The Voice of Retail Exclusive interview with SPUD.ca's Peter van Stolk, retail thought leader Tony Chapman and RCC's Michelle Ribout talks STORE2019
Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of April 22nd, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Stream Commerce, North America’s fastest growing Shopify plus agency, learn more at Stream Commerce dot com.
In this episode part 1 of my conversation with serial innovator Peter van Stolk, CEO of SPUD based in Vancouver. In a wide ranging conversation we talk about the business he founded, his journey to creating a circular economy business, and the fundamental nature of innovation in retail. www.spud.ca
Next, a feature interview with the one and only Tony Chapman as he expands on his latest article “Mind your P’s but own your Be’s (https://www.retailcouncil.org/community/technology/mind-your-ps-but-own-your-bes-how-bricks-can-beat-back-clicks/ ), in advance of his appearance on the main stage at RCC’s STORE conference along with three retail titans. You can get ahold of Tony at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonychapmanreactions/
Lastly, a special bonus interview with Michelle Ribout, Director of Events at Retail Council of Canada talking about STORE2019, Excellence in Retail awards and Canadian Grand Prix awards. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleribout/
Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including Henry’s on the acquisition trail, LuLulemon’s aspirations towards growing the men’s wear business, celebrating Edmonton based Poppy Barley, the Golden Goose, Casper doubles down on Canada changes at Chicos and much more. But first, let’s listen to my interview with Peter:
That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your
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I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or on LinkedIn
Join me again next week for part two of my interview with retailer Peter van Stolk, and Michelle Sexsmith from Environic Analytics talking about their powerful Clickspend product and the insights and advantage retailers can glean from utilizing that tool. Until then, 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.