Hello Omni Talk Fans! To say this week wasn't satisfying would be a gross injustice.

Coming off COVID in the Walton household, Anne and I not only debuted our new OmniStars program with Quorso, which recognizes the Top 20 Omnichannel Operators in retail, but we also recorded two great interviews with Scandit and Talkdesk, both of whom will be joining us live next week on LinkedIn, and also managed to record our Fast Five podcast a full day early, so Anne could leave on a girls trip to California.

So, without further ado, in this week's Fast Five Podcast, Anne and I:

- Discussed why IKEA's new store investment plans show just how smart of retailer IKEA is.

- Lauded Unilever for its bold move to deploy mobile ice cream stores with Robomart.

- Grew skeptical of Adidas's all-in move with Foot Locker.

- Debated whether Sweetgreen's new digital order pickup-only store is something more QSRs should try (and, newsflash, but I outright conceded the argument to Anne on this one).

- And, closed with an exploratory look at Starbucks and its digital future.

There's all that, plus Kanye's latest video drop for Gap, what pairs best with Grey Poupon wine, and whether all jumpsuits are beltless.

Listen to This Week’s Fast Five Podcast

Be careful out there,

-- Chris, Anne, and the entire Omni Talk team

P.S. Our OmniStars recognition is definitely one of my favorite things we have ever done at Omni Talk.

It speaks right to our mission of cutting through the B.S. to celebrate what really matters as retail continues to evolve, and that starts with the people most impacting the change in the real world.

I hope you will check out this year's award winners.

You can see the full list of all 20 OmniStars reward recipients by clicking here.

P.P.S. You can still register to attend our interviews next week with Scandit's Christian Floerkemeier and Talkdesk's Genesis Miranda Longo and Antonio Gonzalez.

Christian, Genesis, and Antonio all will be on hand to take your questions live during our interviews, so if you want to up your knowledge on computer vision applications in store or on how Millennials and Gen Zs look at customer service and loyalty, these are the experts to ask.

You can register for each event (or both) by clicking on the images below.