Happy 1st "Cannaversary" to Canada with interviews live from Vancouver including Eleanor Lynch, SVP Kiaro, Adam Coates CCO Westleaf and RCC's Avery Bruenjes explains the government perspective

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of October 14, 2019 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. 

In this week’s episode right on the heels of the 1st “CANNAVERSARY” of the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada and launch of cannabis retail, and with the new cannabis edible 2.0 regime coming into force, three exclusive interviews live from Vancouver at this week’s Retail Council of Canada Retail West event  with cannabis retailers and regulatory experts as they came off the main stage.

First up is Eleanor Lynch, Senior Vice President of Retail Operations at Kiaro.  We reflect together on the year that was, and learn about Kiaro’s interesting approach to in store and brand design.

Next Adam Coates, Chief Commercial Officer Westleaf Inc. takes us through their unique retail concept Prairie Records, how they approached developing the brand and how 2.0 and the new edibles regime will allow retailers to introduce product that will bring in the “canna-curious customers who are looking for alternatives to what is available at retail today.

Finally RCC’s Avery Bruenjes Policy Analyst, Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs weighs in with her perspective around the government regulatory framework informed by years of dealing with multiple files and issues.

Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, let’s listen to my interview with Eleanor Lynch.

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Thanks to Eleanor, Adam and Avery 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.

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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.