Navigating Inflation and Labor Challenges

In this Season 10 finale of The Remarkable Retail Podcast, Steve interviews Vuori CEO & Founder Joe Kudla live on-stage during the closing keynote of the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York. Steve and Michael also are on-stage for a session gleaning the top retail trends of the year so far and set the stage for what's most important to focus on the balance of the year.

Instead of covering the week's headlines, Michael and Steve zoom out to examine the trends that have defined the year thus far. Tariff turbulence remains the dominant storyline, with the July 9th extension deadline looming and limited trade progress made—raising uncertainty about supply chains, pricing, and margins. Retailers are already grappling with rising costs and making difficult decisions about whether to absorb the impact through vendor, consumer, or margin adjustments.

They spotlight a troubling acceleration in store closures, forecasting 2025 as a record year for retail contraction, particularly in drugstore and department store categories. Meanwhile, growth continues to concentrate, with Amazon, Walmart, and Costco accounting for over half of all incremental retail gains. Smaller out-performers, such as Vuori and Abercrombie, stand out, but the middle is collapsing through a combination of unremarkable business designs and lackluster execution.

The hosts also analyze the contrasting fortunes of Walmart's soaring apparel success versus Target's continued slump and reflect on emerging disruption from agentic AI—potentially reshaping how consumers search, shop, and connect with brands. With luxury contraction predicted for the first time in 15 years and labor dynamics in flux, retailers face a complex and volatile landscape.

Then, it's over to an on-stage interview with Vuori CEO & Founder Joe Kudla, who joins Steve live for the closing keynote at the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York City for a candid and inspirational conversation about scaling a lifestyle brand with purpose. Joe shares how Vuori—rooted in the beachside town of Encinitas, California—pivoted from a near-collapse to a $5.5 billion valuation last year, thanks to an obsessive focus on product quality, fabric innovation, and deep community connection.

Kudla walks listeners through Vuori's growth strategy: starting with DTC success, expanding to wholesale, and now operating over 80 physical stores—each serving as a local brand hub. He discusses how in-person retail drives stronger omni-channel customers and why authenticity in influencer partnerships is more important than ever in a crowded media landscape.

As Vuori expands globally with new stores in London, Shanghai, and Seoul, Joe remains grounded in his role as the brand's chief product evangelist and men's fit model. His leadership lesson? Stay vulnerable, stay curious, and always lead with great products.

About Us

Steve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.

Michael 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 fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer.  If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.