The Voice of Retail

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! The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact. 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! The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact. 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! The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact. 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! The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact. 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 Black Friday 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.Recorded early November in front of a live audience at The Ted Rogers School of Retail Managment at Ryerson University’s 12th annual retail week, I’m joined by an esteemed panel of retail experts and veterans to discuss a bit of retail history, the state of the retail nation and the competing narratives and industry debate around the Black Friday retail holiday event.According to the 2019 Retail Council of Canada + Leger research, sponsored by Chase, 43% of Canadian consumers plan to shop on Black Friday versus 34% on Boxing Day - a revolution in this country where this relatively new Holiday, plus Cyber Monday, has risen to the forefront of the retail promotional calendar.On the panel is Marina Strauss, award winning retail reporter for decades with The Globe and Mail; Patrick Dickinson veteran retail marketer and brand strategist most recently with Hudson’s Bay, and last but certainly not least Mark Lee, Director and Associate Professor at the Ted Rogers School of Retail Managment bringing his expertise in consumer perception around pricing and promotions to the discussion.Let’s jump right into the fascinating and entertaining discussion with an introduction to the panel by our host Sean Sedlezky, Manager of Program Design at the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management******That’s a wrap on this special Black Friday edition of The Voice of Retail, Thanks to Marina, Patrick, Mark and Sean for being my guests on this live panel, and to the Ted Rogers School of Retail Management at Ryerson University for hosting us.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! The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact. 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 Retail Cannabis 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 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.  This podcast is intended for listeners 18+.First up recorded live on the main stage in the Toronto Reference Library event space closing off RCC’s Retail Cannabis Forum, my one to one interview with High Tide CEO Raj Grover.  An experienced cannabis industry veteran and retailer, we talk about the inspiration to move to Alberta to get his start in the industry, what it will take to retain momentum in Ontario, and the path ahead for Hightide in 2020 and beyond.Next Lauren Davie, Director of Retail for Superette joins me in the Environics Analytics podcasting studio for a great conversation covering her rich retail background, the importance of training and a training culture, and how the innovations Superette has brought in format, approach all come together on the front lines with an award winning performance by Superettte’s brand and people.Lastly Michele Sexsmith, Senior Vice President and Practice leader from Environics Analytics is back on The Voice of Retail telling us how their core set of tools and insights can inform cannabis retailers around consumption patterns, new trends and making smart decision on store location and assortment with data.So let’s start now with my interview with Raj from HighTide******That’s a wrap on this special Retail Cannabis Forum edition of The Voice of Retail, Thanks to Raj, Lauren and Michele for being my guests and Environics Analytics for being my generous sponsor.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! The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact. 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 November 18, 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’m on the trade show floor of RCC’s DTLQC conference in Montreal talking with local key retailers and retail industry players based in Quebec.First of all serial retail innovator and now CEO of iStore Joel Teitelbaum is my guest. Joel shares the details behind his rich retail background and reflects on his experience starting at Dylex and La Senza, plus the importance of key supplier relationships, finding great partners to grow the business and the magic of focus.Next Charles de Brabant, Executive Director, Bensadoun School of Retail Management at McGill University joins me and we explore his luxury retail experience in Asia with Loreal, and now thirty years on standing up the retail program at McGill University.Finally I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, lets listen to my interview with Joel from iStore******Thanks to Joel and Charles for being my guests on this episode, now lets hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, I put this newsletter together, the biggest circulation of any weekly in Canada together each and every week, 51 weeks of the year - you can subscribe for free at retailcouncil.org******That’s a wrap on this episode 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! The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact. 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 November 11, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.In this weeks action packed episode the focus is on grocery section - from putting your money where your mouth is in terms of funding and supporting innovative, to standing up a specialty grocery store, to understanding the big picture trends and the ways and means of food regulation in our Nation’s capital.First of all recoded live at the launch of District Venture Kitchens in Toronto I check in with Arlene Dickinson , CEO of District Ventures as she adopts and supports this innovative professional kitchen /production space for food entrepreneurs.  While there I meet Jana Sobey, VP Merchandising, Community Format, Thrifty Foods & Field for Sobeys and we talk about the importance of supporting innovation on the shelves.My last three interviews are recorded live at RCC’s DTLQ conference in Montreal.  First up Professor Sylvain Charlebois returns to the podcast to talk food trends, vegetarians, the upcoming release of his authoritative Canada’s Food Price Report, and the state of the edible cannabis nation.Then I meet Lika Niasse, Owner of African Soul Food specialty grocery in Gatineau Quebec, and lastly but certainly not least RCC’s Jason McLinton Vice-President, Grocery Division and Regulatory Affairs talk food policy and retail.Whew!  But don’t worry, its not a five hour episode, just action packed!Finally I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, lets listen to my interview with Arlene, then Jana.******Thanks to  Arlene, Jana, Sylvain, Lika and Jason for being my guests on this episode, now lets hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, I put this newsletter together, the biggest circulation of any weekly in Canada together each and every week, 51 weeks of the year - you can subscribe for free at retailcouncil.org******That’s a wrap on this episode 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! The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact. 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 Retail Flyer 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.Recorded live on the main stage at the Carlu in Toronto during RCC’s annual Retail Flyer forum, my one to one interview with the one and only Patrick Dickinson, retail consultant and veteran retail marketer most recently with Hudson’s Bay.  We talk about how and why the retail flyer, in both paper and digital, is such a resilient media and significant element of the marketing mix in Canada, and delve into what retailers need to be thinking about each week to make it an effective and measurable tool and drive ROI.First we set the stage with an exclusive interview recorded live from Dublin with Jerry Kennelly, Founder &  CEO of Tweak.  I met Jerry recently on my most excellent retail tech tour in Ireland along with a number of other innovative solution providers, and was really impressed with the approach to solving a familiar set of challenges and opportunities in the printed media and well beyond.So let’s start now listen to my interview with Jerry from Tweak, then Tweak’s Shane Corcoran introduces myself and Patrick for our fireside chat******That’s a wrap on this special Retail Flyer Forum edition of The Voice of Retail, Thanks to Patrick and Jerry for being my guests on this 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! The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact. 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 November 4, 2019 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.This episode is intended for adults 18+.  In this weeks episode we delve into the world of cannabis 2.0 retailing from several different perspectives and parts of the value chain in Canada and the U.S.First of all I visited with Aaron Bouganim, Managing Director at CannMart Inc. right in their impressive facilities in Toronto.  We talk about his rich history and perspectives in the medical cannabis space and the road ahead to 2.0.Next the first of a two part interview with veteran retailer, digital maven, beauty & wellness pioneer Angela Kapp from Arizona.  We begin our rich conversation looking back at the early days of digital retail and the beauty category, right through to Angela becoming Co-CEO of TruPotency, a bespoke retail solution for the American CBD marketplace.Lastly I speak with Canadian Cannabis Wellness Expert Krystal Laferriere live in Calgary.   We explore her very personal journey to now a very professional role in the cannabis and CBD space, including a new listing and presence in Quebec’s retail cannabis chain, SQDC.Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, lets listen to my interview with Aaron.******Thanks to  Aaron, Angela and Krystal for being my guests on this episode, now lets hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, I put this newsletter together, the biggest circulation of any weekly in Canada together each and every week, 51 weeks of the year - you can subscribe for free at retailcouncil.org******That’s a wrap on this episode 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! The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact. 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.