The Voice of Retail (Michael LeBlanc)

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Tom Meehan, President ControlTek, a global leader in tamper-evident packaging, retail asset protection and RFID solutions, is joined by Wade Holman to talk about the latest technology and trends in store-based retail loss prevention.

About Tom

As president, Tom guides the company’s strategy while leading CONTROLTEK’s core business sectors – Tamper-Evident Packaging, EAS, and RFID. He drives the company’s strategic vision, sustainable business practices, and company culture and oversees the day-to-day operations of the business, sales, and customer growth and retention.

Tom is well-known in the retail loss prevention world as both a tremendously effective LP professional and as a thought leader who unselfishly shares his knowledge and experience out of a genuine desire to help his peers fight shrink more effectively. He shares his wealth of knowledge and expertise in his roles as retail technology editor at Loss Prevention Magazine, host of The Cash News Podcast, co-host of the Loss Prevention Research Council podcast CrimeScience and the organization’s senior technology advisor. 

Tom has held Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Information Security Officer at CONTROLTEK. Prior to joining, Tom was director of technology and investigations with Bloomingdale’s, he worked for Home Depot in loss prevention, and has had various technology, loss prevention, and operational roles at several other companies.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Meet Deb Craven, President of Longo's, one of Canada's most popular grocery stores with dozens of locations and more on the way across Southern Ontario. I joined Deb in the Longo's Store Support offices, and we talked about leadership and what it takes to innovate and compete in the crowded Southern Ontario grocery marketplace. Deb also previews her upcoming keynote for Retail Council of Canada's Retail HR conference on April 25th. Learn more and get your tickets today: https://rcchrconference.ca/

About Deb

Deb Craven is a seasoned executive with decades of progressive experience. She has built an incredible career grounded in hard work, supportive managers, curiosity, and having the confidence to speak her mind with strong humility.

Deb is the President at Longo’s. She joined the organization in 2019 as the Chief Financial Officer and later became the Chief Operating Officer. During her tenure at Longo’s, she has successfully delivered exceptional growth while architecting the extraordinary expansion of the company, including supporting the partnership with Empire. Previous to Longo’s, she has held progressive financial management positions at Purolator, Nike, and Canadian Tire (Mark’s and Sportchek).

She achieved her Chartered Accountant designation (ICAO) and an Honours BBA (Co-Op) from Wilfrid Laurier University. She also received the Star Women in Grocery award.

Deb is married with 2 adult children and enjoys the gym, cycling and is learning to play tennis (and trying to love golf).

She gives back to the community with her support of charitable organizations. Over the years she has proudly served on the Board of Directors for The Learning Partnership, Sagesse, and Kids Help Phone.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

For my last in-person episode recorded live in my Las Vegas pop-up podcast studio at Shoptalk #2022 pop-up recording studio, I'm thrilled to welcome back to the podcast long time friend and colleague, veteran retail technologist, Andrew Cherwenka

As a skilled poker player, Andrew is right at home, walking the aisles at Shoptalk, and right at home in Vegas.  But in his role as head of eCommerce for Vega, a Vancouver-based, Miami VC-owned plant-based products nutrition company, he's not gambling with his international tech stack - he has built it from the ground up and tells us all about it.

We also dive into Andrew's observations and learnings from the show, including live-streaming and learnings from live streams on the major platforms, DTC success factors, unique product placement concepts, and how to win with Amazon.

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Andrew

I lead the eCommerce team at Vega, the pioneer in plant-based nutrition. I'm a husband, a dad of 2 young boys, and an endurance athlete.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Meet Susan O’Brien, EVP and Chief Brand & Customer Officer at Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC). In a wide-ranging and engaging interview, we cover a lot of ground commensurate with Susan's remit, which includes all aspects of CTC’s brand, long-term strategy around customer insights, and CTC's sponsorship, community, and ESG initiatives. 

For those Canadians who might have lost track, or for international listeners less familiar, The Tire was Founded in 1922; in addition to the Canadian Tire banner, they have Party City, PartSource, Gas+, Mark's, Pro Hockey Life, SportChek, Hockey Experts, Sports Experts and Atmosphere, nearly 1,700 retail and gasoline outlets, supported by its Financial Services division and employs tens of thousands of people globally. So, as I said, Susan has a big job. 

About Canadian Tire Corporation

• Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC) includes a Retail segment, a Financial Services division and CT REIT.
• Founded in 1922, CTC’s flagship store, Canadian Tire, provides Canadians with products for life in Canada across various divisions.
• Other CTC banners include Party City, PartSource, Gas+, Mark's, Pro Hockey Life, SportChek, Hockey Experts, Sports Experts and Atmosphere.
• CTC operates nearly 1,700 retail and gasoline outlets, supported by its Financial Services division
• Including retail locations, CTC employs tens of thousands of people globally.

About Susan

Susan O’Brien is the Executive Vice President & Chief Brand & Customer Officer at Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC). She oversees all aspects of CTC’s brand, aligning the curation of the entire customer experience across all channels and marketing programs. Susan also leads the long-term strategy around customer insights and is responsible for CTC's sponsorship, community, and ESG initiatives.

Susan is an expert in all things branding, positioning, and customer engagement. She has played a critical role in reinforcing CTC as a purpose-driven, values-based Company through the evolution and rollout of CTC’s Brand Purpose – We Are Here to Make Life in Canada Better – along with its Core Values. Susan has been integral to the reinvention of the Canadian Tire brand through award-winning programs like We All Play for Canada and Tested for Life in Canada. She spearheaded the launch of Triangle Rewards – one of the most strategically important initiatives in the history of CTC – connecting the entire group of companies under one loyalty and credit card program. Her work has contributed to the Company earning the 2013 Marketer of the Year Award from Marketing Magazine, as well as it being named Canada’s Most Admired Brand by Léger in 2019 and 2021 and one of Canada’s Strongest Retail Brands by Brand Finance in 2019.

Since joining the Company in 2008, Susan has held several progressively senior roles. Most recently, she served as Senior Vice-President, Marketing; prior to that, she was Senior Vice-President, Marketing & Corporate Affairs and Vice-President, Marketing for Canadian Tire.

Susan sits on the Boards of Enactus Canada and Taymax Group LP. She holds an MBA in General Management from the Richard Ivey School of Business at the University of Western Ontario and a Bachelor of Commerce (Marketing) from Dalhousie University. Susan’s marketing acumen has consistently received industry-wide recognition, from her nomination for Marketing Magazine’s Top 30 under 30 awards to being named one of Toronto’s Brand Stars by Ad Week to one of Strategy Magazine’s Marketers of the Year. She was also named among the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business 50 Best Executives in 2022.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of May 20th 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Purolator, Canada's Shipping Company for courier and freight, learn more at www.purolator.com

In this episode a feature interview with retailer Sinéad Clarke at her wonderful store the Irish Design House in Toronto. We talk about the journey that brought her to Canada and the passion she brings to her business.

Next, an interview with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University and frequent commentator on the grocery sector in Canada talking about his background and approach, and discussing the upcoming legalization of cannabis edibles as Sylvain tells us that the government is “taking the fun out of edibles”

Last but not least, part one of my interview with Karl Littler Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at RCC on his journey to the most senior levels of government and advocacy and we start covering off key issues for retailers in Canada including the new Nafta (CUSMA as its know in here in Canada) agreement.

Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including grocery retailers doubling down on delivery, Endy stays the course, Roots debuts on the Magic Mile, Ontario moving closer to suds in C-stores, STORE keynote speaker Steve Dennis is waiting for the Penny to drop, with or without a silver bullet, cannabis retailers play flip that permit in Saskatchewan, and the Healthy Planet plans multi year expansion.

But first, let’s listen in to my interview with Sinead from the Irish Design House.

Thanks to Sinead, Sylvain and Karl for being my guests in this episode, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your
favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

If you are in Toronto attending STORE 2019 next week be sure and stop by the Purolator Podcast Studio and share your STORE 2019 insights for The Voice of Retail special conference editions.

Join me again next week for the regular Friday edition we’ll have part two of my interview with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois talking about Canada’s new food guide and the impact on grocery merchants and Karl Littler as we continue to dive into the top line of key issues for retailers.

Until then, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada

In this episode I meet Helen Nightingale, Vice President of Ecommerce at Draper James.  If you haven’t heard of Draper James, it’s a six plus year old online retailer that is actor Reese Witherspoon retail concept with both stores and a thriving online business.  Helen shares insights around the foundations of the business, and how they are using SMS texting to drive results.

********

Today’s podcast is part of an ongoing series of CommerceNext episodes that will feature some the fantastic speakers taking the virtual stage January 27th and February 3rd with snapshot insights into how they dealt with online /eCommerce in the first year of the COVID era and lessons learned for the future.

You can learn more and register for CommerceNext here. 

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

The resale economy is taking retail by storm. And, come September, this global fashion retailer will be jumping head-on into the surge - starting with the Canadian market.

On this episode of The Voice of Retail, I talk with the Country Manager of H&M Canada, Frédéric Tavoukdjian, about H&M’s newest project “Rewear.” We discuss what the Rewear platform is all about, how it will work and how it came to be. Frederic talks about the importance of listening to consumer needs, his excitement of taking on a new assignment after almost 20 years at H&M, and what it’s like to manage this expansive brand in Canada.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

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. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode Lisa Hutcheson, Managing Partner of J.C. Williams Group joins us to talk about her rich, decades long background in retail and the retail mega trends brought together in the annual Ebeltoft Groups’s Global Retail Trends and Innovations report, for the past decade or so one of my favourite reads of the year.  We talk about the 2020 report, the four key trends that pull together the retail case studies and a few of the standout retailers representing each of the four big trends

Next, Karl Littler, Senior Vice President of Public Affairs from RCC returns to the podcast to bring us up to speed on the ratification process and timeline in Canada for the new NAFTA agreement, CUSMA.  Karl also provides a masterclass  on understanding the new, hard fought De Minimis rules that will helping keep the playing field level for online retailers in Canada.

But first, let’s jump right into my conversation with Lisa from the J.C. Williams Group

******

Thanks to Lisa and Karl for being my guests on this episode.  Well  Now let’s hit the highlights of the retail news in Canada and around the world with Retail This Week for the week of March 2, 2020

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail.  If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada

On this episode Tal Zvi Nathanel, CEO of Showfields in New York City returns to the podcast to catch us up on how the thinking that created “the most interesting store in the world” and certainly the retail concept that had attendees and pundits at January’s NRF Big Show buzzing has adapted to the COVID-19 crisis.  We talk about the key foundational principles that helped them navigate the early weeks of the crisis, their pivot onto online, and now with their store re-opened in New York and pending in Miami, what his retail concept focussed on experiential retail looks and acts like in the COVID era.

Next from Washington D.C. Dan Pink, New York Times best selling author of six provocative books about business and human behavior is my special guest.  Dan and I catch up after meeting over ten years ago and talk about the trends and threads of narrative that he was thinking in “the time before”, and now how the COVID crisis has changed retail, business, society and how we work potentially forever.

But first, lets check in with Tal from Showfields

******

Thanks to Tal and Dan for being my guests on this episode.   If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a safe week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and This episode is brought to you by omNovos, Canada’s Retail Customer Engagement Solutions Provider. Combine all of your customer data into a single view to create real-time, personalized connections with your customers in our new contactless world. Learn more at www.realcustomerengagement.com.

On this episode we meet Andrew Tepperman, President of Tepperman’s who takes us through the long, rich history of this Ontario based furniture retailer and how they  draw  on their heritage and decades of experience serving customers to modern brand and format innovation to compete in a crowded category.

Next, I catch up with Matthew Dixon, Chief Product and Research Officer for the Austin-based AI venture, Tethr. An accomplished business researcher and writer,  author of three Amazon and Wall Street Journal best-selling books on loyalty, sales strategy and customer service, —and is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review with more than 20 print and online articles to his credit.  We talk about the impact the COVID crisis has had on customer service, call centres and ultimately customer satisfaction and loyalty.

But first, lets check in with Andrew from Tepperman’s

******

Thanks to Andrew and Matt,for being my guests on this episode, and to omNovos for their generous sponsorship.  If you liked this podcast 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 industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a safe week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Conversational commerce is one of the most powerful trends shaping retail marketing media today, according to Michael Ricci, industry expert and Vice President of New Technologies at Sinch.

In this episode, Michael breaks down the past, present and future of SMS and how the modern era of customer acquisition lies in trust building and the potential of chatbots.

Together, we discuss the impact of personalized, accessible and streamlined conversation on the consumer buying process. Michael offers key examples of big brands that are pack leaders in utilizing chatbots, addresses common misconceptions about SMS and chatbot technology and talks about cutting-edge mobile strategies.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
 

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. 

Michael Ricci is a  Highly accomplished senior digital marketing & business development executive with 30+ years of international experience in technology focused operations (B2B & B2C focused) ranging in size from $8/yr million SaaS businesses to $4.2/yr Billion global industry leaders.

• A well regarded Mobile CX architect who has guided some of the world’s most prominent brands.
• Clear track record of success in leading large, complex integrated solutions selling and business development programs and driving strong top line sales growth
• A well respected thought leader in the Mobile Marketing industry and past Chairman of the MMA's Mobile Analytics Committee
• Created the first successful “business to business sports sponsorship models and earned recognition as one of the Best B2B sports marketers in the world.
• Recognized track record of driving over $200m worth of revenue/contracts from global key events like the Olympics, FIFA World Cup, NASCAR, Super Bowl, World Alpine Skiing Championships, World Track & Field Championships.

Specialties: Mobile CX, digital marketing, email marketing, mobile marketing, analytics/data visualization, SMS, PUSH, mobile web, web design, business development, sponsorship marketing and strategy.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Hello, and welcome to the Voice of Retail podcast! My name is Michael LeBlanc, and I am your host. I believe in the power of storytelling to bring the retail industry to life. Each week, I'll bring insights, perspectives, and experiences from some of the retail industry's most innovative and influential voices.   This podcast is produced in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

The one and only Ron Thurston is my extraordinary guest for this episode, recorded live in person together for the first time at the NRF Big Show in New York.  Ron is a retailers' retailer, a veteran store leader that turned his passion into a best-selling book, Retail Pride, which became an epic tour across America with an F150 and an Airstream to meet retailers where they live and tell their stories.  I sat with Ron in the MarketDial podcasting studio to hear his story and learn his lessons from the Retail In America tour.   Let's listen in now!

About Ron

Ron Thurston is a highly accomplished retail leadership Executive, Board Advisor, and Amazon Bestselling Author with extensive experience leading retail operations for America’s most prominent brands. 

He is adept at turning around underperforming businesses, developing and implementing innovative growth strategies, architecting improved training programs, building high-performing and dedicated teams, launching new brands, expanding brands into new markets, and ensuring customer growth and satisfaction. 

For the last three years, Ron has been named one of the top 100 most influential people in retail, is a former board member of GOODWILL NY/NJ, and currently sits on the advisory boards of several emerging retail technology brands, including Reflex Careers and IMMERSS. 

In early 2022 Ron launched his audio and video platforms for a year-long tour called “Retail In America,” live from an Airstream trailer to discover the real retail heroes across the country.

About Michael

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.   

Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row. 

Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Canada's top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail. He produces and co-hosts Remarkable Retail with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world. 

Based in New York, Conversations with CommerceNext is a podcast focusing on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers with episodes talking with C-level executives operating in the U.S. and internationally. 

Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers. 

Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

On this episode, a pickup from my popular Conversations with Commerce Next podcast meet John Hazen, the Montreal-born Chief Digital Officer at Boot Barn, a U.S. west-coast-based specialty store retail powerhouse. 

John joins CommerceNext co-founder Scott Silverman and I and describes his journey to working within a retail first brand and appreciating the cultural differences in any organization to be truly successful. Next, John talks about his deep attachment to ensuring a seamless shopping experience for his customers and the journey at Boot Barn to keep the focus and understand the power of their stores and the force multiplier that a well-architected digital strategy must become.

About John

Omnichannel and e-Commerce executive/thought leader rooted in apparel & footwear. Extensive experience architecting, launching and running global enterprise initiatives focusing on Omnichannel, e-commerce, retail digital enablement & CRM . Expert in commerce platforms, merchandising, technology with a strong digital background , inventor of patented technology for Nike Digital. MBA from Loyola Marymount University and extensive (15+ years) digital experience working within the apparel/retail industry.

Skateboarder, surfer , triathlete and Pixar nut. 🤙🏻

ABOUT US

Scott Silverman

An ecommerce veteran, Scott Silverman has been active in the industry since 1999 and is passionate about digital retail and the innovation driving the industry. Scott Silverman is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. Previously, he spent 10 years as Executive Director of Shop.org where he launched the Shop.org Annual Summit. Scott co-invented “Cyber Monday” in 2005 and was the founder of Cybermonday.com in 2006, a shopping site that has generated more than $2.5 million for Shop.org’s scholarship fund.

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. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.  This episode is intended for listeners 21 plus.

In this episode, recorded early March we touch base with two great Canadian cannabis retailers and explore their retail concept, merchandising strategies and business experience

First up Steven Fry, President and Co-Founder of Session Cannabis recorded live at his newest location in the east end of Toronto.  We talk about his indoctrination into the industry as an Ontario lottery winner, early partnership with High Tide/Canna Cabana, and now opening up his new Sessions brand cannabis stores in Ontario.  Steven shares his growth strategy, savvy insights into merchandising recreational cannabis and the retail strategies that will make his brand one to watch.

Next, live from Vancouver Corey Gillon, CEO of Choom Cannabis Company.  A lifelong retailer, with extensive Canadian and global experience in large scale operations, international M&A and digital/eCommerce, Corey takes us through a rich retail career path and then we delve into Choom.  With 15 stores, three under construction based on a story brand strategy with a powerful community, the role of culture and how to translate the brand into the retail sales floor.

But first, let’s jump right into my conversation with Steven Fry from Sessions Cannabis.

******

Thanks to Steven and Corey for being my guests on this episode.  Well  Now let’s hit the highlights of the retail news in Canada and around the world with Retail This Week for the week of March 23rd, 2020

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail.  If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a safe week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of July 29, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc,

[and I’m Dave Rodgerson, guest host for this episode]

and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. So it’s the hazy, crazy days of summer and what better time to invite friends and colleagues from the retail industry to join me on The Voice of Retail and share perspectives about the retail news of the week!

[Well thanks Mike for the invite, looking forward to delving into Retail This Week!]

But first, We kick off with a most excellent round-table interview recorded live at
Retail Council of Canada’s #STORE2019 in the Purolator Inc. podcasting studio with retail tech gurus and Q Division leaders and fellow podcasters Manolo Almagro, Ben Gauthier with Michael Arnett from Stratacache.
We talk Golidie-Locks retail tech: over-hyped, under-hyped, and tech that’s just right.

Then Dave and I will look at the retail news of the week, but first, let’s listen to my interview with Manolo, Ben and Michael

Thanks to Manolo, Ben and Michael for being such good sports and for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of June 18th, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode an exclusive interview with Arlene Dickinson, legendary entrepreneur, founding Dragon on CBC’s Dragon’s Den, veteran investor and CEO of District Ventures Capital ( https://www.districtventurescapital.com/) based in Calgary. After working together several years during my days at The Shopping Channel, Arlene and I catch up and chat about her latest series of investments at District Ventures focussing on start-ups in the food category taking them onto retailer’s shelves with an innovative listing deal with with CircleK convenience stores.

Next I sit down with Michele Sexsmith, SVP and Practice Leader, Retail, Real Estate and Entertainment Sectors from Environics Analytics talking about the marketing mix for retailers and how to leverage digital to amplify, personalize and measure customers and customer segments in and around your retail stores and more.

Last but not least I’ll cover off Retail This Week including the sweet smell of success for Saje, RYU founder’s love of tribes, Giant Tiger breaks new ground, Dollarama back on growth path, Ikea turns a Paris subway into a glorious showroom, Amazon’s private label products best sellers in 22 categories, Walmart deals with Ellen, hot rental trends and the customer that use them, shades of grey - Vancouver cannabis edition, Choom cannabis opens with great fan-fare in Niagara Falls, Canna Cabana in Toronto, Shoppers offers same-day delivery in Ontario, and edibles laws finalized and ready for on-shelf around December.

But first, let’s listen in to my interview with Arlene Dickinson

Thanks to Arlene and Michele for being my special guests for this episode. Now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your
favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode, we welcome back to the podcast a retail veteran and now an analyst and college professor Bruce Winder.

Bruce brings us his informed perspective on the state of retail in Canada we talk about the impacts of changing consumer behaviour and inflation, and then Bruce is a good sport as I pepper him with retail trends in a rapid round of fast paced back-and-forth Q&A.

Bruce also shares with us a vital discussion of his mental health journey through the retail industry and the critical role that retail can play in embracing neurodiversity within its ranks.   

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

Bruce's article referenced in the interview:

https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/rexile-main-street-bruce-winder-he-him-/?trackingId=lrgK6PcGxYyguUh0wt%2F4tg%3D%3D

About Bruce

Retail Analyst * Author * Consultant * Speaker * Instructor * Neurodiverse

Author of 2020 RETAIL Before, During & After COVID-19 (Available on Amazon) 

www.brucewinder.com

Former Retail Executive with 30 years experience. 

Recognized Retail Analyst - appeared hundreds of times in North American media. Interviewed on BNN/Bloomberg Canada, CBC's The National, Global News, CTV National, CTV News Channel, CityNews, CP24 and more. Quoted in The Globe & Mail, Financial Post, The Toronto Star, Bloomberg, Reuters, Canadian Press , BBC, The Washington Post, The Guardian, The Ottawa Citizen, AdWeek, Canadian Grocer and many, many more. 

Expertise in: all things retail + deep dive experience in: media relations & image improvement, category management, quality management, importing/procurement, vendor management, supply chain & process enhancement.

Speaking - I speak at conferences and corporate events regarding retail or mental health in the workplace 

Satisfaction Guaranteed. Not satisfied with my work? Don't Pay.

bwinder@brucewinder.com
or call 416-705-5627 for details

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Meet Alyssa Rade, chief sustainability officer at Sustain.life, a leading carbon accounting platform, where she leads the company’s strategy for product content, guiding retailers across North America on their decarbonization and ESG journeys. Alyssa unpacks the complexities of carbon accounting for all of us, providing a uniform model for retailers, brands and vendors in tracking, reporting and understanding their decarbonization work.  

Links:  https://www.sustain.life https://www.sustain.life/blog https://www.sustain.life/resources/esg-regulations-frameworks

About Alyssa

Alyssa Rade is the chief sustainability officer at Sustain.Life where she leads the company’s strategy for product content, guiding users on their decarbonization and ESG journeys. Her 10+ years of corporate sustainability experience guides the program recommendations, carbon management and ESG disclosures featured in Sustain.Life’s software. Prior to joining Sustain.Life, Alyssa directed the ESG program at Vornado Realty Trust, where she managed sustainable operations and development for over 30 million sf of class A commercial space. Alyssa is accredited as a LEED and WELL AP and holds a MPA in Environmental Science and Policy from Columbia University and a BA in Environmental Studies from Washington University in St. Louis. Links:  https://www.sustain.life https://www.sustain.life/blog https://www.sustain.life/resources/esg-regulations-frameworks

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this special format bonus episode I’m chatting with Nigel Ramoutar, External Fraud & Crime Specialist at Rexall Pharmacy Group who joins me in advance of his appearance on the virtual stage ad RCC’s Loss Prevention Forum, April 8.  I Nigel ask  for two starts, and one stop, based on what he has learned and experienced over the past year of the COVID era.

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s special RCC LP bonus episode   of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to follow the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

If you are a retail LP professional you don’t want to miss the RCC Retail Loss Prevention forum, April 8th  Learn more and register at https://rcclpconference.ca/

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

On this special expanded format episode of the podcast, I'm joined by two internationally recognized thought leaders in the digital marketing space to share their insights in a back-to-back set of interviews.

First, Greg Shelly, Vice President, Enterprise Digital Marketing at Canadian Tire Corporation, takes us inside the inner workings of one of the largest digital marketing teams in retail, with a masterclass in structuring teams for the modern era, attribution, digital performance across platforms and next level accountability.

Next, Michael Klein, Global Director, Industry Strategy & Marketing - Retail, Travel & Consumer Goods at Adobe Systems, takes us through a 10,000-foot level view of the state of digital marketing. He walks us through systems and processes and delivers insights from the depth of reach that Adobe brings to consumers changing shopping patterns.

It's a powerhouse episode, a little longer than usual but more than well worth the listen. And a note for the listeners and subscribers, as the summer is finally here, this is the final Monday episode of The Voice of Retail podcast for the summer - same great content, now moving to weekly with Friday episodes for the balance of the summer.  

Let's listen now, starting with Greg from Canadian Tire and Michael from Adobe Systems.

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Greg

Greg Shelly is the VP of Enterprise Digital Marketing at Canadian Tire Corporation. As VP, Enterprise Digital, Shelly is responsible for all of the digital marketing efforts across the entire corporation. His portfolio not only encompasses the Canadian Tire brand, but he is also responsible for the digital efforts across various banners (such as Marks’ and SportChek).

In his day to day, Shelly ensures that all of Canadian Tire Corporation’s digital marketing efforts are delivering sales growth, brand value and overall company success. Canadian Tire is consistently pushing the needle when it comes to our digital efforts and Shelly spearheads these innovations.

Prior to joining the CTC team, Shelly came from an extensive background of business insights and analytics, with a strong focus in digital as well as e-commerce. Shelly’s past experience involves providing marketing and analytics solutions for brands such as Dell and McDonald’s.

About Michael

Global Retail and Consumer Goods business leader with over 30 years of merchandising and marketing experience with a focus on digital marketing for the past 20 years. I have worked with a wide range of consumer brands over my career, driving positive results for shareholders, team members and customers. Creative with a keen eye for details. An effective leader who manages his direct reports with an emphasis on mentoring, not micromanaging. Excellent negotiation, communication, technology and analytical skills.

Adobe Site Catalyst
Adobe Test & Target
adobe Merchandising
Adobe Search & Promote
Merchandising analysis and assortment development.
Direct marketing campaign management.
Vendor Negotiations and Management
eCommerce
Inventory Planning & OTB Management
Project Management
Training & Education
Team Leadership

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Recorded live at RCC's Retail West conference in Vancouver, Christine Day, former CEO of lululemon and international executive at Starbucks, joins me on the main stage to talk about her latest and perhaps most important venture, The House of L, R & C.  

We talk about the apparel industry's social impact and the retail sector's changing structure. We end with a fun rapid-fire round of questions to glean Christine's perspective on the hottest topics in Retail. 

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Christine

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.

Christine brings her executive leadership experience to The House of LR&C from lululemon athletica, where she served as CEO for six years, as well as Starbucks, serving in various executive positions over a 20-year period. Concurrently, she is the CEO of Performance Kitchen, a forward-thinking food company creating the next generation of frozen food with a focus on great taste, convenience and nutrition. She earned her BA degree from Central Washington University and is a graduate of Harvard Business School’s Advanced Management Program. Christine and her husband enjoy a full life in Vancouver surrounded by her loving family of 3 children and 4 grandchildren.About Christine:

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

In this compelling encore episode of The Voice of Retail, I reconnect with Craig Baxter, Group President of Techtronic Industries Canada Inc., a division of the $13.7 billion global manufacturing giant known for its market-leading brands including Milwaukee, RYOBI, Hoover, and Dirt Devil. Our conversation spans decades of experience, lessons learned, and the cutting-edge strategies Craig and his team are deploying to dominate the power tools and home improvement space.

Craig shares his fascinating career journey—from launching his marketing career at Kraft General Foods, to disrupting the power tools industry during his tenure at Black & Decker, and now leading explosive growth at TTI. We explore the epic rise of the Milwaukee brand, which went from an underdog in a five-horse race to the global leader in cordless power tools. Craig details how a bold bet on lithium-ion battery technology gave Milwaukee an edge, along with deep end-user insights and relentless product innovation.

We also dive into TTI’s unique go-to-market strategy. Craig explains why the company eschews direct-to-consumer sales in favor of exclusive partnerships—like the long-standing relationship with Home Depot that anchors RYOBI’s retail presence. TTI’s model emphasizes focused distribution, a people-intensive field marketing approach, and high-touch engagement with tradespeople, from contractors to electricians.

In the leadership segment, Craig opens up about what it takes to build and lead high-performing teams. He advocates for setting audacious goals, inspiring rather than managing, and creating an environment where great people can thrive. He also warns against weak leadership practices like cheerleading poor performance or tolerating mediocrity. Craig’s philosophy: talk last, listen deeply, and never underestimate the power of human capital.

Whether you’re a retail strategist, brand marketer, aspiring leader, or power tool enthusiast, this episode offers valuable lessons on market disruption, innovation, and purpose-driven leadership.

About Craig

Sixteen years ago, I was given the opportunity to become the president of TTi Canada; a world class leader in design, manufacturing, and marketing of power tools and accessories, outdoor product equipment and floor care for consumers, professional and industrial users in the home improvement, repair, and construction industries.

Since then, I have had the privilege of working alongside a team of outstanding performers who share the same belief in setting audacious goals and holding ourselves accountable to deliver those goals while continuing to cultivate a best in class working environment.

Along with our unrelenting strategic focus on powerful brands, innovative products, operational excellence, and exceptional people, we strive to continuously build upon a corporate culture where our employees can realize more and more of their abundant potential. 

What inspires me, is seeing people striving to do great work and growing into the best version of themselves. By continuously improving our culture through all of our success we have further leveraged our biggest differentiator as a company, and that is something I am very proud of.

“Show class, have pride, and display character. And if you do, winning takes care of itself” – Bear Bryant

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

I’m thrilled to be celebrating my 200th episode by sitting down with Clint Mahlman, the President and COO at London Drugs. From growing up in the stores to leading the company through a global pandemic, Clint reflects on the ‘DNA of being different,’ always learning, and what it means to show up for your community. 

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Over the last decade, the sleep industry has undergone some serious transformation. 

Jeremiah Curvers, the co-founder and CEO of Polysleep, believes that the importance of sleep is “the next revelation” on the health front that consumers are going to prioritize.

While technological advancements, such as the machinery responsible for compact mattress packing, have shaken up the otherwise maturing market, there remains a high level of competition. Direct-to-consumer distribution structures have proven very popular in mattress retail.

Though neither of Polysleep’s founders had much of a background in the sleep industry when they started the company, it’s perhaps their outsider perspective that has allowed them to reach their audience in a crowded marketing space.

In this episode of The Voice of Retail, I sit down with Jeremiah to talk about supply chains, company culture and marketing strategies. From inside-out, learn about the technology that makes Polysleep’s product unique and the strategic decisions that have brought this Canadian-made, environmentally conscious brand to life.

Jeremiah Curvers is the Co-Founder and CEO of Polysleep, a Canadian mattress retailer based and made 100% in Montreal, Canada. Raised in a Belgian family specialized in furniture and decoration, Jeremiah grew with a strong entrepreneurial spirit with a background that led him to a promising career in the mattress industry.

Jeremiah launched Polysleep in 2016 as an online mattress-in-a-box company.

The company started with just one product, the classic Polysleep mattress, and has since expanded to add pillows, two new mattresses, one of them with high technology solutions, a bed foundation, and a baby mattress. As an ambitious and self-taught businessman, Jeremiah is a true believer in learning by doing, starting his first company at the age of 17. Digital marketing is Jeremiah's playground. His years of digital marketing experience at Mediative prove that he is an early adopter when tackling the digital world. Today he is focused on building a successful company that is innovating and creating products that ultimately help people sleep better.

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

In this episode, we're talking about evolving fraud trends in retail with Kim Sutherland, Vice President of Fraud and Identity from LexisNexis Risk Solutions. Explore strategies for mitigating fraud risks while maintaining a seamless customer experience. Gain insights from their latest True Cost of Fraud study, which revealed the significant financial impact on businesses globally. Discover how enterprises balance investment in fraud prevention with profitability, leveraging technology and data analytics to effectively detect and combat fraudulent activity.

About Kimberly

Kimberly Sutherland is vice president of fraud and identity strategy at LexisNexis® Risk Solutions. Based in Alpharetta, Georgia, she leads the commercial market strategy for consumer fraud analytics, identity verification, authentication and fraud investigations for LexisNexis Risk Solutions in the U.S. and Canada.

Kim joined LexisNexis Risk Solutions in 2006 and has more than 20 years of experience leading business strategy, product management, and professional services.

Kim has received multiple recognitions as one of the Top 100 Leaders in Identity, named a Top 50 Women Leader in Software as a Service in 2020, and Cybersecurity Woman of the Year by the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards in 2021, 2022 and 2023.

Kim serves on the boards of the Identity Theft Resource Center and Women in Identity and represents LexisNexis Risk Solutions in the Better Identity Coalition and the Open Identity Exchange (OIX). 

Sutherland is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and Otterbein University.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos makes Personalization EASY by helping you connect with your customers, connect with your data, and connect with your systems. Learn HOW at www.realcustomerengagement.com.

On this episode I’m in Ottawa to meet Jean Louis Bellemare, President and General Manager of Farm Boy Company and 2020 Golden Pencil recipient.  We talk about the rich history of Farm Boy, the evolution of their unique in-store experience, assortment, merchandising and marketing strategies and now in the COVID era, what if anything has changed in their strategy and approach.   

Next, we're in Vancouver with my good friend and retail strategist David Ian Gray talking about the state of the retail sector and the upcoming challenges and opportunities for retailers during Holiday 2020.  
 

But first, lets check in with Jean Louis from Farm Boy

******

Thanks to Jean Louis and David for being my guests, and omNovos for their support on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.  

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a safe week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Journalist, Author and fashion specialist, Dana Thomas, has been reporting on the latest trends and insights in the fashion industry for over thirty years.

Today I catch up with Dana on the left bank in Paris, writing for British Vogue and The New York Times - and, of course, taking the time to talk with me about the fashion retail industry and her third book ‘Fashionopolis: Why What We Wear Matters.’

In a wide-ranging conversation we talk about the evolution of fashion retail (from family-owned design houses to global corporations), the future of fast fashion and what fashion retailers should do to ride the wave of a changing industry and consumer.

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into Barbeque, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

ABOUT DANA

DANA THOMAS is the author of Fashionopolis: The Price of Fast Fashion and the Future of Clothes, Gods and Kings: The Rise and Fall of Alexander McQueen and John Galliano, and the New York Times bestseller Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster, all published by Penguin Press. She began her career writing for the Style section of The Washington Post, and for fifteen years she served as a cultural and fashion correspondent for Newsweek in Paris. She is a regular contributor to The New York Times Style section and has written for The New York Times Magazine, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, T: The New York Times Style Magazine, and Architectural Digest. In 1987, she received the Sigma Delta Chi Foundation’s Ellis Haller Award for Outstanding Achievement in Journalism. In 2016, the French Minister of Culture named Thomas a Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters. She lives in Paris.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers list for 2021.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Jim Harris, one of North America's foremost thinkers on disruption and innovation, is back on the podcast sharing his experiences and insights from CES, the world's biggest technology conference, and the World Economic Forum in Davos. Jim has been attending these important events for decades and takes us inside with his informed perspective for retailers. Note that we had some technical glitches towards the end of the interview. I didn't get to thank Jim on the mic for being my guest. It's much appreciated, Jim!!

About Jim

Jim Harris is a one of North America’s foremost thinkers on disruption and innovation. He is one of the world’s leading keynote speakers presenting internationally at more than 70 virtual and in-person conferences a year. Association magazine ranked

him as one of North America’s top ten speakers. Jim also leads strategic planning sessions with executive

teams.

His clients include American Express, Barclays Bank, Canon, GM, IBM, SAP, Munich Re, the Top 200 CIOs of India, the UK Cabinet Office, Swiss Re, Walmart and Zurich Insurance.

Jim’s last book, Blindsided!, is published in 80 countries worldwide and is a #1 international bestseller. Soundview Executive Summaries selected Blindsided! as one of the best business books of the year sending a summary to 80,000

executives globally. The Miami Herald calls Blindsided! “Brilliant stuff!”

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

For this episode I’m in Calgary meeting indie women’s fashion retailer Emma May, Founder of SophieGrace.ca, featuring elevated mix and match separates that make getting ready in the morning incredibly simple.  We talk about Emma’s rich and diverse background and her journey to becoming a retailer in the midst of a pandemic and discovering the excitement and challenge of the retail industry

Let’s listen in

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. My name is Michael LeBlanc, and I am your host, I believe in the power of storytelling to bring the retail industry to life. I'll bring insights, perspectives and experiences from some of the retail industry's most innovative and influential voices each week. This podcast is produced in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode, a special preview interview with one of the many outstanding thought leaders and change-makers taking the stage for the RCC Store conference on May 30/31st.  

David Shing (also known as "Shingy") is an Australian futurist, speaker, creative director, strategic digital consultant, and entrepreneur.

Shingy has spent most of his adult life in the digital world, working for both large and small creative companies globally while co-authoring several technology-related patents.   We chat about his electric background, a hint of the knowledge and insights he'll be dropping on the main stage, and a quick two-start, one-stop advice for retailer and retail industry insiders. 

https://www.shingy.com/

About Shingy

“Artist, globe trotting speaker and market seeker, he is a storyteller who identifies emerging trends, and inspires clients to think differently.” – Forbes

David Shing (known as “Shingy”) is an Australian futurist, speaker, creative director, strategic digital consultant, and entrepreneur. Known for his performative persona and his bold and polarizing moniker, the digital prophet, Shingy is a multidimensional creative who specializes in advising clients about inventive and effective approaches to optimizing brand value within the digital landscape. He is passionate about educating big brands about the unique opportunities afforded by emerging digital, social and mobile technologies.

Shing has spent most of his adult life in the digital world working for both large and small creative companies globally, while also co-authoring several technology related patents. He recently served as Verizon Media’s digital prophet and prior to that, AOL’s European head of media and marketing responsible for 11 countries.

About Michael 

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.   

Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row. 

Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Canada's top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail. He produces and co-hosts Remarkable Retail with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world. 

Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers. 

Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to our second special STORE 2019 edition of The Voice of Retail podcast I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada, and sponsored by Purolator, Canada's Shipping Company for courier and freight, learn more at www.purolator.com

Retail Council of Canada’s STORE conference is the biggest retail conference of the year in Canada and for 2019 In partnership with with my friends at Purolator we built the Purolator Podcasting Studio and set out to interview some of the most interesting people in retail hosting retail industry leaders from across the country live on the exhibition show floor. We also followed up with a few folks who we met at STORE2019 but our schedules didn’t quite line up to get them into the studio during the action packed day and a half.

Let’s kick off this second STORE episode starting with my exclusive interview with Steve Dennis, President & Founder, SageBerry Consulting and the STORE day two opening keynote. Steve has been named a top 5 global retail influencer by two leading organizations and his thoughts on the future of shopping are regularly shared in the media and in his role as a contributor for Forbes. During a 30 year career as a senior executive at two Fortune 500 retailers--and more recently as a strategic advisor, Steve has worked with dozens of retail, luxury and social impact brands to inspire, catalyze and design their journey from boring to remarkable.

Next, a great conversation with Lara Wood, General Manager of Cannabis NB talking about her rich background, their award winning development program, the innovative, go-to-market structure of Cannabis NB and how the Province embraced the retail cannabis opportunity.

Then I followed up with Laurie Weston, Director of Retail for Purolator after they were big winners last Tuesday night at the Excellence in Retail awards in the pop-up retail category. I wanted to know how their innovative Mobile Quick Stop truck concept came about, and advice for retailers as we look toward the 2019 holiday season - top of mind stuff for retailers across the nation as we sit here in June.

Let’s get started with Steve Dennis…

That’s a wrap on the second of special RCC STORE 2019 edition of The Voice of Retail - thanks to Steve, Lara and Laurie for joining me in the Purolator Podcast Studio . if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Join me each and every Friday as I interview some of the most interesting people in retail and cover off the most important stories within the Canadian retail industry and around the world.

Until then, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode, I interview the CEO of McCarthy Uniforms, Vanessa Iarocci. She tells us about adapting to the demands of modern retailing and responding to both the challenges and opportunities that COVID-19 has brought to the business.

With a background in consulting and banking, Vanessa describes what she brought to the table when she became the CEO of a retail company coming out of insolvency - and what she has learned along the way.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Frank Lavin has devoted much of his professional life to working in and understanding the Asian market, from top level roles in U.S. government including Undersecretary of Commerce, Ambassador to Singapore and other White House appointments, to much time in the private sector a top roles such as Chairman of Public Affairs, Asia Pacific for Edelman.

All of which means now as the Chairman and Founder of Export Now, a China solutions company for international brands, Frank has a unique and highly informed perspective on the China market, consumers, and how to understand the vast opportunities eCommerce offers

Frank joins me again on The Voice of Retail to catch me up on the latest developments on the ground in China and talk about his new book, The Smart Business Guide to China eCommerce (https://www.amazon.ca/Smart-Business-Guide-China-Commerce/dp/9814954659/ref=sr_1_6?dchild=1&keywords=frank+lavin&qid=1631858986&sr=8-6 )

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

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. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

The emergence of COVID-19 has had far-reaching and wide-ranging impacts on the Canadian economy.

Seventeen months into the pandemic, Equifax has a depth of data on the unique ways that Canadians, from individual households to entire industries, have been affected by and are responding to these uncertain circumstances.

I talk with Becky Oakes, Assistant VP of Advanced Analytics at Equifax Canada, to unpack the latest research on the matter. We talk about Canadian K-Shaped Recovery, stimulus strategies, and economic forecasting in unprecedented times.

Visit equifax.ca to read their recent reports.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Lee Jeyes is back from a cross-Canada tour and on the mic ready to share his insights and advice around pragmatic retail innovation informed by years of experience, most formerly as Walmart Canada's Head of Innovation.  Get ready for a great conversation as we explore Where Retail Meets Innovation, and hear Lee's advice for retailers and brands of all sizes on how they can drive the innovation agenda in your enterprise. 

About Lee

Lee's journey in the retail industry is both diverse and impactful. With extensive experience in operations, loss prevention, and ecommerce, he has also made significant strides in the realm of innovation. His most recent role as the Head of Innovation for Walmart Canada saw him building and launching their pioneering innovation incubator. Lee's expertise doesn't stop there; he has a proven track record in scaling near-term sustaining technology and has been at the forefront of developing long-term disruptive retail tech solutions. Passionate about championing disruption, Lee guides organizations through the intricacies of change. As the retail landscape evolves, Lee's mission remains clear: to lead, support, and inspire businesses to embrace transformation and elevate their innovative visions.

Transforming Tomorrow: Where Retail Meets Revolution. Now, as a keynote speaker for Spoken Artists, Lee continues his mission, helping organizations navigate the waters of innovation and inspiring change on a grand scale.

About Michael

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.   

Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row.

Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Canada's top retail industry podcast_,_ The Voice of Retail. He produces and co-hosts Remarkable Retail with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world. 

Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers. 

Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. My name is Michael LeBlanc, and I am your host, I believe in the power of storytelling to bring the retail industry to life. I'll bring insights, perspectives and experiences from some of the retail industry's most innovative and influential voices each week. This podcast is produced in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Award-winning digital marketing mavens and ReShift Media Founders Kirk Allen and Steve Buors join me on the podcast with the latest strategies and tactics in digital and social marketing for retailers.  We delve in deep and understand how the modern privacy landscape impacts the use of tools such as Meta and Tik Tok, the evolution of the latest generation of platforms such as YouTube shorts, Reels, online streaming commerce, and first-party data.  Last but not least, my good friends share the fantastic news that Reshift Media has been voted the world’s best franchise marketing firm by the Global Franchise Awards. 

Thanks for tuning into this episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure and follow on your favorite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically each week. And check out my other retail industry media properties, Remarkable Retail podcast with Steve Dennis, and the Global eCommerce Leaders podcast. Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my YouTube barbecue show Last Request Barbecue with new episodes each and every week.

About Kirk

Kirk Allen has a passion for growing other people’s businesses through the powerful combination of traditional media, social, search and mobile. Kirk’s experience includes 30 years of cross-platform media sales within Canada’s largest media companies. Prior to becoming Co-Founder of ReShift Media, he was Executive Vice President, Integrated Advertising Sales at Postmedia Network Inc. Shifting gears, Kirk is co-founder of ReShift Media, a high-energy, entrepreneurial marketing company that works closely with advertising agencies as a natural extension of their organization.

Having held a variety of senior management roles within Canada’s largest media companies, Kirk also served on many industry boards including; CFA, IAB Canada, INMA, as well as NADbank. When he is not busy driving sales to a client’s door (virtual or real), he can often be found driving to the links and rinks around town.

About Steve

Steve has over a decade of digital marketing experience and has earned a reputation for being on top of emerging trends in social, search and mobile solutions. He has led many strategic initiatives and managed large teams of professionals in some of Canada’s leading companies to bring numerous digital products and innovations to market. 

"Shifting" gears, Steve co-founded Reshift Media, a high-energy, entrepreneurial marketing company in 2012.  In addition to being a digital marketing professional, Steve has earned his MBA, CMA and BComm designations. When he is not focused on delivering the industry’s most forward thinking search and social solutions, he can usually be found with his wife and children - optimizing playtime.

Specialties: Digital Media and Technology, Operational Management, Strategic and Operational Planning, Product and Project Management, Team Leadership and Collaboration, Corporate Finance and Accounting, Sales and Marketing, Partnerships and Acquisitions

About Michael 

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.   

Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row. 

Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Canada's top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail. He produces and co-hosts Remarkable Retail with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world. 

Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers. 

Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

For this episode we are taking more than a Hallmark moment to get to know Carolyn Spriet, the President of Hallmark Canada.  In a wide-ranging interview we get to learn more about the Hallmark business.  From humble beginnings in 1910,  the Hallmark brand continues to evolve across its business portfolios. From the Hallmark Channel content on the W Network in Canada, to the company’s Crayola subsidiary  - hey did you know they owned Crayola?? and of course on the greeting card, gifts, ornaments and innovative interactive solutions all found in over 3,300 locations in Canada alone.

Carolyn shares her perspective with over 25 years of experience on retail strategy, differentiation, partnership and direct to consumer retail, the future of work, and insights from her day at the Odgers Berndtson Future Leaders of Tomorrow summit where she met and talked with youth from across Canada to learn and share ideas.

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Carolyn

Carolyn Spriet is a consumer-packaged goods executive with 25+ years’ experience leading Private, Private Equity and Tier One Multinational organizations and championing the growth of many of Canada’s most recognized household and retailer brands. She is currently the President of Hallmark Canada, responsible for local strategy and operations, and driving sales in the Drug/Mass/Club/Grocery channels and the Hallmark Gold Crown independent retail stores.

Prior to joining Hallmark, Carolyn was General Manager of Sun Products Canada, a division of the $2B North American private equity-backed consumer products company that was formed with the acquisition of Unilever’s laundry business.  Carolyn was responsible for the 2008 start-up of the Canadian company and built that organization for eight years until its successful sale to Henkel AG, a global CPG Multinational.  As General Manager, Carolyn was responsible for the stand-alone $200 MM Canadian operation, including all functional strategy development, financial results, and leadership of the 70-person team.

Prior to Sun Products, Carolyn had a successful 16-year career at Unilever Canada.  During this time, she held progressive marketing and sales leadership roles in all three company business units: Food (Becel, Ben & Jerry’s, Lipton), Personal Care (Dove, Degree, Axe) and Homecare (Sunlight, Vim, Snuggle).  As a lead of the Unilever Laundry Divestiture team, Carolyn and her colleagues led the sale process with prospective buyers and ultimately executed the transfer of the business to private equity.

Carolyn holds an Honours Business Administration degree from Wilfrid Laurier University. She lives in Toronto with her husband, Jeff, and three children. Outside of work, Carolyn enjoys anything that gets her outdoors and active - skiing, snowboarding, hiking and travel.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Warehouse automation has reached new heights in the pandemic - and it doesn’t seem to be stopping here.

While COVID-19 has created a host of supply chain challenges, it’s also underscored essential opportunities for innovation. From climbing robots to increasing demand for reflexive and dynamic warehouses, we get to the bottom (or rather, the top) of the modern retail warehouse.

In this episode of The Voice of Retail, I sit down with the CEO of Exotec Robotics, Romain Moulin, to talk about the past, present and future of warehouse automation. 

We discuss the accelerated need for agile warehouses, how Skypod System’s climbing robots are redefining warehouses from architecture to operations, and when investing in automation is right for you as a retailer.

With a little human-to-robot harmony, it’s safe to say that the twenty-first-century warehouse is changing for the better. 

Watch the informational video on Exotec’s Skypod System here. 

About Romain Moulin

Romain Moulin is the CEO of Exotec, a company he co-founded with Renaud Heitz in 2015 . As a former robotics architect and technical engineer at GE and BA Système, Romain spent 10+ years immersed in deep technology systems before he shifted his attention to solving the challenge of retail warehouse automation. He was born and raised in France and graduated from a top French engineering university, SUPAERO.

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome The Economist Cannabis Summit special edition of The Voice of Retail podcast, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. This special episode contains content intended for listeners 19+.

Held in Toronto June 5, The Economist Cannabis Summit brought together an international roster of speakers addressing the cannabis industry from several perspectives, and true to The Economist magazine brought insights and sometimes controversy to the main stage.

I was able to chat with three of the many interesting people in the cannabis industry represented at this event starting with veteran Toronto retail Robin Ellins, owner of the Friendly Stranger, this year celebrating 25 years in the cannabis culture and accessory space from his Queen Street store in Toronto. We talked about authenticity and what it will take to compete in the retail cannabis marketplace in the years to come.

Next I spoke with Emmy award winning director Abbey Epstein on her documentary “Weed The People” which looks at medical cannabis in the U.S., and talk about the lessons she learned about the plant’s history of stigmatization and prospects for decriminalization in America.

Last but certainly not least a rare, exclusive interview with Jim Tebrake, Assistant Chief statistician, Economic Statistics, Statistics Canada about the innovative approach Stats. Canada took to sizing the retail (black market) cannabis market and his ongoing insights measuring Canadians use and consumption and the industries production dynamics.

Let’s jump right in now starting with my interview with Robin from The Friendly Stranger

Thanks again to my special guests Robin, Abby and Jim for joining me on this special edition.

The day concluded with a fireside chat with Vicente Fox, former President of Mexico and current board member at Canada-based cannabis company Khiron Life Sciences, sharing his observations based on ten years of focus of the cannabis space. Amongst many things, he also spoke about integrating cannabis into NAFTA and other forward looking economic, policy and political objectives. Check out this interview in BNN:
https://www.bnnbloomberg.ca/video/cannabis-should-be-tied-into-revamped-nafta-deal-former-mexico-president-vicente-fox~1701077

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your
favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until then, have a great week

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

My guest on this Encore episode from the summer of 2023 is Rob Smith, veteran retailer and now the CEO and Founder of The Phluid Project, GET Phluid, and The Phluid Phoundation; he has created a brand, combining his profession with his passion and a commitment to social justice.   Rob and I first met when he was a guest on the Remarkable Retail podcast during the pandemic; we recently almost literally ran into each other at a conference in Toronto on the show floor, so an excellent opportunity to catch up on The Phluid Project and the retail environment in general from his vantage point.

About Rob

Rob Smith, the CEO and Founder of The Phluid Project, GET Phluid and The Phluid Phoundation, has created a brand, combining his profession, which is retail, along with his passion, a commitment to social justice.  After graduating from Michigan State University, Rob began a long retail career, spanning over 30 years, orchestrating multi-billion dollar businesses through merchandising,  e-commerce, marketing, product development and supply chain management. 

He worked his way through Macys for over two decades, working within four divisions and finishing with his final position as GMM/EVP Macys Corporate in product merchandising.  Gaining new experiences, Rob became GMM/EVP at Victoria’s Secret and the Children’s Global Chief Product Officer for Nike, Levi’s Jordan, Hurley, and Converse with Haddad Brands. 

Rob leads the CSR committee as a Board of Director for Steve Madden and is an Executive in Residence with Wunderkind and The Fashioneering Lab.  He’s the former Board Chair for The Hetrick-Martin Institute and also served on the board of directors for Athlete Ally.  Rob lives in NYC with his husband, Rod Grozier, and his dog, Jackson. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of August 26, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

He's leading the Canadian package delivery and eCommerce shipping industry with a ONE BILLION DOLLAR investment...hear all about capacity being created in Canada’s shipping infrastructure, the enhanced capabilities that deliver competitive advantage to their customers all from Purolator Inc. President & CEO John Ferguson in my exclusive interview!

Next I connect with Arnaud Bussieres, the CEO of retailer Clearly. Started in Vancouver in 2000 as a pure play digital native contact lens eCommerce brand, then purchased in 2014 by French eyewear powerhouse Ellisor, Arnaud takes us through the brand and retail strategy, the fortunate position of having Amazon set the bar high, the role of bricks and mortar stores, and the importance that local and national direct to home delivery plays in the winning formula that is this innovative direct to customer retailer.

Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, let’s listen to my interview with John Ferguson from Purolator Canada

Thanks to John and Arnaud for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Brain Rush!  Gen AI, AI Hallucinations and Retailers with Peter Cohan, an Associate Professor of Management Practice at Babson College

Meet Peter Cohan, an Associate Professor of Management Practice at Babson College, the founding principal of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm, and has completed over 150 growth-strategy consulting projects for global technology companies and invested in seven startups, three of which were sold for about $2 billion and one of which went public in 2021 at an $18 billion valuation.  Impressive numbers.

Peter tells us about his 17th book, another impressive number, Brain Rush, and we get deep into GenAI, whether the current concentration of AI development amongst the most prominent tech players will help or hurt the development of valuable and safe AI, AI hallucinations and how retailers should think about their impact on customer service, AI flyers for the masses and much more!

About Peter

Peter Cohan is an Associate Professor of Management Practice at Babson College. He teaches strategy, leadership, and entrepreneurship to students in the college’s undergraduate, Master of Science in Entrepreneurial Leadership (MSEL), MBA, and Executive Education programs. He is coordinator of Babson’s required undergraduate strategy course and the creator and teacher of advanced strategy courses for undergraduate and MSEL students. Cohan is the founding principal of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He has completed over 150 growth-strategy consulting projects for global technology companies and invested in seven startups, three of which were sold for about $2 billion and one of which went public in 2021 at an $18 billion valuation. He has written 17 books, includingBrain Rush: How to Invest and Compete in the Real World of Generative AI andNet Profit: How to Invest and Compete in the Wild World of Internet Business. He is a senior contributor to Forbes and an Inc. contributor. He is a frequent media commentator who has appeared on ABC’s Good Morning America, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC, Fox Business News, American Public Media’s MarketPlace, WBUR, WGBH, New England Cable News, and the Boston ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates. He has been quoted in the Associated Press, the Christian Science Monitor, the London Evening Standard, the Times of London, the New York Times, Nikkei, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Portugal’s Expresso, the Economist, Time, BusinessWeek, and Fortune. He also appeared in the 2016 documentary film We the People: The Market Basket Effect. Prior to starting his firm, he worked as a case team leader for Monitor Company, Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter’s consulting firm. He has taught at MIT, Stanford, Columbia, Tel Aviv University, New York University, and Bentley University.

About Brain Rush

My most recent book (the 17th I have authored) Brain Rush: How to Invest and Compete in the Real World of Generative AI, discusses both the benefits and challenges of implementing AI in the retail and eCommerce markets and some of the specific topics I could discuss on your podcast include:

• How can retailers distinguish the few high payoff generative AI applications from the many losing ones?
• Which generative AI applications are creating the most value for retailers?
• What are the most significant risks retailers could face if they introduce generative AI to customers and partners?
• How should retailers capture the benefits and minimize the risks of these high payoff generative AI applications?

Peer pressure forces CEOs to tell Wall Street how generative AI will transform their business but at the same time, CEOs fear generative AI hallucinations could threaten their company’s reputation. This fear is based in reality. For instance, Google’s AI advised people to add glue to pizza,Forbes careers contributor Jack Kelly noted. And Air Canada's AI chatbot made up a refund policy for a customer — and a Canadian tribunal forced the airline to issue a real refund based on its AI-invented policy, Wired reported.

This inconsistent battle has significant implications for business. Of 200 to 300 generative AI experiments the typical large company is undertaking, a mere 10 to 15 have been rolled out internally, and perhaps one or two have been released to customers. 

Babson College Associate Professor of Management Practice

Peter S. Cohan & Associates

LinkedIn Page

Books

Forbes and Inc. columns

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada

As a company they are a a household name.  As a prized vendor with their hand on the meta - data behind an entire industry they are unrivalled, matched only by their people who put the two together and help us see around corners and into the future.

On this episode of The Voice of Retail, I welcome back to the podcast Rob Garf, Vice President and General Manager Retail for Salesforce.

Rob helps us unpack seasonal trends, Black Friday and Cyber Monday results, and rolls out the the crystal ball to talk about the rest of the year and what and how 2022 will look, act and feel.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode, I’m in Chicago with famed business strategist Rishad Tobaccowala, who shares insights from his bestselling book “Restoring the Soul of Business: Staying Human in the Age of Data” talks about his 30-year career advising clients on change, innovation and growth and in a wide-ranging and next-level fascinating discussion talks about the future of the workplace, our roles within in, and the difference between a cult and a culture, then three massive global trends you need to know.

Follow Rishad's blog here, and subscribe to his amazing weekly newsletter, "The future does not fit in the containers of the past",  here. 

*******

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Latest episode of The Voice of Retail #podcast is live. In this special edition episode, I join David Poirier, CEO at The Poirier Group, for a live and interactive discussion on the state of retail and the structural implications of the COVID era to the supply chain and beyond. We also talk about corporate culture and how organizations will need to continue adapting to changes in how we work and how consumers shop as we look forward to the future post-vaccine retail world.

David Poirier

As the founder and CEO of TPG, David is a dynamic and visionary leader who brings considerable experience developed from senior executive roles in the retail, general merchandise, food distribution, health and life sciences and manufacturing industry sectors. He is a Senior Executive and Accomplished Leader who creates and executes operational strategies, business transformation and process improvements that positively impact the organization. He brings a unique set of tools, methodologies and techniques aimed at improving operations in US, Canada, and international businesses. He has an ability to create and translate strategic roadmaps into actionable goals that influence organizations. David thrives at running multiple global divisions in complex and ever-changing business environments, and effecting positive cultural shifts that impact bottom line performance.

The Poirier Group was a natural progression for David, who has become adept at understanding complexity in an ever changing landscape. David claims the secret to his success comes from ensuring balance between improving business processes and building human alignment. His talent for managing multiple client engagements, while overseeing significant transformation projects, ensures that every client will receive his personal attention to ensure that The Poirier Group brand and reputation remains exceptional.

The Poirier Group

Just over 15 years ago David Poirier started The Poirier Group (TPG) after he worked for years in senior executive roles in retail companies, where he gained significant experience and exposure into the business challenges many companies face. He believed he could make a meaningful impact on organizations across many industries by creating value and implementing and integrating sustainable change successfully. Having worked with large business consulting firms in the past who provided cookie-cutter solutions, David believed there could be a better approach to consulting, and thus, The Poirier Group was born. Since then, TPG has grown to become one of the best business management consulting firms in Toronto.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Jim Inglis is a veteran in the retail home improvement space. Working his way from the shop floor to the C-Suite, he has a unique understanding of the industry to offer.

On this episode of The Voice of Retail podcast, I sit down with Jim to talk about his career, his new book titled ‘Breakthrough Retailing: How a Bleeding Orange Culture Can Change Everything,’ and how a certain amount of chaos is healthy.

Using his career and the history of Home Depot as blueprints, Jim offers his leadership tools and insights on company culture to retailers that are looking to remain competitive and relevant in changing times.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
 

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. 

Jim Inglis is a world-renowned expert with sixty years of experience in the retail home-improvement industry. He served in executive positions with The Home Depot for thirteen years, where he held the titles of Vice President of Merchandising, West Coast; Executive Vice President of Merchandising; and Executive Vice President, Strategic Development. He also served as a member of the Corporate Board of Directors. Currently, he serves as President of Inglis Retailing. He is also the author of Breakthrough Retailing: How a Bleeding Orange Culture Can Change Everything.

Inglis has helped shape the industry worldwide as a special adviser to the boards of leading home-improvement retailers across the globe: Sodimac in Santiago, Chile; Hornbach in Bornheim, Germany; Bunnings Warehouse in Melbourne, Australia; and Komeri in Niigata, Japan. He is also a past member of numerous boards of directors including for: Home World in Tianjin, China, Chamberlain Manufacturing, K&G, and the National Kitchen and Bath Association, among others. In 2015, he was honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Global Home Improvement Network and the European DIY Retail Association.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

On this episode, I discover the top ten food trends for 2023 with Jo-Ann McArthur, President at Nourish Food Marketing, who returns to the podcast to discuss her latest annual Trend Report: Food Is Transformative.

Download the report here:

https://www.nourish.marketing/trend-report

About Jo-Ann 

I don’t know much about marketing for real estate. Or for cars, detergents, or life insurance. I leave that to the generalist ad agencies out there. But helping our clients sell more food, that’s something Nourish knows an awful lot about. Because that’s all we do. So, if you grow or make food and you’d like to increase your sales, then you might want to talk to us.

As a Founding Partner and President of Nourish Food Marketing, I now build powerful brands for food and beverage products in Canada, the US and Europe, creating marketing strategies that help move products off the shelves, into the consumer’s shopping basket, onto their plates and into their hearts.
I’ve built brands and businesses at large blue-chip companies like Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Cadillac Fairview. As a divisional President of Molson Coors, and a member of its North America Management Board, I led the charge to sell more beer more profitably.

I have also been an instructor at Schulich Executive School of Business, FoodStarter (a food incubator), as well as the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada and the Association of Canadian Advertisers.

I am founding chair of the Sponsorship Marketing Council of Canada, a Past President of The Empire Club of Canada where I hosted leaders from around the globe, and serve as Past Chair of ABC Life Literacy Canada. I also serve on the board of Les Dames d”Escoffier Ontario Chapter.

Numerous television appearances, including recently as a food marketing expert in the international TV documentary series "Eat Me (or try not to)" airing on Curiosity Stream.
Previous speaking engagements include:
Star Women in Grocery
SIAL
STORE
World Trade Organization
Restaurants Canada
Ontario-European Agri-Food Forum
Food And Beverage Ontario
The Pet Food Association (Canada and U.S.)
Woman of Influence WXN
Packaging Association of Canada
IEG Annual Conference Chicago
World Congress of Sport New York
Women & Leadership Summit
Numerous Chamber of Commerce appearances

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Content of this podcast is intended for 21+.

Welcome to the Voice of Retail special O’Cannabiz Conference retail cannabis edition I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this special edition podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

I recently attended the April O’Cannabiz cannabis conference [https://ocannabiz.com/], a multi-day event in Toronto and as always met and heard lots of really interesting cannabis industry thought leaders in this close-knit and expanding community. I thought for this episode I’d let my interviews speak for themselves to give you a good flavour for the issues and the insights from the conference. I was fortunate to interview three amazing thought leaders from different perspectives on retail recreational cannabis - a top global retail industry thought leader, the CEO of a top cannabis retailer looking to re-imagine the retail experience and the customer they serve, and a U.S. based integrated LP and retailer to help us see around the corner to what is next and upcoming for retail recreational cannabis in Canada.

So first I chat with the one and only Tony Chapman back on the voice of retail for a second week in a row this time talking about retail cannabis in his role as the MC for this event. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonychapmanreactions/

Next I chat with me Tom Dyck, CEO of mihi Cannabis [https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-dyck/] who was drawn out of retirement from a successful career at a major Canadian banking institution into a whole new industry, and last but certainly not least I talk with California-based NUG CEO & Founder John Oram [https://www.linkedin.com/in/oramjj/] who takes us through his journey from scientists to fully integrated producer and retailer in the U.S.

So let’s listen in as I sit down first with Tony Chapman and talk about the Bong Shows and moonshots:

Special thanks again to my guests Tony, Tom and John for chatting with me on the podcast today, apologies to Tom for the technical gremlins towards the end of our interview the mushed up our interview tracks together to make it sound like we were talking over each other, and to John for a bit of echo as the very beginning of our interview.

That’s a wrap on this very special O’Cannabiz edition of The Voice of Retail. You can learn about their upcoming September conference , GrowUp, happing in beautiful Niagara Falls Ontario September 12-14th at https://growupconference.com/

I’m Michael LeBlanc Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc., and you can learn more about me at www.meleblanc.co or on LInkedIn, and stay tuned for our next regular edition of the podcast available each and every Friday. If you like this edition please subscribe, rate it on iTunes and tell all your LinkedIn friends! Until next time, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada

Has the retail salon industry been forever changed by COVID? More than ever, people take it upon themselves to cut, style, and dye their hair at home. Hair and beauty is one of the industries hit hardest by the pandemic, so how are retailers adapting to these massive shifts in consumer behaviour? In today’s episode, I sit down with serial entrepreneur and industry visionary Ray Civello; we learn about his fascinating path to success, what enabled him to succeed over and over again, and his take on the future of this dynamic sector of the beauty industry.

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests like Ray on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

In this episode, meet Bobby Sahni, a veteran of multicultural marketing with over 20 years of experience. Bobby discusses his journey from corporate roles in banking and telecommunications to his current role as a leader at Ethnicity Matters, a Toronto-based multicultural marketing agency. He emphasizes the importance of understanding Canada's demographic shifts and integrating multicultural strategies into mainstream business practices.

Bobby highlights that multiculturalism is now mainstream and should be central to growth strategies, and is the growth strategy in Canada. He also shares insights into the diverse needs of newcomers and the critical role of first impressions in retail marketing. Bobby is set to speak at the upcoming Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing Conference, and he will preview what he will be discussing on the main stage. he will cover data-driven strategies and share examples of successful multicultural marketing campaigns.

About Bobby

Bobby Sahni is a veteran and thought-leader in the multicultural marketing and advertising industry. Bobby was the Head of Multicultural Marketing at Rogers Communications and has been a pioneer in developing, executing and managing diversity and multicultural marketing initiatives for a number of best-in-class organizations. He is Co-Founder and Partner at Ethnicity Matters – a multicultural marketing & advertising agency dedicated to helping companies drive new growth and sales by engaging North America’s fast growing, big spending ethnic and new immigrant communities. He is also Partner in Tulsea Sports Marketing, a US-based marketing consultancy focussed on the intersection of multicultural marketing and sports & entertainment. 

Bobby has earned national and international recognition for his work and thought leadership in multicultural marketing. Bobby also loves teaching, having guest-lectured at many universities/colleges and regularly speaks at industry events and conferences across North America. Bobby has also been on a variety of advisory boards and committees including Hockey Canada, Imagine Canada, Seva Food Bank, Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, Cricket to Conquer Cancer, Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce, Reel Asian Film Festival and Credit Valley Conservation Foundation. Bobby earned his MBA from the global Kellogg Schulich Executive MBA program with cross-cultural studies in Hong Kong, Germany, Miami, Chicago and Toronto. He also holds a Bachelor of Science & Business degree from the University of Waterloo.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of July 1, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode…live from the main stage at RCC’s #STORE2019 conference my exclusive interview with Walter Robb, former co-CEO of Whole Foods. We chat about the nature of consumers on both sides of the border, the zen of Amazon then, now and in the future, the current state of grocery retail across North America and trends for the future.

Then a return visit from Michele Sexsmith Senior Vice President Retail, Retail Estate and Entertainment sectors with Environics Analytics talking about using modern data and sophisticated mobile-based analytics to help guide retailers in their site selection and understanding customer insights.

Next we’ll cover off Retail This Week including Ontario celebrating with a 50, can the Goose continue to soar, Amsterdam’s HEMA in Canada, Dollarama goes south (American), Canopy/Tweed/Tokyo Smoke CEO Bruce Linton outside and talking, SportCheck more inclusive, Man/Sask testing same day cannabis delivery, Ireland’s Primark celebrates 50 & 372, Robots rub off on the humans at Amazon warehouse, and Galen Weston gets serious on sustainability at the Consumer Goods Forum global summit.

But first, let’s listen in to my interview with live from the big stage at #STORE2019 with Walter Robb

Thanks to Walter for generously giving me the thumbs-up to put our interview on the podcast, Layla at CAA for helping me pull this episode together, and Michele for being my special guest. Now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your
favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of July 15, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode I interview two of retails biggest thinkers and most strategic advisors for their thoughts on modern retail and what it takes to compete and win profitably.

First up is David Poirier, Founder and CEO of The Poirier Group - we look back at a bit of retail history through our mutual lens as former Hudson’s Bay executives (Dave was CIO of HBC, I was Director of eCommerce and CRM), the nature and pace of change in retail technology (hint: don’t buy the Pink Pill), moving to agile processes, helping retailers understand how the work gets done, sustainable results and the right metrics.

Next my interview recorded in Vancouver at the Consumer Goods Global Summit with Ted Salter, Partner, Canada, Advisory Services, EY. We talk about his vast experience working with retailers at the most senior levels and helping them move beyond being efficient, helping them imagining the future consumer with customer “hackathons”, creating future worlds, un-freezing the worldview and Ted’s response to my “if you had a Billion dollars, what would you do?” retail question.

Finally we check in with Canadian Retailer Editor-in-Chief Sean Tarry who fills us in on the latest edition of Canada’s only magazine dedicated to the retail industry, this edition dedicated to retail sustainability but chock full of other great content from you’ll hear all about including must-read articles from contributors including Retail Insider’s Craig Patterson and interviews with retail brand gurus Joe Jackman and Tony Chapman.

Next we’ll cover off Retail This Week including Aritizia’s new loyalty program, Bezos climbs to the top of the thunder dome to celebrate a record breaking Prime Day(s) sales result, Reformation comes to Canada, Father doesn’t know best in Turkish eCommerce, Charming Charlie closes the book on all of it’s 261 stores, Fred’s closes 129 and Dean and Deluca is just eerie now, and Zara going 100% sustainable fabrics by 2025.

But first, let’s listen to my interview with David Poirier

Thanks to Dave, Ted and Sean for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to a very special Retail West edition of the Voice of Retail,  I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Atomic Reach.  Atomic Reach offers Atomic AI, the world's leading Smart Content Platform. By optimizing product descriptions and marketing content to match shopper's reading and emotional preferences, the deliver sales conversion improvement and personalization at scale. 

Recorded live from Vancouver at RCC’s annual Retail West conference with top retailers and retail industry insiders gathered for a day of insights and action items, I spoke with leading retailers and took the stage myself to explore leading edge AI solutions for eCommerce digital marketing content.

First up is Frank Monteleone  Senior Vice President, Human Resources & Corporate Relations Rexall Pharmacy Group.  We talk about the importance of employer branding, and leveraging modern digital tools and social media to find the top employees that make the difference at Rexall.

Next a live recording of my fireside chat on the Retail West stage with Paul Rosco, Vice President of Strategy for Atomic Reach.  After an introduction from RCC Vice President Sonny Brar, we break down the essence of AI, understand the spectrum of it’s key contribution to retail, and finally how Atomic Reach used their AI engine to create a 7% sales lift for Golf Town.

Finally a look back and ahead with Mark Startup, as he looks back on a storied career representing independent retailers coast-to-coast and looking ahead as he prepares to transition to whatever comes next.

But first, let’s listen to my interview with Frank Monteleone from Rexall.

******

That’s a wrap on this special Retail West edition of The Voice of Retail, Thanks to Frank, Paul and Mark for being my guests on this Retail West special edition!

if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. I'm producer & host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is produced in conjunction with the Retail Council of Canada. 

Veteran retailer, entrepreneur, investor and friend of the pod David Lui is back this episode with his new business partner, Canadian retail legend Joe Mimran in an exclusive interview to talk about buying Vancouver's Kit & Ace, a retailer with an origin story that goes back almost a decade to it's founding by Lululemon lead designer Shannon Wilson and son JJ Wilson.   We talk about their impression of the brand today, what makes it great, and growth plans for this innovative apparel retailer. 

About David

David Lui is an accomplished global brand and entrepreneurial leader.

With a wealth of experience in leading complex retail, digital and consumer environments, his impressive portfolio includes developing global award-winning marketing campaigns, scaling online e-commerce brands, and being named CEO of the twelfth Fastest Growing Company in Canada’s PROFIT100, First for Fastest-Growing Company in British Columbia, Canada, winner of the BDC Young Entrepreneur Award, and a Business in Vancouver Forty under 40. In 2022, he was also ranked 11th in the Global CEO Award.

David has significantly impacted the retail industry and community through his involvement as an investor and board member. He has served on the Board and Governance Committee for Hypertension Canada, the Retail Leadership Committee for the Canadian Marketing Association, the Marketing Advisory Committee for the Retail Council of Canada, and as a Board Member and Chair of the Marketing Committee for Theatre Calgary. 

He holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University.

About Joe

Joe Mimran is a leading contributor to the fashion and design industry and is best-known for creating a succession of visionary brands and retail concepts, including Club Monaco, Caban, Joe Fresh, Joe Fresh Beauty and Alfred Sung. Recognized universally as having a sharp eye, impeccable attention to detail, and insight into emerging trends, Joe is always on the forefront of what’s next. Joe is also an avid investor and champions exceptional entrepreneurs. Joe also stars on the popular CBC show, Dragons Den, now in its 12th season.

Chronology of entrepreneurial ventures:

• In 1978 Joe co-founded a manufacturing apparel business in Toronto Canada.
• In 1980 the Company launched the Alfred Sung brand which achieved immediate consumer acceptance and success. While the company controlled the design and manufacturing of the women’s collection the company embarked on expanding the brand into a myriad of consumer products under license. In 2013 Joe sold his interest.
• In 1985 Joe founded Club Monaco, a vertical retail concept known for its distinctive minimalistic style and monochromatic palette. Club Monaco instantly became a cult brand that grew to over 150 stores in Canada, US, and Asia.
• In 2000, Club Monaco and Caban it’s home products lifestyle concept, were purchased by Ralph Lauren, marking Ralph Lauren’s first-ever acquisition.
• In 2001 Joe created Joseph Mimran and Associates. a consulting practice that has serviced numerous high profile international retailers, including Holt Renfrew, Saks Fifth Avenue, Woolworths, South Africa, Coles a major food retailer in Australia and Loblaws, Staples US and Kroger.
• In 2003 Joe created a range of home products for Loblaws under the Presidents Choice brands.
• In 2006 Joe created the Joe Fresh concept for Loblaws. He oversaw the brand’s design and retail concepts, and made it the country's second largest apparel brand in dollars and units, with a vision of well-designed, well-priced clothes for a broad audience. Joe Fresh is sold in over 350 Loblaw stores in Canada and abroad.
• In addition to PC home in 2009 to Joe was also responsible for general merchandise products including the design, sourcing and presentation of all the GM private label brands.
• Joe retired from his position as Creative Director of Joe Fresh and General Merchandise in 2014.
• In 2019, Joe created and introduced gry mattr, a beautiful collection of home and office accessories that live at the intersection of work and life. Intelligently designed, globally inspired - and smartly priced. livegrymattr.com

Joe’s community efforts have included Chairman of the Fashion Design Council of Canada and honorary Chairman of the inaugural Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards. Joe has been the recipient of many industry awards including the Canadian Style Award and the lifetime achievement award by the Design Exchange. in 2015, Joe was inducted into Canada's Marketing Legends Hall of Fame. A patron of the arts, Mimran’s philanthropic activities include support of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, New Museum, New York and is a Luminaire for Luminato Arts Festival.

An avid traveler and art collector, Joe divides his time between Toronto and New York and is the father of four wonderful children.

About Michael 

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.   

Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row. 

Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Canada's top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail. He produces and co-hosts Remarkable Retail with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world. 

Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers. 

Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

On this special Canada Day episode, meet Edmonton-based entrepreneur and sustainable brand maven Karly Gramlich.  Karly talks about her leap of faith to pursue a passion and develop sustainable luxury fashion and accessories for the modern professional with her brand and online retail store Upper District.  Karly also shares with us how her personal journey has built the resilience and fortitude to take Upper District to the next level on the global stage

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Karly

Karly Gramlich is the Founder and CEO at Upper District; a Canadian-based sustainable luxury fashion and accessories brand. 

She describes herself as unapologetically unconventional. Despite growing up as a farmer's daughter and miles away from the luxury scene, her ambitious personality took hold and Upper District was born. She sought to outfit those who have worked relentlessly to achieve their goals, despite an unconventional background. 

Company contact email: inquiries@upper-district.com

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

In this special encore episode of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc welcomes Dr. Rebecca Homkes, a globally recognized high-growth strategy expert and author of the acclaimed book Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times. Dr. Homkes, who holds faculty positions at the London Business School and Duke University, shares invaluable insights into how leaders can build resilient and adaptive growth strategies in today’s rapidly changing business landscape.

As retailers continue to navigate turbulent times marked by rapid technological shifts, economic uncertainty, and global disruptions, this episode provides the strategic guidance needed to stay ahead. Dr. Homkes explains why traditional planning methods fall short in volatile environments and advocates for a mindset shift from planning to preparing—focusing on setting directions rather than rigid destinations. She emphasizes the need for businesses to build frameworks that prioritize learning, customer feedback, and agile decision-making.

The conversation includes compelling real-world examples of companies that successfully adapted under pressure, like IKEA’s innovative warehouse strategy born out of necessity and a Scandinavian amusement park that achieved record growth despite pandemic restrictions. Dr. Homkes’ framework for thriving under uncertainty centers on embracing preparation, implementing a forced reset when linear growth stagnates, and maintaining "aligned speed" to balance swift decision-making with strategic coherence.

As geopolitical tensions, technological disruptions like AI, and global economic pressures continue to shape the retail landscape, Dr. Homkes outlines how to identify must-win battles and prioritize actions that drive sustainable growth. She also discusses how leadership dynamics and organizational structures must evolve to support this adaptive mindset.

This episode is essential listening for retail leaders looking to transform volatility into opportunity and position their businesses for long-term success. Tune in now on your favorite podcast platform and gain the insights you need to thrive in these unpredictable times.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Charles Chase has spent his entire career working with high end analytics to help understand and predict consumer behaviour.

In his new book, Consumer-Based Forecasting and Planning, Predicting Changing Demand Patterns in the New Digital Economy, Charlie takes this experience and combines it with world leading analytics powerhouse SAS to delivery an incisive and novel approach to forecasting demand for retailers.  

In a book and this interview right for the times, we talk about how the changes in people, process, analytics and technology plus machine learning can address our most challenging forecasting opportunities.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
 

Charles Chase

 Charlie Chase, Author at SAS Blogs

Senior executive with experience in the Consumer Packaged Goods industry specializing in Global Strategic Marketing, Demand Forecasting and Planning, Market Research, Market Response Modeling and Analytic’s, Knowledge Management, Data Warehouse Design, Systems/Applications Development, and Project Management.

Specialties: Global Strategic Marketing & Planning, Market Mix Modeling & Simulation, Global Strategic Forecasting, Market Research & Analysis, Forecasting Systems Design, Forecasting Process Design, Project Management, Supply Chain Management, Data Warehouse Design, Data Warehouse Tools

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. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and this episode is sponsored by RIWI..

"What if you could take a daily pulse of retail shoppers in every market in the world - hearing directly about their behaviors, views and fears?  What if you could hear from more than just your own consumers and shoppers, and from people who don't participate in focus groups or research panels? RIWI collects real-time data on consumers in every market in the world. If you need to understand how people's views are changing in today's challenging environment visit RIWI.com to book a demo.

In this episode I welcome John Orr, the Senior Vice President of Retail for global human capital management powerhouse Ceridian just off the virtual stage at the NRF Big Show.  I tap into his depth of experience in this space looking at trends pre-COVID, and how as he describes in the post-COVID-19 era, retailers must build a more agile workforce that is ready to keep pace with the rapidly changing definition of a good customer

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode, meet Éric Champagne, CIO for Boutique La vie en Rose, and Olivier Roy, co-founder and CEO of Leav join the podcast together to share insights around the tradecraft of retail technology innovation and implementing frictionless in-store self-checkout solutions.

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Eric

CIO for Boutique La vie en Rose inc.,  IT leader with over 30 years of experience in IT, IS, Logistics, Distribution, Web development and operations and business processes  for retail, wholesale and e-commerce.

About Olivier

Olivier is co-founder and CEO of Leav. After working with a number of organizations in Canada and abroad, he combined his passion for technology with his experience in marketing and created Leav, a solution to a problem faced by most in-store shoppers: long lines in stores.
 

About Leav 

Leav help digitize businesses and offer to their customers a fast and personalized experience. With our web platform, store owners can now rapidly deploy mobile self-checkout and access in-store customer insights. With the rise of ecommerce, retailers need to meet new customer expectations, but not at the cost of sacrificing human interactions. Our technologies free up time for employees to focus on what matters the most.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode, I sit down with friend and fellow Top 100 Retail Influencer, Carl Boutet to talk about resilience and relevance in retail. 

Carl calls on his depth of experience and research to flesh out the transformations that retail has undergone in the pandemic and the reality of a 50-50 online-digital retail landscape.

As a consultant, speaker and educator in the retail space, Carl is now channeling his expertise into a book! It’s called The Great Acceleration: The Race to Retail Resilience and you can buy it on his website today.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada

On this episode we’re in the motor city, Detroit, to talk with innovative online retailer and sneaker marketplace  StockX co-founder Josh Luber.  We talk about the intersection of passion and profit, how StockX innovative formula drives authenticity and credibility into the collectible re-sell market, and how a perfect price transparency model based on the stock market is driving record sales even in the face of the covid crisis.  Last, we explore the wildly innovative IPO market that StockX creates for brands to launch product lines in this celebrity (Drake, Mark Walberg, Eminem) funded platform.

Next we head west to Santa Monica and chat with Ashley Merrill, CEO/Founder of Lunya Company, a purpose-built retailer focussed on bespoke sleepwear for the modern women.  We talk about the origin story behind the brand, and how the COVID crisis had changed the way Ashley is thinking about the business and how Lunya goes to market.

But first, lets check in with Josh from StockX

******

Thanks to Josh and Ashley for being my guests on this episode.   If you liked this podcast 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 industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a safe week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos makes Personalization EASY by helping you connect with your customers, connect with your data, and connect with your systems. Learn HOW at www.realcustomerengagement.com.

On this episode I travel to Montreal to meet Alexandre Guimond, Co-CEO of Altitude Sports a now pure-play eCommerce retailer focussed on curating high-quality, durable goods for outdoor adventures and urban pursuits.   We talk about their growth strategy in the “before time”, adjusting to the rapid demand in their business and their launch of same-day delivery in Montreal and coming soon in Toronto.

Next from Toronto Steffen Schenk, President / COO at mīhī cannabis returns to the podcast in his new role and talks about the journey to opening their first store in Ontario and their winning focus on customer experience.

But first, let’s check in with Alex from Altitude

******

Thanks to Alex and Steffen for being my guests, and omNovos for their support on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.  

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a safe week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Over the past year, there has been a seismic shift in the way we do business, which has led to massive changes for retailers and consumers. Today I'm joined by two fantastic guests, Carmen Ip from Lush and Rachel Meyers from Retail Zipline our sponsor for this episode. We have an informative discussion on how retail communications have evolved over the past year and how Retail Zipline has enabled Lush to adapt to unexpected changes with a moment's notice and push communications as fast as possible to everyone who needed it. 

"I look back and I reflect on how zip line has elevated everything. You know, we used to print off checklists, we used to send multiple emails, you know, we had action sheets, but you know, Zipline just makes everything so easy."

We get an inside look at how a massive brand coordinated its managerial and marketing communications during the pandemic and get some insight into how their experience will guide strategy in the future.

Sign up  for the RCC Retail Zipline/Lush webinar here. 

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail special Black Friday bonus episode, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos make Personalization EASY by helping you engage the right customer, with the right content, at the right time. Find out how you can get started quickly and affordably so you can focus on doing what matters most--driving revenue and margin growth at www.realcustomerengagement.com

This episode is also supported by riwi, real-time interactive world-wide intelligence, visit www.riwi.com to learn more…

In what is now an annual tradition for the podcast, in this bonus episode I talk to retail thought leaders to explore one of the most important days in the retail calendar - Black Friday!

First up, I welcome back Deciem CEO Nicola Kilner who lets us know that they are  Hitting the Pause, In Order To Move the World Forward and boycotting Black Friday,  no longer feel comfortable participating in a "holiday" so focus on hyper-consumerism and that leaves such a negative impact on our Earth. 

Next I assembled a top panel of thought leaders to discuss Black Friday strategy featuring best selling author and my partner in the Remarkable Retail podcast Steve Dennis and veteran retail CMOs Karen Stirling and Anne Donohoe for a lively and wide ranging discussion and debate.

But first, let’s hear from Nicola from Deciem

******

Thanks to Nicola, Steve, Karen and Anne for being my guests,  plus omNovos and riwi for their support on this bonus episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.  

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a safe week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this special episode, I am thrilled to be sharing an excerpt from my The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. 

Our very special guest for this episode is Richard Scofield, Président et Chef de la direction at Groupe St-Hubert. We start by asking Richard to assess the health of the brand today versus his ambition for the business -is he at where he wants to be as a team and leadership and in the minds of consumers. 

Next, Lots of chicken is found in restaurants, but St-Hubert stands above the rest. If we think of serving a good chicken as table stakes from a strategy point of view in a chicken restaurant, what differentiators does the business have /does he pursue that contribute to their success. Then we talk risks to the company, franchisee governance, and products coming to a grocery shelf near you!

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Richard

In October 2015, Richard Scofield was appointed President of Les Rôtisseries St-Hubert and in charge of the entire restaurant division for St-Hubert Group. Since joining the company, Mr. Scofield has had a fantastic career progression. Knowing how to rally teams around a common vision, Mr. Scofield developed strong collaborative leadership over the years and implemented various strategies that helped the network to achieve enviable results on the market.

Richard Scofield joined Les Rôtisseries St-Hubert in April 2004 as General Manager. For more than five years, his mandate was, among other things, to ensure the solid and healthy evolution of the Express concept. Since 2004, Mr. Scofield has succeeded in various leadership roles at the Head Office, from Supervisor for all corporate rotisseries to Assistant Director for Express locations. Within this role, Richard was responsible for ensuring the sound operations of all franchises and corporate Express locations, development and new openings of this concept.

In January 2010, Mr. Scofield became a Director of Operations and was responsible for all franchised and corporate rotisseries, new openings and recruiting franchisees. In November 2011, he was promoted to become the new Vice-President of Operations.

The one who came from a family of restaurant owners and was himself owner of Pizzédelic restaurants in the early 2000s was also mandated by RECIPE in December 2017 to manage the Harvey’s banner in Quebec. He joined St-Hubert Foundation Board of Directors as an Administrator since its creation and involve himself in several causes, especially the ITHQ.

About 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.

He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.

Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre’s Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Something different for this Holiday season on the #pod as I head into my eighth year of The Voice of Retail and prepare for the year ahead - a guest host, cross-over thought leader insight bonus series of episodes from my award-winning Remarkable Retail #podcast. This past summer, Steve Dennis and I released a series of six bonus episodes with leadership insights adapted from his newest best-seller, Leaders Leap.

Remember a few years ago when everyone was talking about a retail apocalypse? Physical retail was dead or dying, they said. Malls were going away. If you wanted to invest in brick-and-mortar, you’d be better off incinerating a big pile of cash.

But as it turned out, well, not so much.

As a keen observer, regular commentator, and strategic advisor on where shopping is headed, Steve pays more attention to these sorts of prognostications than the average bear, particularly since some of them are advanced by his friends and colleagues.

But Steve is also a card-carrying bullshit dispelling enthusiast. And when this sort of nonsense gets advanced as insight, he suddenly and clearly hears the words of Logan Roy from Succession ringing in his ears.

 "I love you, but you are not serious people."

In this episode, we’ll explore why the work of meaningful transformation IS serious work and why it requires that we become serious, courageous leaders who break through our denial, wake up to new and emerging realities, and, ultimately, do what it takes to position our organizations to aim higher, move faster, and act more boldly.

To drive our strategic growth agenda forward, we must develop a clear, well-informed view that’s rooted in reality, not false prophets; that emerges from doing the serious, often uncomfortable work required to transform at the speed of disruption.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

In this engaging interview, Eric Morris, Managing Director of Google Retail in Canada, shares holiday season insights for retailers. Leveraging over two decades of experience at Google, Eric discusses the critical role of personalization, AI, and content-driven strategies in meeting the evolving demands of Canadian consumers. Noting that holiday shopping habits are shaped by weather, calendar shifts, and economic indicators, he emphasizes the need for real-time adaptation.

Morris highlights how Google's search data and weekly consumer surveys offer retailers valuable insights into changing preferences, with unbranded searches—where shoppers are simply seeking "the best" options—on the rise. He also explains the power of platforms like YouTube, with videos such as "haul" or "try-on" videos driving significant purchase decisions.

AI emerges as a transformative tool, enabling retailers to analyze first-party data, personalize experiences, and optimize media spending. Google's Gemini AI and tools like Performance Planner are instrumental in helping retailers predict demand and refine advertising tactics for better returns on marketing investment. Additionally, Google Lens makes a visual impact by allowing consumers to shop directly from images, underscoring a shift towards intuitive, visually driven shopping experiences.

In closing, Morris encourages retailers to harness these tools and adapt their strategies, especially with this year's extended pre-Black Friday period, to optimize their holiday sales season.

Online resources

• Performance Planner: https://ads.google.com/intl/en_ca/home/tools/performance-planner/
• Performance Max: https://ads.google.com/intl/en_ca/home/campaigns/performance-max/

Key Trends

• 2024 will be the most researched holiday season, both in store and online:
• Searches have become more personalized: 
• Shoppers are looking for a more immersive experience: 
• AI is the gateway to winning shoppers this holiday season 
• The cyber shopping period is actually longer than BFCM
• The holiday halo marks the beginning of self-gifting:

o   The post-holiday season extends beyond boxing day. In fact there’s a growing rise of ‘self-gifters,’ and shoppers who come back due to product returns or gift cards creating an opportunity for retailers to focus on loyalty and returning customers. 63% of post-holiday shoppers consider loyalty programs in their decision-making. [3]

[1] Google commissioned Ipsos Consumer Continuous, US, CA, UK, FR, DE, IT, AU, JP, IN, CN, BR, MX, ES, ZA, KR ~n=280-740  online consumers 18+ per market that plan to shop for the holidays. Sep 3-6, 2024

[2] Google commissioned Ipsos Consumer Continuous, US, CA, UK, FR, DE, IT, AU, JP, IN, CN, BR, MX, ES, ZA, KR  ~n=500-1000 online consumers 18+ per market. Sep 3-6, 2024

[3] Google/Ipsos, Holiday Shopping Study, Online survey, Canadians 18+ who conducted holiday shopping activities in past two days (n=428). Dec 26, 2023 - Jan 3, 2024

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of April 22nd, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Stream Commerce, North America’s fastest growing Shopify plus agency, learn more at Stream Commerce dot com.

In this episode part 1 of my conversation with serial innovator Peter van Stolk, CEO of SPUD based in Vancouver. In a wide ranging conversation we talk about the business he founded, his journey to creating a circular economy business, and the fundamental nature of innovation in retail. www.spud.ca

Next, a feature interview with the one and only Tony Chapman as he expands on his latest article “Mind your P’s but own your Be’s (https://www.retailcouncil.org/community/technology/mind-your-ps-but-own-your-bes-how-bricks-can-beat-back-clicks/ ), in advance of his appearance on the main stage at RCC’s STORE conference along with three retail titans. You can get ahold of Tony at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonychapmanreactions/

Lastly, a special bonus interview with Michelle Ribout, Director of Events at Retail Council of Canada talking about STORE2019, Excellence in Retail awards and Canadian Grand Prix awards. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleribout/

Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including Henry’s on the acquisition trail, LuLulemon’s aspirations towards growing the men’s wear business, celebrating Edmonton based Poppy Barley, the Golden Goose, Casper doubles down on Canada changes at Chicos and much more. But first, let’s listen to my interview with Peter:

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your
favourite podcast platform. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home, just say “Hey Google, play the voice of retail podcast”

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or on LinkedIn

Join me again next week for part two of my interview with retailer Peter van Stolk, and Michelle Sexsmith from Environic Analytics talking about their powerful Clickspend product and the insights and advantage retailers can glean from utilizing that tool. Until then, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada

On this snapshot episode we meet Robert Tas, Chief Growth Officer for 1.800 Flowers.  We talk about his rich background in data, marketing, including a stint in consulting as a partner with McKinsey and now putting those skills to use to build brand by merging performance marketing, content and modern communication strategies

Today’s podcast is part of an ongoing series of CommerceNext episodes that will feature some the fantastic speakers taking the virtual stage January 20, 27th and February 3rd with snapshot insights into how they dealt with online /eCommerce in the first year of the COVID era and lessons learned for the future.

You can learn more and register for CommerceNext here. 

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

The one and only Kristina Rogers, Global EY Consumer Chairwoman, is back on the podcast with the latest powerful insights from her 13th Future Consumer Index report. Climate change is becoming a growing reality for people worldwide and Canada, disrupting ingrained consumption habits. If you think COVID-19 shocked consumer behaviour, brace yourself for what happens next. 

About Kristina

As EY Global Consumer Leader, Kristina is responsible for defining and implementing the EY strategy for consumer products companies and retailers. She ensures that EY’s global clients are well served across geographies, leading over 30,000 EY professionals worldwide. Kristina works directly with clients on the strategic issues they face as they pursue their rapid global expansion and is the Global Client Service Partner for a major consumer products company.

Prior to her current role, she served as Emerging Markets Leader for Consumer Products & Retail. Before joining EY, she was a senior partner at a global strategy consulting firm.

Kristina has lived and worked in more than 20 countries. Over the course of her career, she has built long-term client relationships with some of the world’s largest global consumer products companies, helping them solve some of their most complex strategic marketing issues across geographies.

How Kristina is building a better working world

“I am currently a member of the Financial Times’ ‘Global Board-Ready’ Women group and was selected as one of 40 women by Forbes to join ‘More Women on Boards’ in Turkey.”

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to a very special Global eCommerce Leaders Forum edition of the Voice of Retail,  I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and is sponsored by Purolator, Canada’s Shipping Company for courier and freight, learn more at www.purolator.com

In this special edition episode I’m on the road, setting up the Purolator Podcasting Studio in the heart of the Big Apple at GELF where speakers delivered a mix of strategic insights and tactical cross-border To Dos, discussing different market entry and growth models and learning how customer journeys differ country-to-country.  For more information check out https://www.globalecommerceleadersforum.com/

So get ready for an action packed episode with four back to back interviews with experts in global eCommerce, starting with Frank Lavin, CEO of ExportNow.  In government, Frank served as U.S. Ambassador to Singapore and Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade, now helping business understand and launch in the Chinese marketplace.

Then we talk to YuJin Yong, Senior Director of Direct to Consumer at MZ Wallace, a designer, manufacturer and retailer of handbags and fashion accessories.  YuJin  helps us understand the MZ Wallace brand and the important role international retail, including in Canada, plays for this innovative retailer.

Next I’m joined by George Hanson, who shares his perspectives with decades of experience in international eCommerce with brands such as Under Armour where he was VP North America E-Commerce and Retail

Lane Bryant, and Land’s End which included a stint as Interim Managing Director for their Japan business.

Last but not least we hear from Paul Stein, Purolator Account Executive based in New York servicing a thriving trade in international cross border shipping and commerce into the Canadian market.

But first, lets listen to my interview with Frank Lavin

******

Thanks to Frank, YuJin, George and Paul for being my guests on this episode, and to GELF founders Jim Okamura, Scott Silverman and Kent Allen for being my generous hosts.

That’s a wrap on this special edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada

On this special episode I am thrilled to be sharing a full episode from my Conversations with CommerceNext podcast featuring Exclusive Holiday Research with Forrester VP & Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali

I launched the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast with my U.S. based partners to meet the top practitioners and thought leaders in the DTC & eCommerce marketing space, and explore both their tradecraft and share the learnings from their career journeys.  

Now let’s have a listen to my podcast partner Scott Silverman as he introduces the episode with Sucharita, a frequent and popular guest here on The Voice of Retail

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Sucharita Kodali

VP, Principal Analyst

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.

In her research, Sucharita covers such consumer-oriented topics as eCommerce forecasting and trends, merchandising best practices, conversion optimization, and social computing in the retail world. She has also authored "The State Of Retailing Online," a joint study conducted annually with NRF.

Previous Work Experience

Prior to Forrester, Sucharita was the director of marketing at Saks Fifth Avenue, where she managed the customer acquisition, retention, and market research efforts for the $2 billion luxury retailer's online channel. Prior to Saks, she held management positions at Toys R Us, where she was a merchant in the Babies R Us division and a store manager in one of the company's largest toy stores. She also worked for the Walt Disney Company, where she developed and managed marketing plans for new business initiatives, including the Disney Stores, the Disney Cruise Line, and Club Disney.

Additionally, she was involved in the expansion of Cap Cities/ABC properties, specifically ESPN Zone, ESPN Magazine, and the Go.com network. She has written two nonfiction books and has contributed to BusinessWeek Online.

Education

Sucharita holds a B.A. in economics from Harvard University and an MBA from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Scott Silverman

An ecommerce veteran, Scott Silverman has been active in the industry since 1999 and is passionate about digital retail and the innovation driving the industry. Scott Silverman is the Co-Founder of CommerceNext. Previously, he spent 10 years as Executive Director of Shop.org where he launched the Shop.org Annual Summit. Scott co-invented “Cyber Monday” in 2005 and was the founder of Cybermonday.com in 2006, a shopping site that has generated more than $2.5 million for Shop.org’s scholarship fund.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

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

**************

Something different for this Holiday season on the #pod as I head into my eighth year of The Voice of Retail and prepare for the year ahead - a guest host, cross-over thought leader insight bonus series of episodes from my award-winning Remarkable Retail #podcast

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

On this special episode I am thrilled to be sharing a excerpt from the recent season three opener of my Remarkable Retail podcast, where my podcast partner Steve Dennis and I interview Brad Stone. Brad is the senior executive editor of global technology at Bloomberg News and author of Amazon Unbound, Jeff Bezos and the Invention of a Global Empire.  Let’s listen in now starting with an introduction by Steve. 

Remarkable Retail is 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.

In this 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.

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.

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. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada

There’s no doubt that the last twenty months have changed us and our relationship with the world. For retailers, this has resulted in an unprecedented shift in consumer behaviour that has proven difficult to stay ahead of, let alone predict.

In today’s episode of The Voice of Retail, we’re going to step inside the mind of the modern consumer by unpacking the latest research coming out of EY.

I’m thrilled to be welcoming back to the podcast Kristina Rogers, Chairwoman of the Global Consumer Board, who takes us through the latest edition of EY’s Future Consumer Index. We cover the key takeaways, surprising findings + more.

Stick around for Kristina’s three pointers for retailers that are planning for 2022 and beyond.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Kristina Rogers

Globally led fastest growing set of industries at EY - from FY16-FY20 - by 2%. A creative and experienced senior executive leader in the areas of strategic marketing, corporate strategy, and global business development. Global sponsor and architect of both EY’s signature FutureConsumer.Now program and the EY Global Future Consumer Index.

Areas of expertise include new concept and offer development, profitable growth planning, market entry strategy, strategic portfolio management, and market evolution planning in both the B2C and B2B marketplaces. Highly team-oriented and able to develop and communicate clear vision while assembling and galvanizing high-performing teams. Has had long-term client relationships with the world largest soft-drinks company, largest confectionery company, and largest FMCG/CPG firm working at the EVP and CEO levels. Currently Kristina is the Global Consumer Industries Leader at EY working to implement EY's global Consumer Industries strategy and to deliver exceptional client service to EY's global clients.

Kristina is a truly global citizen having lived, worked, and travelled in over 50 countries. Previously, Kristina was the Emerging Market Leader for Consumer Products at EY. In this role Kristina worked extensively with EY teams and clients across markets such as Brazil, India, Turkey, MENA, and Asean.

Over the years, Kristina has been a formal mentor to a number of high potential women in her field and was an Executive Member of Monitor Group's (now Deloitte) Global Women's Initiative. She is a member of the Financial Times 'Global Board Ready Women' group and peviously sat on Medtronic's Corporate Advisory Board. In Turkey, Kristina was selected as one of 40 women by Forbes Magazine to join 'More Women on Boards' or 'Yonetim Kurullarinda Daha Cok Kadin' encouraging more female Board participation.

Kristina is an accomplished public speaker and panelist and has spoken at various conferences on the topics such as 'Keeping Senior Women in the Workplace' and 'Winning with Consumers in the Marketplace'.

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 and the all new Conversations with CommerceNext podcast.  

Last but not least, check out my new YouTube cooking show, Last Request Barbecue!

You can learn more about Michael       here  or on       LinkedIn. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to a very special Collision conference edition of the Voice of Retail podcast I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Described by some as the Tiff for Tech, Collision is Irishman’s Paddy Cosgrave’s great import into Toronto for the first of a three year run. This North American tech conference outgrew it’s New Orleans home and welcome as Visa access for it’s many international guest became harder to come by, and after Paddy visited Toronto and began to appreciate the burgeoning tech scene and welcoming environment.
Learn more at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/it-s-like-tiff-for-tech-why-the-collision-conference-is-moving-to-toronto-1.5139325

So over a couple of days I joined 25,711 attendees from 125 countries including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau , Houseplant retail cannabis brand creator Seth Rogen, and the always amazing Kara Swisher plus and many many more.

I put this episode together featuring interviews and highlights for the week starting with Sarah Landstreet, Founder + CEO at Georgette Packaging (Y Combinator W2016) the day after she crushed her MainStage two minute pitch opening night talking to us about next generation packaging, processes, engineering and materials.

Next, offsite I chat with Pat Breen, Irish Minister for Trade, Business & Employment. EU Digital Single Market & Data Protection who was visiting on a trade mission this week promoting Irish tech and merchandise. We met at the Irish Design House in Toronto hosted by wonderful owner Sinéad Clarke. Stay tuned for an upcoming episode for a feature interview with Sinéad.
https://twitter.com/PatBreen1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
Learn more about the Flywheel here: http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8946794/type/dlg/fragment/internal%3D1/https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/home/search/?keywords=the%20flywheel

Last but certainly not least I chat with Hassan Murad, Founder, Intuitive - AI for Zero Waste on his innovative AI powered recycling sorting solution Oscar that visually scans the items you are about to dispose of and tells you what goes where. https://intuitiveai.ca/vision

I’m also joined with commentary interspersed between the interviews by two fellow Collision attendees, visionary tech leader Chris Hodgson founder of the Pivt and Lisa Charters a long time digital maven in the entertainment, content and business advisory practice with their commentary and observations on the show
https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherhodgson/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisacharters/

That’s a wrap on this special Collision edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Join me each and every Friday as I interview some of the most interesting people in retail and cover off the most important stories within the Canadian retail industry and around the world.

Until then, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Larissa Wasyliw has a rich background in national and regional retail brand marketing. Now, as the Vice President of eCommerce & Marketing at specialty pet store Ren’s Pets, all of her skills are being tested. In a short amount of time with Ren’s, she’s seen the company through many stages of transition and growth right through the middle of the COVID era. 

In this episode, Larissa talks with me about both her work and career thus far, and the exciting road ahead - which involves an exclusive conversation about recent developments regarding Ren’s Pets and Groupe Legault’s Quebec based Mondu pet store.

Learn about the unique space that Ren’s Pets has made for itself in the pet retail industry, what it’s been like to keep up with the wave of “pandemic puppies,” and how Ren’s Pets is preparing it’s brand for some exciting expansion opportunities. 

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Larissa Wasyliw

Results-driven ecommerce & marketing professional with 15+ years in the retail business. High growth leader that thrives when innovating in the fast paced retail landscape. Focused on growing online businesses & executing omnichannel experiences for a customer-centric organization. Inspired by big ideas & analytics.

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. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Now more than ever before, digital marketers and retailers have a wealth of first-party data on consumers. Or at least they should - different podcast.  However, providing an authentic and unique eCommerce experience for audiences continues to prove difficult.

On this episode of The Voice of Retail, I’m joined by Frank Faricy, the CEO + Founder of XGen AI. We talk about the chronic pains of contemporary digital retail marketing and the challenges of effectively and efficiently targeting potential customers.

Learn about the innovative workings of XGen AI and how Frank and his team had to reinvent the wheel to get the cutting-edge platform that they run today. Their AI drives autonomous and real-time product recommendations with the goal of providing a true 1:1 digital shopping experience that is as dynamic and unique as each individual customer.

Let’s explore the potential that lies at the intersection of retail and artificial intelligence.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

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 and the all new Conversations with CommerceNext podcast.  You can learn more about Michael       here  or on       LinkedIn. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

From a professional snowboarder to a CEO that eliminated his role by distributing his responsibilities into a leadership collective, get ready for a fascinating interview from Zurich with Oliver Brunschwiler, and meet retailer Freitag

Freitag is a super innovative and agile retailer that takes truck tarps and fashions them into unique handbags and accessories. Oliver takes us through his origin story, which is also the origin story of Freitag. How they approach product development, and the customer-created design is a masterclass in modern retail. The organizational structure, a holocracy, is a lesson in running a next-generation global retailer.

Oliver then takes us through his perspective on global expansion, retail in the somewhat post-covid, European war, the inflationary period we're in, and how the DNA of agility built in their management model will create outsized success for Freitag

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Oliver

A former professional snowboarder and multiple entrepreneur, inclusive leader, coach, strategist, designer, innovator and constant learner. Oliver currently energizes various holacratic (https://www.holacracy.org/) roles. His mission is enabling the brand’s strategic vision, unlocking sustainable growth, fostering organizational progress and designing it's circular business model transformation with a team of dedicated impact-seekers.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this special format bonus episode I’m chatting with Sean Sportum, most recently Manager, security & loss prevention, Central Canada, for Circle K who joins me in advance of his appearance on the virtual stage ad RCC’s Loss Prevention Forum, April 8.  I Sean ask  for two starts, and one stop, based on what he has learned and experienced over the past year of the COVID era.

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s special RCC LP bonus episode   of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to follow the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

If you are a retail LP professional you don’t want to miss the RCC Retail Loss Prevention forum, April 8th  Learn more and register at https://rcclpconference.ca/

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of May 27th 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Purolator, Canada's Shipping Company for courier and freight, learn more at www.purolator.com

In this episode part two of my interview with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University as we discuss Canada’s new food guide, the rise of plant-based meat alternatives for “flexitarians” and the state of grocery eCommerce.

Next, part two of my interview with Karl Littler Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at RCC as we jump right in talking about the new NAFTA agreement including insights to the ratification process, credit card fees, grocery issues and sustainability. You can connect with Karl at Klittler@retailcouncil.org or directly to RCC via this link: https://www.retailcouncil.org/contact/

Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including the need for a new West Coast port, Walmart tricks out their new concept urban super centre in Toronto, Indigo shifts creative direction, understanding Kate Hudson, TopShop closes in the U.S. but remains in Canada, the Amazon purge, celebrating the Sobey Family, Ocado invests in robot meal preparer and much, much more.

But first, let’s listen in to my interview with Sylvain Charlebois as we chat about Canada’s new food guide

Thanks to Sylvain and Karl for being my guests in this episode, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your
favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Jest Sidloski grew up within the Peavey Mart brand from the storefront to the executive level. Now, as the Vice President of Marketing, Customer Experience & eCommerce, he tells the company’s compelling origin story and offers insider insights on how this western Canadian legacy is charging into the future.

On this episode of The Voice of Retail, Jest and I talk about the role that Peavey Mart plays as a community staple to farmers, urban and rural, across the country.

We break down the challenges and opportunities that the pandemic has brought to Peavey Mart and dive into the company’s marketing strategy in the face of the great acceleration. Jest talks about the brand’s devotion to fostering community across customers and stores - and how that translates into meaningful storytelling.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

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. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Jim Fielding's dynamic career has spanned senior leadership roles at top global brands, including Disney, DreamWorks, and Twentieth Century Fox, anchored in experience and an early career at The Gap, Lands' End, and as CEO of Claire's Stores; He joins me in an exclusive interview to talk about this new book ALL PRIDE, NO EGO: A Queer Executive's Journey to Living and Leading Authentically with leadership, retail and life lessons you need to hear. 

About Jim

Jim Fielding is a partner at Archer Gray and president of its Co-Lab Division. A retail and media industry veteran, Jim served as president of Disney Stores Worldwide and led global consumer experiences at DreamWorks and Twentieth Century Fox. His early career experience included top international brands, from The Gap to Lands' End. Jim later served as CEO of Claire's Stores, Inc. He is the author of ALL PRIDE, NO EGO: A Queer Executive's Journey to Living and Leading Authentically (Wiley, August 15, 2023). Jim's expertise combines storytelling, product innovation, merchandising, and consumer experiences. He is an active community leader and philanthropist, a founder of the Queer Philanthropy Circle, and serves on the board of directors for the Indiana University Foundation. Jim has served as an executive-in-residence for IU's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and a board member for GLSEN, Make-A-Wish International, and the American Red Cross. He is based in Atlanta, GA and Northport, MI.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Majid Charania, Director of Compliance at Competition Bureau Canada, is my guest on this episode, with the fourth and final of our series created to help us understand the laws governing and protecting retailers. In this episode, Majid talks about the culture, process, practices and concrete measures retailers can and should have regarding compliance with the law.

To learn more about the Competition Bureau and how it operates, tune into the series' first episode in October, and be sure and dial into the entire series for an excellent overview of all the essential aspects of the regulations and laws that govern and protect retailers.

https://ised-isde.canada.ca/site/competition-bureau-canada/en

Prior Episodes in the Series

https://the-voice-of-retail.simplecast.com/episodes/special-feature-competition-bureau-canada-and-deceptive-marketing-practices

https://the-voice-of-retail.simplecast.com/episodes/special-feature-competition-bureau-canada-and-price-fixing-collusion-and-cartel-behaviour-investigations

https://the-voice-of-retail.simplecast.com/episodes/special-feature-competition-bureau-canada-and

Photo by Trent Erwin on Unsplash

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

My guests on this episode are Tanya Bevington, Head of Communications for IKEA Canada, and Anthony Chelvanathan, Chief Creative Officer at Edelman Canada. They discuss the insights and unique creative partnership behind Ikea Canada's clever and brilliant "Second-Hand Tax (SHT) is Happening" campaign.

The brand discovered recently that in Canada, there is a 'harmonized sales tax' (HST) added to sales receipts for resold items, meaning second-hand purchases are taxed twice. Ontario, where the most Canadian IKEA stores are located for instance, has one of the highest HST rates in the country at a whopping 13%. Recognizing that this tax structure actually discourages circular shopping, and with affordability and sustainability at the core of their brand, IKEA has launched 'Second-Hand Tax (SHT) is Happening'.  

The SHT initiative introduces a counteracting –13% tax for second-hand items purchased from IKEA's "As is" section, the retailer's sell-back and buy-back category located in every store and online. Effectively eliminating the double tax on second-hand items, the SHT tax is designed to raise awareness for this issue, which unfairly places the burden of action on retailers. Nearly every tax-paying country in the world has a similar sales tax structure in place.  

• Sign the petition at change.org so that all Canadians can shop circular for less, for good. 

About Tanya

Tanya Bevington: Tanya Bevington is head of Communications for IKEA Canada, a world's leading home furnishing retailer. For nearly 50 years, Canadians have welcomed IKEA into their homes and they have been strong supporters of the IKEA brand, product range and its vision "to create a better everyday life for the many people".

Tanya joined IKEA in 2014 and is responsible for overseeing the national corporate communications and public affairs programs for IKEA in Canada. Tanya is also a member of the Canadian management team for IKEA.

Prior to joining IKEA, Tanya spent ten years working in communications for Waterfront Toronto, the tri-government agency responsible for overseeing the renewal of Toronto's waterfront.

Working in the communications field for over twenty years, Tanya is a seasoned professional with extensive experience in corporate communications, media and government relations, internal communications, strategic planning, and issues management. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Western Ontario and a Master's degree in Professional Communications from the University of Western Sydney, Australia. Tanya lives in Burlington, Ontario with her husband and three children.

About Anthony

AnthonyChelvanathan: Prior to taking on his current position as Chief Creative Officer at Edelman Canada, began working his way up as an Executive Creative Director at Leo Burnett Toronto, which culminated in his appointment to Senior Vice President. Along the way, Anthony has made a name for himself as one of the most prolific creatives in his industry. His work has garnered acclaim at nearly all of the world's top creative shows, including 64 Cannes Lions recognitions and 500+ international awards from institutions such as D&AD, The One Show, ADC, Communication Arts, LIA and Clios.

Throughout his career Anthony has repeatedly landed at the top of Strategy magazine's creative talent lists and has even been ranked 6th in the world by The Gunn Report. He has reached incredible heights (his TSN campaign promoting the Rogers Cup was among the most-awarded billboard campaigns in the world) while ranking up tens of millions of views in the process (his follow-up video to the famous #LikeAGirl campaign alone received 90 million) and Anthony became the first judge to represent Cannes Lions in Sri Lanka and has represented Canada on numerous occasions.

His passion and knack for zeroing in on unique human insights at the heart of a brand's purpose has resulted in major accolades for both his clients and agencies throughout his career, including winning an International Grand Prix for his IKEA project 'Cook This Page'. Anthony's world-class expertise in bringing big ideas to life also knows no categorical bounds, with his creative leadership directly leading to agency wins and business growth across nearly every industry and category.

When he's not unleashing juggernaut creative ideas onto the world and meticulously crafting his way to the number one Art Director spot in the country, Anthony can be found in his kitchen, treating his friends to his latest spicy curry recipe.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Two back-to-back great interviews in this week's edition! First up, Sonny Brar, MC and session moderator for Retail Council of Canada's upcoming Retail HR Forum on April 17 (http://rcchrconference.ca/ ) joins us to talk about Retail HR trends and give us a sneak peak into the great sessions planned for the event.

Next, we catch up with RCC alumni Andrew Siegwart who joins us for the first of a two-part interview chatting about his (not so new) gig at Blue Mountain Village Association, working with local main-street retailers, the essence of collaboration, and the importance of the personal connection in tourism retail.

Lastly we cover off Retail This Week, including Sobeys talking about the importance of their recent Farm Boy acquisition to their urban growth strategy, and the opening of Hudson Yards in New York, the massive 28 acre development featuring one million square feet of retail and the city's first Neiman Markus luxury department store.

I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, learn more about me at www.meleblanc.co
#retail #tourism #exploreON #ExploreCanada

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode I’m connecting with John Porter, Founder & CEO, BarterPay®.   We catch up and explore the innovative and exciting world of modern barter,  a system that has taken the age-old practice of one-to-one bartering and transformed it into a one-to-many organized system where thousands of businesses are converting their unsold time and space and idle inventory into what they need and conserving their hard-earned cash.

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

When brands are preparing to enter Chinese markets, Ashley Dudarenok tells them to “assume nothing.”

Ashley, the founder of China-based social media marketing firms Alarice and ChoZan, reminds companies to not underestimate the complexity of the nation’s market. When it comes to reaching consumers in China, she suggests that foreign KPI’s, benchmarks and even best-selling product lines are left behind.

In this episode of The Voice of Retail podcast, I sit down with fellow RETHINK Retail Top 100 Global Influencer Ashley Dudarenok to talk about the vast and digitally-centred niches within China’s retail market. 

Ashley sheds light on how the pandemic has shaped the retail marketing space, from ageing populations to revenge consumption. We explore digital marketing calendars that are oriented around multi-day festivals, livestreaming in retail and insights on trends that might cross over to North American markets.

Ashley notes that large markets like that of China’s, can be a double-edged sword. As the potential to reach new customers increases, so does the opportunity for failure - especially if your marketing strategy is out of touch.

*******
Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Ashley Dudarenok 艾熙丽

🇨🇳 I'm a China watcher, 3-time Amazon bestselling author, global keynote speaker, vlogger, podcaster, media contributor and female leadership spokesperson. 👇👇👇

I'm the founder of:
🇨🇳 Chinese social media agency Alarice (alarice.com.hk)
🇨🇳 China digital academy ChoZan (chozan.co)
🔥FIRE self-development and mentorship program for professionals and entrepreneurs (firebyashley.com)

I've been named
🚀 LinkedIn Top Voice in Marketing
🚀 “Guru on Digital Marketing and Fast-evolving Trends in China” by Thinkers50
🚀 Young Business Leader Of The Year 2021 by IPWS, Women Leadership Award
🚀 Asia's Top 25 Innovator by the Holmes Report
🚀 Top 20 Visionaries of the Media & Technology by Adello Magazine
🚀 World’s Top 100 Retail Influencers by RETHINK Retail
🚀 100 B2B Thought Leaders To Follow in 2021 by Thinkers360

I am a member of:
✌️Alibaba's Global Influencer Entourage 2017-2021
✌️JD's Global China Experts Group 2018-2021
✌️I also worked directly with a Tencent co-founder to conquer Western social media from 2017 to 2019.

I'm an Amazon bestselling author of three books:
📖 Unlocking the World’s Largest E-Market: A Guide to Selling on Chinese Social Media
📖 Digital China: Working with Bloggers, Influencers and KOLs, and
📖 New Retail: Born in China, Going Global

I’m a global keynote speaker and masterclass facilitator. My topics include:
🚀 Modern Chinese Consumers
🚀 China’s Digital Marketing
🚀 China's New Retail and Technology

Since 2016, I've spoken at over 150 events across the globe for companies such as BMW, Disney, Shangri-La, Deutsche Bundesbank, Richemont, Li & Fung, Hang Lung Properties, Manulife, TEDx and many others.

🎥 I run the world’s #1 YouTube business vlog about the China market, consumers and social media at www.youtube.com/c/AshleyTalksChina.

🤓 I’m a regularly contributing to media such as TechNode, Jing Daily, The Next Web and the SCMP. I was featured on the BBC, Forbes, Bloomberg, CGTN, the WSJ, CNBC, WIRED, Huffington Post, Asia Times, HKET, Ming Pao and many others.

🎙 I’m the host of the AshleyTalks Podcast, where I interview top thought leaders from across Asia about entrepreneurship, marketing, women in business, China, tech and more.

📚 I’ve given lectures at HKU Space and done talks at the China Business Centre of Hong Kong PolyU and the National University of Singapore Business School.

#ashleytalks #china #digitalmarketing #socialmedia

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this special episode, an interview I've been looking forward to for a long time, a Canadian business icon, exceptional citizen, and one of the world's most respected entertainment operators, Ellis Jacob, CEO, Cineplex.

We chat briefly about his origin story and spend lots of time talking about the state of the entertainment and movie industry, what innovation looks like in theatres across Canada, and how the changes brought on by the COVID era will forever shape the strategy of Cineplex.  

Last but certainly not least, I couldn't miss the opportunity to ask Ellis about the incredible rise and success of the SCENE plus loyalty program, what it means to the Cineplex business, and the big news around the tie-up with Sobeys

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbecue, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Ellis

Ellis Jacob was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Cineplex in October 2003. Working in the motion picture exhibition industry since 1987, his passion and leadership transformed the movie-going experience for Canadians. Prior to his current role, Ellis was President and CEO of Galaxy Entertainment Inc., which he co-founded in 1999. Previous roles include the Head of Integration for Alliance Atlantis Communications Inc., and various leadership positions with Cineplex Odeon Corporation that eventually culminated with the role of Chief Operating Officer.

Ellis serves on a number of boards, including Cineplex and ASM Global. He is also a member of the Executive Committee of the National Association of Theatre Owners and the Global Cinema Federation, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Movie Theatre Association of Canada. He is an active philanthropist, a founding director of the Canadian Children’s Literacy Foundation, and a member of the Board of Baycrest Centre for Geriatrics.

Among his many accomplishments and awards over the span of his career, he has received the Order of Canada, the Order of Ontario, Canada’s Most Innovative CEO, Canada’s Most Admired CEO, and the ICTA Global Cinema Innovation Award.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

On this episode, popular guest Kristina Rogers, Global Consumer Leader, EY, is back on the podcast to discuss the latest global and Canadian consumer insights from the 14th edition of her seminal research project, The Future Consumer Index.  Launched in the early days of the COVID era, her research continues to track consumers' changing patterns and behaviours, with echoes of pandemic shopping impacts and changes in how we live, consume media, and shop. 

See the whole report here.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Meet Marianne Lewis, co-author of the breakthrough new book from the Harvard Business Review Press, Both/And Thinking: Embracing Creative Tensions to Solve Your Toughest Problems

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Marianne 

Marianne W. Lewis, PhD, is dean and professor of management at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business University of Cincinnati. Previously, she has served as dean of the Cass Business School, City, University of London and as a UK Fulbright. A thought leader in organizational paradoxes, she is among the world’s top 1% most-cited researchers in her field (Web of Science). Her research explores tensions and competing demands surrounding leadership and innovation. She applies her paradox lens across such diverse contexts as product development, organizational change, governance and technology implementation. Lewis has earned numerous teaching and research awards throughout her academic career. Her work appears in such journals as the Harvard Business Review, Academy of Management Journal, Organization Science, and Journal of Operations Management. Lewis earned her MBA from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University and PhD from the Gatton College of Business and Economics at the University of Kentucky.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this extraordinary Black Friday and Cyber Monday bonus episode, Sean McCormick, Head of Growth Strategy, Spendscape, Moneris joins us with breaking news and real spending numbers telling us the tale of the tape for 2022 Black Friday and Cyber Monday.  

Sean leverages powerful analytical tools to provide a snapshot of year-over-year and week-over-week consumer spending numbers. Let's listen in now!

https://www.linkedin.com/in/dsmccormick/

https://www.moneris.com/en/services/data-services/

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically each week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.

 Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Sean

Sean McCormick is the Head of Growth Strategy for the Data division of Moneris, supporting public and private sector clients who leverage the utility of consumer payment data to improve forecasting capabilities, benchmarking intelligence, and inform policy decisions.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Tim Mason is the CEO of Eagle Eye, an information technology firm that uses a data-driven digital marketing platform to enable retailers to connect all aspects of the customer journey.

As the former deputy CEO & CMO of Tesco in the U.K., Tim calls on his own background in retail as he works with big clients all over the world.

In this episode of The Voice of Retail podcast, Tim is back on the podcast to share his insights on how the retail landscape has and will continue to shift because of the pandemic.

Tune in to hear what Tim believes are the three essential elements for building a successful digital retail ecosystem, the top three things that retailers should be looking out for in the years following the pandemic, and finally, the three things that retailers should stop/start in their marketing practices. 

Can you tell that we believe in the power of three’s?

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Tim Mason

Tim has been CEO of Eagle Eye since September 2016, joining as Chairman in January 2016. He has over 30 years’ experience within the grocery and retail industries, with a strong background in strategic marketing and customer loyalty.

Previously, Tim was a managing director at Sun Capital Partners and Chairman of Bonmarché Holdings plc from 2013 to 2015. Prior to that he was Deputy CEO at Tesco from January 2010 to December 2012. He held a number of other roles within the Tesco Group between 1982 and 2012 including CMO for Tesco and CEO of Fresh & Easy LLC. Tim spearheaded Tesco’s bid to crack America, and was responsible for the expansion and operations of 150 stores US wide.

Throughout his career at Tesco, he was renowned for being in touch with the customer, and instrumental in the creation of some of Tesco’s most successful marketing initiatives (Clubcard, Express, Personal Finance and Tesco.com). He is also a Director of It's Fresh Ltd and Purple.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the first of a series of special NRF Big Show episodes of The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

First up in this episode recorded live from New York City at the NRF Big Show in the NRF podcasting studio Giant Tiger President and COO Paul Wood joins me and we learn all about this fast growing Canadian retailer based in my hometown of Ottawa, how their business structure keeps them wired directly into the market, how retail CEOs deal with the many demands on their time and what lies ahead for Giant Tiger.

Next, Steve Dennis makes his return to the podcast as we catch up on the going-on in global retail, his predictions for 2019 - hits and misses, shift happening, forecast for 2020, thoughts on the Big Show and debut Steve’s new book - Remarkable Retail.

You can pre-order Steve's new book, "Remarkable Retail" here:

https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8946794/type/dlg/https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/remarkable-retail-how-to-win/9781928055716-item.html?ikwid=remarkable+retail&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0

But first, let’s listen into my conversation live from NRF podcasting studio with Paul Wood

Thanks to Paul and Steve for being my guests on this episode. Well Now let’s hit the highlights of the retail news in Canada and around the world with Retail This Week….

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail. If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

What’s a COVID-era trend and what’s here to stay?

Amar Singh is the Senior Director in Consulting at the marketing research company, Kantar. As a retail consultant who specializes in macroeconomics and forecasting, Amar has invaluable insights on the past, present and future impacts of the pandemic. At the post-COVID intersection of acceleration and disruption, Amar fleshes out the trends that all retailers should be keeping their eyes on. 

In this episode of The Voice of Retail podcast, I am thrilled to sit down with my long-time friend Amar to talk about supply chain disruption, how AI in the retail space is too focused on the past, and what the “returning to normal” timeline really looks like.

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Hello, and welcome to the Voice of Retail podcast! My name is Michael LeBlanc, and I am your host. I believe in the power of storytelling to bring the retail industry to life. Each week, I'll bring insights, perspectives, and experiences from some of the retail industry's most innovative and influential voices.   This podcast is produced in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Kent Allen and Jim Okamura, co-founders of the successful Global eCommerce Leaders Forums and community, are back on the podcast sharing their expertise and providing us with a timely update on the state of cross-border and global eCommerce, including a view to China, Europe, LATAM and where retailers and brands should focus when looking for international growth.

More information about the Global eCommerce Leaders Forum in LA here

About Kent

I help innovative digital companies tell their story and build relationships with prospective and established clients and partners. I've spent the last twenty years providing market analysis, research & thought leadership, market development and consulting services within the ecommerce technology and digital marketing community.

Current focus: Globalization via cross-border ecommerce, marketplaces and international retail expansion. Co-founded the Global eCommerce Leaders Forum to foster community among and provide education to digital professionals with international growth objectives.

My 20+ years of experience in the digital commerce and marketing industry and strong personal connections have provided me with opportunities to stay ahead of the curve and explore "what's next" for my clients and our audiences.

My research, content marketing & thought leadership skills coupled with my strong client interface skills allow me to define & execute next-generation marketing and commerce strategies & improve business performance. 

Specialties/Skills: Market Research, Communications, Strategy, Planning, Best Practices, Trend, Data and Competitive Analysis, Public Speaking, Writing and Expression

About Jim

Jim Okamura is Partner with McMillan Doolittle - The Retail Experts. Jim has more than 25 years of consulting experience focused on the retail industry, including 20+ years in digital transformation strategies for retailers, brands and retail-related companies. 

Specializations include cross-border & global ecommerce and organization design for digital transformations. Through our global alliance, Ebeltoft Group, we have deep retail expertise in more than 20 countries.

Clients include Wahl Clipper, Gap, adidas, Hunter Fan, Bassett Furniture, Giant Eagle, Federated Coop, Harley-Davidson, Baccarat, DSW, Tractor Supply Co., MasterCard, Verizon Wireless, Neiman Marcus, Navy Exchange, Lands’ End, Microsoft, The Body Shop International, L Brands, Timberland, Media Markt, Lowe’s Companies, Pep Boys, Crate and Barrel, Loyalty One, VISA, and Cadillac Fairview.

Jim is a Co-founder of the Global E-Commerce Leaders Forum, a community and conference series focused on global and cross-border ecommerce. Digital Retail Globalization, such as riding China's ecommerce growth wave, is important for brands, retailers and distribution partners of all sizes.

About Michael

Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.   

Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row. 

Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Canada's top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail. He produces and co-hosts Remarkable Retail with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world. 

Based in New York, Conversations with CommerceNext is a podcast focusing on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers with episodes talking with C-level executives operating in the U.S. and internationally. 

Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers. 

Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Get Holiday ready with on-point insights from one of the savviest retailers operating today regarding consumer trends.  

Samir Kulkarni, CEO of Showcase, joins me on the podcast live from the RCC Retail Holiday Shopping Forum for an in-depth discussion on what makes Showcase different. We talk about their international expansion and how they see around corners to get social media trends onto the shelf in record time.

Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail.  If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast.  Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!  Have a safe week everyone!

About Samir

Samir Kulkarni is CEO and owner of Showcase, a national retailer and “Home of the Hottest Trends” with 119 stores in top malls across Canada and the USA.  Showcase’s combination of i) proprietary trend identification technology, ii) nimble supply chain, and iii) interactive store environment has propelled it to retail leadership of the greatest emerging trends in health, beauty, home, and toys over 25 years.  Showcase’s unique model has been recognized by Deloitte’s Best Managed Companies 2021 and 2022, YPO Top 10 Global Innovators, and the ERA’s Omnichannel Retail Excellence Award in 2022.  Dubbed by Inc. Magazine as “the man who turned trend hunting into retail gold”, Samir appears regularly in the media to discuss Showcase, its products, and the trend retailing industry – ranging from CBC to CTV, Global News, Retail Insider, Voice of Retail podcast, and more.  Samir also serves on the Board of Directors of Retail Council of Canada.  Samir holds an MBA from Yale University and lives near Toronto.

About Michael

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in  2022.

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.  Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms.   Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

Ron Johnson is responsible for the iconic Apple Store and Genius Bar that are loved by retail specialists and consumers alike. After years of transforming the retail strategies for retailers Apple and Target, Ron is pioneering the next leap in the retail revolution: bringing the personalized e-commerce shopping experience from your screen to your doorstep.

As the CEO of Enjoy, Ron says that the future of retail will take place in your living room. In this interview, Ron is back on the podcast talking about taking the next step in the shopping experience. We talk about what inspired this transformative approach to retail, and what impact it will have as Enjoy grows with their new partners.

I ask Ron to call on his experience in traditional retail as well as with Enjoy to offer retailers key pieces of advice and insight on navigating the post-COVID world.

********

Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail.  Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed  this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.

I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat  follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!

Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!

Ron Johnson

Ron is the CEO and Co-Founder of Enjoy, the first mobile retail store. Enjoy has partnered with premier technology companies including AT&T, Rogers, and British Telecom to bring their products directly to customers. When a partner's customer purchases on-line, their product is hand delivered on-demand, with a trained Expert to get them up and running, answer any questions, and purchase any additional products, accessories, or software solutions. Under Ron's leadership, Enjoy has delivered more than one million Enjoy experiences and created a new channel in retail - the mobile store.

Ron is perhaps best known for the work he did creating and leading the Apple Stores during their first twelve years. Ron also served as the CEO of JCPenney during 2012 and 2013. Prior to his time at Apple Ron was highly regarded for the work he did as the merchant leader at Target Stores, the United States leading upscale Discount Stores. He helped the 1700 store Target chain differentiate itself through design and skillful marketing. Ron spent the majority of his 15 years at Target from 1984 through 2000 in merchandising leadership positions.

In addition, Ron is a Board Member of several private companies in the Bay Area.

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 and the all new Conversations with CommerceNext podcast.   You can learn more about Michael       here  or on       LinkedIn. 

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the Voice of Retail special St. Patrick’s Day edition!

Continuing along the lines of retail tourism and the deep connection between food, restaurants and retail experience , I had the exclusive opportunity to sit down with J.P. McMahon, chef, restaurateur and owner of Michelin stared Aniar Restaurant (http://aniarrestaurant.ie/ ) along with Cava Bodega and Tartare Cafe and wine Bar, all in Galway Ireland.

Chef was visiting Toronto in his role as an officially appointed ‘Ambassador of Irish Food’ at an event hosted by Enterprise Ireland and the Ireland Canada Chamber Of Commerce held at the The Chefs' House at George Brown College (great venue!!) treating locals here to an amazing breakfast:

Kelly's Gigas Irish Oysters
House-smoke Clare Island Organic Irish Salmon
Poached Eggs, Seaweed Hollandaise
Spinach
Potato Farl
Butchers of Distinction 9 http://www.butchersofdistinction.ca/ ) Irish breakfast sausage, bacon and Black & White Pudding
Woodruff Custard Tart

Nice video of Chef JP here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7aI8vdYTiA

We sat down to talk about Chef JPs approach to dining and retail, food trends in Ireland and the close parallels to the Canadian restaurant and food scene and explore new trends such as cannabis infused menus.

Next, a brief chat with Neil Cooney and Lizzie Curran from Enterprise Ireland to discuss the work that goes into making St. Patrick’s day a global phenomenon culturally, politically and in retail.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos Canada’s digital customer engagement company. ‘Tis the season for giving and omNovos can help you give your customers the gift of a personalized experience in 2021.  Find out how you can Get Personal and Grow Sales with omNovos at www.realcustomerengagement.com

In this episode I talk leadership, resilience and learning how to show up on the Zoom stage with award-winning actor Colm Feore in this pick-up from the Set The Tone Harry Rosen webinar series, Creativity Lives On.

********

Thanks to Colm,  Trinh and the team at Harry Rosen for being my partners in the Set the Tone webinar series ,  plus omNovos for their support on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.    You can watch my live interview with Colm at Harry Rosen online.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a safe week!

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur.  He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. 

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 fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, 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.