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.On this episode we meet a long time friend and colleague David Bolotsky, Founder & CEO, UncommonGoods.  For twenty plus years David has been a leader this innovative, category defining eCommerce website through the dot com boom, bust, echo and now shares his origin story with us, and the fundamental underlying philosophy and business strategies that have created long term sustainable growth.Next retailer, consultant, media retail pundit and now author Bruce Winder joins me as we catch up and learn about both his long history in the retail industry, about his new book “Retail Before, During and After COVID-19” and some of the key trends in the Time Before and now looking ahead through the COVID era.https://www.amazon.ca/RETAIL-Before-During-After-COVID-19/dp/B089M61PB4/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=bruce+winder&qid=1596778006&sr=8-1But first, lets check in with David live from Brooklyn New York******Thanks to David and Bruce 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. 

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.On this episode we meet Ken Keelor, CEO of one of the biggest cooperative grocers in North America, Calgary Co-op.   We start by tracing back and discovering the origins of where Ken gets his obvious enthusiasm for retail and the consumer, and the genesis of his strategic thinking around the Calgary Co-op brand and diversified business.  We then talk about the huge changes to the business both pre-covid with their change in partners and launch of relentlessly relevant private labels, and then how the team dealt with and is adapting to the COVID era.Next a long time colleague and friend Ian Madell , Managing Partner, President of Level 5 Strategy and I catch up and talk brand strategy, what it means to be the steward of both the corporate strategy and important customer outcomes, the nature of the changing consumer and retail landscape, and wise advice for retailers on winning  on brand in the COVID era.But first, lets check in with Ken from Calgary Co-op******Thanks to Ken and Ian 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. 

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 is brought to you by omNovos, Canada’s Retail Customer Engagement Solutions Provider. Combine all of your customer data into a single view to create real-time, personalized connections with your customers in our new contactless world. Learn more at www.realcustomerengagement.com.On this episode we meet Andrew Tepperman, President of Tepperman’s who takes us through the long, rich history of this Ontario based furniture retailer and how they  draw  on their heritage and decades of experience serving customers to modern brand and format innovation to compete in a crowded category.Next, I catch up with Matthew Dixon, Chief Product and Research Officer for the Austin-based AI venture, Tethr. An accomplished business researcher and writer,  author of three Amazon and Wall Street Journal best-selling books on loyalty, sales strategy and customer service, —and is a frequent contributor to Harvard Business Review with more than 20 print and online articles to his credit.  We talk about the impact the COVID crisis has had on customer service, call centres and ultimately customer satisfaction and loyalty.But first, lets check in with Andrew from Tepperman’s******Thanks to Andrew and Matt,for being my guests on this episode, and to omNovos for their generous sponsorship.  If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please 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 special CommerceNext Bonus episode part 2, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of CanadaOn this episode I talk with Joe Megibow, CEO of innovative mattress brand and manufacturer Purple.  With decades of senior level dot com experience with the likes of Expedia and American Eagle behind him, Joe is helping Purple break through the huge sleep category.Next veteran retail and consumer analyst Ken Cassar, Principal of CassarCo Strategy and Analytic Consultants.    Ken takes us through a top-line analysis of recent U.S. online retail and consumer data and helps us understand shopping trends during the COVID era.But first let’s hear from Joe from Purple!******Thanks to Joe and Ken for being my guests on this special bonus episode.   Be sure and visit CommerceNext.com and register for the CommerceNext Virtual Summit taking place on July 28-29Tune in each and every week as I interview the most interesting people in retail - you can subscribe to The Voice ofRetail on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please 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 CanadaOn this episode we head west to Vancouver and then back again to Toronto to meet two great retail cannabis operators innovating, growing their brand and retail footprint.Building and leading a team that are Cannabis enthusiast first, retailers second and 100% dedicated to their community and customer satisfaction Eleanor Lynch, President Of Operations at Kiaro is back on the podcast as we catch up on their latest retail store expansions, tactics for engagement in the community they operate in and ambitions to head east and bring their brand of operational experience and great retail to the Ontario market.Speaking of the Ontario market, James Jesty, President at The Friendly Stranger Holding Corp. joins me for a wide-ranging conversation where he outlines their three retail banner strategy based on a foundation of decades in the Ontario retail cannabis community and marketplace with The Friendly Stranger, Happy Days and Kensington’s Markets Hot Box retail brand.But first, lets check in with Eleanor from Kiaro******Thanks to Eleanor and James for being my guests on this episode.   If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please 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 special CommerceNext Bonus episode, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of CanadaOn this episode I talk to CommerceNext founders Scott Silverman and Veronika Sonsev talk about the Genesis of the CommerceNext thought leadership event and community, its overarching objectives and about the Virtual Summit July 28/29.Next Rob Schmults, Executive Board, Midocean Partners and Laura Joukovski, President, Global Fashion Brands, Techstyle Fashion Group both return to the podcast  and give me "two starts" and one "stop" pieces of advice for retailers based on their experiences and expectations of the COVID-19 era.But first let’s hear from Scott and Veronika!******Thanks to Scott, Veronica, Rob and Laura for being my guests on this special bonus episode.   Be sure and visit CommerceNext.com and register for the CommerceNext Virtual Summit taking place on July 28-29Tune in each and every week as I interview the most interesting people in retail - you can subscribe to The Voice ofRetail on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please 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 CanadaOn this episode we’re in the motor city, Detroit, to talk with innovative online retailer and sneaker marketplace  StockX co-founder Josh Luber.  We talk about the intersection of passion and profit, how StockX innovative formula drives authenticity and credibility into the collectible re-sell market, and how a perfect price transparency model based on the stock market is driving record sales even in the face of the covid crisis.  Last, we explore the wildly innovative IPO market that StockX creates for brands to launch product lines in this celebrity (Drake, Mark Walberg, Eminem) funded platform.Next we head west to Santa Monica and chat with Ashley Merrill, CEO/Founder of Lunya Company, a purpose-built retailer focussed on bespoke sleepwear for the modern women.  We talk about the origin story behind the brand, and how the COVID crisis had changed the way Ashley is thinking about the business and how Lunya goes to market.But first, lets check in with Josh from StockX******Thanks to Josh and Ashley for being my guests on this episode.   If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please 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 CanadaOn this episode Tal Zvi Nathanel, CEO of Showfields in New York City returns to the podcast to catch us up on how the thinking that created “the most interesting store in the world” and certainly the retail concept that had attendees and pundits at January’s NRF Big Show buzzing has adapted to the COVID-19 crisis.  We talk about the key foundational principles that helped them navigate the early weeks of the crisis, their pivot onto online, and now with their store re-opened in New York and pending in Miami, what his retail concept focussed on experiential retail looks and acts like in the COVID era.Next from Washington D.C. Dan Pink, New York Times best selling author of six provocative books about business and human behavior is my special guest.  Dan and I catch up after meeting over ten years ago and talk about the trends and threads of narrative that he was thinking in “the time before”, and now how the COVID crisis has changed retail, business, society and how we work potentially forever.But first, lets check in with Tal from Showfields******Thanks to Tal and Dan for being my guests on this episode.   If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please 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 CanadaOn this episode we help celebrate a great milestone and anniversary with Simon Rodrigue, Chief Digital Officer of Staples Canada.  We look a the brand and mission transformation of Staples just over a year ago, and Simon talks about the team and technology stack assembled to re-platform and re-imagine the online and digital presence of one of Canada’s top eCommerce sites.Next Andrew Resnick, veteran retail operator joins me on the podcast as we catch up after working together in our past lives to talk about the key operational elements of executing online, digital strategies in stores with BOPIS pick-up and now the outsized demands placed on retailers coast-to-coast of curb side pickup that formed a lifeline or new customer experience market of the COVID-19 era.But first, lets check in with Simon from Staples******Thanks to Simon and Andrew for being my guests on this episode.   If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please 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 is brought to you by omNovos - Canada’s Retail Customer Engagement Solutions Provider.   Learn more at www.realcustomerengagement.comOn this episode we go to Winnipeg to meet Mark Letain, President at EQ3, a distinctive furniture retailer with stores in Canada and the U.S. that is part of the Pallister furniture business.  We talk about the positioning of the business and the dynamic furniture retail industry, and how EQ3 helped out the Winnipeg community when they needed it the most.Next Andrew Armstrong from omNovos joins me to talk about their perspectives on retail data strategy, the “jump ball” opportunity of the COVID-19 crisis, and how retailers can start their journey towards harnessing consumer data to create genuine loyalty.Lastly from Boston Rana el Kaliouby,  CEO & Co-Founder at Affectiva and Author of "Girl Decoded" joins us for an exclusive interview that takes us through her journey from a PhD in Computer Science and Post-Doc work at MIT to founding a company that explores the outer edges of AI and the integration of emotion and empathy.https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/girl-decoded-a-scientists-quest/9781984824769-item.html?ikwid=girl+decoded&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0#algoliaQueryId=203499f1c58900b3331362489495578fhttps://www.affectiva.com/But first, lets check in with Mark from EQ3******Thanks to Mark and Rana for being my guests, and thanks to Andrew & omNovos for their support of this episode.   If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, please 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.