The Voice of Retail

Welcome to a very special Retail West edition 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 and sponsored by Atomic Reach.  Atomic Reach offers Atomic AI, the world's leading Smart Content Platform. By optimizing product descriptions and marketing content to match shopper's reading and emotional preferences, the deliver sales conversion improvement and personalization at scale. Recorded live from Vancouver at RCC’s annual Retail West conference with top retailers and retail industry insiders gathered for a day of insights and action items, I spoke with leading retailers and took the stage myself to explore leading edge AI solutions for eCommerce digital marketing content.First up is Frank Monteleone  Senior Vice President, Human Resources & Corporate Relations Rexall Pharmacy Group.  We talk about the importance of employer branding, and leveraging modern digital tools and social media to find the top employees that make the difference at Rexall.Next a live recording of my fireside chat on the Retail West stage with Paul Rosco, Vice President of Strategy for Atomic Reach.  After an introduction from RCC Vice President Sonny Brar, we break down the essence of AI, understand the spectrum of it’s key contribution to retail, and finally how Atomic Reach used their AI engine to create a 7% sales lift for Golf Town.Finally a look back and ahead with Mark Startup, as he looks back on a storied career representing independent retailers coast-to-coast and looking ahead as he prepares to transition to whatever comes next.But first, let’s listen to my interview with Frank Monteleone from Rexall.******That’s a wrap on this special Retail West edition of The Voice of Retail, Thanks to Frank, Paul and Mark for being my guests on this Retail West special edition!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 for the week of October 14, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Atomic Reach.  Atomic Reach offers Atomic AI, the world's leading Smart Content Platform. By optimizing product descriptions and marketing content to match shopper's reading and emotional preferences, the deliver sales conversion improvement and personalization at scale. In this week’s episode right on the heels of the 1st “CANNAVERSARY” of the legalization of recreational cannabis in Canada and launch of cannabis retail, and with the new cannabis edible 2.0 regime coming into force, three exclusive interviews live from Vancouver at this week’s Retail Council of Canada Retail West event  with cannabis retailers and regulatory experts as they came off the main stage.First up is Eleanor Lynch, Senior Vice President of Retail Operations at Kiaro.  We reflect together on the year that was, and learn about Kiaro’s interesting approach to in store and brand design.Next Adam Coates, Chief Commercial Officer Westleaf Inc. takes us through their unique retail concept Prairie Records, how they approached developing the brand and how 2.0 and the new edibles regime will allow retailers to introduce product that will bring in the “canna-curious customers who are looking for alternatives to what is available at retail today.Finally RCC’s Avery Bruenjes Policy Analyst, Government Relations and Regulatory Affairs weighs in with her perspective around the government regulatory framework informed by years of dealing with multiple files and issues.Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, let’s listen to my interview with Eleanor Lynch.******Thanks to Eleanor, Adam and Avery for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.****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 a very special Global eCommerce Leaders Forum edition 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 and is sponsored by Purolator, Canada’s Shipping Company for courier and freight, learn more at www.purolator.comIn this special edition episode I’m on the road, setting up the Purolator Podcasting Studio in the heart of the Big Apple at GELF where speakers delivered a mix of strategic insights and tactical cross-border To Dos, discussing different market entry and growth models and learning how customer journeys differ country-to-country.  For more information check out https://www.globalecommerceleadersforum.com/So get ready for an action packed episode with four back to back interviews with experts in global eCommerce, starting with Frank Lavin, CEO of ExportNow.  In government, Frank served as U.S. Ambassador to Singapore and Undersecretary of Commerce for International Trade, now helping business understand and launch in the Chinese marketplace.Then we talk to YuJin Yong, Senior Director of Direct to Consumer at MZ Wallace, a designer, manufacturer and retailer of handbags and fashion accessories.  YuJin  helps us understand the MZ Wallace brand and the important role international retail, including in Canada, plays for this innovative retailer.Next I’m joined by George Hanson, who shares his perspectives with decades of experience in international eCommerce with brands such as Under Armour where he was VP North America E-Commerce and RetailLane Bryant, and Land’s End which included a stint as Interim Managing Director for their Japan business.Last but not least we hear from Paul Stein, Purolator Account Executive based in New York servicing a thriving trade in international cross border shipping and commerce into the Canadian market.But first, lets listen to my interview with Frank Lavin******Thanks to Frank, YuJin, George and Paul for being my guests on this episode, and to GELF founders Jim Okamura, Scott Silverman and Kent Allen for being my generous hosts.That’s a wrap on this special 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 LinkedIn Until 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 for the week of October 7, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and brought to you by Atomic Reach. Atomic Reach offers Atomic AI, the world's leading Smart Content Platform. By optimizing product descriptions and marketing content to match shopper's reading and emotional preferences, we deliver sales conversion improvement and personalization at scale.In this week’s episode just in time for Thanksgiving - an exclusive interview with 3rd generation butcher, bespoke grocer and entrepreneur Stephen Alexander president of Cumbrae's grocery in Toronto. We talk about his journey from Australia to Canada, the essence of the brand and exciting expansion plans for the near future!Also joining me from live from Montreal is Philippe Cantin Senior Director, Sustainability Innovation and Circular Economy with Retail Council of Canada. Phillippe helps us unpack what retailers need to be on top of from the sustainability file across Canada. Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, let’s listen to my interview with Stephen Alexandre.******Thanks to Stephen and Phillipe for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.****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 for the week of September 30, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.In this week’s episode an exclusive interview with Vince Guzzo, Montreal-based CBC Dragon, entrepreneur and philanthropist.  In a fun and wide ranging interview we talk about the retail and consumer environment in Quebec, his experiences during the taping of his second season  of Dragons Den,  how the deals he’s seeing this year are different, how he determines whether he is "In" or "Out"  (and with who!) and the end of Netflix.https://www.cbc.ca/dragonsden/canadiantire/article.htmlNext I swing over to the west coast and catch up with Greg Wilson, Retail Council of Canada’s BC Director of Government Relations.  We  discuss the key issues for retailers based in, or operating in, British Columbia.Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, let’s listen to my interview with Vince Guzzo.******Thanks to Vince &  Greg  for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.***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 LinkedIn Until 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 for the week of September 23rd, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.  This episode is dedicated to John C. Williams a retail legend, advocate, friend and mentor to many who left us September 21, 2019.In this week’s episode an exclusive interview with keynote speaker and author Jeremy Miller on his new book “Brand New Name” - “A proven step-by-step process to create an unforgettable brand name “  We talk about the inspiration for the book, the challenges it helps solve and how individuals can take agency and ownership in their own branding process.Next I  chat with Nisha Oza, head of brand partnerships for Chinese Laundry.  We talk live at the Global eCommerce Leaders Forum in New York in the Purolator Podcasting Studio and explore Nisha’s personal and professional journey up to and including becoming one of the industry’s leading experts on influencers and managing influencer marketing for this fashion forward brand and online retailer.Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, let’s listen to my interview with Jeremy Millier.******Thanks to Jeremy and Nisha for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.****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 for the week of September 16, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.In this week’s episode I’m on the road, recording interviews from the Bahamas where I was a keynote speaker at Bluestar’s Vartech conference, and now recording live at the Global eCommerce Leaders Forum in New York in the Purolator podcasting studio.For this episode I reach out all the way out to Vancouver and chat with retailer Indochino CEO Drew Green. We catch up and talk about their impressive 40% YOY growth numbers that have made them one of Canadian Businesses ranked fastest growing retailers in their recent rankings, what it takes to maintain that level of growth and keep the customer coming backNext I chat with veteran retail brand marketer Patrick Dickinson and talk retail marketing tradecraft, the complexities managing multiple brands and concepts in modern retail, and the nature of crowds, or lack of them, creating challenges for traditional store traffic models. Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, let’s listen to my interview with Drew Green. A quick note, gremlins and not a super-great mobile connection stepped a bit on my recording with Drew, so you’ll hear the occasional beep that was I unable to edit from the interview.****** Thanks to Drew & Patrick for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free. **** 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 LinkedIn Until 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 for the week of September 9, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.In this weeks episode I get up close and personal with the one and only Sonny Brar, a veteran retailer who now is Vice President of Member Relations and education at Retail Council of Canada. We focus on conversation on retail loss prevention - top trends, what Sonny is hearing around the table at the loss prevention advisory council, and what is on deck for Retail Secure, Canada’s premier retail LP conference coming up in a couple of weeks.RCC Member Only Shrink Survey: https://www.retailcouncil.org/community/loss-prevention/retail-loss-prevention-and-shrink-survey/Next I chat with Sean Copeland, Vice President of Data at Lift & Co. in Toronto. We delve into their new cannabis study “As 2.0 opportunities emerge, can you still compete with 1.0 strategies: Canadian cannabis consumer insights for legalization 2.0” and tease out lessons learned for recreational cannabis retailers.Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, let’s listen to my interview with Sonny Brar******Thanks to Sonny and Sean for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free. **** 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 LinkedIn Until 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 special MJBizCon International Cannabis conference edition, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Held in Toronto in September 2019, the MJBizCon International brought together 2,500 Global Cannabis Executives To Learn, Grow & Connect. I took the opportunity to set up shop in their podcasting studio and interview three of the most interesting and influential participants starting off with Lara Wood, General Manager of Cannabis NB (my dad’s home province, New Brunswick). This is Lara’s third time on The Voice of Retail, so we catch up on developments over the summer, their innovative and ground breaking pop-up store, and what lies ahead for Cannabis 2.0 Next we meet Darren Bondar, President and CEO of Inner Spirit Holdings and Spirit Leaf Cannabis, one of Canada’s biggest cannabis retailers with 100 sites under development and dozens currently operating. We talk about the success of their franchise model, engagement in the community, and the important role of shop-in-shops and in-store merchandising partnerships. Lastly we explore the consumer mindset in the U.S., Canada and globally around CBD with Kay Tamillow Director of Research, Brightfield Group based in Chicago. We deep dive into the rapidly evolving CBD market with expert analysis and package goods insight. But first let’s listen to my interview with Lara Wood: Thanks to Lara, Darren and Kay for being my guests , and my hosts at MJBizCon International for this special 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 LinkedIn Until 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 for the week of September 2, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. He's been called the “rock star of digital media”, by Strategy Magazine and “the real deal” by Seth Godin…veteran podcaster, best selling author of two groundbreaking books and global keynote speaker Mitch Joel is my very special guest. I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with Mitch for almost two decades, but we catch up after almost five years surrounded by images of the 50th anniversary of the John Lennon Bed-IN for peace at the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth in Montreal as Mitch helps us Decode the Future! Next I visit a rising star of eCommerce and marketing in Canada - Johnny Russo is my guest in his offices at the Kerseh group (www.thekershegroup.com). We catch up with Johnny on his move back to Montreal from Calgary, his current role, his agile philosophy and approach to attract talent & build a team in the hyper -competitive retail & eCommerce space. Check out his blog at http://www.johnnyrusso.com/ Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, let’s listen to my interview with Mitch Joel Thanks to Mitch and Johnny for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free. 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 LinkedIn Until 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.