The Voice of Retail

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of May 20th 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Purolator, Canada's Shipping Company for courier and freight, learn more at www.purolator.com In this episode a feature interview with retailer Sinéad Clarke at her wonderful store the Irish Design House in Toronto. We talk about the journey that brought her to Canada and the passion she brings to her business. Next, an interview with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University and frequent commentator on the grocery sector in Canada talking about his background and approach, and discussing the upcoming legalization of cannabis edibles as Sylvain tells us that the government is “taking the fun out of edibles” Last but not least, part one of my interview with Karl Littler Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at RCC on his journey to the most senior levels of government and advocacy and we start covering off key issues for retailers in Canada including the new Nafta (CUSMA as its know in here in Canada) agreement. Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including grocery retailers doubling down on delivery, Endy stays the course, Roots debuts on the Magic Mile, Ontario moving closer to suds in C-stores, STORE keynote speaker Steve Dennis is waiting for the Penny to drop, with or without a silver bullet, cannabis retailers play flip that permit in Saskatchewan, and the Healthy Planet plans multi year expansion. But first, let’s listen in to my interview with Sinead from the Irish Design House. Thanks to Sinead, Sylvain and Karl for being my guests in this episode, 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 iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition. I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn If you are in Toronto attending STORE 2019 next week be sure and stop by the Purolator Podcast Studio and share your STORE 2019 insights for The Voice of Retail special conference editions. Join me again next week for the regular Friday edition we’ll have part two of my interview with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois talking about Canada’s new food guide and the impact on grocery merchants and Karl Littler as we continue to dive into the top line of key issues for retailers. Until then, 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 Collision conference edition of the Voice of Retail podcast I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Described by some as the Tiff for Tech, Collision is Irishman’s Paddy Cosgrave’s great import into Toronto for the first of a three year run. This North American tech conference outgrew it’s New Orleans home and welcome as Visa access for it’s many international guest became harder to come by, and after Paddy visited Toronto and began to appreciate the burgeoning tech scene and welcoming environment. Learn more at https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/it-s-like-tiff-for-tech-why-the-collision-conference-is-moving-to-toronto-1.5139325 So over a couple of days I joined 25,711 attendees from 125 countries including Prime Minister Justin Trudeau , Houseplant retail cannabis brand creator Seth Rogen, and the always amazing Kara Swisher plus and many many more. I put this episode together featuring interviews and highlights for the week starting with Sarah Landstreet, Founder + CEO at Georgette Packaging (Y Combinator W2016) the day after she crushed her MainStage two minute pitch opening night talking to us about next generation packaging, processes, engineering and materials. Next, offsite I chat with Pat Breen, Irish Minister for Trade, Business & Employment. EU Digital Single Market & Data Protection who was visiting on a trade mission this week promoting Irish tech and merchandise. We met at the Irish Design House in Toronto hosted by wonderful owner Sinéad Clarke. Stay tuned for an upcoming episode for a feature interview with Sinéad. https://twitter.com/PatBreen1?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor Learn more about the Flywheel here: http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8946794/type/dlg/fragment/internal%3D1/https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/home/search/?keywords=the%20flywheel Last but certainly not least I chat with Hassan Murad, Founder, Intuitive - AI for Zero Waste on his innovative AI powered recycling sorting solution Oscar that visually scans the items you are about to dispose of and tells you what goes where. https://intuitiveai.ca/vision I’m also joined with commentary interspersed between the interviews by two fellow Collision attendees, visionary tech leader Chris Hodgson founder of the Pivt and Lisa Charters a long time digital maven in the entertainment, content and business advisory practice with their commentary and observations on the show https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopherhodgson/ https://www.linkedin.com/in/lisacharters/ That’s a wrap on this special Collision edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition. I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn Join me each and every Friday as I interview some of the most interesting people in retail and cover off the most important stories within the Canadian retail industry and around the world. Until then, 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 May 13th 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Purolator, Canada's Shipping Company for courier and freight, learn more at www.purolator.com In this episode an exclusive interview with Whole Foods former Co-CEO Walter Robb in advance of our discussion together on the main stage at STORE 2019 coming up May 29th in Toronto. We talk about his personal journey to retail leadership, perspectives on the growth and evolution of food trends and the origins and power of sustainability and organic. Then, part two of my feature interview with Rob Shields, veteran retailer and retail loyalty visionary as we talk about the past, present and future in the retail loyalty space as Rob tells us that “over time some things become true no matter when you ask it”. We talk about removing the friction of loyalty with his new venture Paymi. Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including Home Hardware sticking to it’s strengths, the grocery battle for Victoria Day, Walmart crushes earning with the best Q1 comps in almost a decade, Whole Foods tests a new format, Canadian Tire talks global expansion via Helly Hansen, Chicos weighs buyout, Sobeys says Voila, and calling all drones in isle 5…. But first, let’s listen in to my interview with Walter Robb Let’s jump into the second part of my conversation with retail and loyalty veteran Rob Shields - picking up where we left off last episode, Rob share insights with us from being one of the top retail CMOs in the country through to the creation of an open source loyalty program and beyond. Let’s listen in: Thanks to Walter Rob & Rob Shields for being my guests in this episode, 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 iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition. I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn If you are in Toronto attending STORE 2019 be sure and stop by the Purolator Podcast Studio and share your STORE 2019 insights for The Voice of Retail special conference editions. Join me again next week for my interview for part one of my interview with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University and frequent commentator on the grocery sector in Canada and Karl Littler Senior Vice President of Public Affairs at RCC on key issues for retailers in Canada. Until then, 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 May 6th 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Stream Commerce, North America’s fastest growing Shopify Plus agency, learn more at www.streamcommerce.com In this episode an interview with RCC Independent Retail Ambassador of the Year Kendall Barber and her Edmonton based footwear business Poppy Barley. We explore the origins of the business, the move to physical retail, and how this award winning retailer sets and follows a North Star for its brand. Then, part one of a feature interview with Rob Shields, veteran retailer and retail loyalty visionary as we talk about the intersection of loyalty programs, true customer loyalty and brand as Rob declares “the dividend of digital is data”. Next, an interview with RCC’s Stephanie Lear as she dishes on the great thought leadership content you’ll find on the stage at STORE 2019 coming up in a couple of weeks (May 28/29, get your tickets at www.storeconference.ca) and last but certainly not least a quick chat with Canadian Retailer Editor-In-Chief Sean Tarry as he introduces the latest edition, the Food & Grocery edition Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including Roots continued global expansion plans, Walmart Canada invests $200 million on store network, Best Buy’s Ron Wilson at RCC’s 2019 Distinguished Retailer of the Year Award, Tokyo Smoke opens up in old HMV space in Toronto, Amazon Go opens in NYC to massive lines (um, defeating the purpose, no?) and wardrobe rental services up close. That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home, just say “Hey Google, play the voice of retail podcast” 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 on LinkedIn Join me again next week for my interview with Walter Robb, co-founder of Whole Foods, part two of my interview with Rob Shields and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois Senior Director, Agri-Food Analytics Lab at Dalhousie University and frequent commentator on the grocery sector in Canada. Until then, 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 May 3rd, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. In this episode part 2 of my conversation with serial innovator Peter Van Stolk, CEO of SPUD. We hone in on global online grocery trends, talk about his innovative Food X platform and how is serves local consumers and small retailers alike, talk about the price of avacados and even make a few predictions of the future of online grocery sales in Canada. Next a feature interview with Michele Sexsmith, SVP and Practice Leader, Retail, Real Estate and Entertainment Sectors from Environics Analytics talking about their work helping retailers understand Canadian consumer online shopping behaviours, how their Click-Spend product that is produced in partnership with J.C. Williams, can help retailers understand buying patterns right down to the local trading area, and a look for surprises in the data. https://www.environicsanalytics.com/en-ca/ Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including the new york times celebrating Canadian retailer Indigo on their reinvention of book selling, tap into some data about beer sales in retail creating jobs, Nova cannabis opens in Toronto and Triple J’s Canna Space is Yukon’s 1st cannabis store - but entrepreneurs in Calgary are still struggling with a lease but no licence, Walmart opens an AI store and Amazon’s trojan horse strategy But first, lets listen to the second part of my interview with Peter - we pick up the conversation talking about his FoodX platform - I ask him beyond the likes of Walmart using his platform, is it the case that local food retailers can also use the platform to address the concerns of his customers, who like to shop from their local grocers as well as SPUD but can feel a bit guilty not sharing their business with them as the smaller grocery players can’t afford eCommerce as a part of their business model….until now… https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/01/us/politics/trump-border-closing-economy.html That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home, just say “Hey Google, play the voice of retail podcast” I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or on LinkedIn Join me again next week for my interview Retail Council of Canada Independent Retailer Ambassador of the year for 2019 Poppy Barley’s Kendal Barber, retail and loyalty marketing guru Rob Shields and very special guest Marina Strauss, veteran retail report for The Globe and Mail. Until then, 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. 

Content of this podcast is intended for 21+. Welcome to the Voice of Retail special O’Cannabiz Conference retail cannabis edition I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this special edition podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. I recently attended the April O’Cannabiz cannabis conference [https://ocannabiz.com/], a multi-day event in Toronto and as always met and heard lots of really interesting cannabis industry thought leaders in this close-knit and expanding community. I thought for this episode I’d let my interviews speak for themselves to give you a good flavour for the issues and the insights from the conference. I was fortunate to interview three amazing thought leaders from different perspectives on retail recreational cannabis - a top global retail industry thought leader, the CEO of a top cannabis retailer looking to re-imagine the retail experience and the customer they serve, and a U.S. based integrated LP and retailer to help us see around the corner to what is next and upcoming for retail recreational cannabis in Canada. So first I chat with the one and only Tony Chapman back on the voice of retail for a second week in a row this time talking about retail cannabis in his role as the MC for this event. https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonychapmanreactions/ Next I chat with me Tom Dyck, CEO of mihi Cannabis [https://www.linkedin.com/in/thomas-dyck/] who was drawn out of retirement from a successful career at a major Canadian banking institution into a whole new industry, and last but certainly not least I talk with California-based NUG CEO & Founder John Oram [https://www.linkedin.com/in/oramjj/] who takes us through his journey from scientists to fully integrated producer and retailer in the U.S. So let’s listen in as I sit down first with Tony Chapman and talk about the Bong Shows and moonshots: Special thanks again to my guests Tony, Tom and John for chatting with me on the podcast today, apologies to Tom for the technical gremlins towards the end of our interview the mushed up our interview tracks together to make it sound like we were talking over each other, and to John for a bit of echo as the very beginning of our interview. That’s a wrap on this very special O’Cannabiz edition of The Voice of Retail. You can learn about their upcoming September conference , GrowUp, happing in beautiful Niagara Falls Ontario September 12-14th at https://growupconference.com/ I’m Michael LeBlanc Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc., and you can learn more about me at www.meleblanc.co or on LInkedIn, and stay tuned for our next regular edition of the podcast available each and every Friday. If you like this edition please subscribe, rate it on iTunes and tell all your LinkedIn friends! 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 April 22nd, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Stream Commerce, North America’s fastest growing Shopify plus agency, learn more at Stream Commerce dot com. In this episode part 1 of my conversation with serial innovator Peter van Stolk, CEO of SPUD based in Vancouver. In a wide ranging conversation we talk about the business he founded, his journey to creating a circular economy business, and the fundamental nature of innovation in retail. www.spud.ca Next, a feature interview with the one and only Tony Chapman as he expands on his latest article “Mind your P’s but own your Be’s (https://www.retailcouncil.org/community/technology/mind-your-ps-but-own-your-bes-how-bricks-can-beat-back-clicks/ ), in advance of his appearance on the main stage at RCC’s STORE conference along with three retail titans. You can get ahold of Tony at https://www.linkedin.com/in/tonychapmanreactions/ Lastly, a special bonus interview with Michelle Ribout, Director of Events at Retail Council of Canada talking about STORE2019, Excellence in Retail awards and Canadian Grand Prix awards. https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleribout/ Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including Henry’s on the acquisition trail, LuLulemon’s aspirations towards growing the men’s wear business, celebrating Edmonton based Poppy Barley, the Golden Goose, Casper doubles down on Canada changes at Chicos and much more. But first, let’s listen to my interview with Peter: That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home, just say “Hey Google, play the voice of retail podcast” I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or on LinkedIn Join me again next week for part two of my interview with retailer Peter van Stolk, and Michelle Sexsmith from Environic Analytics talking about their powerful Clickspend product and the insights and advantage retailers can glean from utilizing that tool. Until then, 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 special Retail Marketing Conference edition, I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this special edition podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Recorded live in Toronto April 18th 2019 at Retail Council of Canada’s annual Retail Marketing conference, this special edition podcast features two of my on-stage interviews plus insights from attendees. First I chat with two of Canada’s top influencers, Jonathan Cavilier and Shannae Ingleton . They discuss their tradecraft, experiences working with brands and advice for retailers on how to work with key influencers to achieve their objectives. https://www.instagram.com/torontoshay/?hl=en https://www.instagram.com/jonathancavaliere/?hl=en Next, my fireside conversation with Trinh Tham, Vice President of brand strategy and planning at Sobey’s. We talk about the tradecraft of the modern retail marketer We’ll wrap up with my thoughts around the key moments and insights from Canada’s leading retail marketing conference. At the end of a great day of retail marketing thought leadership and networking with old friends, colleagues and new friends, we were all treated to amazing cocktails sponsored by Emilio at Ad Mill featuring retail marketing/agency veteran Paul Allemby’s latest venture, a bespoke local-made gin call Levenswater. https://www.levenswater.com/ Going to get Paul onto an upcoming episode of TVOR to tell us his amazing story of moving from leading top marketing agencies, to following his passion and creating an award winning spirit! You can see the whole agenda from Retail Marketing here: http://racsymposium.ca/schedule That’s a wrap on this very special edition of The Voice of Retail. I’m michael leblanc founder and president of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, and you can learn more about me at www.meleblanc.co or on LInkedIn, and stay tuned for our next regular edition of the podcast available each and every Friday. If you like this edition please subscribe, rate it on iTunes and tell all your LinkedIn friends! 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 April 15 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Stream Commerce, North America’s fastest growing Shopify plus agency, learn more at www.StreamCommerce.com . In this episode an exclusive feature interview with Mark Miller, Toronto native, Founder of the Legacy Lab and Chief Strategic Officer at Team One (Publicis Groupe's Premium Brand Agency) - https://www.teamone-usa.com/about and most importantly co-author of Legacy in the Making, recently anointed in Forbes magazine as one of the top ten business books for 2018, https://www.forbes.com/sites/shephyken/2018/12/02/give-a-valuable-gift-the-top-10-business-books-for-2018/#708a07d568b7 You can purchase the book here: http://www.anrdoezrs.net/links/8946794/type/dlg/https://www.chapters.indigo.ca/en-ca/books/legacy-in-the-making-building/9781260117561-item.html?ikwid=legacy+in+the+making&ikwsec=Home&ikwidx=0 Next up, an interview with Retail Council of Canada’s Quebec President Marc Fortin as we chat about the state of the retail nation in Quebec and explore the top issues facing retailers in Canada’s second largest retail market. You can get in touch with Marc directly at 514 982 0267 x 331 or on mfortin@cccd-rcc.org Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week including Metro’s foray into reusable containers and and Uber eats, MEC building on it’s experiential history, Tip Top new store concept and reinvention expansion, Bed Bath and Beyond closing 40 but opening 15, and Best Buy thrives through an eCommerce revolution. That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home, just say “Hey Google, play the voice of retail podcast” I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or on LinkedIn Join me again next week for a feature interview with the one and only Tony Chapman as he expands on his latest article “Mind your P’s but own your Be’s (https://www.retailcouncil.org/community/technology/mind-your-ps-but-own-your-bes-how-bricks-can-beat-back-clicks/ ), and Peter Van Stolk, CEO of www.spud.ca based in Vancouver who tells us all about the there pillars of his business and how sustainability is at the core of everything he does. Until then, 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 April 7 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Stream Commerce, North America’s fastest growing Shopify plus agency, learn more at www.StreamCommerce.com In this episode an exclusive interview with Danielle Brown, freshly minted CMO for award winning Canadian DTC retailer www.Knix.ca Next, we meet up Jesse Michael from Stocard and talk about their innovative solution for managing loyalty programs from the palm of consumers hands that delivery measurable benefits for retailers Then Kalie Belanger from Retail Council of Canada and I sit down for a chat together and she brings us up to speed on Canadian Independent Bookstore day coming happening April 27th. https://www.retailcouncil.org/events/canadian-independent-bookstore-day/ https://www.facebook.com/82391994581/posts/10156516448599582 Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week, including Macy’s roll-out of their version of Story, Walmart’s latest environmental initiative (plus their Mic Drop as the kids would say on Amazon, MEC opens a new flagship in Toronto, another retail cannabis store graces that market, and the rise of electronic shelf labels Thanks again to Danielle, Jesse and Kalie for joining me for this episode, and here is a link to Jeff Bezos’s 2018 Letter to Shareholders as mentioned in the show. https://blog.aboutamazon.com/company-news/2018-letter-to-shareholders That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home, just say “Alexa, play the voice of retail podcast” (hopefully I just woke up you Echo device). I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ Join me again next week for a feature interview with Mark Miller, author of Legacy in the Making, International Business Book Awards Book of the Year 2019 Finalist "Top Ten Business Books for 2018" according to Forbes, and RCC Quebec President Marc Fortin gives us a retailers view into Quebec Until then, 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.