The Voice of Retail

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. 

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of April 1, 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 an exclusive interview with Peter Housley, Chief Revenue Officer for Vancouver based Indochino talking about performance marketing, the simple genius of the showroom and managing a team through a hyper-growth cycle. Next part two of my interview with eCommerce merchandising veteran Lauren Freedman, President of the eTailing Group. But that’s not all…on my whirlwind trip to Vancouver I had the opportunity to grab lunch at Nordstroms with Andrew Cherwenka, digital and eCommerce strategy and usability guru, on his new adventures and insights in the Western Canadian market. Last but not least I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week, including Ontario Cannabis store openings, Oxford properties launch of their new food concept in Mississauga, Ikea reinvents itself, Hudson’s Bay results, RH goes big in home, and Loblaw pilots an innovative new digital strategy. Alright thanks again to Andrew Cherwenka for joining me, Let’s jump right into the top news of the week…starting with where we left off last week - retail cannabis! Big week in Ontario, with ten stores (my bet was five) of the 25 launching April 1. seven out of ten shared the same pos system, Cova Software, and they tell us there was $50,913 of sales on opening day.  And by the way As part of my ongoing coverage of the roll out of retail cannabis, and Courtesy of my friends at Environics Analytics CannabisInsights, powered by Vividata, we share some insights about the Toronto and Vancouver retail cannabis markets…. If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform. I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and company and you can learn more about me on meleblanc do co or on LinkedIn Join me again next week for a feature interview with Danielle Brown , CMO of Knix and RCC’s 2019 Retail Marketing award winner, and Jesse Michael Managing Director, North America at Stocard who will talk to us about their innovative mobile loyalty app focussed on increasing foot traffic to 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 March 25, 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 an exclusive interview with Andy Palalas, Chief Revenue Officer of High Tide talking about their family of retail stores, and particularly their CannaCabana retail cannabis store as it grows in Alberta and the eve of expansion to an open Ontario market. Next part one of a two part interview with Lauren Freedman, President of the eTailing Group. Lauren literally wrote the book on eCommerce merchandising two decades ago with her landmark book “It’s Just Shopping”. We chat about the current state of eCommerce merchandising and customer expectations, and about the insights Wiseplum gathered in the Understanding the Canadian Consumer study. Then of course I’ll cover off the top retail news of the week, including the Sobey family donation to retail education, the Landmark $100-million gift to the University of Toronto from Gerald Schwartz and Indigo CEO Heather Reisman , ontario cannabis store opening update, Holts beautiful new expansions and another one bites the dust with Steve Dennis. It’s a milestone couple of weeks in Canada - RCC had their first Retail Cannabis forum, and Ontario opens up bricks + mortar retail. The RCC Retail Cannabis forum was a great morning, with Westleaf presenting their Prairie Records innovative cannabis store format, my panel covering in-store experience (check out the special edition of TVOR as I taped the panel), hiring advice both at the associate and executive level, and beating any stigma that might associate itself with the category - basically, be a great neighbour ! Good advice pretty much anywhere anytime! As part of my ongoing coverage of the roll out of retail cannabis, and Courtesy of my friends at Environics Analytics CannabisInsights, powered by Vividata, I share some really interesting insights about two markets, Edmonton and St. John’s If you liked this podcast you can subscribe on iTunes or your favourite podcast platform. 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 Lauren Freedman, and an exclusive interview with Frank Monteleone, Senior Vice President of HR for Rexall as we discuss digital strategies for attracting talent. And we’ll see how the Ontario Cannabis roll-out went. 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 Cannabis Forum Store 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 March 26 at RCC’s first ever Retail Cannabis forum I moderated the Rethinking Traditional In-store Experience panel. According to Environics Analytics CannabisInsights, powered by Vividata, 29% of Canadians 19 and older have consumed cannabis, 41% of Canadians under the age 35 have consumed cannabis. Canada currently has 206 bricks and mortar retail cannabis locations, in all Provinces and Territories except for Ontario which opens up April 1 2019. Alberta leads with 75, Newfoundland with 25, Saskatchewan with 21, New Brunswick 20, B.C. 14, Quebec 13, North West Territories 5 and Yukon 1 in Whitehorse. What has become clear from the early sales numbers is that notwithstanding the availability of cannabis online, consumers seek out the in-store experience - as they do in traditional retail - it is a vital component of this sector of the industry Have a listen as we explore these issues on the Rethinking Traditional In-store experience panel RCC’s Retail Cannabis forum was generously supported by J Ross Retail Recruiters, Lift & Co., March Networks, Midfield and Spiritleaf, along with media partners Ad Standards, Cannabis Retailer and The Growth Op. I’m Michael LeBlanc Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and you can learn more about me at www.meleblanc.co , 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! 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 March 18, 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 part two of my interview with Blue Mountain Village Association President Andrew Siegwart chatting about Chinese tourism and the best ways for retailers to maximize the visitor opportunity, plus an exclusive interview with Rent Frock Repeat Co-Founder & President Kristy Wieber with breaking news on her pivot for this multiple award winning eCommerce site. Technological gremlins stepped over the last minute of my interview with Kristy, who tells us to watch out for the all new Rent Frock Repeat this fall, and I’ll be welcoming her back then to give us an update! Top retail news of the week includes DSW name change and Canadian expansion, the run-up to April 1st retail cannabis launch day in Ontario, a new miracle on 34th street, and Dollar general’s big U.S. expansion as the bi-farcation of retail continues. 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 highlights from the RCC Retail Cannabis conference and an interview with Andy Palalas, Chief Revenue Officer, High Tide Ventures 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 St. Patrick’s Day edition! Continuing along the lines of retail tourism and the deep connection between food, restaurants and retail experience , I had the exclusive opportunity to sit down with J.P. McMahon, chef, restaurateur and owner of Michelin stared Aniar Restaurant (http://aniarrestaurant.ie/ ) along with Cava Bodega and Tartare Cafe and wine Bar, all in Galway Ireland. Chef was visiting Toronto in his role as an officially appointed ‘Ambassador of Irish Food’ at an event hosted by Enterprise Ireland and the Ireland Canada Chamber Of Commerce held at the The Chefs' House at George Brown College (great venue!!) treating locals here to an amazing breakfast: Kelly's Gigas Irish Oysters House-smoke Clare Island Organic Irish Salmon Poached Eggs, Seaweed Hollandaise Spinach Potato Farl Butchers of Distinction 9 http://www.butchersofdistinction.ca/ ) Irish breakfast sausage, bacon and Black & White Pudding Woodruff Custard Tart Nice video of Chef JP here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V7aI8vdYTiA We sat down to talk about Chef JPs approach to dining and retail, food trends in Ireland and the close parallels to the Canadian restaurant and food scene and explore new trends such as cannabis infused menus. Next, a brief chat with Neil Cooney and Lizzie Curran from Enterprise Ireland to discuss the work that goes into making St. Patrick’s day a global phenomenon culturally, politically and in retail. 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. 

Two back-to-back great interviews in this week's edition! First up, Sonny Brar, MC and session moderator for Retail Council of Canada's upcoming Retail HR Forum on April 17 (http://rcchrconference.ca/ ) joins us to talk about Retail HR trends and give us a sneak peak into the great sessions planned for the event. Next, we catch up with RCC alumni Andrew Siegwart who joins us for the first of a two-part interview chatting about his (not so new) gig at Blue Mountain Village Association, working with local main-street retailers, the essence of collaboration, and the importance of the personal connection in tourism retail. Lastly we cover off Retail This Week, including Sobeys talking about the importance of their recent Farm Boy acquisition to their urban growth strategy, and the opening of Hudson Yards in New York, the massive 28 acre development featuring one million square feet of retail and the city's first Neiman Markus luxury department store. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, learn more about me at www.meleblanc.co #retail #tourism #exploreON #ExploreCanada 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.