The Voice of Retail

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos make Personalization EASY by helping you engage the right customer, with the right content, at the right time. Find out how you can get started quickly and affordably so you can focus on doing what matters most--driving revenue and margin growth at www.realcustomerengagement.comThis episode is also supported by Axis Communication, For a smarter, safer world.  By combining intelligent technology and human imagination, Axis offers solutions based on sight, sound and analytics to improve security and optimize business performance.In this episode I welcome Eric Claus, new CEO of MEC and talk about his rich history in the retail industry and return to the front lines to lead one of Canada’s most beloved retail brands.Next, I catch up with Rick Snook, Axis Communications and discovers the vital role that Axis has played before and during the pandemic to bring the LP/AP community together plus forward-thinking strategies marrying AI technology, machine vision and deep retail insight.But first, let’s hear from Eric from MEC********Please join me this holiday in supporting the Make Kids Smile campaign along with Stream Commerce Mastermind Toys  Baffin Footwear & Apparel , Rakuten Kobo Inc. and Truefitt & HIll North America .  Make Kids Smile is a grass-roots, hyper-local Toronto charitable initiative with a goal to raise money, gift wrap and personally deliver holiday gifts to kids, youth, and teens in Toronto.  Visit make kids smile dot ca to learn more and donate today!******Thanks to Eric and Rick for being my guests,  plus omNovos and Axis Communications for their support on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  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 LinkedInUntil next time, have a safe 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos make Personalization EASY by helping you engage the right customer, with the right content, at the right time. Find out how you can get started quickly and affordably so you can focus on doing what matters most--driving revenue and margin growth at www.realcustomerengagement.comThis episode is also supported by riwi, real-time interactive world-wide intelligence, visit www.riwi.com to learn more…In this episode I welcome Samir Kulkarni, CEO of Showcase - Home of Canada's hottest trends. Samir shares his innovative approach to staying ahead of the top retail product trends with social media listening and agile supply management and merchandising that also made them an important destination for PPE in the early days of the COVID-19 crisis.Next, I catch up with Gary Davenport, CIO Mentor and Board Advisor and talks about the early days of working together and launching Hudson's Bay groundbreaking eCommerce, plus his wise advice to modern retail technology leaders.But first, let’s hear from Samir from Showcase******Thanks to Samir and Gary for being my guests,  plus omNovos and riwi for their support on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  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 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail special Black Friday bonus episode, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos make Personalization EASY by helping you engage the right customer, with the right content, at the right time. Find out how you can get started quickly and affordably so you can focus on doing what matters most--driving revenue and margin growth at www.realcustomerengagement.comThis episode is also supported by riwi, real-time interactive world-wide intelligence, visit www.riwi.com to learn more…In what is now an annual tradition for the podcast, in this bonus episode I talk to retail thought leaders to explore one of the most important days in the retail calendar - Black Friday!First up, I welcome back Deciem CEO Nicola Kilner who lets us know that they are  Hitting the Pause, In Order To Move the World Forward and boycotting Black Friday,  no longer feel comfortable participating in a "holiday" so focus on hyper-consumerism and that leaves such a negative impact on our Earth. Next I assembled a top panel of thought leaders to discuss Black Friday strategy featuring best selling author and my partner in the Remarkable Retail podcast Steve Dennis and veteran retail CMOs Karen Stirling and Anne Donohoe for a lively and wide ranging discussion and debate.But first, let’s hear from Nicola from Deciem******Thanks to Nicola, Steve, Karen and Anne for being my guests,  plus omNovos and riwi for their support on this bonus episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  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 LinkedInUntil next time, have a safe 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos make Personalization EASY by helping you engage the right customer, with the right content, at the right time. Find out how you can get started quickly and affordably so you can focus on doing what matters most--driving revenue and margin growth at www.realcustomerengagement.comThis episode is also supported by riwi, real-time interactive world-wide intelligence, visit RIWI to learn more…In this episode I welcome back to the podcast Tal Zvi Nathanial, CEO of Showfields, “The Most Interesting Store in The World” as we catch up and talk about how Showfields has adjusted their experiential retail model to the covid-19 era live at the recent Retail Council of Canada Retail Holiday Shopping Forum.Next, I meet Danielle Goldfarb, Head of Global Research at RIWI Corp.  We learn how this Toronto base innovative research company is able to get beyond response bias and delve deep into what is really happening with consumers in Canada and around the world.  We’ll also see how this online methodology gives voice to those whose opinions are not usually captured in the polls, and how RIWI predicted the outcome of the recent U.S. election.But first, let’s hear from Tal Zvi from Showfields:******Thanks to Tal Zvi and Danielle for being my guests,  plus omNovos and riwi for their support on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry.  Super excited to have the opportunity for the next upcoming episode of "Set The Tone" online leadership series to interview live one of my favourite actors, the award winning Colm Feore!A webinar series about life, business and leadership featuring key thought leaders brought to you by Harry Rosen, we invite Canadian thought leaders and role models to chat about current events, their passions and how they set the tone for their personal and professional lives.For our second episode " Creativity Lives On" we welcome award-winning stage, film and television actor, Colm Feore, a veteran of the Stratford Festival best known for his leading performances in films like Bon Cop, Bad Cop and CBC's Trudeau.Event happens Monday November 23rd at 1PM ET, Register here: https://lnkd.in/eeyS3zPI’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 LinkedInUntil next time, have a safe 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos make Personalization EASY by helping you engage the right customer, with the right content, at the right time. Find out how you can get started quickly and affordably so you can focus on doing what matters most--driving revenue and margin growth at www.realcustomerengagement.comIn this episode I’m in the Big Apple, New York City first with an exclusive interview with Paige Thomas, President & CEO Saks OFF 5TH.   We discuss her rich background in retail through to developing a passion for the off-price format, and then delve into the brand strategy matrix, the affordable luxury retail trend, the evolution of the second hand luxury market  and the future of retail in the covid era and beyond.Next, I meet Ron Thurston, Vice President of Stores at INTERMIX and  Best Selling Author with his great new book Retail Pride.  In a wide-ranging interview Ron takes us through his history of accomplishment and learning in retail store operations and delivers a glimpse into the masterclass of retail as a career that he chronicles and celebrates in his book.But first, let’s hear from Paige from Saks Off 5th:******Thanks to Paige and Ron for being my guests,  plus omNovos for their support on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  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 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos make Personalization EASY by helping you engage the right customer, with the right content, at the right time. Find out how you can get started quickly and affordably so you can focus on doing what matters most--driving revenue and margin growth at www.realcustomerengagement.comThe Voice of Retail is also supported by Raange.  Are you looking to cut your customer acquisition cost by up to 50%? Raange helps brick and mortar brands convert store visitors into digital customers with mobile engagements. Watch a quick video demo by texting “Retail” to 55055.In this episode I’m in Calgary with Vice-President – Marketing and Member Experiences for Calgary Co-Op, Penney McTaggart Cowan.  We explore the journey behind launching two new private label brands in the COVID era, hundreds of new products, the power of being Uber-local,  and managing the brand and member experience in a time of great change.Next, I catch up with a long time friend and global brand expert David Kincaid, Founder and Managing Partner of Level5 Strategy.  In a wide ranging conversation we talk about David’s four decades of helping c-suite executives create and nourish brands, and all about the masterclass in brand and business strategy that is his latest book, The Brand Driven CEO.But first, let’s hear from Penney from Calgary Coop******Thanks to Penney and David for being my guests,  plus omNovos and Raange for their support on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  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 LinkedInUntil next time, have a safe 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos make Personalization EASY by helping you engage the right customer, with the right content, at the right time. Find out how you can get started quickly and affordably so you can focus on doing what matters most--driving revenue and margin growth at www.realcustomerengagement.comThe Voice of Retail is also supported by Raange.  Raange helps brick and mortar brands turn store visitors into digital customers. Learn how Raange added 1 million new subscribers to a retailer’s CRM in just 6 months by texting “Data” to 55055 and unlock the strategy to massive database growth.In this episode I’m in Ottawa talking with Lee Valley Tools President & CEO Robin Lee and Jason Tassé, Chief Operating Officer about the rich heritage of this Canadian retailer, their unique retail format and adapting to the COVID-19 crisis with innovations such as the new Contactless Shopping Capability for Stores Across Canada   Next, veteran urban planner and author Joe Berridge talks about what makes our cities great, the current and potential impacts on cities with the massive changes happening today brought on by the COVID-19 crisis, and all about his recent book, Perfect City.But first, let’s hear from Robin and Jason******Thanks to Robin, Jason and Joe for being my guests,  plus omNovos and Raange for their support on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  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 LinkedInUntil next time, have a safe 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and with the support of omNovos, Canada’s digital customer engagement company. omNovos makes Personalization EASY by helping you connect with your customers, connect with your data, and connect with your systems. Learn HOW at www.realcustomerengagement.com.In this episode I’m in Ohsweken  on the Six Nations of the Grand River  celebrating Small Business Week in Canada with Dakota Brant, CEO of Sapling & Flint™, a jewellery manufacturer and retailer specializing in gold & sterling silver.  We talk about how Dakota and her business stands out in a crowded market, what makes this award winning retailer successful, and key elements important to indigenous makers and retailers here in Canada.Check out Set the Tone brought to you by Harry Rosen, view the first episode here. Next we hear from Erik Qualman, best selling author of seven books on his latest, The Focus Project.  Erik talks about time vampire and taking control of your life to help you step fully into your story.But first, let’s hear from Dakota******Thanks to Dakota and Erik for being my guests, and omNovos for their support on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  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 LinkedInUntil next time, have a safe 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada, and this episode supported by Snapchat Canada.In this episode I’m in Montreal to meet the co-founders and CEOs of  international phenom Moose Knuckles Canada, Noah Stern and Ayal Twik.I talk with both CEOs  as they share their vision around their fashion forward brand of outerwear that is polar opposite of the rest of the luxury brands and we hear their take on being successful in retail as they continue to expand around the world with two existing flagship stores, more on the way here in Canada and internationally, and plans for over a dozen pop-up stores happening to maintain the incredible momentum of the brand.Next SnapChat Canadian Director and GM Matt McGowan brings us up to speed on this powerful and popular platform for retailers with 238Million users daily world wide and 9 Million Canadians talking advantage of this fun, safe and engaging platform.You can reach Matt at mcgowan@snap.com and find the research he mentions in our interview here. But first, let’s hear from Noah and Ayal******Thanks to Noah, Ayal and Matt for being my guests on this episode, and again to Snapchat Canada for their support.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  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 safe 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. 

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.In this special episode I’m helping retailer Harry Rosen Set The Tone with a new online webinar series which invites Canadian thought leaders and role models to chat about current events, their passions and how they set the tone for their personal and professional lives.    In this first episode of the series Larry Rosen, Chairman and CEO of Harry Rosen, and top executive coach Jane Gaynor are introduced by series host Trinh Tham, CMO for Harry Rosen and then join me to talk about leadership in the COVID era.You can watch a playback of the live webinar here. Next,  I welcome back to the podcast Eric Morris Managing Director of Retail for Google Canada and we catch up and talk about the latest fascinating fresh insights from Google based on search data on how Canadian consumers are shopping and getting ready for Holiday 2020.  Check out the report and the data here.But first, let’s listen into Set the Tone with Larry Rosen and Jane Gaynor from Gain Your Edge  Coaching******Thanks to Trinh, Larry, Jane and Eric for being my guests on this episode.  If you liked this podcast please subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform,  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 LinkedInUntil next time, have a safe 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.