Remarkable Retail

"The problem is, you think you have time."- Carlos Castaneda, Journey to IxtlanAs we transition to the second part of our inaugural season, we take a brief look back at the core principles behind why even very good is not good enough any more and why we must choose remarkable. As the pace of digital disruption accelerates, consumers are faced with a plethora of choices, creating ever more pressure for retailers to be the compelling, intensely customer relevant signal amid all the noise.We also delve into four key questions companies need to answer as they embark on transforming themselves for the COVID economy and ponder why it takes a crisis for so many retailers to take action. In the second part of the episode, we lay out the strategic choices companies are compelled to make, the importance of decisively picking a lane and why it's so critical to choose remarkable. Then it's a quick overview of Steve's "8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail" framework, before we dig deep into each in subsequent episodes. We also discuss how to best apply the framework and prioritize turning ideas into action. You can learn more about Steve on his website   here . His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at  Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve shares his insights in his role as a   Forbes senior contributor and on   Twitter and   LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel   here.You can learn more about Michael here (   www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn (   https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ ) About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.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 fourth year in a row, 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. 

"How did you go bankrupt?" Bill asked."Two ways," Mike said. "Gradually, then suddenly."- Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also ArisesWhy do so many companies defend the status quo even when it becomes increasingly obvious that their business model is losing customer relevance and remarkability? Why do others think they can cost cut and store close their way to prosperity? In this episode we look at the roots causes of how and why retailers sink into irrelevance and risk a mass extinction event. Then we flip these questions on their head to explore ways to defy conventional wisdom and create a culture of experimentation. Along the way we touch on why "the opposite is risky" and why quitting is often underrated (hint: it has to do with understanding opportunity cost). Nordstrom's Local strategy gets a shout-out, as does Apple's new Express concept. We also dub JC Penney the "world's second longest liquidation sale."Our special guest is Deborah Weinswig, one of retail's leading analysts and thought leaders, and the founder & CEO of Coresight Research. Deb enlightens us on on how "New Retail" has challenged the status quo in China, what separates the winners from the losers when it comes to innovation, and how shopping festivals (or "Festivization") is bringing fun, joy and excitement back to retail at just the right time.Learn more about Deborah here. Her firm-- Coresight Research--is a tremendous resource for all things retail and innovation, including industry deep dives and the legendary store tracker.Steve's written a Forbes article that touches on "optimizing to extinction" and a blog post pointing out that quitting is underrated.You can learn more about Steve on his website   here . His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at  Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve shares his insights in his role as a   Forbes senior contributor and on   Twitter and   LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel   here.You can learn more about Michael here (   www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn (   https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ ) About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.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 fourth year in a row, 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. 

William Gibson, the great American-Canadian speculative fiction author, once said: "The future is already here, it's just not very evenly distributed." This episode features a deep dive into several key concepts to navigate the COVID economy and execute the journey to remarkable. First and foremost is the idea that much of the disruption that will determine future winners and losers is already in play, though we may yet see it or fully appreciate its importance. Second, we must be careful not to fall into the trap of managing by averages or becoming overly obsessed with more traditional channel-centric metrics. The customer is the channel, the lines between online and physical shopping are blurring and we must bust the silos that get in the way of a remarkable customer experience.Our special guest is the one and only Jason Goldberg, chief commerce strategy officer for Publicis and co-host of the "Jason & Scot Show", one of the most followed and influential retail podcasts--at least until very, very recently. Jason helps unpack some of the most important trends in retail, explains how Amazon is actually extremely profitable in its retail division and sheds light on what is really going on with online penetration numbers and the critical role of digital influence on all of shopping. He also clues us in on how to pronounce "Publicis."Learn more about Jason here.Check out Jason's outlook for the holiday season in this piece for Forbes.You can subscribe to the Jason & Scot Show here.Steve's been talking about the blurring of the lines and the end of e-commerce for years. Here's one take from a few years back.You can learn more about Steve on his website  here . His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve shares his insights in his role as a  Forbes senior contributor and on  Twitter and  LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel  here.You can learn more about Michael here (  www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn (  https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ ) About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.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 fourth year in a row, 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. 

In this episode we delve into a topic that sits at the core of the need to be remarkable: the on-going bifurcation of the retail market.For more than a decade success has largely been found at either end of the spectrum. At one end, brands that offered incredible value and convenience have been gobbling up market share and opening hundreds of stores, even in the face of the so-called "retail apocalypse." At the other end of the continuum, many higher-end stores and well-honed specialty concepts have similarly enjoyed expanding sales, profits and, in many cases, store counts. Yet those stuck in the mediocre middle, have been hit incredibly hard, a situation made all the more dire by the COVID economy. In this episode we discuss the underlying forces that are causing the collapse of the middle and how to get on the journey to remarkable.To better understand "the collapse of the middle" we interview Kasey Lobaugh, Deloitte Consulting's chief retail innovation officer. Kasey helps us unpack the key findings from Deloitte's "Great Retail Bifurcation" report. We also discuss how the pandemic is amplifying many of these forces and why we may well be looking at a "K-shaped recovery."For further reading on the concept of retail bifurcation by Kasey:A tale of 2 holiday seasons: As a K-shaped recovery emerges, consumer spending is heavily bifurcated.Holiday sales expected to jump 4.5 - 5%For further reading on the Collapse of the Middle by Steve in Forbes:The Coronavirus will accelerate retail's "collapse of the middle"Retail's great bifurcation 2.0 You can learn more about Steve on his website here .  His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.You can learn more about Michael here ( www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ )******If you liked what you heard you can subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail, brand or CPG industry.   Have a safe week everyone! About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.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 fourth year in a row, 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. 

In this episode we talk about the end of scarcity that previously characterized much of retail's evolution. As we entered the 21st century, some 98% of all retail was done in brick & mortar locations where access, product choice and the information about what product and services would best meet our needs--and the price we should pay-- was highly constrained. Now e-commerce and the ubiquity of smart devices has created an anytime, anywhere, anyway landscape and a world of abundant choice, where even very good is no longer good enough.Then we interview with the one and only Seth Godin, best selling author of 19 books, 7,000 blog posts, fellow podcaster…marketing legend. Seth implores retailers to ask themselves one key question in the age of COVID: “Would they miss you if you were gone.” We also get a preview of Seth's forthcoming book The Practice.You can learn more about Steve on his website here .  His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.You can learn more about Michael here ( www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ )******If you liked what you heard you can subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail, brand or CPG industry.   Have a safe week everyone! About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.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 fourth year in a row, 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. 

In our inaugural episode we explain what Season 1 is about and the structure of the podcast. We talk about why Steve wrote his book, the underlying concepts of ""Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption" and his "8 Essentials" framework. We unpack the idea that "shift happens", dissect the Black Swan event that is the global pandemic and delve into whether Steve would have changed anything in this book given it was completed just a few months before the COVID-19 crisis. Next Sucharita Kodali Vice President and Principal Analyst at Forrester Research joins us for a peek into what's now and what's next for retail. Finally, we talk about Steve's recent Forbes article about the Five Emerging Forces of Retail's New Normal.You can learn more about Steve on his website here .  His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.You can learn more about Michael here ( www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn ( https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ )If you liked what you heard you can subscribe on Apple, Spotify or your favourite podcast platform, please rate and review, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail, brand or CPG industry.    Have a safe week everyone! About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.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 fourth year in a row, 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. 

Season 1 TrailerI'm here to tell you: Retail isn't dead. Boring retail is. As a C-level executive at two Fortune 500 companies, keynote speaker and strategic advisor to dozens of retail, consumer and technology brands I help organizations accelerate their growth.  I’m also the author of the new best-selling book,  “Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Digital Disruption” (in Canada you can purchase here)  Join me and my co-host Michael LeBlanc, Producer & Host of The Voice of Retail podcast  as we use my “8 Essentials of Remarkable Retail’ framework to explore modern retail, before, during and after the COVID-19 crisis. Each and every week along with special guests including top retailers and industry thought leaders, will  explore the latest events and work to understand the lessons of the past and present to craft strategies for the future. So please join us each and every week for a lively and interactive journey to Remarkable Retail.   You can find Season one now on Apple, Spotify or any of the major platforms wherever you enjoy your podcasts today. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.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 fourth year in a row, 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.