The Voice of Retail

Welcome to a special Black Friday-Cyber Monday  planning for peak eCommerce 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.First up in this special edition we set the stage with an exclusive interview with a supply chain veteran on the front lines of delivering on the promise of Black Friday - SCI’s President & CEO Chris Galindo.  Chris provides us with incredible  insights into the logistics of eCommerce from a warehouse and distribution perspective, trends from the front lines and advice on how to deal with Black Friday.Next recorded live in Toronto at the SCI Powershift to Consumerism summit a recording of my panel interviews with retailers and thought leaders in the eCommerce retail space: after an introduction by Dave Mack, VP marketing from SCI and himself an experience eCommerce retailer, veterans of many Black Friday/Cyber Mondays Franco Schiavone, Sr. Director eCommerce and Customer Service with Designer Brands Canada, Stephanie Barrington, VP Marketing Well.ca and Jerry Lam, Director Strategic Accounts and Product Development take us through their thinking around Black Friday, handling peaks and what it takes to win November 29th!But first, let’s listen to my interview with Chris from SCI******That’s a wrap on this special supply chain planing for peak edition of The Voice of Retail, Thanks to Chris, Franco, Stephanie 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 October 28, 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 we check in with two highly respected retail industry analysts to take the pulse of online retail and retail experience.First a feature interview with Forrester VP and Principal Analyst Sucharita Kodali.  One of the most respected analysts in the North American eCommerce space, we talk about the big trends and powerful business models that are increasingly separating the winners from the losers in online retail and beyond.Next I talk with Andrew Cherwenka, veteran retailer and CX guru and President at Touchpoints Retail Consulting live in the Atomic Reach podcasting studio recorded at Retail West in Andrew’s new(wish) home town of Vancouver .  Andrew  takes deep dives into Forrester’s Canadian Customer Experience Index survey, and goes well beyond in articulating best practices and pitfalls retailers should avoid as they continue their CX journey.Lastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, lets listen to my interview with Sucharita from Forrester******Thanks to Sucharita and Andrew 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 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.In this weeks episode back-to-back  exclusive interviews with retail and marketing visionaries.First an exclusive interview with Ron Johnson, veteran retailer credited with taking the vision of Steve Jobs and crafting Apple retail into the behemoth it is today, then taking over J.C. Penny and launching a bold experiment in mass merchant retailing and now CEO of Enjoy.  Recorded live from his offices in California, I connect with Ron just prior to his main-stage keynote presentation at RCC’s DTLQC conference in Montreal November 5th; we talk about this perspectives on the current and future state of retailing, and where his new venture, Enjoy, fits into key moments of truth for the consumer.Next I talk to Ron Tite, Toronto based author, marketing guru and stand-up comedian discussing his latest book, "Think. Do. Say: Building Personal and Organizational Momentum in a Busy, Busy World"  Shop online at http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8946794/type/dlg/fragment/internal%3D1/https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/home/search/?keywords=think%20do%20sayLastly I’ll take a look at the retail news of the week, but first, lets listen to my interview with Ron Jonson.******Thanks to Ron and Ron 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 Two Ron Interview episode of The Voice of Retail (shout out to fans of the classic Two Ronnies British comedy show)  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 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! 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 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! 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 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! 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 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! 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 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! 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 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! 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 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! 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.