Remarkable Retail (Michael LeBlanc, Steve Dennis)
Explorez tous les épisodes de Remarkable Retail
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| 09 Nov 2021 | The Future of Grocery with Guests David Marcotte and Sylvain Charlebois | 00:37:09 | ||||||||||
No part of retail has been facing more transformative forces than the grocery business. In this episode we explore how the retail food business is being disrupted with globally recognized experts David Marcotte, SVP at Kantar Retail and Sylvain Charlebois (aka "The Food Professor") Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University. We dive deep into how the pandemic accelerated online shopping the profitability challenges associated with home delivery, the importance of sustainability and more! But first we open up the episode with the Top 3 retail stories that caught our attention this past week, including lots of news with Bed, Bath & Beyond, including their curious partnership with Kroger, Allbirds blockbuster IPO and Wayfair big earnings whiff.
Sylvain Charlebois Dr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph’s Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability. Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 05 Sep 2023 | Retail's Escalating Commitment to a Failing Course of Action | 00:38:42 | ||||||||||
The retail graveyard is already filled with brands that failed to transform for the new age of retail and many household names (JC Penney, Gap, Macy's, and more) are edging ever closer to the precipice. Despite the profound shifts in retail during the past decades, these iconic brands continue to fall prey to "The Innovator's Dilemma," choosing to double down on what is very clearly a losing hand. In this episode we explore why so many organizations have allowed a huge gap to grow between how remarkable they need to be and how fast they need to change. We unpack how ego, ignorance, and fear often hinder necessary progress and propose a leadership mind shift that is required to transform at the speed of disruption. We even tease some content from Steve's new book. But we start with our hot-takes on recent retail news, dipping into a slew of quarterly earnings, which were generally pretty tepid (notable exceptions included Lululemon and Ulta) and featured quite a lot of downward guidance and calling out of "shrinkage." We discuss the re-emergence of IPO fever (which includes the revelation that Instacart is really in the media business), explore why Madison Read is taking the "D" out of DTC, and discuss what to make of Shein partnering up with Forever 21. We conclude a discussion of growing pushes to get employees back to the office. Interviews discussed in this episode:
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of focused on growth, innovation, and the impact of digital disruption. He is widely considered one of the foremost and influential voices in the retail industry. You can learn more about Steve on his website. His #1 bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 19 Apr 2022 | The Store As Brand Hub with Target SVP Nancy King | 00:39:42 | ||||||||||
Our guest this week is Nancy King, SVP, Product Engineering at Target who shares the remarkable story of her company's journey to omni-channel--or is it harmonized?--leadership. This episode provides a deep-dive, insider's perspective on how Target has embraced the blur of modern retail and put their stores at the center of the guest experience. We get a fascinating behind the scenes look at how the application of agile methodology, combined with digital technology and a willingness to experiment aggressively, has driven break-through results. We also explore how Target knew to invest in these areas ahead of the COVID crisis and what their plans are to stay in sync with ever escalating customer needs and wants. But first we unpack the hot retail news of the week, including Amazon CEO Andy Jassey's first letter to shareholders and the company's plans to get serious (at long last) about product returns. Then we do a few quick hits--Kohl's take-over talks, K-mart's last gasps and the retail industry's resale curiosity --before lamenting over the train wreck that was Bed, Bath & Beyond's recent quarterly earnings. Steve also riffs a bit on the pointless pursuit of promiscuous shoppers.
About Nancy Authentic, progressive engineering leader with 20+ year’s hands on experience in Fortune 100 IT organizations solving the hardest problems. Able to quickly assess challenging situations and build relationships across the enterprise to align engineering, product and operations to business strategy. Strong focus on team building and culture to create empowered, energized, high performing teams. Proven ability to set strategy, drive change and foster more innovative and technically responsive organizations. And while all that is happening, my teams and I build amazing software. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 13 Oct 2020 | The Collapse of the Middle with Deloitte Consulting's Kasey Lobaugh | 00:43:49 | ||||||||||
In this episode we delve into a topic that sits at the core of the need to be remarkable: the on-going bifurcation of the retail market. For more than a decade success has largely been found at either end of the spectrum. At one end, brands that offered incredible value and convenience have been gobbling up market share and opening hundreds of stores, even in the face of the so-called "retail apocalypse." At the other end of the continuum, many higher-end stores and well-honed specialty concepts have similarly enjoyed expanding sales, profits and, in many cases, store counts. Yet those stuck in the mediocre middle, have been hit incredibly hard, a situation made all the more dire by the COVID economy. In this episode we discuss the underlying forces that are causing the collapse of the middle and how to get on the journey to remarkable. To better understand "the collapse of the middle" we interview Kasey Lobaugh, Deloitte Consulting's chief retail innovation officer. Kasey helps us unpack the key findings from Deloitte's "Great Retail Bifurcation" report. We also discuss how the pandemic is amplifying many of these forces and why we may well be looking at a "K-shaped recovery." For further reading on the concept of retail bifurcation by Kasey: Holiday sales expected to jump 4.5 - 5% For further reading on the Collapse of the Middle by Steve in Forbes: The Coronavirus will accelerate retail's "collapse of the middle" Retail's great bifurcation 2.0
You can learn more about Steve on his website here . His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here. You can learn more about Michael here ( www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ ) ****** If you liked what you heard you can subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail, brand or CPG industry. Have a safe week everyone! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 06 Jan 2023 | The Tide Is Going Out. Get Ready for Season 6 of Remarkable Retail | 00:01:39 | ||||||||||
As business legend Warren Buffett might say: The Tide is Going Out - we're about to see who's swimming naked. With a worldwide recession threatening, the pace of change continuing to accelerate, and an increasingly volatile operating environment, retailers that deliver anything less than a remarkable customer experience are about to see their weaknesses exposed. This is Steve Dennis, strategy & innovation consultant, keynote speaker and best-selling author of Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Join me and my co-host Michael LeBlanc every week for Season 6 of the Remarkable Retail podcast as we challenge the status quo, dissect the latest trends, put the top retail news of the week in context, and talk with the remarkable leaders who push their organizations to aim higher, act more boldly, and transform at the speed of disruption. Listeners worldwide have made us one of the top-rated and top-listened retail industry podcasts. This season, Steve and I will meet industry insiders from New York to Las Vegas, to Barcelona and beyond to showcase those retail brands making a real difference and discover their remarkable journeys and lessons learned. So be sure to follow us on Apple, Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcasts today and brace yourself for a steady stream of wisdom, straight talk and lively conversation. Season 6, presented by MarketDial, launches on January 17, and we can't wait to have you join us!
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 16 Feb 2021 | Stores Rise Again: Retail Engagement in the Post-COVID World | 00:43:30 | ||||||||||
"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." - Mark Twain Not only isn't physical retail dead, but brands big and small are innovating in many ways to improve conversion, drive up average transaction value and create memorable moments that keep customers coming back for more. More and more, it's not about physical or digital, it's how they work together to create a harmonized and memorable experience. In this episode we talk with three industry thought-leaders that are helping their clients create new ways to maximize shopper engagement and deliver wow-worthy moments. Indeed, while the role of the store is changing rapidly, retailers' brick & mortar assets, working in concert with all things digital, may become even more important to brands journey to remarkable. After our panel we jump into our fun new segment “Remarkable or Forgettable?” where we give our hot takes on a selection of retail headlines, and deem them wow-worthy, best ignored or somewhere in between. This week's we talk about Under Armour's earnings surprise, BooHoo's acquisition spree, Nordstrom's "Closer to the customer" initiative, Target's blockbuster new activewear brand and Amazon's big push into grocery. Related Reading Amazon is said to plan up to 3,000 cashierless stores by 2021 Omni-channel is Dead: The Future is Harmonized Retail Melissa Gonzalez the award-winning CEO of The Lion’esque Group, an MG2 company, pioneers the boundaries of experiential retail to help brands such as Purple, Nordstrom, and Burrow foster consumer engagement and evolve their offering. An innovator at heart, Melissa is consistently recognized as one of the leading ‘Women In Design’ and ‘Top 10 Retail Design Influencers of the Year’. In her downtime, she can be spotted seeking inspiration in unexpected places (like skydiving 10,000 feet above ground). Matthew Cyr is a tech entrepreneur and ex-retail ops leader with over 15+ years of experience. After opening over 150+ retail locations in the APAC region, building a multi-national retail training team for Skechers, and operating over a dozen retail stores across North America, Matthew has launched an omnichannel retail platform that empowers retailers to better connect with their customers. Be sure to check out their Connected Fitting Room and Assisted Selling solution now deployed in North America, South Africa, and China. www.craveretail.com Note: Steve serves on Crave Retail's Advisory Board and has a small passive investment in the company through a seed-capital venture fund where he previously served as an advisor. Trevor Sumner is a NYC-based entrepreneur, product and marketing executive and recognized startup advisor and angel. Trevor is the CEO of Perch, a recognized leader in in-store Product Engagement Marketing, interactive retail displays and augmented reality. Perch was named a Top Tech Company to Watch by Forbes, a Top 10 Retail Technology company by CIO Review and has won numerous Clio, Fast Company, Edison, Bloomberg and Digi awards.
Perch Named a Top 40 Transformative Marketing Technology by R3 CIO Review Names Perch a Top 20 Retail Solutions Provider
Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption will be released April 13th and is now available for preorder at Amazon , Indigo in Canada or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here. Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn. This episode is sponsored by The Poirier Group. Do you want to move faster, streamline your processes and have larger margins? If you’re a retailer in 2021, chances are you do. The Poirier Group’s award-winning team of industrial engineers and performance improvement experts specialize in driving results for retailers and grocers across North America. From reducing call-center wait times, to improving stocking and replenishment processes in warehouses, to seamlessly integrating IT systems and more-- they are the trusted partner you need. TPG doesn't just design solutions - they leverage years of actual industry experience to implement them and set you up for long-term sustainable success. Just ask their clients: over 15 years in business, 100% have been a positive reference. Visit www.thepoiriergroup.com/remarkable to learn more - and tell them you heard all about them on the Remarkable Retail podcast! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 23 Apr 2024 | Leaders Leap Book Launch: Get Ready To Leap! | 00:53:58 | ||||||||||
We have an fantastic episode for you featuring the virtual launch event for Steve's brand-new book, Leaders Leap, recorded Monday April 22nd. Steve is joined by a panel of extraordinary guests, all of whom are leaders in their respective fields. We have the privilege of hosting best-selling author and friend Seth Godin, an entrepreneur and speaker who has not only launched one of the most popular blogs in the world but has also written 21 best-selling books. We also have Bridget Brennan, acknowledged as the leading authority on the world's most powerful consumer market: women. She is the author of the books, "Why She Buys: The New Strategy for Reaching the World's Most Powerful Consumers" and "Winning Her Business: How to Transform the Customer Experience for the World's Most Powerful Consumers" and is the Founder & CEO of Female Factor consulting firm. Sally Elliott, the co-leader of Spencer Stuart's global Retail Practice based in London, and Hal Lawton, President & CEO at Tractor Supply Company, also join us. We'll be back next week with our regularly scheduled programming, including top retail news and an exclusive interview with the one and only Billy May, CEO of Brooklinen, live from the Bambuser podcast studio at Shoptalk in Las Vegas. Presented by Celonis.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 17 Sep 2024 | Hype Meets Retail Reality with Sucharita Kodali, VP and Principal Analyst, Forrester Research | 00:46:41 | ||||||||||
One of retail's most insightful minds makes her triumphant return to the pod. Sucharita Kodali, Forrester's Principal Analyst, was our very first guest when we launched the podcast in September of 2020, and now she's back to separate the hope from the hype on key topics like the important difference between e-commerce and digital commerce and the critical role of digital influence on brick-and-mortar performance. She also gives us her fun and fascinating perspective on how Amazon is different under Andy Jassy, where retail media networks are headed, the challenges in online grocery, luxury's future, and a whole lot more. We also get a bold prediction about Temu and rocket through a lighting round of hot-takes. But before our interview we unpack the week in retail news brought to you by Scayle, the fastest-growing enterprise commerce platform in the world. We kick things off with the implications of the latest news on inflation, before discussing Forrester's remarkable prediction on the dominance of Walmart and Amazon. We then move to two pieces of interesting Amazon news, discuss Couche-Tard's rebuff by 7-Eleven, ponder Big Lots bankruptcy, before wrapping up with two noteworthy quarterly earnings announcements.
About Scratch Event DJs For over two decades, retailers like Nordstrom, Hugo Boss, Sephora and Nike have trusted Scratch Event DJs to boost vibes, drive sales, and immerse store guests in each brand’s unique identity. The Scratch team curates talent from their proprietary global network of top-tier local DJs to deliver energizing experiences that keep people coming back for more – for any event, any time, anywhere. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 17 Jan 2023 | 2023 Retail Predictions (Part 1) | 00:37:38 | ||||||||||
We're back with Season 6 and we kick-off with a two-part episode focused on Steve's annual retail predictions. In Part 1 we cover his first six, which center on the growing importance of physical store experiences in a digital world, a notable increase in C-suite changes, a profound reset among the digital disruptors, initial growing pains in the retail media space, looming big changes with Amazon's physical store dreams, and an acceleration of "the collapse of the unremarkable middle." But as is our custom, we kick off with our hot takes on the week in retail news, including what to make of some of the big macro-economic reports that emerged during out brief hiatus and what updated guidance from the likes of Macy's, Lululemon, and others portends for 4th quarter earnings. We then examine the sad story of Bed, Bath & Beyond's probable bankruptcy filing before turning to more upbeat news from Five Below. We wrap things up with what China's grand re-opening might mean for the world of retail, before making a return visit to the Wobbly Unicorn Corner to discuss the tales of woe from the likes of Stitch Fix, Everlane, Morphe, and Boxed. Presented by MarketDial. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 15 Apr 2025 | Five Years On: Steve Dennis Dissects the Hits, Misses, and Surprises of Remarkable Retail | 00:51:53 | ||||||||||
In Season 10, Episode 14 of the Remarkable Retail podcast, co-hosts Steve Dennis and Michael LeBlanc deliver a jam-packed episode that blends sharp commentary on today’s global retail turbulence with a thoughtful five-year retrospective on Steve's landmark retail strategy book, Remarkable Retail. The first half of the episode centers on the mounting global trade tensions, specifically the deepening tariff war between the U.S. and China. Steve breaks down the financial ripple effects of Trump’s temporary tariff pause, from bond market volatility to persistent inflationary pressure. Despite a temporary reprieve, tariffs remain four times higher than pre-war levels, impacting major retail players like Nike, RH, and Lululemon. Smaller retailers are particularly vulnerable, lacking the scale and capital to weather uncertainty. The hosts also tackle other pressing news stories: consumer confidence plummeting, the fallout from the looming de minimis policy change affecting Chinese factory-direct models like Temu and Shein, and the ripple effect this may have on Canadian exporters to the U.S. They highlight luxury retail turbulence as Prada acquires Versace and Saks Global—parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus—faces vendor shipment cutoffs and empty shelves as seen in a Las Vegas store visti. A brief silver lining emerges in Dallas, where a threatened Neiman Marcus flagship gets a temporary lifeline. The second half of the episode is a deep dive into Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption, five years after its original release and four years since the COVID-updated second edition. Steve reflects on what inspired him to write the book—observing the collapse of retail’s middle and the rise of bifurcation—and how the Eight Essentials framework continues to shape thinking in the industry. He shares which essentials remain relevant, which are now mere table stakes, and why “radical” as a term can be misinterpreted. Steve and Michael explore whether new tech, especially AI, can level the playing field—or merely amplify the advantages of already powerful retailers. Steve hints that if there were ever to be a third edition, it would put more emphasis on human-centered retail and leadership adaptability. The episode closes with reflections on the podcast’s role as an evolving extension of the book, helping retail leaders stay agile and ahead in a rapidly shifting marketplace. Here is a 10% off code for the CommerceNext Growth Show exclusive to Remarkable Retail listeners: REMARKABLE. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 05 Mar 2024 | Retailing in a Time of Mass Distraction with Andrea Dorigo, Adidas Head of Global Retail | 00:50:15 | ||||||||||
Our guest this week is Andrea Dorigo Head of Global Retail for Adidas. Andrea shares many strategic leadership lessons gleaned from his incredibly deep and diverse experience working across a spectrum of international brands. Now he leads a network of more than 2,000 stores for one of the world's most iconic vertically integrated brands. We get to learn his thoughts on how to best strengthen overall brand equity while driving operational efficiency and extending product reach. He also shares his view on how to think about the right balance between DTC and wholesale and gives us a sneak preview of his upcoming session at the World Retail Congress in Paris titled "Retailing in a Time of Mass Distraction." But, as usual, we kick things off by delving into the week in retail, starting with lots of news from Macy's, including their lackluster holiday earnings, the announcement of their "Bold New Chapter" strategy, and a revised investor takeover proposal. We also unpack earnings from Best Buy, Lowes, and Warby Parker, before turning out attention to Shein's potential IPO plans.
World Retail Congress: Non-retailer passes and discount offer codes: Non-Retailer pass: REM-SPONR Retailer discount code: REM20 Dive into the future of retail with the World Retail Congress's End of Year Report! Explore the latest trends, innovations, and insights shaping the competitive retail landscape, presented in collaboration with the Congress’s Knowledge Partners. The Congress’s report is a must-read for retailers to become world class in today’s retail climate. The End of Year Report reinforces the focus of next year’s World Retail Congress on High Performance Retail and our key pillars of winning the customer, winning with innovation, winning with purpose, the winning business models and building winning teams. Furthermore, the report brings together 14 of the world’s top retailers’ reflections from stores such as Action, Ikea, Zalando, Kmart Group, Woolworths and Wumart to present insights from around the world.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 20 Aug 2024 | SUMMER BONUS: Safe Is Risky | 00:16:17 | ||||||||||
Welcome to a special Remarkable Retail podcast summer series focused on what leaders need to do to help their organizations win the future and leap to higher ground. In this six-part limited series, Steve will be unpacking key lessons from his new best-selling book “Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption,” available everywhere books are sold. Clayton Christensen, the late great Harvard Business School professor, wrote one of the best business strategy books of all time. In his classic "The Innovator's Dilemma" he explains how successful companies often fail by becoming overly locked into their established business models and optimizing the heck out of them, thereby ignoring, more risky disruptive innovations. Of course, back in 1997, when Christensen's book first started to have impact, e-commerce was in its infancy, smart devices were a decade away, and cloud computing and AI weren't even glimmers in anyone's eyes. The speed of disruption back then wasn't exactly glacial, but it was far, far slower than it is today. Fast forward to today, and we are confronted with a New Innovator's Dilemma. Disruption is unrelenting, and the pace of change is often more exponential than linear. Take a slow and steady approach to innovation and you may well get run over. Move with caution and you may fall further and further behind. Right now, doing what we've always done, but just a little bit better may feel safe, but it is often the riskiest path we could possibly choose. The evidence is overwhelming, and the verdict is in. Safe is risky. And more and more, fortune favors the bold. This 6-part summer series will explore why we must choose remarkable or risk irrelevance. We will go deep on unpacking the root causes that lead to an overly timid transformation. We will delve into what is required to lead in the face of relentless, unyielding disruption. Season 9 of the Remarkable Retail podcast returns on September 10th in its usual format. Follow us wherever you enjoy your podcasts, and don’t forget to give us a 5-star review. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 26 Sep 2023 | Live from GroceryShop: Three Top VC's Dish on the Future of Retail Tech | 00:44:40 | ||||||||||
Our third anniversary episode features the first of three episodes recorded live at GroceryShop in the Vantage podcast studio. We welcome three rock star venture capitalists--Ashley Hartman (Bluestein Ventures), Matt Nichols (Commerce Ventures), and Kevin Parakkattu (Plug and Play) --who share their thoughts on the future of retail tech. In a fast-paced discussion, we dig into the current funding environment, challenges scaling once promising technology, and what each of our panelists are looking for now. We also discuss the outlook for generative AI, connecting offline and online behavior, personalization, sustainability, store level analytics, retail media, and more! As usual, we kick things off with our analysis of the week in retail news, starting with the Fed's interest rate pause and IPO fever. We then discuss Lowe's CEO saying the quiet part out loud when it comes to addressing a big driver of retail theft, before returning to the Wobbly Unicorn Corner for news of Stitch Fix's plans to right the ship. Then it's an early look at both holiday hiring plans and several firm's sales forecasts. About Vantage Enterprise brands and retailers in over 120 countries around the world use Vantage for data-driven ecommerce advertising. Vantage was built on the primary goal of helping ecommerce businesses of all sizes around the world grow. Driving this growth: artificial intelligence, machine-learning technology, predictive analytics, and performance at scale. We’re committed to helping businesses identify opportunities and grow revenue in an easy and data-driven way. We leverage the data from the thousands of retailers worldwide to best understand how to be successful.
About Ashley Ashley co-leads Bluestein Ventures, driving the firm’s strategy, portfolio company support, and deal pipeline. Ashley has made over 30 investments in the space, and is an observer on three boards, including Base Culture, Grovara, and Rethink. Ashley has appeared in Forbes (here and here), has been featured on industry podcasts (here, here, and here), and regularly serves on food industry panels. Ashley has deep experience leading growth strategy and establishing scalable infrastructure necessary to build sustainable ventures. Prior to Bluestein, Ashley was Vice President of Strategy & Operations at Hartman Windows & Doors, where she was responsible for growth strategy, leading expansion across the U.S. as well as setting the platform on which to grow. Ashley also worked for Coinstar in Business Development, focusing on launching their new ventures. After college, Ashley was an Analyst at NERA Economic Consulting. Active in the Chicago and food community, Ashley serves on the Board of Naturally Chicago, on Selection Committee of the Good Food Accelerator, and as a mentor at Food Foundry, The Hatchery, and the LeAD Accelerator, in addition to being a judge at Booth’s new venture competitions. She is also on the National Leadership Council of United States Artists. Ashley received an MBA with honors from Harvard Business School and a BA in Political Economy, summa cum laude, from Williams College. About Matt Matt has been an investor in and operator of early-stage technology companies for more than 20 years. He leads the firm’s commerce infrastructure/retail technology investment team and is a member of the management committee. He serves on the boards of several portfolio companies, including Grabango and Pensa. Prior to Commerce Ventures, Matt was the CEO of Gemvara, a disruptive jewelry eCommerce business that was sold to Berkshire Hathaway. Matt also worked as a venture capitalist at Highland Capital Partners and Morgan Stanley Venture Partners where his investments included Bullhorn (Acq’d by Vista Equity Partners), Pixable (Acq’d by SingTel), Avamar (Acq’d by EMC), Tarari (Acq’d by LSI), and Perceptive Software (Acq’d by Lexmark). Matt was a member of Morgan Stanley‘s Technology Corporate Finance team where he was part of the Google IPO team and also spent time in Google’s corporate development group. Matt studied Economics at Pomona College and earned an MBA with high distinction from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth. Fun Fact: Matt was once a nationally-ranked badminton player. About Kevin Highly versatile venture capital leader with a track record of demonstrated performance. Sourced and led 40+ Seed and Series A investments exceeding $10MM deployed with a combined market value of >$50MM inclusive of portfolio companies BigID, Madison Reed, ZigZag Global, ChargeAfter, MANSCAPED. Developed strategic partnerships with Nike, McDonalds, YUM Brands, Ernst & Young, PVH, and 12 other retailers and brands. Tenacious at developing investments, securing customer loyalty, and forging long term relationships with internal and external business partners. An adept people leader with a reputation of attracting and developing high performance teams. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of focused on growth, innovation, and the impact of digital disruption. He is widely considered one of the foremost and influential voices in the retail industry. You can learn more about Steve on his website. His #1 bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 05 May 2023 | BONUS EPISODE: The Latest in Retail Returns with Amena Ali, CEO, Optoro from Shoptalk 2023 | 00:21:22 | ||||||||||
Welcome to a special Shoptalk 2023 Bonus episode of the Remarkable Retail podcast, presented by MarketDial, recorded live beachside in the Wizeline podcasting studio at Mandalay Bay Beach, Las Vegas. In this episode, we meet with Amena Ali, Chief Executive Officer at Optoro. Optoro is a leading provider of returns technology for retail brands, using data science and real-time decision-making automation to make returns better for customers, retailers, and the planet. We wanted to explore their innovations in and around product returns. Amena is new to the business and the retail industry, so with a fresh perspective, Steve and I were curious about what Amena and Optoro were up to.
About Amena Amena Ali is a proven leader with more than 20 years experience in delivering value for customers and successfully growing software businesses. Amena has an exceptional track record of scaling high-growth technology businesses in SaaS and enterprise software, including at her two recent CEO roles. She has led successful revenue generation at startups, middle market, and public companies. Amena most recently served as CEO of Airside Mobile, a leader in digital identity verification technology. Previously, Ali was CEO of database monitoring company VividCortex, where she led the company to grow ARR by 80% in 17 months. She has held several senior leadership positions, including at Earth Networks, Softek Storage Solutions (acquired by IBM) and Legato Systems (acquired by EMC). She serves on the board of database DevOps company Liquibase. Amena started her career as a management consultant at Bain & Company. She holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a Bachelor’s Degree from Wesleyan University. Outside of work, Amena enjoys traveling, her family, yoga, and “a good walk spoiled”, aka chasing a small white ball with a long stick on rolling greens. Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 30 Aug 2022 | Choose Remarkable: Why Very Good Is No Longer Good Enough | 00:38:19 | ||||||||||
“The problem is, you think you have time.” - Carlos Castaneda, Journey to Ixtlan This week we present our first ever encore episode. We open the vault to extract a seminal recording from our first season, released in the fall of 2020, where we discuss some of the key concepts from Steve's best-selling book Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. In a wide-ranging conversation we explore the key factors that have created the great retail bifurcation, the collapse of the middle and why choosing to be remarkable is increasingly the only choice. We start by unpacking why it's probably later than you think, the importance of understanding the difference between table stakes and differentiators, the challenge of slow motion crises, and more! In the second part of the episode, we lay out the strategic choices companies are compelled to make, the importance of decisively picking a lane and why it's so critical to choose remarkable. Then it's a quick overview of Steve's "8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail" framework. We also discuss how to best apply the framework and prioritize turning ideas into action and reveal our gift of prophecy by warning about the excessive valuations of digitally native brands. Thanks to our presenting sponsor, MarketDial! GroceryShop discount offer: Valid for Retailers and Brands only, use code RBR1950 to access our special rate / ticket price is $US1950. Offer code expires 9/22/22. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 27 Dec 2022 | This One Goes to 11 (E) | 00:31:37 | ||||||||||
“Great brands don't chase customers; customers chase great brands.” - Gary Friedman, CEO Restoration Hardware As we take a few weeks off before returning with Season 6, we dig into the back catalog to go deep on #7 ("Memorable") in Steve's 8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail framework. Being Memorable is critical to not simply offering a slightly better version of mediocre and competing relentlessly on discounts. Done right, it is the key to long-term growth, profits and customer loyalty. In unpacking this essential we discuss how to own the "real estate of the mind," and what we mean when we talk about "experience" as something other than the latest bright shiny object. Drawing on key take-aways from Steve's best-selling book, we define the six characteristics of memorable and discuss case studies that illustrate the various ways leading retailers are implementing memorable strategies including mega-brands like RH, Nordstrom, Nebraska Furniture Mart and Amazon, along with "special not big" retailers such as Franklin BBQ and Blue Star Donuts.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 06 Sep 2022 | Slaying the Dragon of "Resistance" with Steven Pressfield | 00:38:02 | ||||||||||
"The more important a project is to the evolution of your soul, the more Resistance you'll feel to it." Our guest this week is Steven Pressfield, acclaimed screenplay writer (The Legend of Bagger Vance, among others), bestselling fiction author (A Man at Arms, Gates of Fire) and, as you'll learn, a "servant to the Muse." But he's joining us to discuss his breakthrough efforts to help people walk through their fear to create and deliver their best work. In Part 1 of our two part interview we dig into Steve's ground-breaking book The War of Art to unpack the concept of Resistance--the almost mythical, but very real and pernicious, force that fights our desire to innovate and bring our new ideas to the world. In his trademark engaging and to the point style, Steve lays out how to overcome our self-doubt and self-sabotage to breakthrough ways we get stuck. But first we give our hot-takes on the latest retail news, including a quick review of what earnings from Gap, Nordstrom, Macy's, and others suggest about the balance of the year. Spoiler alert: lots of markdowns. Bed, Bath & Beyond also announced (yet another) turnaround plan, which is long on cost cutting but falls short on what really ails them. And no episode is complete without a trip to the Wobbly Unicorn Corner where we unpack news from Klarna, TheRealReal and Peloton. GroceryShop discount offer: Valid for Retailers and Brands only, use code RBR1950 to access our special rate / ticket price is $US1950. Offer code expires 9/22/22. Oprah's Super Soul Conversations Unlocking Your Creative Genius with Steven Pressfield Past podcast episodes referenced: The Customer is the Channel with Tractor Supply's Rob Mills Why Does It Take a Crisis for Retailers to Innovate?
About Us Steven Pressfield Steven Pressfield is the author of The War of Art which has sold over a millions copies globally and been translated into multiple languages. He is a master of historical fiction with Gates of Fire being on the required reading list at West Point and the the recommended reading list of the Joint Chiefs. His other books include A Man at Arms, Turning Pro, Do the Work, The Artist's Journey, Tides of War, The Legend of Bagger Vance, Last of the Amazons, Virtues of War, The Afghan Campaign, Killing Rommel, The Profession, The Lion's Gate, The Warrior Ethos, The Authentic Swing, An American Jew, Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t, and The Knowledge. His debut novel, The Legend of Bagger Vance was over 30 years in the making. He hasn't stopped writing since. Steve lives and writes in California. You can following him on IG @steven_pressfield. Sign up for his weekly writing newsletter at stevenpressfield.com
"It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior's life."
Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 15 Nov 2022 | The Third Big Wave of Digital Advertising: A Deep Dive Into Retail Media Networks with Andrew Lipsman | 00:39:51 | ||||||||||
Our guest this week is Andrew Lipsman, Principal Analyst at Insider Intelligence, recorded live at the recently completed GroceryShop event in Las Vegas. We go deep into the burgeoning world of retail media networks, exploring what they are, how they work, and why they have become arguably the most exciting growth area for retailers in recent memory. We dig into the key accelerants and enablers, how success requires a significant shift in organizational mindset, and what challenges need to be overcome to best balance the customer experience with retailers desire to chase incremental profits. And we can't pass up the opportunity to get Andrew's perspective on the holiday shopping season. But first we give our hot-takes on the week in retail news, kicking off with our thoughts on Michelle Gass's departure from Kohl's, before moving to the stock market frenzy unleashed by better inflation numbers. We also unpack profit warnings from Capri and others ,and what to make of earnings reports from retail disruptors like Mytheresa (the good), Allbirds (the bad) and Warby Parker (the maybe). We close with a brief discussion of Amazon's reported profitability review, before dipping into the department of useless headlines. Links
About Andrew Andrew Lipsman is a Principal Analyst at Insider Intelligence, focusing on retail and ecommerce. Recent coverage includes grocery ecommerce, retail media networks, D2C brands, social commerce, mobile retail apps, holiday shopping, and Amazon Prime Day. Previously, Andrew was SVP of Marketing & Insights at comScore, covering multiple industries and overseeing the company’s global marketing insights and thought leadership initiatives. He has specialized in several coverage areas in addition to retail, including social media, mobile, digital advertising and cross-platform marketing. Andrew has been a regular contributor to the Journal of Advertising Research and is frequently quoted by leading news organizations like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Advertising Age, CNN, Fortune, Reuters and Bloomberg. Andrew holds an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management and his undergraduate degree from Duke University. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 10 May 2022 | I'm Just Not That Into You: The Trap of the Promiscuous Shopper | 00:33:18 | ||||||||||
“We've already established what you are, now we're just haggling over price." - A less than PC old joke It's hardly news that the retail industry is responsible for too many self-inflicted wounds. At the top of this list, perhaps, is many retailers' long-term reliance on aggressive discounting to drive top-line sales. This has taught many consumers that the regular price is "the sucker price" in turn addicting them to various former of discounts. Retailers are addicted too, unable to wean themselves off various forms of price promotions. With Kohl's announcing plans to increase its Rewards program earn rate to 7.5% we take on the potential risks of this type of strategy and unpack the differences between loyalty and bribery. We delve into what Steve calls "promiscuous shoppers" and why working too hard to seduce them can backfire. Lastly, if customers just aren't that into you and promiscuous shoppers make up too large a portion of your customer base, what should retailers actually do? But first we open up with the retail news that caught our attention this week, including the continuing slow down in online shopping and disappointing results from Shopify, Etsy and eBay, among others. We go deep on Wayfair's (or is it Waywork? Or Wefair?) disastrous earnings report and wonder whether the emperor has any clothes and/or could become an acquisition target. We also touch on whether the biggest mall to open in North America in a long time is turning into an American nightmare and what to make of the divergence between increases in shipping rates and the increase in online ordering. Don't forget that Steve's book has been selected as a Kindle Monthly Deal, which means that for a limited time the ebook version of Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is just $1.99 in both the United States and Canada. Photo by Artem Beliaikin on Unsplash *************************************** Steve Recent Forbes Relevant Articles Retailer's Pointless Pursuit of the Promiscuous Shopper Wayfair's Earnings Disaster Portends More Trouble For 'Disruptor' Brands Wayfair, Stich Fix and Pure-Play E-commerce's Scaling Problem The Myth of the Great E-Commerce Acceleration Past Podcast Episodes We Reference
The Store As Brand Hub with Target's Nancy King
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 16 May 2023 | Putting Customers First, with Special Guest Martin Newman | 00:46:45 | ||||||||||
In our second episode recorded live at the World Retail Congress in Barcelona, our special guest is author and customer-centricity thought leader Martin Newman. While being customer-centric is a stated priority of most brands, many have a hard time delivering on the promise. Martin helps us understand the challenges and the essential building blocks of putting customers first, while laying out how to find your brand's North Star and assemble a truly holistic approach. First up, however, are our hot-takes on the week in retail news, including another trip to the Wobbly Unicorn Corner as "retail disruptors" like Allbirds and Wayfair continue to set alarms off with disappointing earnings results. Better news comes from Walmart with the naming of a new top merchant, while Amazon offers Prime customers an incentive to play fetch. About Martin Martin is one of the world’s leading authorities on customer centricity, and a force for positive change for consumers and brands.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 12 Dec 2023 | Does Steve Make The Grade: 2023 Predictions Recap (Part 1) | 00:38:13 | ||||||||||
We're all about accountability on the Remarkable Retail podcast, so as we get close to wrapping up Season 7, it's time to grade Steve on his annual predictions. In part one of a two-part episode, Michael takes out his virtual chalkboard as we assess the first batch of Steve's prognostications on a disrupter reset, whether retail media networks are more hype than hope, what to make of an accelerating pace of C-suite changes, and a whole lot more. We start with retail news, including a surprise US jobs report, NRF's back-tracking on causes of retail shrink, and Amazon getting more nervous about Temu and Shein. We wonder whether lower gas prices may save retailers' fourth quarters and whether a marriage between Neiman Marcus and Saks Fifth Avenue is inevitable. Then it's on to ponder what's next for Farfetch and whether a Bonvoy and Camp partnership will create happy campers, And as earnings season wraps up. we got a mixed picture from some of our favorite retailers: RH, Lululemon, and Ulta. We close with a return to visit Rent the Runway and Stitch Fix in the wobbly unicorn corner of the internet. ********************************** Don't forget to join Steve's new Linked Group for his new book. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, board member, and keynote speaker focused on strategic growth and transformation and the impact of digital disruption. He is the author of the bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption and the forthcoming Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , which will be published in March 2024 and is now available for pre-order at book retailers everywhere. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on social media..
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 29 Aug 2023 | The Profitless Prosperity of Disruptor Brands (E) | 00:35:05 | ||||||||||
Welcome to a special encore episode of the podcast, where we open up the back catalogue and share some of our favourite and most popular episodes that are worth a second (or perhaps your first) listen. Today, we bring you our update and perspectives on The Profitless Prosperity of Disruptor Brands with an episode first released in the fall of 2021. First, Steve updates us on the status of the many brands mentioned in our original episode, including Casper. We also unpack the implications for the long-term sustainability of these many brands when their market capitalization is depressed, unit economics are becoming more challenging, and consumer spending is weakening. For more than a decade, digitally-native, vertically integrated brands (Warby Parker, Allbirds, et al)--as well as other innovative direct-to-consumer (companies (from Wayfair to Rent-the-Runway to Poshmark)--have sucked up a lot of attention in the industry and attracted many billions of venture capital. Yet as more face the harsh light of the public markets we're learning that some are rather small businesses and most are losing quite a lot of money.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of focused on growth, innovation, and the impact of digital disruption. He is widely considered one of the foremost and influential voices in the retail industry. You can learn more about Steve on his website. His #1 bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 20 Dec 2024 | 2024 Retail Predictions Unpacked (Part 2) | 00:28:35 | ||||||||||
We wrap up Season 9 with Part 2 of taking account of Steve's 2024 retail predictions. Our second batch include: 7. Neiman Marcus and Saks merge. 8. Nordstrom goes private. 9. Apple's "Vision Pro" is a big nothing burger...for now 10. Sustainability schizophrenia hits a new high. 11. Bailing still doesn't fix the hole among those stuck in the mediocre middle. 12. Health-related services are this year's retail media networks. 13. Commercial real estate becomes a slow motion crisis (if we're lucky) We also discuss some upcoming NRF activities including Steve's appearance at the inaugural edition of the "NRF Book Club" and a live on-stage special recording of the Remarkable Retail podcast at Celonis' WTC headquarters on January 13th. Steve's 2024 Retail Predictions About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 27 Jun 2023 | Retail's Year of Living Efficiently | 00:45:56 | ||||||||||
In our final episode of our sixth season we briefly share our mid-year highlights before dipping into the week in retail news, which includes the prospect of a UPS strike wreaking havoc on the world of e-commerce. Then we reflect on Overstock's fire sale scooping up of Bed, Bath & Beyond's intellectual property and how the Container Store and Dormify hope to vill the back-to-school void. We then try to make sense of the rumor that Neiman Marcus may sell of its Bergdorf Goodman division, tying the broader troubles among luxury department stores to shifting go-to-market requirements. Then it's on to our main topic which centers on how economic headwinds seem to be turning 2023 into a year of efficiency. In that context we remind retailers that cost cutting and store closings don't address underlying issues of customer relevance ("bailing doesn't fix the hole") and that we need to careful not to confuse efficiency with effectiveness. Mostly, Steve shares some of his key "do's" and "don'ts" to be smart about addressing sales and margin pressures while remaining committed to an building an innovation pipeline and sustaining important transformation efforts.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! As a reminder, we're taking next week off, followed by a couple of encore episodes, before returning with Season 7 July 25th. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 20 Jan 2021 | Get Ready for Season Two of Remarkable Retail! | 00:01:57 | ||||||||||
Get Ready for Season Two of Remarkable Retail debuting February 2, 2021! If you think the COVID era has brought the narrative of the retail apocalypse to life, you’re only half right - retail isn't dead - boring retail is. As a C-level executive at two Fortune 500 companies, as a strategic advisor to dozens of retail, consumer and technology brands and as a speaker who has delivered keynotes on six continents and on screens around the world, I help organizations reignite and accelerate their growth. I’m also a Forbes senior contributor and author of the bestseller “Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption." Book Authority called it the best retail book ever, and a second all new updated and expanded edition is will be out April. In our first season of the Remarkable Retail podcast, we explored why even very good is no longer good enough through great conversations with thought leaders like Sucharita Kodali and Seth Godin and retailers like Tractor Supply and Untuckit. Join me and my co-host Michael LeBlanc, Producer & Host of The Voice of Retail podcast, as we pivot into our second season of the Remarkable Retail podcast - this season focusing on the key strategies that will ensure retailers survive and thrive in the COVID economy and beyond. Each and every week Steve and I, along with special guests including top retailers, industry thought leaders and authors, will explore the latest retail news and themes ripped from the headlines and work to read the tea leaves and help listeners make sense out of the noise and craft winning strategies for the future. So please join us each and every week for a lively and interactive journey exploring the strategies, the people and the companies that create Remarkable Retail. Season Two launches February 2, 2021. Listen on Apple, Spotify, Amazon or any of the major platforms wherever you enjoy your podcasts today.
Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption was recently named the best retail book of all time by BookAuthority. It's available in hardcover, audiobook or as a ebook at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here. Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 10 Jan 2023 | The Hybridization of Retail (E) | 00:37:34 | ||||||||||
As we take a few weeks off before returning with Season 6, we dig into the back catalog to go deep on a growing trend that Steve introduced in his book, and recently unpacked in a Forbes article: namely how so many aspects of retail--stores, supply chains, brand distribution strategies and more--are moving from roles that are largely singular in purpose to becoming (or needing to become) hybrid in nature. This shift is profound, requires potentially massive changes over time and, we argue, not yet getting the attention it deserves. Photo by Tim Meyer on Unsplash
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 07 Jan 2025 | Navigating Retail's Uncertain Horizon: Get Ready for Season 10! | 00:02:19 | ||||||||||
If we had to pick a couple of words to describe the last few years, "volatile" and "uncertain" are very likely to be at the top of anyone's list. What words and themes will define this next year? Chaos? Clarity? Prosperity? Purpose? Will struggling retailers at long last make the bold leaps they must, or edge ever closer to the precipice? Can the promises of innovation be met, taking consumer experiences to new heights?/ 2025 looks to be a year where agility and resilience reign supreme as retailers must navigate a world of accelerating technological change, constrained consumer spending, new political realities, and greater power concentrated among only a handful of large retailers. When more and more change is certain, but the way forward is often less than clear, you need a compass, a map, keen insight and no-nonsense advice. This is Steve Dennis, strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and best-selling author. I invite you to join me and fellow retail insider Michael LeBlanc each week as we make sense of an increasingly volatile and uncertain retail world. The Remarkable Retail podcast is the only podcast hosted by two of the NRF's 2025 top retail voices. In this, our tenth season, we'll continue our award-winning formula by giving our hot takes on the week's most important retail news and by featuring guests who are on the leading edge of what's new and next in commerce today. So be sure to follow us on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts so you won't miss an episode. Get ready for a steady stream of lively conversations, inspiring leadership stories, and no BS perspectives. Our tenth season of the Remarkable Retail podcast debuts on Tuesday, January 14th. If you want to surf the waves of change and thrive in 2025, we hope you'll join us. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 04 Sep 2020 | Retail isn't dead - boring retail is. | 00:01:07 | ||||||||||
Season 1 Trailer I'm here to tell you: Retail isn't dead. Boring retail is. As a C-level executive at two Fortune 500 companies, keynote speaker and strategic advisor to dozens of retail, consumer and technology brands I help organizations accelerate their growth. I’m also the author of the new best-selling book, “Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption” (in Canada you can purchase here) Join me and my co-host Michael LeBlanc, Producer & Host of The Voice of Retail podcast as we use my “8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail’ framework to explore modern retail, before, during and after the COVID-19 crisis. Each and every week along with special guests including top retailers and industry thought leaders, will explore the latest events and work to understand the lessons of the past and present to craft strategies for the future. So please join us each and every week for a lively and interactive journey to Remarkable Retail. You can find Season one now on Apple, Spotify or any of the major platforms wherever you enjoy your podcasts today. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 14 Jan 2025 | 2025 Provocative Predictions for Retail's Future: Part 1 | 00:41:58 | ||||||||||
A Dozen Provocative Predictions for Retail's Future, Plus 5 "Wild Card" Prognostications! In the first of two episodes, Steve lays out his first six predictions for retail in 2025. But first, we start with a look at the latest retail news from the past couple of weeks, including an early result on Holiday consumer spending, the formation of Catalyst Brands consisting of SPARC's Lucky Brand, Aéropostale, Nautica, Eddie Bauer and Brooks Brothers brands, as well as JCPenney. We look back briefly on the career of Dave Kimbell as he steps down at Ulta and, Kecia Steelman gets elevated to the President & CEO role, and Costco shows courage on DEI. Our Interview with Dave Kimbell About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 25 Jan 2022 | 10 No-Holds-Barred Retail Predictions for 2022 | 00:39:42 | ||||||||||
We go sans guest this week to unpack Steve's 2022 Retail Predictions, previewed in his recent Forbes article. We cover a lot of ground including future of certain unremarkable retailers, what's next for Amazon, the importance of understanding 'buying' vs. 'shopping' and more. We also unveil "The Great Reconfiguration." But that's not all! Because we are all about accountability, we start out with a quick assessment of how Steve did with his 2021 prognostications.
Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 28 Jun 2021 | Nope, physical retail, still not dead. Not even close. Get ready for Season Three! | 00:01:09 | ||||||||||
Nope, physical retail, still not dead. Not even close. Yet the lines between physical and digital continue to blur and it continues to get harder and harder to be the amplified signal to stand out for all the noise. So get ready for season three of the Remarkable Retail podcast as we move into post-COVID world of modern retail. We’ll bring you more insights, dissect the key consumer trends and showcase the most powerful strategies for winning, keeping and growing customers. We’ll also be back for Season Three with interviews with amazing guests who will help us, help you, discover the winning formula for becoming- or staying - remarkable.From retailers to authors to analysts and pundits, we’ll introduce you to the people and brand that matter today. So join us each and every episode by following us on Apple, Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcasts today as we explore the latest events within the retail industry and go beyond for a lively and interactive journey to Remarkable Retail.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 19 Jul 2022 | Understanding 'Buying' vs. 'Shopping' | 00:39:42 | ||||||||||
This week we go sans guest to unpack an increasingly important strategic and executional distinction which Steve first dug into in a 2018 Forbes article and then subsequently developed in his best-selling book. Understanding the critical difference between "buying", which is more about addressing a need quickly and efficiently, and "shopping" which is inherently more solutions based and involves more of an emotional connection, can go a long way to informing both our underlying business design and go-to-market strategy, as well as how we evolve the customer experience and targeted marketing programs. We start with a bit of a history lesson, discussing how convenience has evolved and how the growth of e-commerce and new, disruptive store formats have reshaped the competitive landscape and led to increasing bifurcation of outcomes. Then we discuss what it all means for our future strategic choices. But first we open up with the retail news that caught our attention this week, including what to make of staggeringly high inflation rates, the potential implications of the just released US monthly sales report, and whether we should really care about Amazon Prime Day(s) anymore. We also hear a bit about Michael's trip to the Netherlands and his battles dealing with the big Canadian internet outage of 2022. Photo by Karsten Winegeart on Unsplash Special thanks to our presenting sponsor, MarketDial! About MarketDial MarketDial helps brick-and-mortar retailers conduct in-store testing on their innovative initiatives – preventing poor decisions, empowering great decisions.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 15 Oct 2024 | Deal or No Deal with Richard Kestenbaum, Partner, Triangle Capital | 00:44:15 | ||||||||||
Joining us for our final interview recorded in the Scratch Event DJs remote podcast studio at the Revtech Rev Summit is Richard Kestenbaum, leading retail influencer, Forbes contributor, and co-Founder and Partner at Triangle Capital. Richard and his firm specialize in mergers, acquisitions and capital-raising for consumer-related businesses, and were fortunate to get his insightful perspective and uniques takes on a variety of topics, including the accelerating pace of disruption, resistance to change, and the transformative impacts of AI. We also get Richard's hot-takes on an improving deal environment, department store consolidation, and whether taking a company private makes any difference whatsoever. But first we unpack the most important retail news of the week, starting with the impacts of climate change and the imminent US elections, brought to you by SCAYLE. Then it's on to talk about the implications of Amazon Prime Days on the holiday season. We conclude with deals, deals, deals as MyTheresa's plans to acquire YNAP from Richemont, Moose Knuckles gets a minority investment from Chinese apparel giant Bosideng, Couche-Tard ups its offer to take-over convenience store giant 7-Eleven. and Selfridge's receives a 40% investment from PIF, the Saudi wealth fund. For more on the Berns Communication Group's Retail Influencer Network go here. For our 2022 interview with MyTheresa's CEO Michael Kliger go here. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 23 Aug 2022 | Are Small Stores the Answer to Department Stores Woes? | 00:41:39 | ||||||||||
This week we ask the question: can small stores save department stores? And do they, in fact, need saving? Despite the suggestion that the department stores may be rebounding, it is looking more like a dead-cat bounce. In response to decades long declines, Macy's and Kohl's are placing big bets on rolling out smaller stores as a way to revitalize market share growth. We dig into how we got here, why most departments stores have engaged in timid transformations, where we're going and what needs to happen to make a small store strategy work. We also explore Nordstrom's "Local" format strategy and whether a hub and spoke go-to-market strategy may be the way forward. But first we open up with the retail news that caught our attention this week, including our take on what to make of last week's monthly retail sales data and a slew of earnings reports. As we heard from Walmart, TJX, Kohl's and others the vexing question is how they got stuck with so much inventory and what Target smart to take a big hit this past quarter. Then we discuss the new buy online pick up on floor initiative from Yeezy at the Gap, before dipping into a Business Insider story (pay wall) on Amazon's reboot of its physical store strategy. We close with a visit to the Wobbly Unicorn Corner as "disruptor brands" largely continue to underwhelm. Thanks to our presenting sponsor, MarketDial! GroceryShop discount offer: Valid for Retailers and Brands only, use code RBR1950 to access our special rate / ticket price is $US1950. Offer code expires 9/22/22. Past podcast episodes of note: Amazon and the Fault in Their Stores The Mall is Dead (Long Live the Mall) Blow It Up? It's Time for The Great Reconfiguration
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 18 Oct 2022 | Driving Profitable E-commerce Growth: A Deep Dive with Mytheresa CEO Michael Kliger | 00:42:39 | ||||||||||
Our guest this week is Michael Kliger, CEO of Mytheresa, the fast-growing global e-commerce destination for luxury fashion---and one of only a handful of retail "disruptor" brands that actually makes money. With Steve facing technical issues, our interview segment turns out to be a duet of Michael's, who explore the current state of the international luxury market and what makes Mytheresa truly remarkable within it. We learn about Mytheresa's rapid evolution since its founding in 2006, and get a glimpse into how an intense focus on the customer--characterized by curation, personalization, and localization--has fueled their success. We also go deep on how Michael thinks about "acquiring the right customers" and the magic formula that is essential to driving strong customer lifetime value. We close with a discussion of sustainability in the fashion world and the importance of story-telling and making memorable emotional connections with customers. But first we open with our hot-takes on the past week in retail news, including what it means to live in a VUCA world and why our season opening admonition to "buckle-up buttercup" almost makes us retail prophets. We also try to make sense of the blockbuster Kroger and Albertson's merger, TikTok's rumored entry into e-commerce, and the latest results from Steve's old employer (and MyTheresa's former corporate parent), Neiman Marcus. We close by highlighting strong results from fast-growing Aritzia--one of the OG's of DTC--while wondering aloud whether Vuori--part of the newer generation--can successfully expand globally.
About Michael Mr. Kliger has served as Chief Executive Officer and as a member of our Management Board since September 2020. He has served as President and Chief Executive Officer of mytheresa.com GmbH, Theresa Warenvertrieb GmbH and MGG since March 2015. He previously served as VP International at eBay Enterprise from March 2013 to February 2015. Prior to that, Mr. Kliger served as Executive Director at Accenture from September 2010 to December 2012. Prior to that, Mr. Kliger served as Managing Director at First Capital Partners GmbH from September 2007 to September 2010. Prior to that, Mr. Kliger served as Vertriebsgeschäftsführer at real,- SB-Warenhaus GmbH from January 2005 to April 2007. Prior to that, Mr. Kliger worked at McKinsey & Company from February 1992 to December 2004 serving last as Principal. Mr. Kliger serves as a member of the Board of Directors of Valora AG since March 2017. He holds an MBA from Kellogg School of Management and a Diploma degree from the Berlin University of Technology.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 16 Apr 2024 | The Remarkable Rise of Retail Media with Melanie Brown, VP of Home Depot's Orange Apron Media + Monetization | 00:58:12 | ||||||||||
Joining us for the second of three episodes recorded in the Bambuser remote podcast studio/beach cabana at Mandalay Bay during Shoptalk is Melanie Brown Vice President of Orange Apron Media and Monetization for The Home Depot. In a special two segment interview Melanie unpacks The Home Depot's retail media journey, highlighting the company's unique approach, which recently culminated in a doubling down and re-branding of its efforts. We've had analysts and consultants on to explore the rapidly growing retail media world, now we get a deeply experienced practitioner's in-depth perspectives. As usual we open by dissecting the most important news of the week including the key take-aways from Amazon CEO Andy Jassey's annual shareholder letter, the end to Macy's proxy fight, the big nothing burger that is JC Penney's first new store in eight years, and Richard Baker's return trip to Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. Then we tap into Steve's 2024 predictions of a "disruptor reckoning" and news that Rent the Runway sees better days ahead, while Allbird's risks delisting and Billy Reid acquires Knot Standard. ********************************************************************************************************************************************* Don't miss the Leaders Leap virtual launch event on Monday, April 22nd, featuring special guests Seth Godin, Bridget Brennan, Sally Elliott, and Hal Lawton. Pre-register here. There are just a few more days to take advantage of Leaders Leap pre-order freebies. Go here to see the special offers. And if you are in Dallas don't miss our in-person live fireside chat, networking, and book signing on April 24. Pre-register here.
About Melanie Melanie Babcock is the Vice President, Orange Apron Media and Monetization. In this role, Melanie has grown sources of ad revenue, profitability, sales and improved supplier experience. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 28 May 2024 | Remarkable Resale with James Reinhart, CEO & co-founder, ThredUp | 00:47:48 | ||||||||||
Our special guest this week is James Reinhart the pioneering CEO of ThredUp, the fast-growing online consignment and thrift store. We learn about James' fascinating journey from teacher to entrepreneur and how his passion drives one of the most successful purpose-driven retail brands. We go deep on the drivers of the re-commerce market, how ThredUp differentiates itself, and the implications of a shift from hyper-growth to more sustainable profitability. We also unpack ThredUp's insight packed annual "Resale Report." As usual, we kick things off with the most important retail news, dissecting Shein's "charm offensive" and how Hims & Hers is exploiting a loophole to pursue GLP-1 market opportunities. Then it's on to the most interesting earnings reports from last week, which include another weak quarter from Target, very strong progress at Marks & Spencer, a bit of preliminary optimism on Macy's new strategy, and yet another solid quarter from TJX.
About James James Reinhart is the CEO and cofounder of ThredUp, one of the largest online resale platforms for apparel, shoes, and accessories. ThredUp is transforming resale with technology and a mission to inspire the world to think secondhand first. By making it easy to buy and sell secondhand, ThredUp is changing the way people shop and ushering in a more sustainable future for fashion. James’ passion for circularity and the role that education plays in our communities is what drives his vision of reducing the fashion industry’s negative impact on the planet. These values are reflected in his work prior to ThredUp, in which he helped develop one of the nation’s premier public schools, Pacific Collegiate School. James is a graduate of the Harvard Business School and the Harvard Kennedy School where he earned a joint degree in public policy and business. In his free time, he is an avid golfer, cyclist, and whiskey drinker (just not all at the same time). While a proud New Jersey native and diehard Bruce Springsteen fan, he lives with his wife Michele and three children in Oakland, CA.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 07 May 2024 | The Store As Brand Hub with (former) Target SVP Nancy King | 00:43:57 | ||||||||||
Our guest this week is Nancy King, until recently SVP, Product Engineering at Target whose interview from 2022 we are reprising. This episode provides a deep-dive, insider's perspective on how Target has embraced the blur of modern retail and put their stores at the center of the guest experience. We get a fascinating behind the scenes look at how the application of agile methodology, combined with digital technology and a willingness to experiment aggressively, has driven break-through results. We also explore how Target knew to invest in these areas ahead of the COVID crisis and what their plans are to stay in sync with ever escalating customer needs and wants. Nancy has just been named Chief Technology Officer for RB Global, Inc, the trusted global marketplace for insights, services and transactional solutions for commercial assets and vehicles. Congrats Nancy, and best of luck in the new gig! As usual we open with the week in retail news, including weaker than expected US job growth, blockbuster earnings from Amazon, and a not so buzzy report from Starbucks. Walmart announced it was pulling the plug on it's healthcare foray while at the same time launching a new grocery private label line called bettergoods. Then it's a return to the Wobbly Unicorn Corner and another rough quarter from both Peloton and Wayfair. We end with happier news as Ross Stores announces plan to open more than 2 million square feet of new retail space. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 20 Apr 2021 | Remarkable Retail 2nd Edition Book Launch Celebration | 00:57:26 | ||||||||||
This week we celebrate the publication of the expanded and completely revised edition of Steve's bestseller Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. On this special episode we share the (slightly edited) recording of our virtual book launch event, hosted by Michael, and featuring guests Seth Godin, Sucharita Kodali (who wrote the Foreword), Oliver Banks, Carl Boutet and Michelle Grant. Learn more about the book and hear our guests drop some wisdom about what's next for retail.
To order Remarkable Retail click below.
Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 30 Apr 2024 | A Modern Retail Masterclass with Billy May, CEO, Brooklinen | 00:44:20 | ||||||||||
Joining us for our final episode recorded in the Bambuser remote podcast studio/beach cabana at Mandalay Bay during Shoptalk is deeply experienced retail executive and current CEO of Brooklinen, Billy May. In a wide-ranging discussion of the evolution of DTC, e-commerce and harmonized retail, Billy lays out the essentials to building and growing remarkable retail brands gleaned from his decades long career in senior roles at J. Crew, Abercrombie & Fitch, Sur la Table, and more. It's a master class on the keys to modern retail. As usual we open by dissecting the most important news of the week including the expected bankruptcy of Express and the surprising collapse of Foxtrot. We also challenge the bold (some might say "insane") prediction by UBS that 45,000 stores will close in the next five years due to the growth of e-commerce. Mixed news on luxury continues as Hermes wows and most other high-end brands disappoint. We also consider whether the FTC stepping in to challenge the Tapestry and Capri merger make sense before wrapping up with an increasingly murky economic outlook. Check out the podcast version and video recording of the Leaders Leap virtual book launch event. Steve's new book is available at book sellers just about everywhere, from Audible, and on Kindle for only $9.99. Recent episodes featuring World Retail Congress speakers:
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 06 Dec 2024 | Selling Sexy: The Victoria's Secret Story with Chantal Fernandez and Lauren Sherman (Part 2) | 00:19:11 | ||||||||||
Welcome to a special episode of the Remarkable Retail podcast, featuring part two of our interview with noted retail journalists, Chantal Fernandez and Lauren Sherman, talking about their fabulous new book Selling Sexy: Victoria's Secret and the Unraveling of an American Icon. Steve picks up the conversation asking about Victoria's Secret's role in elevating supermodels to new heights in the cultural zeitgeist. Then we explore the end of Victoria's Secret dominance in retail, the complicated genius of Lex Wexner, and lessons learned for retail leaders. ICYMI, in the first part of our conversation we explore Victoria's Secret's origin and growth in the broader context of retail's evolution and from the perspective of Lex Wexner's creation of L2 Brands. We delve into how the brand became a cultural phenomenon with stores in just about every major mall and what set the stage for the emergence of the Angels, their iconic fashion shows, and the troubles that would soon befall the company. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 26 Jul 2022 | The Multi-Billion Dollar Retail Media Network Opportunity with Lauren Wiener, Managing Director and Partner, BCG | 00:37:06 | ||||||||||
Our guest this week is Lauren Wiener, Managing Director and Partner in the New York office of the Boston Consulting Group. With Laura lending her considerable experience and expertise, this episode provides a deep-dive into the world of retail media networks. We dig into definitions, the size of the opportunity and what is driving this booming area of retail. We learn who some of the leaders are and what strategies they employ. We also unpack some of the major opportunities, key risks and how to best balance sometimes conflicting agendas. It's a concise Masterclass on what you need to know about this rapidly growing and highly profitable retail segment. But first we unpack the hot retail news of the week, including Macy's questionable PR strategy, just announced plans to roll out Toys R US departments everywhere, and its small stores dreams. We have a more positive take on Nike's new Style concept which just debuted in Seoul, before wrapping up with a discussion of what a recession might mean for retailer's strategies. About Lauren Lauren Wiener is a Managing Director & Partner at Boston Consulting Group, based in the New York office. She leads BCG's Retail Media and Data Monetization business globally, working across retailers, CPGs and tech partners to unlock this emerging channel. She has authored research on the topic including "The $100B Media Opportunity for Retailers" and "Consumers Want Privacy. Marketers Can Deliver." Lauren has extensive experience across marketing, sales and pricing with a laser focus on these topics at the intersection of digital marketing, personalization, agile, ad tech and martech. Prior to rejoining BCG, Lauren was the CEO of Tremor Video DSP, an ad tech company focused on using AI, big data and outcome based buying models to optimize video advertising effectiveness. Before Tremor, Lauren spent 15 years building advertising and subscription-based digital businesses from the ground up for Meredith Corporation, Primedia and MTV Networks. In addition to scaling and transforming businesses, Lauren has successfully sold three digital and media companies, including Tremor Video to Taptica International, American Baby to Meredith Corporation and Seventeen to Hearst Corporation.
Lauren holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and graduated magna cum laude from Yale University with a BA in History.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 28 Jan 2025 | 2025 Provocative Predictions for Retail's Future: Part 2 | 00:49:42 | ||||||||||
We wrap up the second batch of Steve's provocative annual retail predictions with a focus on (mostly) educated guesses for the department store sector, what's next for Target, whether a new retail apocalypse is on the horizon, the outlook for deal making, and the impact of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic. All this plus a few bonus wildcard prognostications. But first, we start with a look at the latest retail news including what the wild and wooly first week of the Trump administration and what it might portend for the retail industry. Then we discussion what to make of a prediction that store closings will more than double this year, what's driving the continued strong growth of private label, and whether we're about to see a meaningful uptick in retail management layoffs. Then we conclude unpacking a fascinating partnership between Walmart and Rebag and speculating what sort of merch partnerships might work for the pod. Our Interview with Fashionphile CEO Sarah Davis. Check out our updated YouTube channel. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 14 Sep 2021 | Do Department Stores Have a Future (Part 2) | 00:40:45 | ||||||||||
After a robust kick-off discussion on the future of department stores last week, we return to go even deeper on how department stores went from being the original "must visit" everything stores to also-rans during the past two decades. We unpack how many iconic players have experienced "death by a thousand cuts", dispel the notion that the sector's woes are largely Amazon's fault and consider why stores closings are likely only making the situation worse. We also discuss which players have a chance for a turnaround, what it will take, and whether smaller, "off the mall" concepts (like Nordstrom Local) are the keys to making that happen. But first we open up the episode with our quick takes on recent retail news that caught out attention, including stellar earnings reports from RH and Lululemon, the expansion of Amazon's walk-out technology to Whole Foods and whether supply chain challenges and labor shortages will be the Grinch that stole Christmas. NOTE: We're now back to regular weekly episodes. Also check out our newish YouTube channel. Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 22 Nov 2022 | Meeting the Moment with Neighborhood Goods' CEO Matt Alexander | 00:40:23 | ||||||||||
Our guest this week is Matt Alexander, co-founder and CEO of Neighborhood Goods, recorded live at GroceryShop in Las Vegas. In a wide-ranging and thought-provoking interview, we first learn about the inspiration and evolution of Neighborhood Goods from a big picture vision to three physical locations (Dallas, New York and Austin, with more on the way). We then explore Matt's creative and unique take on concept development, merchandising, story-telling, and more, before moving into his fascinating thoughts on leadership, innovation, and more broadly, how culture affects retail. We wrap up with what's next for Neighborhood Goods (with a bit of existentialist philosophy thrown in for good measure). But first we take on the week in retail news, kicking off with a big picture overview of monthly sales and lots of retail earnings reports. We ponder what it all might mean for the near future, particularly as several retailers "pull their guidance." We then offer up quick hits on the decent (Walmart, Home Depot), the bad (Target), and the ugly (Kohl's), while considering whether Macy's "Polaris Strategy" is actually working. We conclude with our thoughts on the coming lay-offs and potential strategic shake-ups at Amazon. Steve's Forbes article on Macy's Turnaround Strategy Catch Steve and Michael at NRF's Big Show Past Episodes Mentioned Lori Stillman, from the National Association of Convenience Stores The Citizenry's Rachel Bentley and Carly Nance
About Matt Matt is the co-founder and CEO of Neighborhood Goods. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 02 May 2023 | Next Level Digital with Ryan den Rooijen, Chief Ecommerce Officer, Chalhoub Group | 00:44:21 | ||||||||||
Joining us for another great episode recorded at the Wizeline remote podcast studio/beach cabana at Mandalay Bay during Shoptalk 2023 is Ryan den Rooijen, Chief Ecommerce Officer for Chaloub Group, the largest retail operator in the Middle East and leading partner for the world's iconic luxury brands. In a wide ranging conversation on all things retail, Ryan shares his deep knowledge and keen insights on how omni-channel retailing and e-commerce have evolved and, most importantly, where's it is all headed. We also learn about his key Shoptalk take-aways, the importance of customer journeys (not customer journey) mapping, the state of digital maturity, and why "seamless" shopping is now table stakes. We also discuss our mutual disdain for "phygital" and a whole lot more! But as usual we kick-off with a fast-paced review of the week in retail news, including a fast-paced unpacking of Amazon earnings and what's next for Bed, Bath & Beyond now that they've filed for Chapter 11. Then we share our love for Target and the roll-out of curbside returns and LL Bean's social media break. We conclude with LVMH's blockbuster earnings and remarkable market valuation.
About Ryan Ryan den Rooijen is the Chief Ecommerce Officer of the Chalhoub Group, the leading luxury retailer in the Middle East. He manages teams including trade, product, growth, operations, and analytics. His organisation is focused on creating great customer experiences, whatever the platform. Prior to his current role, Ryan held the position of Chief Data Officer of the Chalhoub Group. In this role he worked to infuse data and analytics into every element of the organisation, ensuring we always keep the customer at heart. He previously worked as Dyson’s Director of Data, and before that at Google, where he led the development of the global sales analyst curriculum. Ryan completed an MSc in Social Science of the Internet at the University of Oxford. DataIQ repeatedly named him one of the most influential people in data-driven business. His work focuses on unlocking organisations’ potential using data and digital, beyond the buzzwords. When he is not in the office, Ryan enjoys long-distance running and being a hands-on dad. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 20 Dec 2022 | Organized For Growth: Our Season Finale with Satish Malhotra, CEO of The Container Store | 00:42:22 | ||||||||||
We wrap up Season 5 with yet another remarkable leader from a most remarkable retailer. This week our guest is Satish Malhotra, the CEO of The Container Store (TCS), the leading specialty retailer of storage and organization products, custom spaces, and in-home services. Satish took the helm of TCS last year after an amazing two decade run at Sephora where he helped drive their retail growth strategy as Chief Retail Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the Americas. We unpack what has TCS' success and momentum over the past 18 months, before delving into their plans to double its business over the next few years via it's 3 Pillars strategy: intensifying its product and service focus, expanding its reach (both digitally and by opening 80-100 new stores), and strengthening multiple capabilities. We also discuss how to overcome the cultural challenges that can impede any transformation effort and get Satish's views on how to navigate the coming choppy waters of a challenging economic outlook. But first we dip into the week in retail news, including dissecting the latest sales report from the US Census Bureau which seems to suggest storm clouds on the horizon. Then we take on the surprise news of Amazon' Deal Days, before a short riff on the importance of the week after Christmas. Then it's a trip to the retail graveyard with news of Sears Hometown's apparent pending demise and a quick take on H&M's recent sales report. We wrap up with Walmart's doubling down on omni-channel fulfillment while Nordstrom Rack struggles to make it work. Catch Steve and Michael at NRF's Big Show Catch Steve and Michael at the World Retail Congress (more details soon)
About Satish A seasoned retail executive with decades of diverse and valuable experience, Satish Malhotra joined The Container Store on February 1, 2021 as Chief Executive Officer and President. For the previous 21 years, Satish held various leadership roles at prestige beauty retailer Sephora Americas, most recently as Chief Retail Officer and Chief Operating Officer. In this role, Satish was responsible for leading Sephora’s retail growth by expanding its in-store services and experiences, developing digitally enabled solutions and by growing its off-mall store locations. Prior to that role, Satish served as Chief Operating Officer and was responsible for Technology, Supply Chain, Store Development, Legal, Strategy and Partnerships, including the Sephora inside JCPenney (SiJCP) business which now operates in over 600 stores. He also spent several years overseeing Sephora’s expansion into Canada and Latin America. Before joining Sephora, Satish was a Transaction Services Senior Associate at PwC. He is a Certified Public Accountant (inactive). Throughout his career, Satish has excelled at developing and growing new sales channels, solving complex “back of the house” problems with innovative solutions, and attracting and developing high performing talent. Among his many career highlights: transforming Sephora’s IT department to a Center of Excellence within parent company LVMH, launching all of Sephora’s digital commerce properties (including website, mobile, social and CRM), strengthening Sephora’s supply chain to enable 98% of online orders to be received by consumers within two business days, developing an off-mall store concept which dramatically improved Sephora’s accessibility to its consumers, and led the efforts in creating Sephora’s purpose of “inspiring fearlessness”. In 2020, he was presented with the Innovation Leadership Award from the World Retail Forum. A graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, Walter A. Haas School of Business with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Satish has also completed the LVMH Inspiring Entrepreneurs Senior Executive Leadership Program. Malhotra currently resides in Flower Mound, Texas, with his wife, two children and their Coton du Tulear. An avid Peloton rider, he clocked well over 11,000 minutes in 2020. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 04 Feb 2025 | Rethinking Work: Our Interview with Rishad Tobaccowala | 00:50:53 | ||||||||||
Joining us to discuss his brilliant new book Rethinking Work: Seismic Changes in the Where, When & Why, is author, speaker, and trusted advisor Rishad Tobaccowala. Rishad returns to the pod to share important themes in how work is changing in profound ways and what leaders need to do to respond to emerging and powerful new forces. As usual we start by unpacking the week in retail news, including a wee bit of macro-economic news amid a fair amount of chaos. Then it's on to DeepSeek's shocking announcement, even more encouraging reports on GLP-1 drugs, and a big funding round for fast-growing fashion brand Quince. We also start off earnings season by commenting on lackluster results from both Starbucks and LVMH. We conclude with happy news that The Container Store has emerged from bankruptcy and that Walmart is going big in Canada. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 11 Jan 2022 | Shift Happens: Get Ready for Season 4! | 00:01:34 | ||||||||||
This is Steve Dennis, trusted strategic advisor, keynote speaker and author of Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. If the last two years has taught us anything it’s this: Shift Happens. But becoming and staying remarkable is not about predicting the future. It’s about accepting the reality that even very good is no longer good enough. It’s about deeply understanding the forces of disruption, separating the realities from the myths and committing to being intensely customer-centric. Mostly, it’s about taking the leaps required to deliver a truly memorable customer experience. So join me and my co-host Michael Leblanc as we challenge the status quo, dissect the latest trends and make sense of what’s new and next in modern retail. Each and every week we'll deliver insights honed by decades of experience on the front lines of retail, at the most senior levels of management and perspectives right from the boardroom We've worked hard over the past three seasons blessed with the generosity of our guests to make the Remarkable Retail podcast one of the top ranked retail industry podcasts in the world. So be sure to subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcasts today and brace yourself for a steady stream of wisdom, straight talk and lively conversation. Season 4 launches January 18 and it promises to be our best yet. We can’t wait to have you join us!
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 21 Mar 2023 | Learning to Surf in an Increasingly Volatile World | 00:41:38 | ||||||||||
"You can't stop the waves, but you can learn to surf." - Jon Kabat-Zinn In the wake of the Silicon Valley Bank crisis, we go guest free to dive into a concept that Steve shares in his book and in many of his keynotes. It's called VUCA, and it stand for Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguous. We explore the implications of what it means to develop and execute strategy in a world in which changes are coming at us ever faster and more furious. In particular we unpack the need for crystal clear vision, deep understanding, greater clarity of focus, and, perhaps most important of all, tremendous agility. But first we open up with the retail news that caught our attention this week, including a look at US monthly sales figures, layoff announcements from Nordstrom and Meta, Galeria Kaufhof's--one of Europe's biggest department stores--plans to close half of its locations, and Couche Tard's major European acquisition. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 18 Mar 2025 | Embracing Agility, Kohl's Struggles, and Jason Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer, Publicis, on Who's Winning & Why (Part 1) | 00:46:16 | ||||||||||
The latest Remarkable Retail podcast delivers a compelling mix of current market news and expert analysis from returning guest Jason "Retail Geek" Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis. Hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis kick off with the week's headlines, spotlighting the chaos caused by shifting tariff policies. They note that consumer confidence has plummeted amid economic uncertainty, creating leadership challenges across the retail landscape. Steve reflects that while the COVID crisis taught resilience, today's volatility requires leaders to embrace agility as "the New Black" while avoiding recklessness. The retail news segment highlights several struggling players, most notably Kohl's with its disastrous twelfth consecutive quarter of sales decline. The hosts detail how new CEO Ashley Buchanan is pivoting back to private labels after previous leadership had emphasized national brands, while also apparently abandoning the once-touted Amazon returns program. Steve recounts visiting Kohl's stores filled with heavily discounted merchandise, describing them as "a train wreck" requiring both strategic and executional overhauls. The hosts continue with Ulta Beauty posting modest growth, signaling a slowdown in a category that had performed exceptionally well post-pandemic. Dick's Sporting Goods delivered strong quarterly results but projected significantly slower future growth, reflecting a broader trend of caution across retail. In what the hosts call the "wobbly unicorn corner," they examine former high-flyers facing existential challenges. Allbirds has lost nearly all its market value since IPO, with declining revenue despite shifting from direct-to-consumer to wholesale. Meanwhile, Stitch Fix shows modest signs of recovery under CEO Matt Baer's strategy of focusing on core customers rather than casting too wide a net. When Jason Goldberg joins the conversation, he identifies three dominant client concerns: retail media networks (which he views skeptically), artificial intelligence (both transformative and overhyped), and economic uncertainty creating both challenges and opportunities. Goldberg then provides illuminating analysis of retail market data, revealing that a small handful of giants—primarily Walmart, Amazon, Costco, and Chinese newcomers like Temu and Shein—capture the vast majority of all growth. While e-commerce growth has slowed from pandemic highs, it still significantly outpaces brick-and-mortar retail. Most significantly, Goldberg explains retail's "bifurcation" between digital winners and losers, and between two successful business models: massive "everything stores" and highly curated specialty retailers. The traditional wholesale model caught in between—particularly department stores—is struggling regardless of execution quality or market position. The episode ends with a teaser for part two, promising Goldberg's insights on the future of wholesale, Amazon's grocery ambitions, social commerce, and TikTok Shops—compelling reasons for listeners to return for the continuation of this insightful conversation. Links: https://www.forbes.com/sites/stevendennis/2017/12/04/retail-reality-its-death-in-the-middle/ Jason's 2024 Retail Year End Recap https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7300023069450936322/ About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 13 Apr 2021 | Behind the scenes of retail reporting with CNBC’s Lauren Thomas | 00:41:26 | ||||||||||
This week we welcome CNBC's ace retail reporter Lauren Thomas, who talks about the journey into her current position, what her beat is all about, and the trade craft of choosing and developing stories. We also dip into what's surprised her about the retail industry and the evolving nature of consumer preferences. Lastly we discuss the challenges of understanding retailer performance as we transition into the post-COVID economy, as well as what's on her radar screen for the future. Then we move on to our fast-paced weekly segment “Remarkable or Forgettable?” where we give our hot takes on retail headlines, and deem them wow-worthy, best ignored or somewhere in between. This week's big stories include the prediction that 80,000 stores will close within 5 years, while several big brands announce aggressive store opening plans, an uptick in mall vacancy rates at the same time Amazon converts some into distribution centers, Best Buy pilots a new membership program and Target devotes $2 billion to black-owned businesses. Join us Tuesday, April 13th at 5pm EST for our Virtual Book Launch on Zoom as we celebrate the release of Steve's new book with special guests Seth Godin, Sucharita Kodali and many more. Space is limited, so please register here ASAP.
Lauren Thomas is a reporter for CNBC in New York covering retail and retail real estate. She joined in January 2017 after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she studied Business Journalism and Spanish. Thomas previously held internships at CNBC in San Francisco, Bloomberg and TheStreet. She was born in South Carolina and is the oldest of five kids. Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption will be released April 13th and is now available for preorder at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 14 Jun 2022 | 10 No Holds Barred Predictions For Retail's Future: A Mid-Year Review | 00:47:06 | ||||||||||
In our Season 4 finale, we peer into Steve's crystal ball to review his annual predictions as we approach the half way point of the year. In addition to unpacking what they are all about, we go for radical accountability, assessing each of them hits, misses or, perhaps, a bit too soon to tell. But first we open up with the retail news that caught our attention this week, including the scary inventory overload facing many of the industry's top players, and the impact of continuing high inflation, weak consumer confidence, mounting consumer debt and lower savings rates on retail's immediate future. We also discuss Kohl's bizarre potential tie-up with the Franchise Group, the growing potential of a disruptor apocalypse, highlighted by disappointing earnings from TheRealReal, StitchFix, and Rent-the-Runway. We close optimistically with Tractor Supply's remarkable financial results and aggressive store opening plans. ***************************************
10 No-Holds-Barred Predictions for Retail in 2022 Too Much of a Good Things. Retailers Are Drowning in Inventory Amazon Should Buy Kohl's--With One Big Caveat
The Stores Strike Back Again. Again. Blow It Up? It's Time For the Great Reconfiguration The Original Predictions Episode Placer.Ai Department Store Traffic Data
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 12 Apr 2022 | No Cake For You!: Celebrating Remarkable Retail's Birthday with special guest Sucharita Kodali | 00:42:35 | ||||||||||
“I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations. If you feel safe in the area that you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth. And when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.” — David Bowie, David Bowie: The Last Five Years
On the 1st anniversary of the release of the revised and expanded 2nd edition of Steve's best-selling book Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption--which confusingly is also the 2nd anniversary of the 1st edition's release--we celebrate its success and impact with our very special guest Forrester Research VP & Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali. Sucharita is not only one of retail's top thought leaders, but she was our very first guest on the podcast back in September of 2022 and she graciously wrote the Foreword to Remarkable Retail's 2nd edition. We unpack some of the key lessons from the book and take stock of Steve and Sucharita's predictive prowess. We also wonder aloud about whether there is complacency setting in among too many retailers, if a "collapse of the unremarkable middle" is inevitable and whether certain oft talked about "innovations" are victims of the hype cycle.
Note: The John Oliver "This Week Tonight" segment referenced in the episode can be found here. And don't forget to check out our bonus episode recapping this year's Shoptalk conference, recorded live from high above the Vegas Strip.
About Sucharita Sucharita serves digital business strategy professionals. She is an expert on eCommerce, omnichannel retail, consumer behavior, and trends in the online shopping space. She is also an authority on technology developments that affect the online commerce industry and vendors that facilitate online marketing and merchandising.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 25 Mar 2025 | Why Amazon Can’t Crack Grocery and the Rise of Social Commerce with Jason Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis (Part 2) | 00:42:54 | ||||||||||
In the latest episode of Remarkable Retail, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis kick off with a roundup of the week’s most impactful retail news. They dive into the potential liquidation of Hudson’s Bay Company, examining the challenges the iconic retailer faces amid financial turbulence. With speculation swirling around the sale of HBC’s heritage Stripes brand and the struggle to find buyers for prime real estate, the hosts analyze the ripple effects on Canadian retail. They also discuss Forever 21’s second bankruptcy filing and probable liquidation, attributing the fast-fashion giant’s downfall to a combination of fierce competition from digital disruptors like Shein and Temu, as well as a reliance on traditional mall-based retailing. Another key story involves Wayfair’s decision to expand its physical retail presence despite years of online focus. Opening its second large-format store in Atlanta, Wayfair seems to be testing the waters of omnichannel retail, blending digital convenience with tangible customer experiences. The episode also touches on earnings updates from Nike, Williams-Sonoma, and Five Below. After covering the latest retail news, the hosts continue their engaging conversation with Jason “Retail Geek” Goldberg, Chief Commerce Strategy Officer at Publicis. Goldberg dives into Amazon’s ongoing challenges in breaking into the grocery market despite the tech giant’s e-commerce dominance. Amazon Fresh stores, while improved, still lack a clear competitive differentiator against industry leaders like Walmart. Goldberg notes that despite Amazon’s long-term strategy and willingness to experiment, their grocery ventures remain more experimental than groundbreaking. Goldberg also explores the evolution of social commerce, with a particular focus on TikTok Shops. Unlike past social selling failures on platforms like Facebook, TikTok Shops have managed to build momentum, but only for specific product categories. Goldberg argues that social commerce’s real value lies not in direct sales but in product discovery. Brands need to adapt by creating content that fosters discovery rather than pushing for immediate transactions. The conversation also covers the rise of retail media networks, with Goldberg emphasizing Amazon’s transformation into a high-margin ad powerhouse. By monetizing third-party seller ads, Amazon has outpaced traditional retail models in profitability. While Walmart and others are catching up, Amazon’s ability to leverage its marketplace for advertising revenue puts it in a unique position. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 08 Oct 2024 | Retail Transformation as a Calling with Greg Merrill, Nike's Former Global Head of Digital Transformation | 00:47:22 | ||||||||||
Joining us for the first of our interviews recorded in the Scratch Event DJs remote podcast studio at the Revtech Rev Summit in Dallas is Greg Merrill, most recently global head of digital transformation at Nike. Greg draws on his extensive start-up experience, board advisory roles, and his just completed tenure at global powerhouse Nike, to help us understand how to accelerate the pace of innovation, ensure better cultural buy-in, and a whole lot more. it's a master class from the front lines of driving change that executives at any company will benefit from. As usual we open by unpacking the most important retail news of the week, starting with the good news that the potential port strike in the US has been averted--at least for now. Then it's on to the stalled turnarounds at two iconic retail brands: JC Penney--whose situation seems increasingly dire--and Levi's, which is caught up in a challenging shift from wholesale to DTC. We wrap up with a bit of optimism, highlighting the continued success of JD Sports' global expansion. You can check out our interview with Arianne Parisi, JD's EVP & Global Chief Digital Officer here. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 10 Feb 2023 | BONUS EPISODE: How Square Drives Innovation with Roshan Jhunja, General Manager of Retail | 00:24:47 | ||||||||||
Our final bonus episode recorded live in the MarketDial booth at the NRF's "Big Show" last month features Roshan Jhunja, General Manager of Retail at Square. We delve into how Square uses Clayton Christensen's "Customer Jobs to Be Done" framework to guide their innovation process. We also explore which trends are likely to be most important to retail success this year, as well as what's new and next in connected commerce.
RESOURCES
About Roshan is the General Manager of Retail at Square. His vision is to empower retailers of all sizes to thrive, by leveraging world class design and Square’s unique platform approach. He oversees all aspects of this business vertical including the experience of retailers who run their businesses on Square's software and hardware. Prior to 2016, Roshan held a variety of leadership roles in quantitative finance and investment banking in the NYC area. In his free time he enjoys motorcycling, playing guitar and karaoke with his two children.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 18 Jun 2024 | Remarkably Global with Javier Figar, Chief Retail Officer, Tendam | 00:44:30 | ||||||||||
In the third of our episodes recorded at Shoptalk Europe in the Bambuser remote podcast studio our guest is Javier Figar, Chief Retail Officer for Tendam. Tendam is a Spanish fashion retailer, with presence in 79 countries and a total of 2,056 points of sale. Javier helps us understand what makes Tendam unique and how their portfolio has grown through a mix of organic growth and acquisitions. He also shares his valuable leadership insights gleaned from his diverse background and having worked and lived in eight different countries. We also learn about Tendam's expansion plans and potential IPO later this year. But first we kick things off with Steve's reflections on his time in Singapore attending the NRF APAC Big Show, before shifting into our usual dissection of the week in retail news. We start with a fast-paced review of the latest US monthly sales figures. Then we try to make sense of WHP's plans to acquire yet another retailer (this time it's Express) out of bankruptcy before moving on to wonder whether the multi-year growth of dollars stores has hit a wall. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 11 Oct 2024 | BONUS EPISODE: Retail VC Pioneer David Matthews, Managing Director of RevTech Ventures | 00:27:13 | ||||||||||
Joining us for a special bonus episode recorded live in the Scratch Event DJs remote podcast studio during RevTech Ventures annual summit is RevTech's very own David Matthews. David shares his deep experience with early stage investing in retail technology and shares exciting news about a new fund his firm is launching. Promotional consideration for this episode was provided by RevTech Ventures. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 21 Jan 2025 | People-Led, Tech Powered with Chris Nicholas, President and CEO, Sam’s Club | 00:44:36 | ||||||||||
Joining us for our first interview of the year is Sam's Club President and CEO Chris Nicholas. Chris shares how he and his team are driving remarkable performance at one of North America's biggest and most successful retailers. In a fascinating conversation he explains how warehouse clubs are "meeting the moment." We delve into the power of the limited assortment, membership model while also learning how Sam's deftly blends leading edge technology with the power of human connection. But first we kick things off with a fast-paced overview of last week's "NRF Big Show.." Then it's on to the big retail news of the week, including our take on how the holiday season turned out, possible emerging troubles in the white-collar labor market, and what to make of Macy's and Kohl's accelerated pace of store closings. Steve also attempts to clear up his irrationally exuberant comments about the formation of Catalyst Brands.
About Chris: Chris Nicholas is president and chief executive officer of Sam’s Club, a membership club that is pioneering the retail experience, providing members exclusive access to value, convenience, and modern omnichannel shopping options. Before taking this role in September 2023, Chris served as executive vice president and chief operating officer (COO) for Walmart U.S. As COO, he was responsible for all aspects of Walmart’s U.S. Store Operations and Supply Chain – including strategy, innovation, automation, store operations, distribution center and fulfillment center operations, last mile delivery capability, and real estate. Chris joined the company in 2018, serving first as deputy CFO, then CFO for Walmart International and then as CFO of the U.S. segment. He grew up working in retail and has more than 20 years of broad retail experience working in nine countries and serving in leadership roles with companies such as Tesco, The Salling Group, and the Coles Group, where he played a key role in leading the Coles business through unprecedented change within the Australian supermarket industry. He graduated from the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology with a Bachelor of Science with Honors in Management Science and is a chartered accountant (ACMA). Chris and his wife, Meagan, have two children and live in Northwest Arkansas. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 20 Sep 2022 | Retail Fight Club: Can Kohl's Be Turned Around?, with guest Ethan Chernovsky | 00:36:09 | ||||||||||
"The first rule of Retail Fight Club is to tell everybody about Retail Fight Club." - Michael LeBlanc This week we debut a new segment: Retail Fight Club, where we debate a contentious issue that just about everyone in retail is talking about. Ethan Chernovsky, Placer.ai's VP of Marketing returns to the pod and steps into the ring with Steve for our inaugural episode to present opposing view points on the likelihood of Kohl's mounting a meaningful return to its former glory. Will their bold set of strategic initiatives be on target, or merely amount to a slightly better version of mediocre? But first we give our hot-takes on the week's retail news, including the latest read on inflation and US monthly retail sales. We also weigh in on recessionary declarations from FedEx, the World Bank and RH's CEO Gary Friedman, before reviewing new sales projections for the holiday season. Then it's Yeezy come, Yeezy go as the artist formerly known as Kanye West and the Gap part ways. We also revisit the Wobbly Unicorn Corner to discuss the train wreck that is Rent the Runway, before briefly touching on an interesting merger of digitally native brands and an apparent change of heart when it comes to Walmart as an interesting distribution partner. We end on an inspiring note, discussing the big news that Patagonia's founder is giving away the company to support action on the climate crisis. Photo by Attentie Attentie on Unsplash CNBC Kanye West, who goes by Ye, interview. Fight Club | 20th Anniversary | 20th Century FOX
About Ethan Ethan Chernofsky is the VP of Marketing at Placer.ai. Previously, Ethan was the VP of Marketing at Orbs. Ethan holds an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 16 Nov 2021 | Everything You Wanted to Know About Private Brand (But Were Afraid To Ask!) | 00:38:44 | ||||||||||
Why are private branding strategies becoming increasingly important to the retail industry? We unpack this question in detail, first clarifying some often confusing terminology, while also making the important distinction between "private labels" and "private brands." Mostly we center the important role of exclusive products in providing competitive differentiation, minimizing web-enabled price shopping and improving margins. We also call out how retailers young and old, vertically integrated and multi-line, are doubling down on private brands as a way to become more remarkable. What's behind big shifts at Amazon, Target and Bed, Bath & Beyond? Why are DNVB's partnering up with legacy players like Nordstrom for semi-exclusive distribution? Why are Nike and others moving away from wholesale distribution to more exclusive, DTC channels? We take it all on! But first we open up the with the Top 3 retail stories that caught our attention this past week, including some take-aways from "Singles Day" (aka the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival) and what to make of the big bounce back in sales and earnings for some legacy players--and the lack of profitability among many so-called disruptor brands. While we're not exactly sure just what the heck the "Metaverse" is (a second life for Second Life?), we do take on Facebook's (er, Meta's) plans to market it through their own physical stores. Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 01 Apr 2022 | Live from Las Vegas: Shoptalk 2022 Recap | 00:24:27 | ||||||||||
We're live and in-person together for the first time since we launched the Remarkable Retail podcast for this special bonus episode. Steve and Michael sit down together in the Vegas Podcasting Studio (i.e. Michael's hotel room!) on the third and final day of the Shoptalk 2022 show in Las Vegas and discuss the key themes heard in the aisles, restaurants, and on the stage at Shoptalk 2022.
Steve's Talk Show Session Improving Store Operations with New Tools and Technologies Analog and still largely human-powered, store operations sometimes bear unfavorable comparison to digital’s ability to efficiently and accurately track, measure and control nearly every aspect of the business. However, retailers are increasingly building and buying solutions that bring digital efficiency to the challenges of running physical stores. In this session, retail executives will discuss the tools and technologies helping them analyze and optimize store operations.
About Shoptalk Our attendees tell us each year that Shoptalk is the retail industry’s best event, consistently describing their experience as amazing, educational, energizing, exciting, insightful, inspiring, productive and fun. Held annually in Las Vegas, Shoptalk is an unprecedented gathering of individuals and companies reshaping how consumers discover, shop and buy. The event provides a platform for large retailers and branded manufacturers, startups, tech companies, investors, media and analysts to learn, network, collaborate and evolve. Shoptalk was founded in 2015 by Anil D. Aggarwal and Simran Rekhi Aggarwal and acquired in 2019 by Hyve Group, plc.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 29 Oct 2024 | Taking the Pulse of Digital Retail with Zia Daniell Widger, Chief Content Officer, eMarketer | 00:46:50 | ||||||||||
Joining us in the Bambuser podcast studio for the first of several episodes recorded live at Shoptalk's inaugural fall event in Chicago is Zia Daniell Widger, Chief Content Officer at eMarketer. In a wide-ranging conversation on digital trends across the globe, Zia's shares both her many years of experience in her current role (along with stints at Shoptalk, Forrester, and Jupiter Research) combined with new research to shine a light on where retail is headed. Among the topics we cover is the continued importance of physical retail, the outlook for grocery retail, creator commerce, and a whole lot more. But first we unpack the most important retail news of the week, starting with what appears to be a "wait and see" attitude on the part of consumers and businesses alike as the US election approaches. Then we dig into the growing turmoil in the luxury market before turning our attention to Bed, Bath & Beyond return to physical retain and Starbucks plans to reboot their brand. About Zia Zia is the Chief Content Officer at EMARKETER where she oversees our team of 100+ analysts, forecasters, researchers and editors. The team covers a wide range of topics, from emerging digital trends and technologies like genAI, retail media and the creator economy to issues like cookie deprecation, brand safety and the digitization of grocery, beauty, fashion and more. Zia's own expertise lies in worldwide retail and ecommerce. She's lived and worked in 10+ countries and regularly keynotes major events around the globe. Prior to joining EMARKETER, Zia was the Chief Global Content Officer at Shoptalk and co-founder of Groceryshop. She also spent 7 years at Forrester Research where she led the global omnichannel retail team. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 28 Nov 2023 | You Can't Spell Retail Without "AI" featuring Michael Affronti, SVP/General Manager Commerce Cloud at Salesforce | 00:44:09 | ||||||||||
This episode we welcome Michael Affronti, the SVP & General Manager of the Commerce Cloud business at Salesforce for a fascinating look at the rapidly evolving world of generative AI. In an expansive, yet highly practical, discussion Michael helps us separate the hope from the hype and "chalks the field" on the most important applications to automate mundane tasks or enhance the customer experience. We also go deep on where retailers are already gaining traction and where they need to begin to test and learn.
About Michael Michael is the SVP & General Manager of Commerce Cloud at Salesforce, overseeing the various Commerce Cloud products and services that enable customers to build commerce experiences and grow revenue their way. In this role, he focuses on the critical interlock between sales, marketing, and product development to generate aligned and effective GTM strategies. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, board member, and keynote speaker focused on strategic growth and transformation and the impact of digital disruption. He is the author of the bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption and the forthcoming Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , which will be published in March 2024 and is now available for pre-order at book retailers everywhere. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on social media..
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 02 Mar 2021 | Obsessed: Building A Brand People Love from Day One | 00:38:47 | ||||||||||
This week we welcome Emily Heyward, the cofounder and chief brand officer of Red Antler as our guest to help understand what branding is all about, why it is so important and what it takes to build and sustain a remarkable brand. We discuss lessons learned from her career working with top companies such Casper, Boxed and Allbirds, and delve into the key concepts she unpacks in her recent book, including the "5 Why's", the power of focus and simplicity and the role of physical retail in creating an immersive and distinctive customer experience. After our interview we jump into our new weekly segment “Remarkable or Forgettable?” where we give our hot takes on retail headlines, and deem them wow-worthy, best ignored or somewhere in between. This week's highlights include what to make of Macy's Investor Day pronouncements, what we can glean from recent retailer earning reports, Kohl's facing new challenge from an activist investor group, Best Buy's new hybrid store model and more. Emily Heyward is the Co-Founder and Chief Brand Officer at Red Antler. Author of Obsessed: Building a Brand People Love from Day One available on Amazon and / or in Canada at Indigo Books. Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption will be released April 13th and is now available for preorder at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 15 Dec 2020 | Retail Without Boundaries with guest Mitch Joel, bestselling author, keynote speaker and founder of Six Pixels Group | 00:43:03 | ||||||||||
We move on to the 6th Essential ("Connected") in Steve's 8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail framework, discussing how an abundance of connection and the erosion of boundaries between consumers and brands has fundamentally redefined marketing communications and created entirely new business models. We also investigate why attention doesn't guarantee engagement, the role of social proof and the concept of a "Fourth Place." With our special guest Mitch Joel, we explore the 3 C's of Connection, striking the balance between direct response marketing and story-telling and what we misunderstand about about the role of digital and physical retail. We also discuss the growing power of social media and it's undeniable and profound effect on an individual's ability to create and share an idea instantly and for free to their network (or the world). Lastly, we unpack how services are becoming the new experience. Mitch Joel is Founder of Six Pixels Group - an advisory, investing and content producing company that is focused on commerce and innovation. Prior to Six Pixels Group, Mitch spent close to two decades building, running and (eventually) selling Twist Image/Mirum – a global marketing agency that still operates in 25 countries with close to 3000 employees.
Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 25 Nov 2022 | BONUS EPISODE: Stuart Taylor, VP, Business Insights and Analytics, Kum & Go | 00:23:03 | ||||||||||
We are excited to release the second of two bonus episodes recorded live at the MarketDial podcast studio during the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) conference. Our guest is Stuart Taylor VP, Business Insights and Analytics at Kum & Go, one of the most successful convenience stores in the industry, operating over 400 stores. We delve into how leveraging customer data and insight helps inform the company's growth strategy and transformation. It's a Master class for any retailer in any sector on how to use data science and testing to win, grow and create loyal customers. About Stuart Develop creative analytical solutions and applications to answer complex business questions and drive real market outcomes. Rapid and effective adoption of novel analytical approaches and technologies where relevant to the need at hand. Comfortable across data types and in driving integrated solutions from disparate data sources. Cross-functional team leadership success rooted in alignment with strategic objectives and analytical vision, and illumination of individual team member roles in achieving the vision.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 27 Aug 2024 | SUMMER BONUS: Fail Better | 00:20:30 | ||||||||||
Welcome to a special Remarkable Retail podcast summer series focused on what leaders need to do to help their organizations win the future and leap to higher ground. In this six-part limited series, Steve will be unpacking key lessons from his new best-selling book “Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption,” available everywhere books are sold. If you have been following this short special series—or if you just think about what distinguishes organizations that are winning the future from the also-rans, it is very often that they act more boldly, they take more chances, they fail regularly, they adjust, they fail some more. They believe, as my friend Seth Godin says, “if failure is not an option, then neither is success.” Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is not to avoid failure; it is to fail better. But what does this mean, why is it so important, and how do we do it exactly? Moreover, why must we not only see failure as an inevitable part of our transformation journey, but how we adopt a far, far greater sense of urgency. Thanks for joining us for our summer experiment! Season 9 of the Remarkable Retail podcast returns on September 10th in its usual format. Follow us wherever you enjoy your podcasts, and don’t forget to give us a 5-star review. Special thanks to Scott Galloway, Maverick, The Dude, Ted Lasso, Elvis and Billy Joel for lending their voices to this episode of the #pod. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 26 Mar 2024 | A Remarkable Journey Through the Shopping Mall with Craig Brommers, American Eagle's CMO | 00:55:08 | ||||||||||
Joining us for our first episode recorded at last week's Shoptalk is Craig Brommers, Chief Marketing Officer at American Eagle Outfitters. We took the stage in front of a live audience for our inaugural voyage on Shoptalk TV to hear Craig's wisdom on a wide variety of topics including: the keys to their AEO's recent performance, how to understand the Gen Z customer, the role of digital in driving physical store performance, how sustainability does or doesn't affect consumer choice, and a whole lot more. We also learn that the death of physical retail has been greatly exaggerated (though he might be preaching to the choir!). But we kick-off things off with a quick rundown of our big take-aways from our busy, busy time in Las Vegas. Then it's on to our analysis of the most important retail news of the week, including reports that Nordstrom is considering going private, largely disappointing earnings outlook from both Lululemon and Nike, and continuing robust growth from breakout brand Five Below.
About Craig As the Chief Marketing Officer of American Eagle, Craig oversees all marketing and creative for American Eagle (AE), the #1 jeans brand for men and women 15-25 and women of all ages in the US. Leading the strategic and creative engine of AE, Craig’s mission is to simultaneously build the brand, customer base and business while positioning AE at the heart of youth culture and digital innovation. Since joining AE, Craig has led successful partnerships with TikTok, Snap, and Twitch placing the brand at the fingertips of Gen Z. Craig’s passion for purpose is rooted in research, ensuring alignment with what his customers care about most. Craig has supported partnerships with Bring Change 2 Mind, Surfrider and America’s Food Fund. Most notably Craig spearhead Gap’s RED campaign to increase awareness and inspire action toward the fight against AIDS. Craig’s ability to cultivate success driven global teams is a result of his relationship driven approach to leadership. Craig resides in Connecticut with his wife and two daughters. Previously, Craig served as Global Marketing executive for Gap, Abercrombie & Fitch, and Calvin Klein. Craig’s leadership successfully positioned these brands for digital, geographic, and category expansion. Combining the art and science of modern marketing in a data obsessed world, Craig’s strategies remain laser focused on the customer. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 06 Aug 2024 | SUMMER BONUS: I'm The Problem. It's Me. | 00:20:18 | ||||||||||
Welcome to a special Remarkable Retail podcast summer series focused on what leaders need to do to help their organizations win the future and leap to higher ground. In this six-part limited series, Steve will be unpacking key lessons from his new best-selling book “Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption,” available everywhere books are sold. In his new book Leaders Leap, Steve proposes a series of 7 Mind Leaps that are essential to transforming you and your organization. There is a powerful reason that Crush Your Ego is mind leap #1. Without starting from a place of humility, our foundation will be shaky. And we cannot build a house of sustained innovation and transformation without rock-solid first principles. Indeed, we must put our masks on first. In this episode, Steve argues that while it is understandable to believe that successful transformations and our personal success are often hindered by poor analysis, cultural barriers, and not enough innovative ideas, a lack of appropriate resources, poor board, or management support, extreme pressure to meet quarterly earnings, etc., etc, etc., it is very often the case that progress is impeded by that person, we see in the mirror each day and our unhealthy attachment to ego. This 6-part summer series will explore why we must choose remarkable or risk irrelevance. We will go deep on unpacking the root causes that lead to an overly timid transformation. We will delve into what is required to lead in the face of relentless, unyielding disruption. Season 9 of the Remarkable Retail podcast returns on September 10th in its usual format. Follow us wherever you enjoy your podcasts, and don’t forget to give us a 5-star review. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 29 Sep 2020 | A World Turned Upside Down with Forrester Research's Sucharita Kodali | 00:54:12 | ||||||||||
In our inaugural episode we explain what Season 1 is about and the structure of the podcast. We talk about why Steve wrote his book, the underlying concepts of ""Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption" and his "8 Essentials" framework. We unpack the idea that "shift happens", dissect the Black Swan event that is the global pandemic and delve into whether Steve would have changed anything in this book given it was completed just a few months before the COVID-19 crisis. Next Sucharita Kodali Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research joins us for a peek into what's now and what's next for retail. Finally, we talk about Steve's recent Forbes article about the Five Emerging Forces of Retail's New Normal. You can learn more about Steve on his website here . His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here. You can learn more about Michael here ( www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ ) If you liked what you heard you can subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail, brand or CPG industry. Have a safe week everyone! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 06 Jul 2021 | Amazon Unbound with author Brad Stone | 00:43:47 | ||||||||||
We're back with Season 3 and we kick it off with our special guest Brad Stone, senior executive editor for global technology at Bloomberg News and bestselling author of several books, including his latest Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire. We open up the episode with our quick takes on recent earnings announcements from Nike and Bed, Bath & Beyond, pending IPO action from digitally native brand pioneers Warby Parker and Allbirds and what we should make of deal activity in the lingerie category. Indeed, we over it all! Then, in a fast-paced interview--nicely timed for the week that Andy Jassy takes over as CEO of Amazon--we have the opportunity to dig into the company's journey since Brad's last book ( The Everything Store) and take an insider's view of Jeff Bezos' unique leadership style. In addition to unpacking some of the keys to the company's remarkable growth--and apparent invincibility--Brad shares some illuminating and amusing anecdotes. We also tee up what's most important to keep an eye on in the future. NOTE: We'll be releasing episodes every two weeks, through September 7, when we'll move back to a weekly format. Brad Stone is the author of four books, including Amazon Unbound: Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire, published by Simon & Schuster in May 2021. It traces the transformation of Amazon into one of the largest and most feared companies of the world and the accompanying emergence of its founder, Jeff Bezos, as the richest man alive. Brad is also the author of The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon, which chronicled the foundational early years of the company. The book, a New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller, was translated into more than 35 languages and won the 2013 Financial Times/Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award. In 2017, he also published The Upstarts: Uber, Airbnb, and the Battle for the New Silicon Valley. Brad is Senior Executive Editor for Global Technology at Bloomberg News where he oversees a team of 65 reporters and editors that covers high-tech companies, startups, cyber security and internet trends around the world. Over the last ten years, as a writer for Bloomberg Businessweek, he’s authored over two dozen cover stories on companies such as Apple, Google, Amazon, Softbank, Twitter, Facebook and the Chinese internet juggernauts Didi, Tencent and Baidu. He’s a regular contributor to Bloomberg’s technology newsletter Fully Charged, and to the daily Bloomberg TV news program, Bloomberg Technology. He was previously a San Francisco-based correspondent for The New York Times and Newsweek. A graduate of Columbia University, he is originally from Cleveland, Ohio and lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife and three daughters. Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 23 Mar 2021 | What's new and next for store traffic | 00:36:17 | ||||||||||
This week we welcome Ethan Chernofsky, VP of Marketing for Placer.ai, a leading analytics firm that harnesses mobile data from tens of millions of devices, to deliver visibility and insight into offline behavior. We discuss what changes in foot traffic across retail product categories and geographies suggest about the impact of the COVID-19 crisis and what it may all mean for the timing and magnitude of a retail recovery. After our discussion we jump into our new weekly segment “Remarkable or Forgettable?” where we give our hot takes on retail headlines, and deem them wow-worthy, best ignored or somewhere in between. This week's highlights include what we can glean from February's monthly sales report, Amazon becoming the US's top apparel retailer, as well as their new push into traditional grocery, Adidas' DTC dreams, and a report that more stores may open in 2021 then will close. Special Offer! If you would like to see the new edition of Remarkable Retail before April 13, place a pre-order for the hardcover edition from any place books are sold worldwide. Then simply email us the receipt, and we will send you the ebook version right away. Send the email order confirmation to books@sageberryconsulting.com with "Podcast Offer" in the subject line and we will send you the ebook file. Note, this offers expires March 31, 2021. Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption will be released April 13th and is now available for preorder at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 03 Aug 2021 | Custom Fit Retail Solutions: Drew Green, CEO & President, INDOCHINO | 00:38:52 | ||||||||||
This episode we welcome Drew Green, celebrated Canadien entrepreneur and CEO of the custom menswear retailer Indochino. In our fast-paced conversation we delve into how the rapidly growing apparel brand delivers a remarkable customer experience by creating one-of-a-kind garments through the marriage of digital technology, an innovative supply chain and a network of brick & mortar showrooms. We also learn how Indochino defied the retail apocalypse narrative to quickly grow to 79 showrooms and unpack Drew's "3 Win" philosophy that drove the company's exciting new partnership with Nordstrom. We open up the episode with our quick takes on recent retail news that caught out attention. First up we discuss some signs of a "great moderation" including the significant (albeit anticipated) decline in online grocery and a pull-back in UPS's parcel shipments. We also take on Disney's exit from physical stores and Tesla's planned move away from mall-based locations. NOTE: We'll be releasing episodes every two weeks through September 7, when we'll move back to a weekly format. Also be sure to check out our new YouTube channel.
Drew Green DREW GREENChief Executive Officer, President, DirectorDrew Green is an award winning Chief Executive Officer, entrepreneur and expert in managing fast-paced, high-growth companies. A visionary leader, Green has created one of the world's fastest growing apparel brands. Since 2015, he has established significant strategic capital, hired a world class management team and created global alliances (Dayang Group, Nordstrom and Postmedia) that has led to over +500% growth, significantly increasing profitability KPI's. Over the past six years, INDOCHINO created, launched and has expanded to 80 showrooms, employing over 800 people, with another 2200 people working daily in INDCOHINO’s factories in China, to produce the one of a kind garments each INDOCHINO customer creates.
Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 17 Oct 2023 | An Elfing Remarkable Growth Story with Laurie Lam, Chief Brand Officer, e.l.f. Beauty | 00:40:58 | ||||||||||
Our guest this week is Laurie Lam, Chief Brand Officer at e.l.f. Beauty, the fast-growing cosmetics company that has made a name for itself with high quality, inexpensive beauty products. Laurie helps us understand the origin of the brand and some of the keys to its remarkable success. We dig into how staying connected to consumers fuels product innovation, the company's impressive record of diversity, equity, and inclusion, how to best navigate the often tricky world of social media, and the role of strategic risk-taking in propelling the brand forward. Instead of kicking things off as we usually do, we take a moment to announce that Steve's new book--Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption--is now available for pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop.org, and other fine book retailers. Then it's our usual hot-takes on the week in retail news, including a reminder of what the concept of VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous) demands of us strategically. We also unpack why mall traffic is down meaningfully the past two months and wonder whether Taylor's new movie could be the catalyst for a turnaround. IPO fever gets a major cool down as Birkenstock's debut on the public markets is a bit of a whiff. In happier news, The Container Store gets busy with DTC brands, announcing its partnering up with dozens of them in a bold move.
About Laurie Laurie Lam is Chief Brand Officer at E.l.f. Beauty, a multi-branded portfolio which includes namesake brand E.l.f. Cosmetics, E.l.f. Skin, Well People, and Keys Soulcare. She is responsible for strengthening E.l.f.’s branding and setting its strategy for growth across all categories, as well as championing their mission to make the best of beauty accessible to every eye, lip, face, and paw.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of focused on growth, innovation, and the impact of digital disruption. He is widely considered one of the foremost and influential voices in the retail industry. You can learn more about Steve on his website. His #1 bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 13 Feb 2024 | Driving Remarkable Customer Engagement with Christiane Pendarvis, co-CEO of Pattern Beauty and Andrea Moore, Chief Digital Officer of NEST New York | 00:48:40 | ||||||||||
Joining us for a deep dive on creating remarkable brand stories and driving powerful customer engagement are two industry veterans who will also be gracing the stage at next month's Shoptalk event in Las Vegas. Christiane Pendarvis, co-CEO of Pattern Beauty, Tracee Ellis Ross's hair care brand, and Andrea Moore, Chief Digital Officer of NEST New York, the fast growing fragrance brand deliver s a master class on the changing consumer landscape, evolving customer journeys, and what brands must do to stand out and win the future. They also preview their Shoptalk sessions. But as usual we start with our analysis of the week's most important retail news, including offering new Macy's CEO Tony Spring some unsolicited advice before wondering whether Andy Jassey and team may (finally) be on to something with their Amazon Fresh reboot. We also explore Target's rumored late entry to the membership game and what to make of Tapestry and Capri's final earnings report before they are formally hitched. We also try discern what what be in store for malls (and JC Penney) based upon reading between the lines of the Simon Property earnings call. Steve's new book--Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption--will be released April 23rd (note new release date). And for a limited time pre-order it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop,org, or any other retailer worldwide, and get some very special FREE bonuses. Shoptalk Offer:
About Christiane Christiane Pendarvis is a growth-oriented chief executive with over 25 years of experience leading direct-to-consumer and omni-channel consumer businesses. Her career focus has been in general management and retail merchandising, running $250M to $1B operating businesses with Fortune 500 brands such as Old Navy and Victoria’s Secret. Known for her ability to translate insights into business strategies, she has extensive strategic planning, assortment development, digital commerce and retail operations experience; and has driven large scale technology infrastructure projects. Ms. Pendarvis approaches all her roles with compassion, humility and empathy, driving profitable growth and shareholder value by unlocking the power of people and diverse teams. She sits on the board of directors for Hims & Hers (NYSE: HIMS, Member - Audit) and Hootsuite (Chair – Nom/Gov, Member – Audit) and was previously on the board of Savage X Fenty. Ms. Pendarvis has been recognized in WWD’s 2023 Most Inspirational Women Leaders, WWD’s 2022 50 Women in Power and as a Top Woman in Retail by Women in Retail Leadership Circle in 2021. Ms. Pendarvis is currently Co-CEO of PATTERN Beauty By Tracee Ellis Ross where she is responsible for all aspects of the business in partnership with Ms. Ellis Ross, the Founder. Prior to Pattern, she was Co-President at Savage X Fenty where under her leadership the company grew 6X from 2019 to 2022 and successfully closed two financing rounds totaling $240M in 2021. She led an expansion into new product categories including Mens, Loungewear and Womens Activewear as well as the brand’s channel expansion into physical retail in 2022. Ms. Pendarvis has held executive roles with top tier retailers and DTC companies including Victoria’s Secret, Aerie, Old Navy, Minted and FullBeauty Brands. Her scope of experience is wide, having managed women’s and men’s apparel, intimate apparel, beauty, consumer electronics and consumer packaged goods. Energized by high growth environments, Ms. Pendarvis also has experience in start-ups and mid-tier companies. She excels in helping brands, teams and individuals grow and succeed in the face of rapidly changing industry dynamics. She currently sits on the Shop Talk Advisory Board and is Chairperson of the Women of Color Retail Alliance board. She also has a long history of non-profit board service (National Black MBA Association Cincinnati Chapter, Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Episcopal Community Services of San Francisco and the Violet Torch Foundation). Ms. Pendarvis earned a BA in Economics from Harvard University and an MBA from the Kenan-Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina (Consortium for Graduate Study in Management fellowship program). She is passionate about increasing diversity and representation in the fashion industry and dedicates her time to mentoring women of color specifically. She currently resides in Los Angeles, CA with her husband and identical twin daughters. About Andrea Andrea Moore is a C-Level Omni-Channel Executive with extensive experience launching and building digital businesses quickly and profitably. Andrea’s areas of expertise include digital strategy, marketing and merchandising, technology, analytics and team leadership and talent development. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, board member, and keynote speaker focused on strategic growth and transformation and the impact of digital disruption. He is the author of the bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption and the forthcoming Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , which will be published in April 2024 and is now available for pre-order at book retailers everywhere. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on social media.. Don't forget to join Steve's new Linked Group for his new book.
Be sure and check out Michael's Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 19 Sep 2023 | Ways to Be Remarkable: Edit to Amplify | 00:42:15 | ||||||||||
On this episode we debut a new segment, designed to recommend specific paths and actions to become truly remarkable. Leveraging material from Steve's best-selling book, consulting work, and keynote speaking, we go deep on a concept first popularized by Nike CEO Mark Parker. At its core, "editing to amplify" means giving customers fewer, more powerfully distinctive options. What was once largely applied to merchandising strategy can be extended more broadly. In today's world where it's increasingly harder to rise above the rest, a less is more strategy may no longer be a nice to have. But first we start with our fast-paced unpacking of the week in retail news, including all things macro-economic and yet another anemic US monthly sales report. We move on to explore the IPO fever that's washing over Wall St. as Instacart, Klaviyo, and Birkenstock go pubic. We then return to the Wobbly Unicorn Corner and Rent the Runway's "challenging quarter" before shifting to more positive news from MyTheresa, which is the rare breed of online-only players that actually makes money. We conclude giving thumbs up to Kendra Scott's new partnership with Target. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of focused on growth, innovation, and the impact of digital disruption. He is widely considered one of the foremost and influential voices in the retail industry. You can learn more about Steve on his website. His #1 bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 31 Mar 2023 | BONUS EPISODE: ShopTalk 2023 Recap | 00:16:44 | ||||||||||
We're just back from Las Vegas and Shoptalk 2023. Before we left, we jumped on the mic for a fast-paced review of some of our key takeaways. We also recorded several new podcast episodes with top retail leaders in the Wizeline remote podcast studio/beach cabana. Stay tuned as we release them over the coming weeks.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 26 Dec 2023 | Season Finale: Ira Kalish, Deloitte's Chief Global Economist Looks Ahead to 2024 | 00:49:32 | ||||||||||
We mark the close of our seventh season with a return visit from Ira Kalish, Deloitte's Chief Global economist, who helps us look back at how 2023 unfolded and gives us a glimpse into the macro-economic outlook for the year ahead. In a wide ranging conversation we delve into the possibility for a soft-landing, when we might start to see interest cuts, and the overall prospects for important global economies. We also discuss prospects for a thawing in the housing market, the potential looming crisis in commercial real estate, and a whole lot more. But we kick things off with a fast-paced review of the most important retail news, including the continued string of positive economic reports and what it might mean for the holiday season. Then we move on to quite a lot of activity in the luxury e-commerce space as Farfetch gets saved by coupang and MatchesFashion get acquired by the UK's Frasers Group. We conclude by dissecting quarterly earnings from JC Penney and Nike. ********************************* Join Steve on January 9th at 11am EST for a special webinar on how to get the most out of the NRF's Big Show. He'll share tips on navigating the event, highlight the can't miss sessions, and showcase promising new retail technology. And it's all free. Go here to pre-register.
About Ira Dr. Kalish is the Chief Global Economist of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu Ltd. He is a specialist in global economic issues as well as the effects of economic, demographic, and social trends on the global business environment. He advises Deloitte clients as well as Deloitte’s leadership on economic issues and their impact on business strategy. In addition, he has given numerous presentations to corporations and trade organizations on topics related to the global economy. He is widely traveled and has given presentations in 47 countries on six continents. He has been quoted by the Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The Financial Times. Dr. Kalish holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Vassar College and a PhD in international economics from Johns Hopkins University. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, board member, and keynote speaker focused on strategic growth and transformation and the impact of digital disruption. He is the author of the bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption and the forthcoming Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , which will be published in March 2024 and is now available for pre-order at book retailers everywhere. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on social media.. Steve will be back on stage at Shoptalk in Las Vegas and we've got a special offer for our podcast listeners to save an additional 10% on registration. Retailer & Brands use Code: RBREMAR225 by going here.General Attendee: use code: GAREMAR360 here. Don't forget to join Steve's new Linked Group for his new book.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 08 Jun 2021 | Retail's Great Acceleration with guest Carl Boutet | 00:44:44 | ||||||||||
This week the "3 Amigos of Retail" re-unite, as we welcome our special guest Carl Boutet for a discussion of "The Great Acceleration." When Carl first coined the term during Steve's virtual book launch event in April of 2020, little did we know how much it would catch on--and how prophetic it would turn out to be. Now we get a chance to discuss Carl's original thinking, how it's evolved and then dive into the highlights from his provocative new book. We dissect the "race to resilience," the key forces of the acceleration, retail's increasingly digitally-enabled future and what it might mean to live in a 50/50 physical/digital world (just don't call it "phygital"!). There's plenty of great insight and lots of lively banter.
Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 08 Aug 2023 | What It Takes to Maintain Youth Culture Relevance with Brie Olson CEO, PacSun | 00:44:08 | ||||||||||
Joining us for the second of three episodes recorded live at last month's Lead Innovation Summit is Brie Olson, CEO of PacSun, a leading lifestyle brand that sells apparel and related items designed for teens and young adults. In a wide-ranging interview we explore how to be remarkably relevant with GenZ customers. In particular we dig into crowd-sourcing customer insight via TikTok and other social media platforms to inform merchandising strategies, how PacSun's purpose guides their strategy, ways they're breaking down gender barriers online and in-store, and the important role collaborations play in brand differentiation. We also learn about PacSun's unusual success in the Metaverse, how they maintain a culture of experimentation, and how they plan to stay ahead of fast growing online competition (spoiler alert: it centers on ethical and sustainable production and leveraging the power of harmonized retail). We end getting Brie's take on the criticality of empathy and vulnerability in leadership. As usual we kick-off with a fast-paced review of the week in retail news, including what recent macro news portends for the future--and what role Barbie, Oppenheimer, Taylor Swift, and Beyonce may play. Then we move on to dissect Amazon's blockbuster quarter and reboot of its grocery dreams, before wondering why Wall Street seems so enamored with Wayfair's decidedly less than awesome earnings report. We also speculate about whether Nike's new fitness studios might rain on Peloton's revamp efforts.
About Brie Serving as President of Pacsun, the popular youth retailer since 2021, and transitioning to her new role as CEO as of April 2023, Olson has played an instrumental role in building and strengthening Pacsun’s brand through innovative strategies with a Gen Z focus. As an Innovative, tech-centric retail executive who consistently drives brand strength and revenue growth through game-changing merchandising and marketing initiatives, Brieane leads with creativity, innovation, and a digitalfirst mentality. During her tenure at PacSun, Olson spearheaded innovative collaborations for the LA based lifestyle brand, including working closely with Kanye West and Kendall and Kylie Jenner and launching both Men’s and Women’s shops at Selfridges in 2018 with launch parties hosted by PacSun partners Jerry Lorenzo. Olson graduated from the University of California, Berkeley with a Bachelor of Arts, Mass Communications & Business and attended Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program, where she is currently an AMP Ambassador. She is a board member at Women In Retail Leadership, Shoptalk, Pacsun and Design Thinking for UC schools. She currently resides in Newport Beach, California with her two children, Colette and Rousseau, ages 8 and 10. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of focused on growth, innovation, and the impact of digital disruption. He is widely considered one of the foremost and influential voices in the retail industry. You can learn more about Steve on his website. His #1 bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 30 Jan 2024 | A Baker's Dozen of Provocative Predictions for Retail in 2024 | 00:49:36 | ||||||||||
Once again it's time for Steve's annual retail predictions--and this list doesn't just go to eleven it goes to thirteen! Steve's provocative prognostications include "the bifurcation of just about everything," the culling of the unicorn herd, thoughts on the future of Neiman Marcus, Saks, and Nordstrom, along with a possible AI themed action movie, the outlook for sustainability, retailers stepping up their health services offerings, and a whole lot more. But as is our custom, we kick off with our hot takes on the week in retail news, including Temu's decision to 10X its advertising, layoffs at Levi's and eBay, and Macy's telling its real suitors to go pound sand. We also dip into the end of the "new department store" era, Ikea's new "plan & pick up" concept expansion, and a possible return to supply chain chaos. Presented by Celonis. Steve's new book--"Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption"--will be released March 12th. And for a limited time pre-order it at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Bookshop,org, or any other retailer worldwide, and get some very special FREE bonuses. Shoptalk Offer:
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, board member, and keynote speaker focused on strategic growth and transformation and the impact of digital disruption. He is the author of the bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption and the forthcoming Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , which will be published in March 2024 and is now available for pre-order at book retailers everywhere. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on social media.. Don't forget to join Steve's new Linked Group for his new book.
Be sure and check out Michael's Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 21 Nov 2023 | Stepping Out in Style with Crocs President Michelle Poole (E) | 00:28:26 | ||||||||||
Welcome to a special encore episode featuring Michelle Poole, President of Crocs. We dig into the remarkable growth story behind the increasingly iconic footwear company. We address head-on the polarizing (or is it fundamentally under-estimated?) nature of the brand and how Michelle has turned that to advantage. We also learn about the personalizing power of jibbitz and how product extensions and geographic expansion are fueling their growth. We also delve deep into the diverse, increasingly digitally-driven, go-to-market strategy that is putting the company on a path to hit $5 billion in sales by 2026. Lastly we get Michelle's perspective on how to balance purpose and profits. About Michelle Michelle Poole became President, Crocs, Inc. in September 2020 and has oversight of the Americas, Asia and EMEA regional commercial teams, as well as Product Design and Management, Merchandising, and Marketing teams. Prior to this, she served as our Executive Vice President, Chief Product and Merchandising Officer since April 2020 and as our Senior Vice President and Chief Product and Merchandising Officer since 2014. In addition to her product and merchandising responsibilities, Ms. Poole assumed responsibility for our Marketing function in 2017. Ms. Poole has more than 28 years of experience and proven success in the development of leading global fashion and lifestyle brands including Sperry Top-Sider, Timberland, Kangol, Converse, MTV Europe and Pepe Jeans where she held a range of marketing, merchandising & product management roles. Since 2018, Ms. Poole has served on the board of Pact, a privately held apparel brand, based in Boulder, CO. She received her Bachelor’s honors degree in fashion marketing from the University of Northumbria, UK. Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, board member, and keynote speaker focused on strategic growth and transformation and the impact of digital disruption. He is the author of the bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption and the forthcoming Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption , which will be published in March 2024 and is now available for pre-order at book retailers everywhere. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on social media..
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 22 Mar 2022 | Rethink Retail's Top Influencers (Part 1): What's New & Next in Remarkable Retail | 00:45:22 | ||||||||||
This episode we welcome our fellow "Rethink Retail Top Influencers" Nikki Baird, Ricardo Belmar, and Alicia Esposito. Julia Raymond Hare and Gabriella Bock also join us to explain what the Rethink Retail's list is all about. But first we take on the news of the week, including the continuing "profitless prosperity as exhibited by Warby Parker's expanding losses and the big drop in market capitalization among disruptive retail brands. We also unpack the National Retail Federation's annual forecast, including how to think about the impact of inflation, whether their e-commerce prediction is a bit optimistic and how impacts are likely to be bifurcated.
Then we welcome our panel of experts and delve into what they as see as remarkably important for the future, including innovation within brick-and-mortar locations, how to drive innovation through iteration and the growing embrace of convenience. We also explore what our influencers see as important technologies and get their quick take on retailers (legacy and up-and-coming) to keep an eye on this year. Rethink Retail's Top Influencers List.
Steve's recent Forbes articles related to our news segment After Earnings Whiff Maybe Warby Parker Can Learning Something From Old School DTC Brands The Profitless Prosperity of Retail Disruptor Brands Wayfair, Stitch Fix and Pure-play E-commerce's Scaling Problem.
Relevant Past Podcast Episodes Why Does It Take a Crisis for Retailer's to Innovate?
The Profitless Prosperity of Disruptor Brands Understanding Warby Parker and the Power of Customer-based Valuation
To record a question for us to answer on a future episode go to speakpipe.com/remarkableretail
About Nikki BairdNikki Baird is the vice president of strategy at Aptos, a retail enterprise solution provider. She is charged with accelerating retailers’ ability to innovate. She has been a top global retail industry influencer for several years, with a background in retail and technology. She is a regular contributor to Forbes.com and has been quoted as a retail subject matter expert in The Economist, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Huffington Post, and National Public Radio, among many others. Nikki brings perspective from all sides of the retail technology equation: she has been an industry analyst for nearly fifteen years, co-founding Retail Systems Research, the premier boutique analyst firm focused on the retail industry. Prior to co-founding RSR, Nikki was an analyst at both Forrester Research and Retail Systems Alert Group, where she covered retail industry and technology topics. Prior to that, she was director of marketing for StorePerform, a store execution management software provider, and director of product marketing for Viewlocity, a supply chain software provider focusing on adaptive supply chain execution and exception management. Nikki came to Viewlocity from PwC Consulting, now IBM Global Services, where as a senior manager she led IT strategy consulting engagements for retail and CPG clients. Nikki has an M.B.A. from the University of Texas, Austin, focusing on operations and IT. She also holds a bachelor of arts in political science and Russian, with a minor in physics, from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
About Ricardo Belmar Recently named a top 100 retail industry influencer by RETHINK Retail, Ricardo is a marketing strategist and digital transformation specialist. He founded Retail Razor, to advise retail tech organizations of all sizes with their go-to-market, brand strategy, and integrated marketing by leveraging his many years of tech industry experience, and media and industry analyst relationships. He also advises retailers on how to build & scale transformational customer experiences. Most recently, he joined Microsoft as Senior Partner Marketing Advisor for Retail & CPG where he strives to use his experience and network to strengthen Microsoft’s retail tech partner community.
About Alicia Esposito Within my eight-year tenure at G3 Communications, I have evolved extensively. Starting as an Associate Editor for our B2B retail publication, Retail TouchPoints, I have worked my way up the ranks, quickly becoming an expert and thought leader in all components of retail and customer experience.
About Julia Raymond Hare I ask a lot of questions - it's one of the most exciting parts of my career! I’m a podcast host, marketing professional and data nerd all in one. About Gabriella Bock RETHINK Retail's Managing Editor + Writer/Producer of the Retail Rundown, an award-winning retail podcast featuring news, insights and interviews with the world's most influential retail thinkers. What does the future of retail look like to you? Pitch me at gabriella@rethink.industries.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 02 Jul 2024 | There’s No Place Like Home with Janet Hayes, CEO of Crate and Barrel Holdings | 00:45:21 | ||||||||||
In our final episode of Season 8 we welcome Janet Hayes, CEO of Crate and Barrel Holdings, the leading home furnishings player with over 100 stores in 9 countries. Janet shares leadership lessons from a remarkable career with brands like Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Nike, and Gap and, now, in her current role driving growth as the CEO of Crate & Barrel, CB2, and Hudson Grace. We delve into her perspectives on the role of technology, the changing nature of work in a post-COVID world, and more. We also get a glimpse into the drive forces behind their new flagship store in New York's Flatiron District. But before our fantastic interview we unpack the week in retail news, starting with Amazon achieving another remarkable milestone, along with word of its pending launch of a Temu/Shein fighter. Then we try to make sense of just what the heck is going on at Walgreen's before dipping into less than stellar earnings news from Nike and JC Penney. We wrap up with what seem like forever troubles at Forever 21.
About Janet Janet Hayes is a retail industry veteran, with more than 30 years of leadership experience building digitally-led and customer-centric organizations. Currently, Janet is CEO of Crate and Barrel Holdings, a role she started in August 2020, amidst a global pandemic that catalyzed a pivotal shift in consumers’ lives and the retail industry as a whole. Focused on building modern, authentic brands, Janet maximizes growth and profitability by elevating the customer experience through an omnichannel and personalized brand presence. A modern mindset guides Janet’s leadership style and centers around making decisions rooted in personal purpose. Janet is an inspiring, inclusive leader who builds, mentors, and leads high performing teams that reflect CBH customers' unique values and experiences.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 04 Mar 2025 | Retail Apocalypse 2.0? Store Closures to More Than Double—What’s Next? | 00:50:58 | ||||||||||
The retail industry is once again in flux, with store closures predicted to more than double this year, leaving many to wonder: is this a retail apocalypse or just a market correction? In this compelling episode of Remarkable Retail, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis dive deep into the state of physical retail, exploring the reasons behind the latest surge in store closings, the impact of e-commerce growth, and what it all means for retailers, brands, and consumers in 2025. Backed by fresh data from Coresight Research, Michael and Steve break down which retailers are expanding, which are contracting, and why. With 15,000+ store closures projected for 2025, the conversation covers everything from the collapse of the unremarkable middle to the rise of value-driven retail (think TJX and Dollar Stores) and the resilience of luxury retail. They analyze how major economic uncertainties—tariffs, inflation, consumer confidence, and shifting shopping behaviors—are influencing retail strategies. Key discussion points include:
With exclusive insights from leading retailers and industry experts, this episode provides a roadmap for navigating today’s turbulent retail landscape. Whether you’re a brand leader, an industry analyst, or a retail enthusiast, you won’t want to miss this deep dive into what’s really happening in the world of brick-and-mortar retail in 2025. Tune in now and stay ahead of the retail transformation! #RetailTrends #RetailApocalypse #StoreClosures #Ecommerce #BrickAndMortar #RetailStrategy #RetailNews #ConsumerTrends #RetailInnovation #Retail2025 #RetailGrowth Thanks to Deb Weinswig and Coresight Research for providing data on store openings and closings. Steve will be back on stage at Shoptalk coming up in Las Vegas at the end of March. Listeners can save on registration by using our discount codes below: For Retailers & Consumer Brands go here and use code RBREMARK549 Steve's 2025 Retail Predictions Neil Blumenthal (Warby Parker) episode How the Internet Made In-Store Shopping Miserable (WSJ) About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 14 May 2024 | The Customer is the Channel with Chris Riccobono, Founder & Executive Chairman UNTUCKit | 00:46:48 | ||||||||||
This week's guest is Chris Riccobono, Founder & Executive Chairman of disruptive retail brand UNTUCKit. UNTUCKit was one of the first digitally-native brands to embrace brick-and-mortar as critical to it's long-term success. Chris takes us through the trade-offs between online, wholesale, and own store strategies and how his brand successfully navigated the COVID crisis. He also shares the power of a big, simple idea well executed and outlines how he plans to take UNTUCKit to the next level through store expansion, partnerships, and international growth. As usual we open by dissecting the most important news of the week including take-aways from the NRF/CNBS monthly sales report and solid earnings reports from Warby Parker, which suggests that "wobbly unicorns" can find their footing, and Simon Property Group, which demonstrates that certain types of malls are far from dead. We also discuss Target's plan to expand its private brands to Canada and beyond. **************************************************************** Check out the podcast version and video recording of the Leaders Leap virtual book launch event. Steve's new book is available at book sellers just about everywhere, from Audible, and on Kindle for only $9.99 USD.
About Chris Riccobono, UNTUCKit Founder & Executive Chairman Chris Riccobono is the founder and executive chairman of UNTUCKit, one of the fastest-growing men’s retail brands in the U.S. After earning his Bachelor’s degree from Providence College in 2001, Chris began his career at GE Healthcare and enrolled in Columbia Business School in 2007. While working towards his MBA, Chris thought of the idea for UNTUCKit after speaking with lots of men about their fit problems—especially the length of their collared shirts—and began the business from his apartment in Hoboken. It began as just a side job, but once Chris and his early customers realized that he’d solved a big problem in men’s fashion, the business quickly grew beyond his expectations—with a compound annual growth rate over 100% each year—into the brand we know today with more than 50 retail locations by the end of 2018 and an entrance into the international market. In addition to furthering his education and growing the brand, Chris dedicated time to sharing his passion for wine through a video blog called Pardon That Vine, traveling the world interviewing winemakers, and teaching beginners about wine. Chris was a winner of the Entrepreneur Of The Year® 2018 Award in New York and in his spare time he works closely with the Cancer Center at Atlantic Health System in New Jersey. Chris currently lives in New Jersey with his wife and children. About UNTUCKit
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 18 Nov 2022 | BONUS EPISODE: Lori Stillman, VP Research, National Association of Convenience Stores | 00:24:10 | ||||||||||
We are excited to release two bonus episodes recorded live at the MarketDial podcast studio at the National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) conference in Las Vegas. Our first special guest is Lori Stillman, Vice President, Research for NACS, who helps us understand some of the fun facts and figures about the industry, before we get her takes on the profound shifts that are reshaping the sector, including the impact of digital disruption, labor shortages, swipe fees, self-checkout, declining store traffic, and more. We also unpack what is really meant by "convenience" and what innovations matter most right now. About Lori Lori Buss Stillman is the Vice President, Research for NACS. Joining NACS in 2019, Lori leads the association’s industry-leading research portfolio, which includes the NACS State of the Industry suite of products and events, the Convenience Voices Shopper Insights solution that provides moment-of-truth insights into shopping behavior, monthly data insights from the CSX database and other research and insights programs critical to the convenience and fuel retail industry. Stillman has a deep background in data analytics, decision support, business development and consulting. Most recently, she served as executive vice president of analytics, insights and business intelligence for Advantage Solutions. Leveraging 30+ years in the FMCG industry, she also has served as senior vice president of new client acquisition for Information Resources Inc., vice president of marketing and business development for WEBCO General Partnership, and senior vice president of strategic business development for Nielsen. Stillman earned a B.A. in business communications from Maryville University. She is active in the advancement of our industry, holding board level positions with the NACS/Coca-Cola Retailing Research Council, Conexxus, Stewart’s Enterprises, Inc., and with the Western Michigan University Food and CPG Marketing Program Industry Advisory Board. She is also a frequent speaker on the disruption taking place across the retail landscape. Lori makes her home in Northern Virginia, with her husband and daughter. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 18 Feb 2025 | Creating Extraordinary Retail Places: Our Interview with Kevin Kelley | 00:49:09 | ||||||||||
We're joined by fellow Retail Voices by NRF honoree Kevin Ervin Kelley to unpack some of the key lessons from his remarkable book Irreplaceable: Creating Extraordinary Places That Bring People Together and his recent NRF "Big Show" talk. We discuss how physical retail must dramatically evolve in an ever more digital world, the "Bonfire Effect," his key principles for connecting more powerfully with customers though design, and much, much more. You won't see your stores the same way after this powerful interview. But before our interview, we unpack the week in retail news starting with fears that we haven't quite licked inflation and that job losses might accelerate. Then it's on to try to explain January's unusually strong US retail sales numbers, the tale of two cities that characterizes luxury retail of late, and JC Penney's attempt to off-load a bunch of store leases. We conclude wondering just what the heck Amazon is doing opening a pharmacy in Milan. About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 08 Mar 2022 | The Great DTC v. Wholesale Debate with guest Simeon Siegel | 00:37:39 | ||||||||||
This episode we welcome Simeon Siegel, the retail rockstar analyst from BMO for a provocative discussion on whether going direct-to-consumer is all it's cracked up to be. In a Masterclass on retail growth strategies, we first clean up some of the often confusing nomenclature, then discuss whether wholesale really is a dirty word and how everything old is often new again. Mostly we go beyond the clickbait headlines to dig into Simeon's report which countered the narrative that going direct automatically leads to an increase in revenues and profits. And we get his hot takes on Nike's strategy and how we should think about the right mix of wholesale and direct going forward. As an added bonus, Steve reminds us that DTC is hardly new and creates yet another term: "Analog Native Vertical Brands" or "ANVB's."
To get a copy of Simeon's report email him at simeon.siegel@bmo.com To record a question for us go to speakpipe.com/remarkableretail Steve's recent Forbes articles related to our news segment:
Simeon Siegel, CFA Simeon Siegel is a Managing Director and Senior Analyst at BMO Capital Markets specializing in Retail and E-commerce. Simeon started his career at Goldman Sachs and his since worked on the #1 ranked Retail franchise at JPMorgan and Nomura | Instinet. Simeon has been named a Rising Star of Wall Street by Institutional Investor, a Rising Star of Equity Research by Business Insider, a Top Stock Picker by StarMine and a Top Earnings Estimator by Thomson Reuters and Refinitiv. He has worked on the Institutional Investor #1 ranked All America Research Team for Specialty Retail and the Wall Street Journal's "Best on the Street" list of top analysts. He is in constant dialogue with investors and C-Level Management across the industry, analyzing and advising on the ever-evolving retail landscape. He is a regular guest on CNBC and frequently quoted across the media including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Women's Wear Daily, The Business of Fashion, Barron's and Bloomberg, among others. Simeon received a BA in Economics and Philosophy from Columbia University and is a CFA charterholder. He serves on the Boards of Read Ahead and the Hebrew Free Loan Society and is Vice Chair of the UJA Luxury Division. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 25 Jun 2024 | Getting Your Omni-Channel Game On with Arianne Parisi, EVP & Global CDO, JD Sports | 00:45:47 | ||||||||||
In our final episode recorded at Shoptalk Europe in the Bambuser remote podcast studio our guest is Arianne Parisi, EVP & Global Chief Digital Officer for JD Sports. JD Sports is a fast growing sports fashion retailer, with over 3,400 stores across Europe, North America, and Asia. Arianne shares the keys behind JD's remarkable global growth trajectory while also taking us inside how digital and physical shopping experiences are converging, and what that means for the evolution of customer journeys. We also discuss the idea that "silos belong on farms, and the broader challenges of leading a digital transformation. But first we do our usual review of the week in retail news, starting with a slow down in US housing starts--which does not portend well for a rebound in home retail any time soon. We explore a promising application of generative AI at Target, before revisiting the growing strength of private label brands, news that the great acceleration in grocery is proving to be largely without merit, and wonder whether apparel is getting a boost from the popularity of GLP-1 drugs. We close with news that Netflix has two entertainment venues set to open next year. **************************************** Our interview with Azita Martin, VP-Retail, NVIDIA. UK pre-order for Leaders Leap Review links for Leaders Leap: About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 22 Aug 2023 | The Beauty of Innovation with Ophelia Ceradini, former VP, Digital Technology & Innovation Group at Estée Lauder | 00:43:07 | ||||||||||
Joining us for our final episode recorded live at last month's Lead Innovation Summit is Ophelia Ceradini, recently departed VP, Digital Technology & Innovation Group at Estée Lauder Companies Online. In a wide-ranging interview we go inside Estee Lauder's innovation process, digging into what inputs drive their strategic agenda, the role of employing a "test and learn" framework, and how to build a culture of experimentation. We also touch on the emerging world of "hyper-personalization." As usual we kick-off with the week in retail news. In the earnings battle between two of the world's biggest retailers, Walmart is the clear victor delivering solid sales growth and raising their guidance, while Target reports its first down quarter in six years. The home improvement sector struggles continues with Home Depot lackluster results, while the flight to value is clear as TJX and Ross Stores grab market share. We then move to the blockbuster merger between Tapestry and Capri Holdings, before wrapping up with worries about the commercial real estate market (and WeWork in particular) and the big pullback in online grocery shopping. Our interview with Judith McKenna, formerly President of Walmart International Our interview with Nancy King, SVP Product at Target
About Ophelia Ophelia Ceradini is the former Vice President of Digital Technology and Innovation at The Estée Lauder Companies. In this role, Ophelia oversaw Digital Innovation for the company’s portfolio of over 25 prestige beauty brands, where she lead consumer experience-driven innovation for Mobile, In-Store Digital and other Multi-Channel Platforms. Over the last 15 years, Ophelia held various strategic digital and creative roles across The Estée Lauder Companies. In her previous role as the Executive Director of Production for the company’s Online division, Ophelia led the expansion of the company’s e-commerce footprint, contributing to the company’s position today as the number one e-commerce player in prestige beauty both globally and in the U.S. In addition, Ophelia launched The Estée Lauder Companies’ first mobile platform, which established the cornerstone of the company’s mobile-first strategy. Ophelia loves the outdoors, embracing a healthy and active lifestyle that includes participating in triathlons, biking, swimming and running. She’s an aspiring ceramic artist and loves spending time with her family.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of focused on growth, innovation, and the impact of digital disruption. He is widely considered one of the foremost and influential voices in the retail industry. You can learn more about Steve on his website. His #1 bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 15 Jun 2021 | Season 2 Finale with Matt Shay, President & CEO, National Retail Federation | 00:38:10 | ||||||||||
We wrap up our second season with special guest, Matt Shay, President & CEO of the National Retail Federation (NRF). Many of us may know about the NRF because of its annual "Big Show", but as you'll learn in our interview it is much, much more. In our fast-paced discussion we dive into the many facets of the world's largest retail trade association. Matt helps us unpack the retail industry's role as America's largest private employer and as a key barometer of economic fortunes. We get a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the NRF's advocacy work, how it convenes key retail executives and why diversity, equity and inclusion is now front and center on its agenda. He also previews the upcoming NRF Converge event and what we might expect as we all reconvene once again in New York next January for the world's biggest retail conference.
Matthew Shay is president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association. He serves as chief advocate and spokesman for the nation’s largest private-sector industry employer, responsible for supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 52 million working Americans – and generating $3.9 trillion in annual GDP. Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 09 Aug 2022 | Creating the Type of Company The Future Needs Now with The House of L,R & C's Christine Day | 00:37:34 | ||||||||||
Our guest this week is Christine Day, former CEO of lululemon athletica and Starbucks senior executive, who is now leading the growth of Russell Wilson and Ciara's remarkable retail company, The House of L,R & C. We learn about the inspiration for creating sustainable fashion brands, including the decision to organize as a B Corp. We delve into the challenges and the opportunities of driving social impact in the apparel industry and what it takes to combine sustainability with true fashion. We also get Christine's perspectives on how generate profitable growth in an omni-channel world and the criticality of being purpose led. But first we give our hot-takes on the latest retail news, including a blockbuster U.S jobs report that drove unemployment down to 3.5%. But contrasting with that good news are layoffs from Walmart, Allbirds and Glossier, and downward earnings guidance from Under Armour. We also discuss the train wreck of an earnings report from Wayfair, before diving into Target's continuing roll out of its hybrid fulfillment strategy. We close with news of Best Buy's intriguing new "digital-first" small store test. GroceryShop discount offer: Valid for Retailers and Brands only, use code RBR1950 to access our special rate / ticket price is $US1950. Offer code expires 9/22/22. Despite a Booming Stock Price Wayfair is No Amazon The Store As Brand Hub with Target's Nancy King It's Time for the Great Reconfiguration It's Almost Too Late with Seth Godin
Christine Day is a Co-Founder and President of The House of LR&C where she brings 30 years of experience in scaling global retail brands to this new concept in fashion. Christine is known for bringing her whole self to work combining warmth and joy with vision and operational excellence. She is widely recognized as one of the greats in the evolving world of retail.
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 02 Nov 2021 | What We Get Wrong About E-Commerce | 00:44:10 | ||||||||||
This week we dig into some of the myths, misleading clickbait headlines, and often unfortunate misunderstandings surrounding the growth of online shopping, both across the last two decades and accelerated more recently by the COVID-19 crisis. In particular, we dig into:
We also take on the nonsense around Saks (and others) splitting up and spinning out it's online business. But first we open up the episode with the Top 3 retail stories that caught our attention this past week, including unpacking Amazon's very lackluster earnings report and online sales deceleration, yet another new CEO at JC Penney (possibly the worst job in retail), and what Rent the Runway's disappointing IPO might portend for the frothy valuations digitally native retail brands are commanding. We also have a quick chat with David Macadam, CEO of the Middle East Council of Shopping Centres and Retailers about the upcoming MENA Retail Congress in Dubai which will feature an opening keynote from Steve.
Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 01 Aug 2023 | Remarkable Retail Gets Active with Vuori's CEO Joe Kudla (E) | 00:29:21 | ||||||||||
Welcome to a special encore episode of the podcast, where we open up the back catalogue and share some of our favourite and most popular episodes that are worth a second (or perhaps your first) listen. Today we bring you our exclusive interview with Joe Kudla, CEO and Founder of Vuori, the fast-growing Southern California-inspired activewear brand. Joe's journey is a fascinating one that anyone in retail and branding will enjoy and can learn from. We discuss the origin story of the company and discover how two big pivots allowed Vuori to find its unique positioning and set it on its path to its recent $4 billion valuation. We also unpack how Vuori plans to stay remarkable in a crowded activewear space and why physical retail will be key to its next stage of growth. Lastly we learn about the importance of "word of mouth"--to be literally remarkable--in propelling Vuori forward. Since we released this episode, Vuori has opened 30+ retail stores, 10 in 2023 so far, and is targeting about 25/year. And is profitable. Truly Remarkable. About Joe Joe Kudla is the founder and CEO of Vuori, a rapidly growing performance apparel brand inspired by the aspirational active Southern California lifestyle. A student of life and various active pursuits, he drew upon his personal interests to bring a new perspective to the activewear market, prioritizing versatility, comfort and sustainability. Prior to Vuori, he started Vaco San Diego, a professional accounting and IT consulting firm and he started his career as a CPA at Ernst & Young. Joe earned his accounting degree from the University of San Diego where he was acknowledged as an all American Lacrosse player. Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor, keynote speaker, and bestselling author of focused on growth, innovation, and the impact of digital disruption. He is widely considered one of the foremost and influential voices in the retail industry. You can learn more about Steve on his website. His #1 bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 08 Nov 2022 | Driving Customer Centric Innovation, with Pepsico's Cara Keating and Chad Matthews | 00:29:18 | ||||||||||
Our guests this week are Cara Keating, Chief Customer Officer, Frito Lay-North America and Chad Matthews, Chief Commercial Officer, Pepsico Beverages-North America. In a fast-paced conversation recorded live at the National Association of Convenience Stores' annual conference in Las Vegas. we dig into what makes Pepsico unique on both the food and beverage side before delving into how customer-centric innovation is brought to life using tools like Pepviz. We also learn how the convenience channel is evolving, how the lines are blurring, and how Pepsi thinks about its own direct-to-consumer efforts. We also discover how both Cara and Chad's groups work with their retail partners to drive collaborative value, before wrapping up with a discussion of Pepsi's social impact efforts. But first we dissect the week's most important retail news, kicking off with Lowe's decision to "pull a Target" and bail on the Canadian market. Then we move on to some big picture news, including the National Retail Federation's holiday forecast and profit warnings from brands like Canada Goose and Under Armour. We also revisit the "wobbly unicorn corner," unpacking what to make of dismal quarterly earnings reports from Peloton and Wayfair, before sharing some uncharacteristically good news as AdoreMe gets scooped up by Victoria's Secret for a cool $400 million. We close with news from Steve's field trip to JC Penney's new inclusive beauty concept.
About Cara Cara Keating, an 18-year PepsiCo veteran, is the Chief Customer Officer for Frito Lay North America. Since joining PepsiCo in 2004, Cara’s ability to consistently deliver results has led to progressively senior roles in general management, customer development and field leadership across Canada. Cara began her PepsiCo career in the Western Canada market with Frito Lay Canada (FLC). She then moved to Toronto with PepsiCo Foods Canada (PFC) in 2010 for sales roles with both FLC and Quaker responsibilities including leading the national convenience & gas business, large grocery customers, and foodservice sales. In 2014, Cara was promoted to Senior Director of Sales Strategy, Planning, and Insights. After her promotion to Ontario Area Vice President in 2015, Cara led the team to back-to-back Pingel Award wins in 2015 and 2016 for the top-performing FLC region. In 2016, Cara was promoted to Vice President Customer Development, where she led PFC’s national sales team to deliver against PepsiCo’s promise of providing world-class service to our customers and innovative programs to our consumers. Most recently, Cara was President of PFC, a role she held for three years. In this role Cara navigated the organization through the COVID-19 pandemic in addition to many other transformational changes, all while delivering sustained growth for the company and its customers. Cara is a talented people leader and passionate supporter of PepsiCo’s Diversity, Engagement & Inclusion agenda. As a former lead and recent executive sponsor for the Women’s Inclusion Network (WIN), her efforts to expand WIN across PepsiCo Canada were recognized with the prestigious PepsiCo Global Harvey Russell award for her contributions to diversity and women’s development across PepsiCo. Cara has also helped to position PepsiCo Canada as an industry leader in advancing women through her involvement on the Board of Directors for the annual Forward Together women’s development conference. In recognition of these efforts, Cara was honoured with a 2017 Star Women in Grocery award from Canadian Grocer Magazine. Cara is also very active in the food industry and sits on the Board of Directors for the Food, Health & Consumer Products of Canada (FHCP), the FHCP Industry Affairs Management Committee, the Golden Pencil Committee and was a former Advisory Council Member to the Canadian Federation of Independent Grocers (CFIG). Prior to PepsiCo, Cara worked at Procter & Gamble for four years in Account Management. Cara holds a Bachelor’s degree in Business from the University of Saskatchewan. She is an avid traveler and enjoys experiencing new destinations, cuisines and adventures with her husband, Eddie. About Chad Chad Matthews is Chief Commercial Officer of PepsiCo Beverages North America. He assumed this role February 2022 and is a 24-year veteran of PepsiCo with strong leadership across the company’s North America food and beverage businesses. In his current role leading the commercial function, Chad is responsible for enterprise customer development, commercialization, revenue growth management, our allied partner development, national go-to-market, and industry relations. Previously, Chad served as Senior Vice President and General Manager leading overall business and performance management for PepsiCo’s beverage business in 13 states across the Central United States. Since joining PepsiCo in 1998, Chad has held several leadership roles, including Senior Vice President of Frito Lay’s national accounts, Vice President of Frito-Lay’s commercial organization and Vice President of Frito Lay North America’s Mountain Region. Chad has deep experience and a proven track record of delivering strong business and people results, holding numerous roles across sales, operations, commercial, customer marketing, transformation, and go-to-market. About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 02 Aug 2022 | Amazon and The Fault In Their Stores | 00:42:16 | ||||||||||
This week we dig into Amazon's physical store strategy as it ups the ante with the expansion of its mainstream grocery store concept (Amazon Fresh), convenience stores (Amazon Go), and an initial foray into brick-and-mortar apparel (Amazon Style). We ponder why Whole Foods has gotten worse under their leadership and whether the company's tendency to see most everything as an engineering problem keeps them from delivering the emotional content and artistic side of retail they will need to succeed in the future. We get Steve's full report on his store visits and reprise how important it is to understand "buying" vs. "shopping." But first we open up with the retail news that caught our attention this week, including lots of scary macro-economic news. We also discuss the dire surprise warnings from Walmart and Best Buy, as well as a dismal earnings report from Shopify. Then we try to unpack Amazon's earnings, which we found less than stellar, despite Wall Street's ebullience. ******************************************************** We look forward to seeing everyone at Grocery Shop Two of Steve's Forbes articles on this week's topic Amazon's Future May Soon Be Tied to Brick-and-Mortar Here's Why Amazon Should Buy Kohl's John Oliver "This Week Tonight" Episode on Inflation Inside The First Amazon Style Store
About Us Steve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.
Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||
| 18 Jul 2023 | It's Time to Get Serious About Transformation. Get Ready for Season 7 of the Remarkable Retail Podcast | 00:01:57 | ||||||||||
This is Steve Dennis, innovation & strategy consultant, keynote speaker and best-selling author of Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Succession patriarch Logan Roy reminds us that it's one thing to be loved. It's another thing to get serious about the harsh realities we often face and to do the work we must to transform at the speed of disruption. In an era of unrelenting change and increasingly volatile market conditions to be anything less than remarkable is to risk irrelevance. So join me and my co-host Michael LeBlanc every week as we challenge the status quo, dissect the latest news and trends, and speak with the retail industry leaders who are leaping into a more remarkable future. Listeners worldwide have made us the retail industry's top-rated and top-listened to independent podcast. This season we'll continue with our unique take on retail’s most important news and showcasing those senior retail executives and industry thought-leaders that are shaping the future of modern retail, while also previewing material from Steve's forthcoming new book. So be sure to follow us on Apple, Spotify or wherever you enjoy your podcasts today and brace yourself for a steady stream of wisdom, straight talk and lively conversation. Season 7 launches on July 25th, and we can't wait for you to join us! About Us Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice. Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok. Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world. | ||||||||||||