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 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.