The Drive-Thru: Chick-fil-A's big donations announcement, Lowe's scheduling woes, and Burger King's zesty sauce shortage

Hello and welcome to The Drive-Thru, a weekly roundup of the biggest news in retail.

Here on BI Retail, we're revving up for Black Friday - aka the retail Super Bowl - even as we face down an avalanche of news about shopping, food, workers, and more.

If this is your first time reading The Drive-Thru, subscribe here. Read on for everything you need to know about what happened in retail this week!

Chick-fil-A finally stopped donations criticized by LGBTQ activists.

After years of protests, Chick-fil-A announced it would no longer donate to the Salvation Army or the Fellowship of Christian Athletes in 2020. (Looking at 2019 donations, it seems likely that the chicken chain did not donate to the groups this year, either.)

This isn't an instance of Chick-fil-A taking a stand for gay rights. Instead, it seems to be an attempt to make sure it can stay as apolitical and universally beloved as possible. Chick-fil-A faced backlash when it opened in the UK earlier this year, in large part due to the company's donations (including donations that were made by executives and prior to 2012).

As the third-largest chain in the US by sales and one that is eyeing international expansion, Chick-fil-A is going to continue to evolve, threading the needle between its founding family's Christian values and its attempt to be a truly apolitical chicken chain.

Read about the donations here, and read my deep dive into Chick-fil-A's history and culture from earlier this year here.

Lowe's employees feel like they're 'walking on eggshells' under a new scheduling system.

Áine spoke with Lowe's employees who hate the retailer's new "customer-centric scheduling" system, which they said only gives them one weekend off every two months and makes it harder to schedule their lives.

"It originally was communicated in a way that sounded pretty harsh, which was, 'You're not going to have any flexibility over this at all,'" one manager told Áine. "And if Lowe's had never had it, it wouldn't have been any great loss. But we had it for years, and then it got taken away."

Read the full story here.

Burger King is running out of zesty sauce due to a global horseradish shortage.

Bad news for those who have a zest for zesty sauce: Burger King locations are running out of the dip amid a GLOBAL HORSERADISH SHORTAGE.

"The global shortage of horseradish has affected some of our supply of zesty sauce. We are working quickly with our suppliers to maintain continuity and keep offering our guests the zesty experience they love," a Burger King representative told Irene.

Read Irene 's zesty scoop here.

Target kept a store open after an employee died during his shift.

Shoshy reports that when a Target employee in a store in Whittier, California, died on the job on Saturday, the store stayed open.

"In partnership with law enforcement, we worked quickly with authorities to secure the area and create a more secluded space for our team member," a Target representative said in a statement to Shoshy.

This is at least the second time this year that a Target location has stayed open after someone died in the store, following a death at a Target in Wisconsin in April.

Read Shoshy's story here.

Inside McDonald's following its CEO shakeup.

I did a deep dive into what is going on inside McDonald's during the company's CEO shakeup.

My takeaways are that pretty much everyone was shocked by Steve Easterbrook's sudden termination, but ultimately most agree the board made the right decision. The fact that David Fairhurst, who led McDonald's human relations, announced he was leaving the day after Easterbrook was seen as a shocking "doubly whammy" inside the company.

Now, Kempczinski is working hard to win over McDonald's franchisees and workers. He seems successful so far.

Read the inside story of Easterbrook's ousting and Kempczinski's quest to win over McDonald's.

RIP The Victoria's Secret Fashion Show.

Victoria's Secret executives confirmed the brand will no longer air an annual fashion show after years of declining viewership.

On an earnings call for the lingerie brand's parent company, L Brands CFO Stuart Burgdoerfer said Victoria's Secret would "be communicating to customers, but nothing that I would say is similar in magnitude to the fashion show."

Read Hayley on the death of Victoria's Secret fashion show here.

We taste tested McDonald's breakfast menu as it faces new challengers.

Irene did a taste test of McDonald's breakfast menu as the fast-food chain prepares to fend off Wendy's expansion into breakfast and to add chicken to the morning menu.

Irene 's take: "I took it upon myself to test McDonald's entire breakfast menu to see how well-prepared it is for the winds it must weather. And while its core is strong, it needs to be whipped into shape if it wants to fend off any would-be usurpers."

Read the run-down of McDonald's iconic breakfast menu here.

Everything else you need to know:

• Lowe's quietly removed kitchen scales that were being used to weigh a "weed-like herb" in photos from its website.
• Target praised its "well-organized" back rooms in its earnings call after Shoshy's extensive reporting on overcrowded and potentially dangerous conditions.
• Lowe's CEO says e-commerce has largely been a "mystery" for the company.
• Another salad recall! Clearly a sign you should focus on carbs and turkey this Thanksgiving and leave the leafy greens out of it.
• Allbirds' cofounder slammed Amazon for its less expensive knockoffs, calling them "algorithmically inspired."
• The Chicken Sandwich Wars stretch on.
• Get a full rundown of stores' Black Friday hours here.

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