The Voice of Retail

Welcome to another in a series of special NRF Big Show episodes of The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.First up in this episode recorded live from New York City at the NRF Big Show in the NRF podcasting studio I’m joined by Tal Zvi Nathanel, the CEO of  “the most interesting store in the world” Showfields.  We delve into his origin story beginning in Israel, moving to New York, opening what was for sure the most talked about retail store in New York at this year’s NRF show. Next, respected retail industry analyst Sucharita Kodali, Vice President and principal analyst from Forrester is back on the podcast with her insights of the top tech trends at the show, perspectives on the state of modern retail and bold predictions on retail trends for 2020 and for the decade ahead.But first, let’s listen into my conversation live from NRF podcasting studio with Tal from Showfields******Thanks to Tal and Sucharita  for being my guests on this episode.  Well  Now let’s hit the highlights of the retail news in Canada and around the world with Retail This Week for the week of January 27th, 2020That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail.  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 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. 

Welcome to the first of a series of special NRF Big Show episodes of The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.First up in this episode recorded live from New York City at the NRF Big Show in the NRF podcasting studio Giant Tiger President and COO Paul Wood joins me and we learn all about this fast growing Canadian retailer based in my hometown of Ottawa, how their business structure keeps them wired directly into the market, how retail CEOs deal with the many demands on their time and what lies ahead for Giant Tiger.Next, Steve Dennis makes his return to the podcast as we catch up on the going-on in global retail, his predictions for 2019 - hits and misses, shift happening, forecast for 2020, thoughts on the Big Show and debut Steve’s new book - Remarkable Retail.You can pre-order Steve's new book, "Remarkable Retail" here:https://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8946794/type/dlg/https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/remarkable-retail-how-to-win/9781928055716-item.html?ikwid=remarkable+retail&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0But first, let’s listen into my conversation live from NRF podcasting studio with Paul WoodThanks to Paul and Steve for being my guests on this episode. Well Now let’s hit the highlights of the retail news in Canada and around the world with Retail This Week….That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail. 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 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. 

Welcome to 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 sponsored by Engagement Agents, Engagement Agents makes it easy for retailers to engage their shopping centers’ marketing channels, in order to promptly drive a Return on Engagement!First up in this episode recorded in front of a live audience from the main stage at RCC's Brick & Mortar forum, Retail Insider and author of the Canadian Shopping Centre 2019 report Craig Patterson and I talk about the genesis of his passion for retail, shopping malls trends and what we learned from this year’s report.Next,  Engagement Agent's Sean Snyder talks about how retailers can win partnering with shopping malls to drive footsteps to their stores by leveraging his platform to improve workflow, consistency and optimize the distribution of marketing campaigns with retailers shopping mall partners.But first, let’s listen into my conversation live from the main stage with Craig PattersonThanks to Craig and Sean for being my guests on this episode.  Well  Now let’s hit the highlights of the retail news in Canada and around the world with Retail This Week….That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail.  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 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of CanadaFirst up in this episode part two of my interview with Canadian eCommerce leader Tanbir Grover.  We continue our conversation talking about digital marketing, the reality of ROAS & transcending metrics, team building and the strategy of understanding the essence of a minimal viable product  - and breaks big career news.Next,  from Tanbir 2.0 to  Cannabis 2.0!  Andy Palalas joins me again from High Tide and Canna Cabana to bring us up to speed on Cannabis 2.0 -the importance to the retail trade of these new products, customer feedback, merchandising strategies and the year ahead for HighTideBut first, let’s listen into my conversation with Tanbir, picking up where we left off last episode, talking about the modern attribution riddle******Thanks to Tanbir and Andy for being my guests on this episode.Wanted to take a pause and acknowledge the loss of 63 Canadians of a total of 176 souls, victims of what in these early days appears to be a tragic shoot-down mistake in Iran.  Reading through their personal biographies today as I tried to concentrate on the retail news for the newsletter and the podcast I was struck by their individual and collective contributions as a community in cities across Canada.   My thoughts are with their families and their community in these difficult and trying days.Well  Now let’s hit the highlights of the retail news in Canada and around the world with Retail This Week….That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail.  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 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of CanadaFirst up in this episode Tanbir Grover joins me for the first of a two part interview, reflecting on his twelve years at the forefront of digital retail and eCommerce in Canada, working for retail brands including Sears Canada, Hudson’s Bay and Lowe’s Canada.  We talk corporate culture, the history of Canadian eCommerce and the state of online retail today   and how we got here from there and where we’re going next.Next,  April Sabral joins me to kick off the new retail year sharing her incredible experience on the front lines of retail for twenty five years - from Starbucks, to Apple to David’s Tea.  April talks about what retailers should be thinking of in terms of their associates,  how your willingness to recommend scores need to encompass employee satisfaction, the recipe for success for retailers and driving in-store conversion through training and development and fills us in on her new venture, RetailU.caBut first, let’s jump into part one of my interview with Tanbir Grover******Thanks to Tanbir and April  for being my guests on this special episode  - now let’s hit the highlights of the retail news in Canada and around the world with Retail This Week….That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail.  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 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. 

Welcome to 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 sponsored by Environics Analytics. Environics Analytics helps companies in Retail, CPG and the Cannabis industry turn data and analytics into insight, strategy and results. EA produces CannabisInsights – the market leading source of neighborhood level insights for the Cannabis industry.I thought this episode would be a great capstone to 2019, and also a great leading indicator of better and better days for the retail cannabis industry in Canada in 2020 and beyond.  Recorded live backstage at the Lift & Co. Canadian Cannabis Awards in Toronto, I interview  finalists, winners and industry advocates and chat about all things retail cannabis.First up Darren Bondar, President and CEO of Inner Spirit Holdings, which we would experience as Spirit Leaf, one of the biggest retail chains with 42 retail cannabis stores and ten more in the pipeline.  We talk about the importance of awards to this young industry, and the path ahead for Spirit Leaf.   Darren was a finalist in the ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR category.Next, Spirit Leaf bud tender Mona Pinette, Lift & Co nominee for Budtender of the year.  Mona Won Spiritleafs Cannabis Concierge of the year award. At Spiritleaf she is the manager of our Chinook location.  We talk about her personal journey in the profession, and what it takes to be a great bud tender on the front lines.Next Mimi Lam and Drummond Munro founders of Superette stop by just after taking home the hardware for Startup of the Year, WOMXN IN WEED - TRAILBLAZER, and top retail store (single location, Ottawa) as well as being finalists in the Employer of the Year and Entrepreneur of the Year categories.  We talk briefly about what it takes to get a single brand concept developed and off the ground, and the path ahead for Superette.Lastly  I connect with Kelly Green, from Kelly’s Green Lounge in Orno Ontario.  We talk about what its like to be both a fellow podcaster and retail entrepreneur.   But first, let’s jump into my interview with Darren from Spirit Leaf.Thanks to Darren, Mona, Mimi, Drummond and Kelly for being my guests on this special episode sponsored by Environics Analytics cannabis practice.   2020 is going to be an important year in the retail cannabis space as Cannabis 2.0 products hit the shelves across the country and finally Ontario has re-opened up their market to retail cannabis stores.  I’ll continue to cover this new industry and bring thought leaders on the podcast to share insights, best practices and stories from the front lines.That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail.  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 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.First up in this episode I catch up with David Ian Gray, founder and strategist behind retail consultancy DIG 360; we touch base on  his ongoing and recent research into consumer behaviour in partnership with Leger into Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day - consumer shopping results.Next Cherilyn Jolly-Nagel, a farmer-advocate spokesperson joins me again on the podcast after our session together in Ottawa at Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Market Access summit.   We catch up after the summer growing and fall harvest season and discuss the incredible forces and mega trends in the food industry and how they are impacting farmers in Canada and ultimately the food on retailer’s shelves.Finally recorded live in Montreal at RCC’s DTLQC conference, Michel Sirois, President of Blue Star Canada walks us through the retail technology product infrastructure, the impact of big platform and product trends such as 5G, enhanced security and unpacks the role of Distributors and Value Added Resellers in the retail industry.Lastly I’ll hit the highlights from Retail This Week for the week of December 16, but first, let’s jump into my interview with David Ian GrayThanks to David, Cherilyn and Michel for being my guests on this episode, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week.That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of RetailIf 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 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. 

Welcome to a special Irish Retail Tech episode of The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.Recorded live in Dublin and then Waterford Ireland, first up is an interview with Catie Riordan, Vice President of Consumer Retail & Retail Technology for Enterprise Ireland. We talk about her work in the U.S. , the connection to retail and their long-standing QVC partnership, the wonders of St. Patrick’s Day, and finally the Showcase Ireland buying show that connects retailers from around the world to vendors from Ireland.Next a live and interactive panel introduced by Catie and recorded on the main stage at the Waterford Ireland Tech Summit. I’m joined on the stage by four outstanding Canadian and U.S retail visionaries talking about leading and managing change and harnessing disruption in the modern retail age. On the panel is Chis Parsons Director of eCommerce from Home Hardware, Scott Adel, Leader of Shopper Outcomes from McKesson, Michelle Read-Kulig Director of Digital Marketing & Loyalty from Pizza Pizza and the one and only Shelley Nandkeolyar, retail and digital pioneer with brands such as Levis, Home Depot, William Sonoma, Martha Stewart Living.But first lets start out with my interview from Dublin with CatieThat’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail and thanks to Catie and my host Enterprise Irelad, Chris, Scott, Michelle and Shelley for being my guests on this special 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 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.First up recorded live in the Environics Analytics podcasting studio at RCC’s Retail Cannabis forum in Toronto I meet Lisa Bigioni, an Ontario retail cannabis lottery winner and co-owner of Choom Cannabis in Niagara.    We talk about the experience around winning the lottery,  the process of picking a partner and opening up a cannabis retail store under incredibly tight deadlines.Next recorded live at the Retail Council of Canada Bricks & Mortar Forum live in Toronto we check in with Claire Santamaria, Vice President of Yorkdale Shopping Centre.  One of the premier shopping centres in North America, Claire talks about the fashion heritage of the mall and the hard work that goes into finding the right retail partners and people that all comes together to make Canada’s most productive shopping environmentLastly part two of my interview with Angela Kapp, retail & brand maven and now Co-CEO of GG Growth, an modern enterprise based in Arizona that includes the top YouTube series CannaCribs, and the recently launched TruPotency, a CBD retail and resource….and that’s where we pick up our conversation.Lastly I’ll hit the highlights from Retail This Week for the week of December 9, but first, let’s jump into my interview with Lisa from Choom******Thanks to Lisa, Claire and Angela for being my guests on this episode, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week.That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of RetailIf 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 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. 

Welcome to The Voice of Retail, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.First up recorded live at the Retail Council of Canada DTLQC conference in Montreal where he was on the main stage, we meet Manny Kohli, President and CEO of innovative retailer Matt & Nat. Recognized as the leader in cruelty free vegan fashion and lifestyle accessories worldwide, Matt & Nat is available in over 100 countries, through wholesale, online and bricks and mortar locations.We talk about the excitement of launching the first store through to locations recently opened in the U.S., influencer marketing, how celebrities find the brand, building an organic brand organically and the importance of value based retailing.Next recorded live at the RCC Bricks & Mortar Forum live in Toronto we check in with the man retailers seek out to help them guide their in-store teams to success - Kevin Graff, President of Graff retail. Our focus is the very short term for this conversation - what retailers should do today and for the rest of the year to help bring the year home on the sales floor.Lastly Alan Zander CEO of omNovos joins me recorded live after the Kevin Macnab (CEO of Home Hardware) Leaders in Retail breakfast and takes us through the marketplace opportunities that are turning retailers minds towards the optimal use of data and analytics, and puts on a masterclass in the use and vision behind harnessing multiple data pieces into a powerful enterprise level tool.Lastly I’ll hit the highlights from Retail This Week for the week of December 2, but first, let’s jump into my interview with Manny from Matt & Nat******Thanks to Manny, Kevin and Alan for being my guests on this episode, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week.That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of RetailIf 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 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.