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.

Lalonnie Biggar is a veteran merchant with a depth of experience in department and specialty stores. As president of Northern Reflections, she has big ambitions for this iconic Canadian retailer.

After leading Northern Reflections through the COVID era and out the other side, Lalonnie is preparing the organization for success and growth with new ownership and a fresh vision. We talk merchandising and assortment opportunities, the critical role of eCommerce, and explore her level of confidence in regional shopping malls as the place for her brand to live. 

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 Lalonnie

Northern Reflections’ President Lalonnie Biggar has been with the organization for over 20 years and in retail leadership roles for over 3 decades. Her career in fashion retail began at T Eaton Company, before advancing through senior executive positions at Dylex and Comark. In her leadership functions she is a known expert in product sourcing, contract negotiation and, most importantly, people development.

In her role as President, Lalonnie oversees our product development and design teams, our commercial network of 134 retail locations across Canada, e-commerce business, the sourcing office in Asia as well as our operations, logistics, HR, and finance departments. She is now spearheading major strategic initiatives to significantly grow the company’s ecommerce business and all aspects of its multi-channel retail operation, while implementing a state of the art Point of Sale system. A passionate people leader, Lalonnie is often referred to as the heart and soul of the Northern Reflections brand and continues to be a source of inspiring leadership for our 900 associates around the world.

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.