most memorable job you had in high school or college, and why? I worked for a fashion content company that did monthly roundtables on topics surrounding sustainability back in 2015, when it wasn’t really a thing. It was fun to research solutions and meet actors working towards it in Colombia.

What’s the most embarrassing product you’ve ordered online that you’re actually willing to admit? Not sure how embarrassing that is, but my whole audiobook history consists of romantic comedies.

Today’s top retail reads.

More than meets the glass: What it takes to fashion “the drink of the summer.” (Thingtesting)

Half empty? Covid cases in New York City are on the rise, but safety precautions at most restaurants remain minimal. “I can tell you this: No one cares,” said one bartender who works in Brooklyn and Manhattan. (Grubhub)

In focus: How Chipotle has accelerated investments in its frontline employees and upped their wages to help them transition to the middle class. (Fortune)

Money moves: Money With Katie is our weekly newsletter that takes a fresh approach to spending habits, investing best practices, and tax strategies. Finance bros are out, accessible personal finance is in. Check it out.

If only there were DuoLingo for Gen Z. Instead, brands must hire language tutors to try to figure out how to keep up with this increasingly influential generation. On June 15 in NYC, we’re sitting down with the VP of marketing for cookies and crackers at Campbell Snacks as well as the managing director of retail and e-commerce analysis at Morning Consult for their takes on Gen Z’s evolving palate and preferences.

Join us for passed appetizers, an open bar, and possibly even a snacktivation by our sponsor, Amazon Ads. Doors open at 5:45pm ET and spots are on a first-come, first-serve basis. Register here.*

*Note this event has limited capacity.

Catch up on the Retail Brew stories you may have missed.

• The Korres in-store recycling lab in NYC is giving beauty empties a second chance
• Two Zoomers dish on the struggles of being young founders
• China is easing its Covid restrictions, offering some potential relief to retailers