Blank Canvas Strategy Revealed! Plus News from Dick's Sporting Goods, Amazon, Hermes, and More

The News Rundown

Steve leads off with the latest tariff turmoil, as trade negotiations between the U.S. and Canada stall amid the Trump administration's response to an ad created and paid for by the Ontario government running in U.S. media whose key auto  sector is endangered by Trump trade policies. They also explore luxury corporate earnings, where Hermès continues to shine, while.  Gucci owner Kering struggles to regain footing. Meanwhile, Mattel falls short as retailers tighten orders ahead of the holidays.

The discussion then turns to job cuts at Target, Amazon, GM, and Nestlé, revealing how automation, AI, and tariff pressures are reshaping corporate structures, before turning to  Amazon's plan to replace up to 600,000 roles with robotics. They also cover ChatGPT's meteoric rise to No. 2 in product search, challenging Google and signaling a shift in how consumers discover products.

Throughout, they underscore the precariousness of retail confidence heading into the holiday season — from Tractor Supply's cautious guidance to Deckers' HOKA sales slowdown.

Blank Canvas Strategy: Finding Retail's 'New Earth'

In the second half, Steve introduces "Blank Canvas Strategy"— a methodology for retailers to reimagine their businesses from the ground up, free from legacy constraints. Unlike Blue Ocean Strategy, which focuses on discovering compltey untapped markets, this framework helps brands reinvent their core business models before disruption makes them irrelevant.

Steve urges leaders to recognize when their "planet" (current business model and market domain) becomes uninhabitable, and to begin building "Earth Two" — an alternative growth destination. Together, the hosts examine why incremental change doomed once-iconic retailers like Blockbuster, Sears, and Pier 1, and how others like Dick's Sporting Goods and RH (Restoration Hardware) succeeded by boldly innovating their business designs.

They close by discussing how executives can carve out time, treasure, and talent for R&D, overcome the fear of cannibalization, and lead with the courage to disrupt themselves before competitors do.

After the focused content discussion it's on to the most remarkable stories of the week, including Walmart's massive commitment to deploying 90 million supply-chain sensors to track pallets and fresh-food products.

The episode wraps with what needs to be on everyone's radar screens. One recommendation: keep your eyes on "GU" the first U.S. store fromUniqlo's parent company, Fast Retailing. Located in New York's Soho neighborhood, Gu is a bright, energetic space with "eye-poppingly good prices" and strong shopper buzz.

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.