The Voice of Retail

In this energizing and thought-provoking episode, I welcome back Ron Thurston, bestselling author, veteran retail executive, and passionate advocate for the frontline retail workforce. With the launch of his second book, Human Pride: Optimizing Your Human Potential in a Digital Job Market, Ron brings a refreshing, people-centric perspective to leadership and career development in the era of AI, automation, and gig work.Michael and Ron discuss the implications of the rising prevalence of gig work, how many retailers are reverting to "COVID playbooks" with minimal staffing, and the importance of treating even temporary team members as valuable contributors. Ron shares powerful insights on how a simple, intentional 60-second conversation can dramatically transform an employee's sense of pride and purpose—emphasizing the importance of human-to-human leadership even amidst operational speed.The heart of the episode is Ron's deep dive into Human Pride, a follow-up to his 2020 bestseller Retail Pride. Ron explains how this new book expands his message beyond the retail sector, encouraging readers to reflect on their values, refine their personal stories, and lead with purpose. He emphasizes the importance of storytelling in both job interviews and team leadership, describing it as an underutilized yet transformative tool.Ron and Michael also reflect on Ron's first book tour, where he crisscrossed the U.S. in an Airstream and F-150 to connect with frontline retail workers, and what he learned about the commonalities shared across the industry, from Walmart to luxury brands. Ron emphasizes the importance of leaders being curious, asking thoughtful questions, and helping team members discover their strengths through storytelling and open dialogue.Whether you're a retail executive, HR leader, or just navigating today's job market, this episode offers timely and timeless advice on how to show up with pride, lead with humanity, and build a more resilient workforce.Buy Ron's eBook on IndigoBuy Ron's Book on Amazon 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.

In this episode, Jenn Harper, founder and CEO of Cheekbone Beauty Cosmetics and 2025 recipient of Retail Council Canada's Independent Retail Ambassador of the Year award, joins me on the mic. Our inspiring conversation explores Jenn's remarkable journey from food industry sales to building a nationally recognized Indigenous beauty brand now available in Sephora, Canada, and JCPenney.Jenn's entrepreneurial story begins with a vivid dream in January 2015 featuring Indigenous girls covered in lip gloss, just months after she got sober from battling alcoholism. Her discovery of generational trauma stemming from her grandparents' residential school experience became the driving force behind creating a brand that could break cycles and build something meaningful for Indigenous communities.The conversation reveals how personal tragedy - losing her brother BJ to suicide just before launching - nearly ended the venture but ultimately became the motivation to persevere through countless challenges. Jenn candidly discusses the mental resilience required for entrepreneurship, comparing the journey to Nike founder Phil Knight's struggles detailed in "Shoe Dog."Cheekbone Beauty has carved out a unique position in the competitive cosmetics market by pioneering what Jenn calls "indigenous beauty" - products that are clean and safe for humans and genuinely sustainable for the planet. The brand eliminates harmful ingredients like dimethicone and isodiacaine that negatively impact aquatic ecosystems, directly connecting to Indigenous land stewardship values.Jenn shares crucial insights about customer loyalty and product-market fit, revealing their impressive 55-65% customer return rate compared to the industry average of 30%. Their hero product, the UniFi complexion pencils, has revolutionized how customers think about the foundation by promoting natural skin visibility while providing beneficial skincare properties.The discussion covers modern marketing realities for independent brands, with Jenn emphasizing that authentic user-generated content from real customers far outperforms expensive influencer campaigns. She details costly lessons learned from failed marketing initiatives in 2024, confirming that scrappy, organic marketing remains most effective for small brands.Jenn positions artificial intelligence as essential for competitive survival while acknowledging environmental concerns that sustainable businesses must consider in their impact reporting. She views AI as potentially levelling the playing field initially, though she expects larger corporations to capitalize on these tools quickly.The episode provides valuable advice for fellow entrepreneurs, with Jenn emphasizing speed and leveraging available tools while learning from mistakes quickly. Jenn's target demographic of 35-55-year-old women challenges assumptions about indigenous beauty brands, with Fair Shades being their top sellers.This conversation offers inspiration and practical insights for independent retailers, beauty entrepreneurs, and anyone interested in building purpose-driven businesses that create positive community impact while achieving commercial success. 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.

In this exclusive episode of The Voice of Retail podcast, host Michael LeBlanc interviews Karl Haller, Partner at IBM Consulting and leader of their retail and consumer products center of competency, ahead of his highly anticipated keynote presentation at Retail Council of Canada's STORE2025 conference on June 3rd.With nearly 30 years of retail experience at brands including Brooks Brothers, Tommy Hilfiger, and Karl Lagerfeld, Haller brings unique insights at the intersection of retail business and technology to one of Canada's premier retail events.Haller, who will take the main stage following fellow keynote speaker Ira Kalish, positions AI as "the biggest transformation that any of us have seen in our careers," comparing its significance to the advent of computing in the 1970s. While acknowledging the hype surrounding AI, he maintains that we're in the early stages of a fundamental shift in how retail operates—a message he'll expand upon at the STORE2025 conference.When discussing strategy during uncertain times, Haller advises retailers to focus on action rather than extensive planning: "If you've got a million dollars to spend, spend a million dollars on 100 MVPs. Don't spend a million dollars on an AI strategy project because it's going to be out of date by the time you've done it." He recommends scenario planning with clear indicators that can guide decision-making in unpredictable environments.Looking at retail formats, Haller notes that success isn't determined by format alone but by how retailers innovate within their sector. He highlights Walmart's nimble approach to technology implementation, PepsiCo's management of their extensive logistics network, and innovative approaches from companies like Unilever and Kroger.The conversation culminates with Haller identifying four under-appreciated retail technology trends:Expanding AI beyond words, pictures, and code to work with numerical data like SKU forecasting, potentially reducing forecast error rates to low single digitsIntegrating AI with other technologies like computer vision, IoT devices, robotics, biometrics, electronic shelf labels, and retail mediaDeveloping an "operating system for AI" to manage the projected billion new applications by 2028Most critically, bringing people along on the technology journey through comprehensive training and continuous learningAttendees of STORE2025 can expect Haller to dive deeper into these insights during his keynote presentation, providing retail leaders with actionable strategies for navigating technological transformation while balancing innovation with practical implementatio 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.

In this timely episode of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc welcomes back frequent guest and audience favorite Ira Kalish, Chief Global and US Economist for Deloitte, who is set to deliver the opening keynote address at Retail Council of Canada's STORE2025 conference on June 3rd. This conversation offers listeners a valuable preview of the critical economic insights Canadian retailers can expect from his highly anticipated keynote.As LeBlanc notes in the introduction, "I'm very excited that you're going to be here in person," highlighting the significance of Kalish's upcoming role in kicking off RCC's flagship event during this period of economic uncertainty. The episode serves as an essential primer for conference attendees and provides crucial analysis for all retail professionals navigating today's complex trade environment.Drawing on his deep economic expertise, Kalish reveals that average US tariff rates have skyrocketed to approximately 27% - levels not seen since 1903. This represents a dramatic increase from the previous 3-3.5% rates and has triggered significant financial market volatility, supply chain disruptions, and growing concerns about economic downturns - all topics he'll address more extensively in his STORE2025 presentation.The conversation tackles three major justifications for the new tariff approach: shifting from taxes to tariffs for revenue generation, rebalancing global trade priorities, and re-shoring manufacturing. Kalish systematically challenges these rationales, providing a preview of the economic framework he'll expand upon during his conference keynote.Particularly concerning for retailers planning to attend STORE2025, Kalish highlights data showing container shipments from China to the US are down 45% year-over-year, as importers either find tariffs too prohibitive or wait for potential policy reversals. This disruption threatens empty store shelves and significantly higher consumer prices in the immediate future - urgent challenges that will undoubtedly be central to his opening address.Continuing themes he'll develop further at the conference, the discussion also explores non-tariff barriers, currency manipulation accusations, and the possibility of regional "fortress" trading blocs. While Kalish doesn't foresee complete regionalization of trade, he notes that many countries are now working to reduce US trade dependence by liberalizing trade with each other.On a more optimistic note, the conversation concludes by examining how this trade crisis might catalyze positive economic reforms in Canada - a topic that will resonate strongly with the Canadian retail executives gathering at STORE2025.Listeners are encouraged to follow Kalish's weekly economic updates on Deloitte's thought leadership website at deloitte.com/insights, while also making plans to attend his must-see opening keynote at Retail Council of Canada's STORE2025 conference on June 1st, where he'll provide expanded insights on these rapidly evolving economic developments.  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.

In this compelling episode of The Voice of Retail, I sit down again and catch up with Emma May, Founder of SophieGrace, a Calgary-based fashion brand transforming professional womenswear with modular, machine-washable designs. With a diverse background spanning law, politics, and real estate, Emma shares the origin story of SophieGrace, born from her frustration with the lack of cohesive, high-quality wardrobe options for professional women.Emma discusses how her brand serves an underserved segment—professional women who want elegant, coordinated, and comfortable clothing without the hassle of traditional shopping. She highlights how SophieGrace's clean design ethos and product quality have created an extremely loyal customer base across North America, including legal professionals, political leaders, and C-suite executives.We dive into the business model, including the online-first strategy supported by two physical showrooms in Calgary and Vancouver and Emma's growing interest in experiential retail through pop-ups and client-hosted events. She details how organic, word-of-mouth growth—amplified by strategic community events like wine-and-shop nights hosted by senior partners and wealth managers—has been central to building the brand's reputation.Emma also opens up about the operational and strategic challenges of manufacturing. Originally sourcing from China for scalability, SophieGrace explored Canadian production, only to be forced to return offshore after losing a key domestic supplier. Despite these hurdles, product quality and innovation remain front and center—stretch silk blouses and capsule drops ensure her customers return again and again.The conversation turns to current trade policy headwinds. With 30% of sales once coming from the U.S., Emma unpacks how the elimination of de minimis exemptions and looming tariffs—potentially exceeding 100%—have derailed her expansion plans. The result: a pivot back to Canadian growth and exploring new frontiers, including potential wholesale opportunities and a European launch.Emma's journey is a masterclass in entrepreneurial grit, customer-driven design, and navigating global trade complexity with agility. Whether you're a fashion entrepreneur, policy wonk, or retail strategist, this episode delivers a wealth of insights into building a brand with purpose and scalability in 2025's challenging retail environment. 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.

On this encore episode, I sit down with a colleague from back in my work on the brand side, Craig Baxter, Group President of Techtronic Industries Canada Inc., part of a global 13 billion dollar powerhouse tool house of brands that includes Milwaukee, Ryobi, andHoover. In a wide-ranging and engaging conversation, Craig talks about radical innovation, retail go-to-market strategy, leadership for growth, and the epic come-from-behind marketplace win for his Milwaukee brand of power tools as the sixth horse in a five-horse race.  About CraigSixteen years ago, I was given the opportunity to become the president of TTi Canada; a world class leader in design, manufacturing, and marketing of power tools and accessories, outdoor product equipment and floor care for consumers, professional and industrial users in the home improvement, repair, and construction industries.Since then, I have had the privilege of working alongside a team of outstanding performers who share the same belief in setting audacious goals and holding ourselves accountable to deliver those goals while continuing to cultivate a best in class working environment.Along with our unrelenting strategic focus on powerful brands, innovative products, operational excellence, and exceptional people, we strive to continuously build upon a corporate culture where our employees can realize more and more of their abundant potential. What inspires me, is seeing people striving to do great work and growing into the best version of themselves. By continuously improving our culture through all of our success we have further leveraged our biggest differentiator as a company, and that is something I am very proud of.“Show class, have pride, and display character. And if you do, winning takes care of itself” – Bear Bryant 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.

In this enlightening episode of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc interviews Anabel Maldonado, Founder and CEO of PSYKHE AI, a company at the forefront of using psychographic intelligence and generative AI to transform the future of e-commerce merchandising. With a rich background that spans neuropsychology and luxury fashion—having worked with the founding team of Net-a-Porter—Anabel brings a unique perspective to the conversation about personalization, retail AI, and customer behavior.Anabel describes how PSYKHE AI solves a persistent problem in digital retail: ineffective, one-size-fits-all recommendation engines. Traditional AI personalization relies heavily on transactional history and assumes repetitive buying behavior. PSYKHE AI instead integrates the Big Five personality traits—openness, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism—to determine what products emotionally resonate with users. The result is a real-time, per-user merchandising engine that reorders product pages based on deep learning and aesthetic psychology.Anabel explains that these psychographic insights allow PSYKHE AI to move beyond surface-level recommendations. Rather than bombarding consumers with lookalike products or static best-sellers, the platform dynamically surfaces items that feel uniquely “them”—even across unrelated categories like fashion, fragrance, and home décor. The system learns from user behavior and product interaction without relying on surveys or manual input, enabling meaningful personalization that adapts over time.The platform is particularly suited for large-scale, multi-brand retailers where product discovery is a challenge. PSYKHE AI delivers significant improvements in metrics such as conversion rate, time to transaction, and revenue per visitor, reporting uplifts between 17% and 35% through continuous A/B testing.Retailers with at least 50,000 monthly unique visitors and a product catalog with depth (four or more pages in key categories) are the ideal partners. As AI adoption accelerates, Anabel urges retailers to close the cultural gap between tech teams and merchants by embracing tools that reflect the emotional complexity of consumer decision-making.For those looking to stay ahead of the curve in retail innovation, this episode offers a compelling look at how emotional intelligence and AI can come together to redefine product discovery in e-commerce.   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.

In the latest episode of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc sits down with Phil Wahba, Senior Writer at Fortune, to explore the ever-evolving landscape of retail leadership, consumer behavior, and strategic transformations. Wahba reflects on more than a decade covering retail bankruptcies, leadership shifts, and innovation, highlighting that while consumer desires have remained relatively stable—good value, seamless experiences, and quality products—retailers often struggle to meet these expectations consistently.Wahba shares insights into how some of the biggest names in retail excel by focusing on core strengths. He points to Costco and Walmart as prime examples of companies that continue to thrive by relentlessly pursuing operational efficiency, value pricing, and consistent store execution. In contrast, many department stores have downsized or disappeared because, as Wahba puts it, they “chased the wrong rabbits”—pursuing short-term gains over long-term brand definition. Dillard's stands out by maintaining steady store counts and focusing on a solid merchandising strategy, proving that success hinges on knowing your customer and offering them a clear reason to shop.The conversation then shifts to Hudson's Bay and its recent struggles, which Wahba attributes to a lack of focus on fundamental retail principles and a greater emphasis on real estate extraction. He also touches on the broader implications of retail real estate vacancies, noting that large anchor-store spaces often require creative repurposing—whether converted into smaller retail footprints, medical clinics, or mixed-use developments.Looking ahead, Wahba anticipates a future where technology plays a more backstage role, with the spotlight on operational improvements such as inventory management, demand forecasting, and smoother omnichannel experiences. Shoppers do not seek flashy tech for its own sake; rather, they want frictionless pathways to purchase. The episode also explores how retailers like Foot Locker and Gap might engineer turnarounds under new leadership, taking cues from successful transformations at brands like Abercrombie & Fitch.Wahba underscores that retail “winners” will be those that evolve with shifting consumer expectations while staying true to foundational principles: consistently fair pricing, well-curated inventory, and reliable customer service. The conversation wraps up with a look at up-and-coming brands and international retailers—including Uniqlo—that could make bigger U.S. expansions in the coming years if they adapt carefully to the market's nuances.Whether you're watching for the next big turnaround or seeking to understand why some iconic names falter, this episode offers deep insights into the interplay of leadership, strategy, and consumer loyalty—critical elements shaping the future of modern retail. 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.

In this special encore episode of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc welcomes Dr. Rebecca Homkes, a globally recognized high-growth strategy expert and author of the acclaimed book Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times. Dr. Homkes, who holds faculty positions at the London Business School and Duke University, shares invaluable insights into how leaders can build resilient and adaptive growth strategies in today's rapidly changing business landscape.As retailers continue to navigate turbulent times marked by rapid technological shifts, economic uncertainty, and global disruptions, this episode provides the strategic guidance needed to stay ahead. Dr. Homkes explains why traditional planning methods fall short in volatile environments and advocates for a mindset shift from planning to preparing—focusing on setting directions rather than rigid destinations. She emphasizes the need for businesses to build frameworks that prioritize learning, customer feedback, and agile decision-making.The conversation includes compelling real-world examples of companies that successfully adapted under pressure, like IKEA's innovative warehouse strategy born out of necessity and a Scandinavian amusement park that achieved record growth despite pandemic restrictions. Dr. Homkes' framework for thriving under uncertainty centers on embracing preparation, implementing a forced reset when linear growth stagnates, and maintaining "aligned speed" to balance swift decision-making with strategic coherence.As geopolitical tensions, technological disruptions like AI, and global economic pressures continue to shape the retail landscape, Dr. Homkes outlines how to identify must-win battles and prioritize actions that drive sustainable growth. She also discusses how leadership dynamics and organizational structures must evolve to support this adaptive mindset.This episode is essential listening for retail leaders looking to transform volatility into opportunity and position their businesses for long-term success. Tune in now on your favorite podcast platform and gain the insights you need to thrive in these unpredictable times. 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.

In the latest episode of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc speaks with Yale Holder, Vice President of Customer Experience at Moneris, about emerging retail fraud prevention trends and strategies for payment security. Drawing on Moneris' extensive transaction data—covering billions of annual payments—Yale explains how fraud cases in 2024 dropped by 15% overall, primarily due to increased awareness and more widespread adoption of secure payment technologies. Despite this good news, he notes that the real challenge lies in underreported incidents, signalling that fraud may still be more prevalent than official numbers suggest.Moneris Fraud Resourceshttps://www.moneris.com/en/solutions/fraud-prevention/resourcesA key issue is mail order and telephone order (MOTO) fraud, which accounts for 62% of reported cases. According to Yale, criminals gravitate toward the easiest targets, and card-not-present transactions remain especially vulnerable. He recommends that retailers of all sizes adopt secure online gateways for phone or email orders rather than manually keying in credit card numbers. Yale also highlights how modern point-of-sale systems, such as Moneris' new generation of devices, have built-in tools—like secure payment links—that help small businesses reduce fraud exposure.While online fraud decreases thanks to built-in multi-factor authentication and centralized security measures, in-person fraud rises through “crimes of opportunity.” One growing concern is refund fraud involving stolen terminals, representing nearly a third of reported cases. Yale urges retailers to implement strong password protection on every terminal and to store portable devices securely. He underscores that these simple, often-overlooked steps can dramatically reduce refund fraud and terminal theft.Regional insights reveal that Ontario leads with around 40% of reported fraud due to higher transaction volumes, followed by Quebec at 30%. Saskatchewan stands out for its high incidence of employee refund fraud, emphasizing the need for tighter controls and individual employee logins. Meanwhile, Alberta shows an uptick in account takeover, underscoring the importance of guarding personal and business information against phishing attacks.Throughout the conversation, Yale returns to a central theme: proactive fraud prevention is far less costly than remedial action. He stresses immediate reporting of suspicious activity and diligent monitoring of transactions, enabling acquirers like Moneris to reverse or block fraudulent payments. From robust password protocols to leveraging secure e-commerce gateways, Yale's guidance provides retailers with clear, actionable strategies to safeguard revenue and maintain consumer trust. Ultimately, the episode serves as both a wake-up call and a resource for merchants seeking to stay ahead in the evolving world of retail fraud. 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.

In the latest groundbreaking episode of The Voice of Retail podcast, host Michael LeBlanc presents a true innovation in nearly 500 episodes of broadcasting – the first 100% AI-generated episode, created entirely by Google's Notebook LM AI tool.This experimental episode marks a significant milestone in retail podcasting. LeBlanc uploaded a PDF of his popular annual NYC NRF Big Show retail tour – a document typically used to guide dozens of top Canadian retailers through New York's most innovative stores during the National Retail Federation's Big Show event. The same document is made available by the Retail Council of Canada and generous sponsors at retailcouncil.org.What makes this episode particularly fascinating is witnessing how the AI interprets and transforms a static document into dynamic podcast content. The AI successfully captures the essence of the retail tour, discussing trends, store concepts, and retail innovations highlighted in the PDF. Despite being entirely machine-generated, the episode maintains the informative tone and retail expertise that regular listeners expect from The Voice of Retail.The AI does stumble in ways that reveal its limitations – most notably by incorrectly placing some stores in SoHo when they're located elsewhere in Manhattan. This geographical confusion is a gripping reminder of AI's current constraints when working with implied rather than explicitly stated information.Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the episode occurs at the very end, where the AI bizarrely creates an unusual interaction between fictional participants – a creative liberty that LeBlanc notes as "super weird" but also oddly compelling in its unexpectedness.Despite these minor shortcomings, LeBlanc describes the overall quality of the AI-generated content as "stunningly amazing," especially considering the minimal human input involved. The episode successfully covers retail innovations, store designs, merchandising strategies, and customer experience elements typically highlighted during the in-person tours.Beyond being a technological novelty, this episode raises fascinating questions about the future of content creation in retail analysis and business podcasting. It demonstrates how AI tools can assist content creators in transforming existing materials into new formats while highlighting areas where human expertise and context remain essential.For listeners interested in retail innovation and AI capabilities, this landmark episode offers a unique perspective on how technology might complement (rather than replace) human retail expertise in the podcast medium. The complete NYC Store Guide 2025 referenced in the episode can be found on the Retail Council of Canada website, allowing listeners to compare the source material with the AI's interpretation.Of course, AI-generated this entire show description, and then grammar was checked by another specialized AI! 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.

In this episode, I welcome back Albert Chow, co-founder & CEO of Silk & Snow, to explore the company's dramatic evolution from a digital-native sleep brand to a powerhouse in physical retail. The conversation dives into Silk & Snow's ambitious expansion plans, with 14 new stores set to open across Canada by the end of the year.Albert shares the brand's journey from its 2017 launch as an online mattress-in-a-box retailer to its current position as a multi-category sleep essentials and furniture brand. The company's emphasis on high-quality, locally sourced materials and transparent manufacturing has resonated with customers, helping it differentiate from competitors. A key milestone in its growth was its partnership with Sleep Country in 2023, facilitating its entry into brick-and-mortar retail, starting with a test location in Ottawa. With the success of that initial store, Silk & Snow expanded to Edmonton and Laval and is now gearing up for a nationwide rollout.The discussion highlights the strategic thinking behind the company's retail expansion. Rather than relying solely on traditional metrics like sales per square foot, Albert sees the physical locations as key brand touchpoints that enhance customer trust and engagement. The company's stores serve as sales hubs and brand marketing tools, reinforcing Silk & Snow's premium positioning in the sleep and home goods market.Albert also delves into the challenges and opportunities presented by today's complex supply chain landscape. With increasing consumer demand for Canadian-made products and ongoing trade uncertainties, Silk & Snow has benefited from its early investment in local sourcing. While many brands are now reacting to shifting trade policies, Silk & Snow's commitment to Canadian manufacturing and partnerships with European suppliers, such as those in Portugal, have provided a competitive advantage.Albert shares his vision for Silk & Snow's future, including a potential push into the U.S. market. Drawing inspiration from Canadian retail success stories like Aritzia and Lululemon, he sees an opportunity for Silk & Snow to become a leading North American brand. With a methodical approach to expansion and a strong focus on customer experience, Silk & Snow is positioning itself for long-term success.Whether you're a retail industry professional or fascinated by the evolving world of e-commerce and brick-and-mortar integration, this episode offers valuable insights into what it takes to scale a modern brand in today's competitive retail environment. https://www.silkandsnow.com/en-ca/https://www.instagram.com/silkandsnow/https://www.linkedin.com/company/silk-snow/ 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.

In this episode I welcomes Lindsey  Mazza Capgemini's Global Retail Lead, to explore the latest findings from their annual What Matters to Today's Consumer report. The conversation uncovers significant shifts in consumer behaviour, AI-driven retail strategies, and the future of fast delivery.Mazza outlines how 2025 marks a turning point where science fiction meets retail reality. Consumer expectations are rapidly changing, with a notable surge in demand for ultra-fast delivery. According to the study, 70% of consumers now prefer 10-minute delivery, a dramatic rise from previous years. However, Mazza warns that while demand is high, willingness to pay for such convenience remains a challenge for retailers.Another key insight is the transformation of consumer segmentation. Traditional demographic-based segmentation is becoming outdated, replaced by machine-learning-driven clusters focusing on shopping behaviour. Capgemini's research identifies five distinct consumer groups based on purchasing habits rather than age or income, highlighting the importance of behaviour-driven marketing strategies.The discussion also delves into AI's evolving role in retail. Mazza explains how AI is revolutionizing both front-end consumer experiences and back-end operations. From personalized shopping recommendations to AI-powered logistics, generative AI enables retailers to refine supply chains, automate decision-making, and enhance the shopping journey. Notably, retail media networks use AI to optimize ad placement, influencing consumer purchases more effectively than traditional search engines.Retailers must also navigate the rise of social commerce, with 70% of consumers now shopping through social platforms and seeking influencer recommendations. This trend underscores the shift towards a more interactive, digital-first retail landscape.When asked where retailers should invest their last dollar, Mazza prioritizes three areas:Retail Media – The next wave of influencer marketing.Supply Chain Innovation – Fast, efficient logistics as a key consumer differentiator.Sustainability Initiatives – Particularly in food waste reduction, which offers financial and environmental benefits.With AI reshaping the retail landscape, Mazza emphasizes that success lies not in chasing AI use cases but in adopting value-driven technologies that enhance business performance and consumer engagement.For more insights, visit Capgemini's Research Institute or connect with Lindsay Mazza on LinkedIn.#RetailTrends #AIinRetail #FastDelivery #RetailMedia #ConsumerBehavior #RetailInnovation #VoiceofRetail 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.

In this episode of The Voice of Retail, I sit down with Cheryl Ong Seng, Vice President of Retail at Circana, to explore the latest trends shaping the Canadian retail landscape. From consumer confidence and value-seeking behaviours to the challenges of personalization and pricing strategies, they cover the key insights retailers need to know.Cheryl shares her journey from Mauritius and Australia to leading Circana's retail insights based in Canmore, Alberta, providing a unique perspective on the data and analytics that drive decision-making in the industry. She explains how Circana collects and interprets consumer trends across multiple sectors, helping retailers and brands stay ahead in an evolving market. One of the key themes of the conversation is how consumer behaviour continues to shift in response to economic pressures. Cheryl and Michael discuss how Canadian shoppers seek more value through private-label products, reward programs, or trading down to budget-friendly options. They explore the “little treat culture paradox,” where consumers splurge on premium items like coffee or gourmet groceries rather than traditional dining experiences.The episode also examines the role of AI and technology in retail, particularly in enabling better personalization and targeted marketing. Despite years of discussion around personalization, many retailers still struggle to deliver relevant promotions to their customers. Cheryl shares insights on how AI-driven data analytics can unlock new opportunities for more effective engagement.Pricing strategy is another hot topic, as retailers weigh the benefits of everyday low pricing (EDLP) versus high-low promotional models. Cheryl highlights the importance of understanding consumer psychology—while EDLP offers stability, shoppers often respond more enthusiastically to promotions and perceived discounts.Finally, the discussion touches on key industry trends, including the rise of buy-now-pay-later options, the growing consumer preference for Canadian-made products, and the balance between sustainability and affordability in purchasing decisions.Whether you're a retailer, brand leader, or industry analyst, this episode offers valuable insights into the future of retail in Canada. Tune in for expert perspectives on the data-driven decisions shaping the industry today. About CherylAs Vice President of Retail Canada, Cheryl Ong Seng is responsible for leading retail commercial teams in Canada. This includes retail client engagement, thought leadership and delivery of innovative solutions that enable accelerated decision making along with enhanced retailer-manufacturer joint business collaboration. Cheryl came to Canada from Sydney, Australia and was the first person to serve as Client Service Account Director for Aztec Canada, a startup business in 2010. She joined IRI as part of the IRI- Aztec merger in 2013 and has since held multiple roles as IRI merged with the NPD Group and rebranded to Circana, including Vice President of Client Service, Managing Director and more recently Vice President of Retail Canada. Leveraging her expertise in analytics, shopper marketing solutions and bespoke client services management, Cheryl has led the expansion of the company's leading-edge capabilities in Canada.Originally from Mauritius Island, Cheryl grew up in Australia where she graduated from the University of Sydney, where she earned a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics, majoring in Marketing and Economics. Beyond the world of Circana, she has a passion for the outdoors and resides in Canmore allowing her to take full advantage of the Canadian Rockies. In addition to this, she sites her proudest achievement as conquering Mt. Elbrus, Russia, one of the seven summits of the world and aspires to climb a second summit. 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.

Retail success isn't just about having a fantastic product—it's about understanding the business of selling. On this episode of The Voice of Retail, I welcome Liza Amlani, renowned retail strategist and co-author of The Whole Sale: Profitable Wholesale Strategies for Brands. Liza shares insider insights from her 20+ years in buying, merchandising, and retail consulting, helping brands navigate the complexities of wholesale expansion.In a rapidly changing marketplace, many direct-to-consumer (DTC) brands struggle to break into wholesale partnerships, unsure how to negotiate terms, optimize product placement, or manage markdown strategies. Liza outlines the critical retail fundamentals that brands must master to thrive in major retail environments like Walmart, Target, and specialty stores.During this insightful conversation, Michael and Liza discuss:The most common mistakes brands make when entering wholesale and how to avoid them.Why strong retail partnerships are the key to long-term success.How to negotiate product placement, pricing strategies, and markdown terms with major retailers.The role of merchandising strategy in maintaining shelf space and increasing sales.The wholesale vs. direct-to-consumer debate—why it's not just about margins, but about growth and exposure.With firsthand experience as a buyer for iconic brands like Ralph Lauren, Holt Renfrew, and Club Monaco, Liza brings a wealth of knowledge on what it takes to get "retail ready." She explains how emerging brands can scale strategically, leverage retail insights, and position themselves for long-term profitability.If you're a brand looking to expand into wholesale—or a retailer aiming to strengthen vendor relationships—this episode is packed with actionable advice to help you succeed in today's competitive retail landscape. 

On this episode of The Voice of Retail, I reconnect with Daryl Aitken, the founder of Fabric Spark, for an engaging conversation on the shifting landscape of retail. Darrell's journey is a masterclass in adaptation—starting in advertising and e-commerce, then pivoting into a fabric business that blends digital and brick-and-mortar retail.Fabric Spark began as a passion project to improve the customer experience in the online fabric space.What started as a side hustle quickly became a full-fledged business fueled by a deep understanding of e-commerce and a strong sense of community. The pandemic posed challenges but presented opportunities as Fabric Spark adapted quickly, meeting surging demand for sewing materials and engaging with customers in new ways.Daryl discusses the unique balance of operating an online and physical store, the importance of curation in retail, and the resurgence of sustainable and artisanal fabrics. She also shares valuable insights on maintaining financial stability, avoiding debt, and fostering a loyal customer base through exceptional service and education.With a growing demand for handmade craftsmanship and a rising interest in sustainable textiles, Fabric Spark has carved out a niche in the industry. Whether you're a small business owner, a retail professional, or love a great entrepreneurial story, this episode is packed with lessons on resilience, creativity, and the evolving future of indie retail. https://fabricspark.com/ 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.

On this episode of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc speaks with retail strategist, professor, and author Carl Boutet about his journey in academia, insights from NRF 2025, and his latest book, Blind Spot: Navigating the Unforeseen Effects of Technology on Commerce.Carl discusses his evolving role in retail education, including his work at McGill University and teaching in Asia. He shares how his exposure to different global markets, particularly in Vietnam, has shaped his perspectives on retail innovation and emerging technologies.A key topic of discussion is Carl's take on NRF Big Show 2025, where AI and data-driven solutions dominated conversations. He reflects on the challenge of differentiation in a market saturated with AI-driven tools and emphasizes the need for retailers to focus on strategy, not just technology.The conversation also delves into the intersection of AI, AR, and emerging technologies. Carl suggests that while innovations like Apple Vision Pro and AR-driven retail experiences are gaining traction, businesses must strike a balance between digital adoption and human interaction.Michael and Carl also touch on ethical concerns surrounding AI, digital governance, and unintended consequences of rapid technological change. Carl argues that while the digital world is expanding, businesses must remain adaptable, curious, and prepared for industry disruptions.Finally, Carl introduces his book Blind Spot, which explores overlooked technological shifts in commerce. He encourages retailers to broaden their perspectives, seek inspiration beyond their immediate industry, and engage with the next generation of leaders.Listeners can purchase Blind Spot exclusively through Carl's website, StudioRX.world. 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.

In this episode, meet Sgt. Craig Reynolds & Arezo Zarrabian, a Senior Crime Analyst from the Vancouver Police Department. Together, they take us behind the scenes for a comprehensive discussion of both the criminal justice system & an update reflecting the work of their innovative and data-driven task force, Project Barcode, investigating and fighting violent retail crime on the streets of Vancouver. https://vpd.ca/news/2024/06/06/vpd-targets-downtown-eastside-fencing-operations/ 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.

In this episode of The Voice of Retail, Michael LeBlanc sits down with Drew Cashmore, a retail media pioneer whose career spans over 15 years, including roles at Walmart and Vantage. Drew discusses his journey from building Walmart Canada's advertising business to spearheading Walmart Connect in the U.S., scaling it into a multi-billion-dollar retail media platform.The conversation delves into retail media's evolution—bridging traditional shopper marketing and sophisticated, data-driven advertising. Drew outlines how retail media connects vendors with customers through first-party data, enabling targeted, measurable campaigns that drive both sales and customer satisfaction. He distinguishes retail media from traditional Co-op dollars, noting a shift from basic flyer promotions to sophisticated advertising strategies tied to transactional data.Challenges in the field include system fragmentation and the need for integrated platforms to unify operations and streamline vendor collaboration. Drew emphasizes the necessity of change management within retail organizations, ensuring alignment between marketing, merchandising, and store operations. He also identifies the potential for smaller retailers to enter the space through self-serve platforms, which Vantage helps facilitate.Looking ahead, Drew foresees substantial growth for retail media, particularly in Canada, as advertisers reallocate budgets from traditional platforms to retail ecosystems. Vantage's tools, powering platforms like Home Depot's Orange Access, exemplify how technology can simplify campaign management, measurement, and vendor relationships.As retail media evolves, Drew highlights collaboration among stakeholders as vital for maximizing ROI and creating customer-first ecosystems. His insights provide a roadmap for retailers of all sizes to capitalize on retail media's growing influence, bridging technology, advertising, and retail strategies effectively. 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.

If you have been following this short special series—or if you just think about what distinguishes organizations that are winning the future from the also-rans, it is very often that they act more boldly, they take more chances, they fail regularly, they adjust, they fail some more.They believe, as my friend Seth Godin says, “if failure is not an option, then neither is success.” Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is not to avoid failure; it is to fail better. But what does this mean, why is it so important, and how do we do it exactly? Moreover, why must we not only see failure as an inevitable part of our transformation journey, but how we adopt a far, far greater sense of urgency.Thanks for joining us for our summer experiment!Season 9 of the Remarkable Retail podcast returns on September 10th in its usual format. Follow us wherever you enjoy your podcasts, and don't forget to give us a 5-star review.Special thanks to Scott Galloway, Maverick, The Dude, Ted Lasso, Elvis and Billy Joel for lending their voices to this episode of the #pod  **************Something different for this Holiday season on the #pod as I head into my eighth year of The Voice of Retail and prepare for the year ahead - a guest host, cross-over thought leader insight bonus series of episodes from my award-winning Remarkable Retail #podcast 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.

Clayton Christensen, the late great Harvard Business School professor, wrote one of the best business strategy books of all time. In his classic "The Innovator's Dilemma" he explains how successful companies often fail by becoming overly locked into their established business models and optimizing the heck out of them, thereby ignoring, more risky disruptive innovations.Of course, back in 1997, when Christensen's book first started to have impact, e-commerce was in its infancy, smart devices were a decade away, and cloud computing and AI weren't even glimmers in anyone's eyes.  The speed of disruption back then wasn't exactly glacial, but it was far, far slower than it is today.Fast forward to today, and we are confronted with a New Innovator's Dilemma. Disruption is unrelenting, and the pace of change is often more exponential than linear.Take a slow and steady approach to innovation and you may well get run over. Move with caution and you may fall further and further behind.Right now, doing what we've always done, but just a little bit better may feel safe, but it is often the riskiest path we could possibly choose.The evidence is overwhelming, and the verdict is in. Safe is risky.And more and more, fortune favors the bold. **************Something different for this Holiday season on the #pod as I head into my eighth year of The Voice of Retail and prepare for the year ahead - a guest host, cross-over thought leader insight bonus series of episodes from my award-winning Remarkable Retail #podcast 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.

Something different for this Holiday season on the #pod as I head into my eighth year of The Voice of Retail and prepare for the year ahead - a guest host, cross-over thought leader insight bonus series of episodes from my award-winning Remarkable Retail #podcast. This past summer, Steve Dennis and I released a series of six bonus episodes with leadership insights adapted from his newest best-seller, Leaders Leap.Remember a few years ago when everyone was talking about a retail apocalypse? Physical retail was dead or dying, they said. Malls were going away. If you wanted to invest in brick-and-mortar, you'd be better off incinerating a big pile of cash.But as it turned out, well, not so much.As a keen observer, regular commentator, and strategic advisor on where shopping is headed, Steve pays more attention to these sorts of prognostications than the average bear, particularly since some of them are advanced by his friends and colleagues.But Steve is also a card-carrying bullshit dispelling enthusiast. And when this sort of nonsense gets advanced as insight, he suddenly and clearly hears the words of Logan Roy from Succession ringing in his ears. "I love you, but you are not serious people."In this episode, we'll explore why the work of meaningful transformation IS serious work and why it requires that we become serious, courageous leaders who break through our denial, wake up to new and emerging realities, and, ultimately, do what it takes to position our organizations to aim higher, move faster, and act more boldly.To drive our strategic growth agenda forward, we must develop a clear, well-informed view that's rooted in reality, not false prophets; that emerges from doing the serious, often uncomfortable work required to transform at the speed of disruption. 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.

Something different for this Holiday season on the #pod as I head into my eighth year of The Voice of Retail and prepare for the year ahead - a guest host, cross-over thought leader insight bonus series of episodes from my award-winning Remarkable Retail #podcast. This past summer, Steve Dennis and I released a series of six bonus episodes with leadership insights adapted from his newest best-seller, Leaders Leap.In his new book Leaders Leap, Steve proposes a series of 7 Mind Leaps that are essential to transforming you and your organization. There is a powerful reason that Crush Your Ego is mind leap #1. Without starting from a place of humility, our foundation will be shaky. And we cannot build a house of sustained innovation and transformation without rock-solid first principles. Indeed, we must put our masks on first.In this episode, Steve argues that while it is understandable to believe that successful transformations and our personal success are often hindered by poor analysis, cultural barriers, and not enough innovative ideas, a lack of appropriate resources, poor board, or management support, extreme pressure to meet quarterly earnings, etc., etc, etc., it is very often the case that progress is impeded by that person, we see in the mirror each day and our unhealthy attachment to ego.   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.

Something different for this Holiday season on the #pod as I head into my eighth year of The Voice of Retail and prepare for the year ahead - a guest host, cross-over thought leader insight bonus series of episodes from my award-winning Remarkable Retail #podcast. This past summer, Steve Dennis and I released a series of six bonus episodes with leadership insights adapted from his newest best-seller, Leaders Leap.Having spent most of his career working in either senior leadership positions at a corporation or as a strategic advisor, where he was focused on driving growth & innovation, Steve has had a front- row seat to the seismic shifts that have reshaped the retail landscape. It's hard to overestimate the disruptive power game-changing technology has had on just about every aspect of our culture and commerce. Our world today looks very different than it did when e-commerce first emerged, when smart devices started to transform how we communicate, or when pervasive connectedness and operating in the cloud began their inexorable march toward ubiquity.These shifts have allowed for entirely new and incredibly valuable business models to emerge. These shifts have also brought many iconic brands to their knees or set them on a path to seemingly endless struggle.So it's worth asking “If the world has changed so much, why have so many leaders changed so little.”Indeed, shift happens. And it's happening faster and faster all the time.The challenge is not to figure out how to mount resistance but to accept the things you cannot change, get intensely focused on the things you can, and then get to work.Shift happens. Get used to it.Shift happens. Shake hands with the new weird.Shift happens. Don't let it destroy your future.Shift happens. Summon up all the courage you require.Shift happens. Get ready to leap. 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.

Something different for this Holiday season on the #pod as I head into my eighth year of The Voice of Retail and prepare for the year ahead - a guest host, cross-over thought leader insight bonus series of episodes from my award-winning Remarkable Retail #podcast.  This past summer, Steve Dennis and I released a series of six bonus episodes with leadership insights adapted from his newest best-seller, Leaders Leap.  In a world where anything less than delivering highly differentiated and truly remarkable customer value is often ignored, sucking less, merely closing the gap on competitive performance (what Steve calls “innovating to parity”) or offering a slightly better version of mediocre is choosing to move into a zone of irrelevance, or perhaps even putting your organization on the path to outright extinction.Moreover, in a world where the pace of change is only accelerating, often becoming more exponential than linear, failure to transform at the speed of disruption only creates the likelihood that you will fall further and further behind. Minding this potential gap is critical. For struggling organizations, failure to close it by aiming higher, moving faster, and acting more boldly may mean they fall so far behind they can never catch up.But even organizations that are performing well can find themselves in trouble if they don't pay attention and let go of merely delivering incremental changes.This pattern of focusing on simply sucking less (at worst) or a relentless stream of optimization (at best) and exposing one's organization to disruption is not new. In his classic book from the nineties, legendary HBS professor Clayton Christensen labelled this the “Innovator's Dilemma.” The forces that keep legacy brands stuck are still very much in play today, but the challenge to truly transform in the face of disruption is much greater. And the penalty for merely closing a competitive gap, rather than leaping boldly ahead, has become much greater.    In the next six bonus episodes, Steve will unpack themes from his Leaders Leap and place them squarely and provocatively in the current retail context.  Steve will be talking about how playing it safe is often the riskiest choice of all, what shifts are most important to focus on right now, how we are often our worst enemies and much more.Each highly digestible episode will also highlight the key questions you need to answer for your organization to take the bold action necessary to transform at the speed of disruption.So follow us on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy your podcasts today, and brace yourself for a steady stream of wisdom, thought-provoking questions, and water-cooler conversation. 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.

Recorded live on the stage at the Retail West conference in Vancouver in November, joining me after a brief introduction by RCC's excellent Greg Wilson, Director of Government Affairs for B.C., is Cari Covent, Head of Artificial Intelligence and Emerging Technology, Canadian Tire Corporation.  Together, we explore the importance of taking a holistic approach to embracing AI for retailers, the importance of change management, starting small with automating routine tasks that can ladder up to more comprehensive use case models, and above all, focussing on the customer, solving problems and being faithful to your brand promise in everything you do with AI in your business.One quick note: Cari and I refer several times to a presentation from Rob Dunlap, IBM's Partner and Generative AI Practice Leader, that preceded our session. I interviewed Rob for the #podcast earlier in the fall, so be sure to listen to my conversation for some context to our comments. About CariAs the Head of AI and Emerging Technology at Canadian Tire, Cari is responsible for using AI as a lever to drive both cultural and digital transformation. With a human centered approach Cari has a successful track record of leading the development and execution of strategy, roadmaps and operating models for Automation and Artificial Intelligence resulting in revenue growth, increased employee engagement and operating efficiencies. Cari is passionate about developing innovative partnerships with start-up communities, research and academic institutions. These partnerships have led to the ideation, shared learnings, research, and development of novel AI products, education development and best practices on the operationalization of building and developing AI responsibly. Her approach to balancing the macro change required for successful adoption of AI with the value that it can generate has resulted in many international speaking engagements and advisory discussions. 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.

On this episode, I welcome Sean McCormick, Vice President Business Development from Moneris Data Services, for a deep dive into the numbers behind consumer behaviour during the holiday season and beyond. Together, we unpack the fascinating data-driven impact of Taylor Swift's Toronto tour, which saw local spending skyrocket by an impressive 45% in downtown areas. Sean shares how payment insights reveal trends across hotels, restaurants, retail, and even specialty sectors like jewelry and accessories.The conversation also shifts to the performance of key retail events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which delivered significant year-over-year growth in 2024—up 11% and 10%, respectively. Sean offers compelling theories on how deal-seeking behaviour, fueled by inflationary pressures, has reshaped consumer priorities and created a surge in holiday sales.Listeners will also gain insights into innovative retail strategies, including leveraging dynamic currency conversion for international shoppers and exploring pop-ups and digital activations for maximizing event-driven revenue.Whether you're a retailer seeking actionable data insights or simply curious about the intersection of pop culture and economic impact, this episode offers valuable takeaways on how consumer trends are evolving. Don't miss this lively discussion packed with expertise, practical advice, and predictions for the remainder of the holiday season! 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.

Welcome to this entertaining and insightful episode as I chat with the hosts of The She Means Business Podcast, a new and welcome addition to the Canadian podcasting universe focussed on aspiring leaders looking for inspiration, motivation and mentorship in the business world, co-hosted by Gail Banack and Ilana Santone.  Gail and Ilana also happen to be two of Canada's foremost retail leaders, with tours of duty at Loblaw, Home Depot, Target Canada, Indigo, and Canadian Tire between them.   Gail was mostly the Senior Vice President of Merchandising at Indigo Books, and Ilana is currently the Senior Vice President, Digital, Connected Retail & Business Architecture, Canadian Tire Corporation.  So, in addition to talking about their new podcast and leadership in general, I couldn't pass up on the opportunity to ask them both about their thoughts on the current and future state of retail and what it would take to survive and even thrive in 2025.    About Gail Senior Vice PresidentGail Banack is a results-driven executive with over 20 years of experience in retail and consumer packaged goods, specializing in strategic planning, brand strategy, marketing, and management. Renowned for her ability to drive growth, transform businesses, and deliver exceptional customer experiences, she has held leadership roles at prominent retailers, including Canadian Tire, Loblaw, and Target.Most recently, she was the Senior Vice President of Merchandising at Indigo Books, where Gail led omni-channel revenue growth for IndigoKids and IndigoBaby. Now, as co-host of The She Means Business Podcast, she leverages her extensive expertise to inspire and guide others in leadership and career development. About Ilana Ilana Santone is a strategic team leader who is currently the SVP, Digital, Connected Retail & Business Architecture at Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC). In her current role, Ilana leads a high-performing team of leaders who are accountable for delivering a seamless customer experience and driving omni-channel growth. In addition, Ilana is accountable for working with senior leaders across the organization as well as the company's Dealer partners to ensure Canadian Tire's aggressive growth plans are achieved over the strategic outlook. Ilana has a proven track record of building and executing strategic initiatives and programs across all aspects of retail. With over 20 years of retail experience, Ilana started her career at Canadian Tire, and held progressively senior positions in HR, Merchandising, Operations and Transformation. Prior to returning to CTC's Digital team in 2017, she served in various positions at The Body Shop, Target Canada, and The Home Depot Canada.  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.

Meet Deb Craven, President of Longo's, one of Canada's most popular grocery stores with dozens of locations and more on the way across Southern Ontario. I joined Deb in the Longo's Store Support offices, and we talked about leadership and what it takes to innovate and compete in the crowded Southern Ontario grocery marketplace.   Encore Episode. About DebDeb Craven is a seasoned executive with decades of progressive experience. She has built an incredible career grounded in hard work, supportive managers, curiosity, and having the confidence to speak her mind with strong humility.Deb is the President at Longo's. She joined the organization in 2019 as the Chief Financial Officer and later became the Chief Operating Officer. During her tenure at Longo's, she has successfully delivered exceptional growth while architecting the extraordinary expansion of the company, including supporting the partnership with Empire. Previous to Longo's, she has held progressive financial management positions at Purolator, Nike, and Canadian Tire (Mark's and Sportchek).She achieved her Chartered Accountant designation (ICAO) and an Honours BBA (Co-Op) from Wilfrid Laurier University. She also received the Star Women in Grocery award.Deb is married with 2 adult children and enjoys the gym, cycling and is learning to play tennis (and trying to love golf).She gives back to the community with her support of charitable organizations. Over the years she has proudly served on the Board of Directors for The Learning Partnership, Sagesse, and Kids Help Phone. 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, a pickup of an RCC livestream I hosted in November 2024, Doug Norris, Senior Vice President and Chief Demographer with Environics Analytics and nationally renowned expert on the Canadian Census and demographic trends, with 40+ years of experience in social statistics, takes us through the current state of demographics in Canada.About DougOne of Canada's leading experts on the Census, Doug Norris, Ph.D., is a Senior Vice President and Chief Demographer at Environics Analytics. He joined this company in 2006 after nearly 30 years with Statistics Canada, where he earned the nickname of “Mr. Census” in his role as Director General of Social and Demographic Statistics. Currently, Dr. Norris assists companies, government agencies and not-for-profit organizations in using census and other statistical information for planning and marketing projects. And he frequently writes articles and delivers speeches on demographics, immigration, ethnicity and the family. An adjunct professor ​at the University of Alberta, he serves on several steering committees related to the use and development of social data. Dr. Norris holds Bachelor of Science and Master of Science degrees from McGill University and a Ph.D. in biostatistics and demography from Johns Hopkins University. In 2006, Statistics Canada honoured him with a lifetime achievement Award for Career Excellence in recognition of his exceptional contribution to the agency. That same year, the Canadian Population Society also awarded Doug a Lifetime Achievement Award for “Outstanding Contributions to Canadian Demography.”  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 of the Voice of Retail podcast, Yorkdale Shopping Centre's VP and GM, Michael Renault, provides insights into what makes Yorkdale a top shopping destination in North America. Located in Toronto, the center sees 18 million visitors annually and generates $2,400 per square foot, making it Canada's most productive mall. Renault attributes Yorkdale's success to its prime location, curated mix of luxury and essential retailers, and a commitment to experiential shopping. Initially opened in 1964, Yorkdale was designed to be a premier shopping destination, which is evident in its enduring appeal and expansive layout.Renault describes Yorkdale's strategy of creating immersive experiences rather than relying on large-scale attractions. By leveraging high-quality design and curation, Yorkdale enhances its role as a social and commercial hub tailored to Toronto's urban landscape. The team's support extends to retailers through design collaboration, innovative leasing practices, and a robust marketing program that bridges physical and online shopping.Looking forward, Renault envisions Yorkdale enhancing the entire visitor experience—from arrival to checkout—to foster a calming, engaging atmosphere. With new retailers like Simons on the horizon, Yorkdale aims to sustain its relevance and appeal. Renault concludes by emphasizing Yorkdale's broader role in Toronto's culture, not just as a shopping center but as a community destination. About MichaelMichael Renaud is the director and general manager of Yorkdale Shopping Centre, managed by Oxford Properties Group. With over 12 years at Oxford, Michael initially oversaw office properties before transitioning to retail portfolios in 2024.Yorkdale, co-owned by Oxford Properties and AIMCo, is one of Canada's premier shopping destinations, spanning 2 million square feet and featuring 270 stores, including Canada's largest selection of luxury brands. Oxford Properties manages a global portfolio of 150 million square feet across office, retail, industrial, and other property sectors. 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, Rob Dunlap, Generative AI Practice Leader, IBM explores how AI can offer retailers a genuine ability to revolutionize their business processes and models and help drive leaps of productivity across various aspects of their business, including personalized recommendations, predictive inventory management, automated customer service, and intelligent fraud detection. Rob and I will explore the evolving power of AI to augment human expertise, reduce costs, and create seamless, unified experiences.  About RobRob leads IBM Canada's Generative AI consulting practice, a team of consultants, data scientists and developers who build leading-edge solutions for IBM clients. His team focuses on leveraging technology from domains like Customer Engagement, Supply Chain, Employee Support, IT Operations and other fields, to revolutionize business processes. IBM Canada's Generative AI team is currently leading many transformative AI programs for our clients across industries such as Retail, Consumer Products, Travel & Transportation, Financial Services, Public Services and more.  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 engaging interview, Eric Morris, Managing Director of Google Retail in Canada, shares holiday season insights for retailers. Leveraging over two decades of experience at Google, Eric discusses the critical role of personalization, AI, and content-driven strategies in meeting the evolving demands of Canadian consumers. Noting that holiday shopping habits are shaped by weather, calendar shifts, and economic indicators, he emphasizes the need for real-time adaptation.Morris highlights how Google's search data and weekly consumer surveys offer retailers valuable insights into changing preferences, with unbranded searches—where shoppers are simply seeking "the best" options—on the rise. He also explains the power of platforms like YouTube, with videos such as "haul" or "try-on" videos driving significant purchase decisions.AI emerges as a transformative tool, enabling retailers to analyze first-party data, personalize experiences, and optimize media spending. Google's Gemini AI and tools like Performance Planner are instrumental in helping retailers predict demand and refine advertising tactics for better returns on marketing investment. Additionally, Google Lens makes a visual impact by allowing consumers to shop directly from images, underscoring a shift towards intuitive, visually driven shopping experiences.In closing, Morris encourages retailers to harness these tools and adapt their strategies, especially with this year's extended pre-Black Friday period, to optimize their holiday sales season.Online resourcesPerformance Planner: https://ads.google.com/intl/en_ca/home/tools/performance-planner/Performance Max: https://ads.google.com/intl/en_ca/home/campaigns/performance-max/ Key Trends2024 will be the most researched holiday season, both in store and online:Searches have become more personalized: Shoppers are looking for a more immersive experience: AI is the gateway to winning shoppers this holiday season The cyber shopping period is actually longer than BFCMThe holiday halo marks the beginning of self-gifting:o   The post-holiday season extends beyond boxing day. In fact there's a growing rise of ‘self-gifters,' and shoppers who come back due to product returns or gift cards creating an opportunity for retailers to focus on loyalty and returning customers. 63% of post-holiday shoppers consider loyalty programs in their decision-making. [3] [1] Google commissioned Ipsos Consumer Continuous, US, CA, UK, FR, DE, IT, AU, JP, IN, CN, BR, MX, ES, ZA, KR ~n=280-740  online consumers 18+ per market that plan to shop for the holidays. Sep 3-6, 2024[2] Google commissioned Ipsos Consumer Continuous, US, CA, UK, FR, DE, IT, AU, JP, IN, CN, BR, MX, ES, ZA, KR  ~n=500-1000 online consumers 18+ per market. Sep 3-6, 2024[3] Google/Ipsos, Holiday Shopping Study, Online survey, Canadians 18+ who conducted holiday shopping activities in past two days (n=428). Dec 26, 2023 - Jan 3, 2024  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.

On this episode a recording of the RCC x Leger Holiday Shopping livestream dissecting the 7th annual,  2024 RCC+ Leger Holiday Shopping Survey.  We discuss holiday shopping dynamics and navigate what sales and value mean this year, gift card preferences, online vs. in-store shopping trends, and key factors driving retailer choices.My guests  Luc Dumont  Senior Vice President, Insights and Andrian Buchmann AVP from Leger & Sean McCormick, Vice President Business Development from Moneris Data Services will discuss what the insights of this year's survey mean for retailers.Survey Highlights and RCC members can download the entire survey here:https://www.retailcouncil.org/research/rcc-x-leger-holiday-shopping-survey-2024/ 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 special ENCORE EPISODE worth a second, or perhaps your first listen, meet Toronto-based Michael Bungay Stanier, best known for The Coaching Habit, the best-selling coaching book of the century, today talking with me about his most recent book, How to Work with (Almost) Anyone. It's a fantastic conversation. Michael is a thoughtful and engaging guest, and we talk about the hard truth: most of us leave the health and fate of our at-work relationships to chance. We say "Hi," exchange pleasantries, hope for the best, and immediately get into the work. Through our conversation and his book, Michael shows and tells us how to build the Best Possible Relationship with the key people at work. About MichaelMichael Bungay Stanier is at the forefront of shaping how organizations around the world make being coach-like an essential leadership competency. His book The Coaching Habit is the bestselling coaching book of this century, with over a million copies sold and more than ten thousand five-star reviews on Amazon. In 2019, he was named the #1 thought leader in coaching, and in 2023 won the coaching award from Thinkers 50, “the Oscars of management”. Michael was the first Canadian Coach of the Year, has been named a Global Coaching Guru since 2014, and was a Rhodes Scholar. His most recent book, How to Work with (Almost) Anyone, shows how to create psychological safety by building the Best Possible Relationship with the key people at work.Michael founded Box of Crayons, a learning and development company that had helped hundreds of organizations transform from advice-driven to curiosity-led. Learn more at BoxOfCrayons.com. Michael is a compelling speaker and facilitator, combining practicality, humour, and an unprecedented degree of engagement with the audience. He's spoken on stages and screens around the world in front of crowds ranging from ten to ten thousand. His TEDx talk has been watched by a million and a half people. Learn more at MBS.works. En route to today—and these are essential parts of his origin story—Michael knocked himself unconscious as a labourer by hitting himself in the head with a shovel, mastered stagecraft at law school by appearing in a skit called Synchronized Nude Male Modelling, and his first paid piece of writing was a Harlequin Romance-esque story involving a misdelivered letter … and called The Male Delivery.Learn more at www.MBS.works  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.

Meet Dr. Rebecca Homkes, who talks about the thinking behind her latest book "Survive, Reset, Thrive: Leading Breakthrough Growth Strategy in Volatile Times," a must-read book that offers a powerful framework for navigating today's volatile business environment.  We introduce Rebecca's background and professional journey before delving into the book's central theme: volatility in today's business environment. While it may seem that volatility has always been a part of professional life, she explains why today's uncertainty is unique and why retail leaders should stop relying solely on traditional planning tools. Instead, they should embrace preparation to better adapt to unpredictable shifts.We explore how thinking that uncertainty can benefit challengers over incumbents is maybe asking the wrong question, why preparation is vital, and the practical tools leaders can use to thrive in ambiguity.  About RebeccaDr. Rebecca Homkes is high-growth strategy specialist and the founder of a boutique consultancy firm, advising CEOs and executive teams focused on growth and success through uncertainty. She is a Lecturer at the London Business School (LBS)'s Department of Strategy and Entrepreneurship, Faculty at Duke Corporate Executive Education, Advisor and Faculty at Boston Consulting Group University, and previous Fellow at the London School of Economics (LSE)'s Centre for Economic Performance.Dr. Homkes is also the director of the Young President's Organization (YPO) global Active Learning Program (ALP); a former partner with GrowthX, a Silicon Valley investment ecosystem and innovation consultancy; and the faculty lead of fintech scaleup accelerators.  A global keynote speaker, she is a member of several advisory boards, directed the joint McKinsey & Co and LSE Centre for Economic Performance Global Management Project from 2007-2014 and has written for publications such as the Harvard Business Review, Businessweek, Fortune, and Forbes.A Marshall Scholar, she received her PhD and MSc from the London School of Economics in International Economy.  Prior to LSE, Dr. Homkes received two degrees at Indiana University: BS (Honors) in business administration alongside a BA (Honors) in Political Science where she was a Wells Scholar and graduated as the schools' top graduate in 2005 and its sole Herman Wells Scholar.  She previously served as a Fellow at the White House's President's Council of Economic Advisors and has worked in strategy consulting with Bain & Co. She lives between Miami, San Francisco, and London.IndigoAmazonhttps://www.rebeccahomkes.com/ 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, meet Frédéric Aubé, the visionary founder and CEO of Cozey, a fast-growing player in the North American home furnishings market. Fred's journey began with a simple observation during his days as a McGill University student: the frustration of moving bulky furniture through tight spaces in Montreal apartments. Inspired to make life easier for urban dwellers, he launched Cozey in 2020 with a mission to create modular, easy-to-assemble furniture that combines style with convenience.Fred shares his story, from growing up in a family of entrepreneurs to founding Cozey right before graduating, all while navigating the challenges of starting a business during the pandemic. We delve into what sets Cozey apart in the crowded home furnishings space, from its customer-centric design to its commitment to quality.Fred also offers a behind-the-scenes look at Cozey's growth strategy, including the transition from a purely direct-to-consumer (DTC) model to physical retail with the recent openings in Toronto and Vancouver. He explains how this shift has enhanced customer engagement and influenced Cozey's plans for future expansion.Looking ahead, Fred discusses the evolving role of physical retail for DTC brands and shares his advice for independent retailers competing in today's bifurcated retail environment. Don't miss this insightful conversation about entrepreneurship, innovation, and the future of retail.Tune in for a deep dive into how Cozey is redefining the home furniture experience! About Frédéric Frédéric Aubé's journey into the furniture industry began with a simple yet profound observation during his time at McGill University, where he faced the common struggle of moving bulky couches through tight spaces in small Montreal apartments. This experience sparked an idea: why not create a sofa that was not only easy to assemble without tools but also customizable and adaptable to changing needs for the modern, urban lifestyle? He quickly turned this insight into reality, launching Cozey in June 2020, just months before graduating McGill University. Under Fred's leadership, Cozey has become known for its modular, stylish, high-quality, easy-to-assemble furniture and its commitment to customer-centric design and experience.Fred's vision extends beyond business success; he aims to make Cozey the world's largest furniture retailer while maintaining a focus on exceptional customer experiences and community contribution. His journey from a student struggling with bulky furniture to the CEO of a pioneering company is a testament to his innovative thinking, resilience, and dedication to making life simpler and more comfortable for his customers.Prior to founding Cozey he held positions at Tonus Capital and served on the board of Bestar. Frédéric Aubé attended McGill University from 2017 to 2020, where he pursued an Honours Economics & Finance, B.A. degree. Fred also played four years in the Canadian Hockey League amassing over 100 points in 250 games. 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.

Jim Fielding's dynamic career has spanned senior leadership roles at top global brands, including Disney, DreamWorks, and Twentieth Century Fox, anchored in experience and an early career at The Gap, Lands' End, and as CEO of Claire's Stores; He joins me in an exclusive interview to talk about this new book ALL PRIDE, NO EGO: A Queer Executive's Journey to Living and Leading Authentically with leadership, retail and life lessons you need to hear. ENCORE EPISODEAbout JimJim Fielding is a partner at Archer Gray and president of its Co-Lab Division. A retail and media industry veteran, Jim served as president of Disney Stores Worldwide and led global consumer experiences at DreamWorks and Twentieth Century Fox. His early career experience included top international brands, from The Gap to Lands' End. Jim later served as CEO of Claire's Stores, Inc. He is the author of ALL PRIDE, NO EGO: A Queer Executive's Journey to Living and Leading Authentically (Wiley, August 15, 2023). Jim's expertise combines storytelling, product innovation, merchandising, and consumer experiences. He is an active community leader and philanthropist, a founder of the Queer Philanthropy Circle, and serves on the board of directors for the Indiana University Foundation. Jim has served as an executive-in-residence for IU's Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and a board member for GLSEN, Make-A-Wish International, and the American Red Cross. He is based in Atlanta, GA and Northport, MI. 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, recorded live at the RCC Retail Marketing Conference in Toronto, join me for a fast-paced discussion with John Fanous Head of Industry, eCommerce & Omni-Channel Retail, Google. We cover the current marketing strategy, communications, tools and tricks to reach an increasingly saturated, diverse shopper and reluctant media consumer. We'll talk about what's working, what's changed, what's not working and the forecast and thinking for Holiday and into 2025.About JohnJohn is Google and YouTube's Head of Omni-Channel Retail for Canada. He is an accomplished and recognized leader in Canada's omni-channel shopping ecosystem, helping organizations (ranging from startups to Fortune-100 retailers) make the pivot to digital shopper engagement for over fifteen years.John joined Google nine years ago, and has helped lead partnerships with some of the fastest growing omni-channel retailers in North America over that time - with a focus on attribution/measurement via technology and AI adoption, digital education for C-suite partners, and helping retailers build new profit centers through initiatives including Google Retail Media.John is a past recipient of Marketing Mag's Top 30 Under 30 award, and has had his retail insights published in major Canadian platforms including The Globe & Mail, Financial Post and Yahoo! Finance, in addition to national TV interviews with CTV News Channel and Canada AM. 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, Meet Carson Arthur and hear about his journey from a media personality to an independent small retailer, launching Carson's Garden & Market in Prince Edward County. Carson shares his product sourcing strategies and challenges, advice for his fellow indie retailers, SMB growth strategies for governments, and plans for an exciting future.  About CarsonOver the last 25 years, Carson has taught homeowners how to raise the value of their homes through outdoor renovations while maintaining a focus on environmentally friendly choices. He is a tv mainstay as part of the North American Cityline team as a landscape designer and outdoor expert. He has also been the host and guest expert on several tv shows that can be seen all around the world. He writes for several publications about outdoor design and appears regularly in a variety of magazines with guest articles and hosts his own radio show right here in Canada  Carson is the author of the sold-out book Garden Designs for Outdoor Living and has a new book called Vegetables, Chickens and Bees where he teaches new gardeners how to grow food and become more sustainable in their own outdoor spaces. In 2019, Carson opened his namesake market in Prince Edward County. With a focus on growing food, organic principals, and products that make gardening accessible to everyone, Carson's Garden + Market has quickly become a destination for discerning gardeners.His credits include; the host of HGTV's Green Force and Critical Listing; the Gemini nominated Room to Grow on Global, ION and the Discovery network; Better Homes and Garden's Home, First Home on the Hallmark Channel in the U.S.; and as the gardening expert on HGTV's blockbusters; Home to Win Season 1 through 4. Watch for him on HGTV's Resort Renovation! 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.

Michon Williams is my special guest in this episode, sharing her career journey, emphasizing an early interest in technology and explaining her role as Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Walmart Canada.Michon highlights the importance of balancing innovation and stability, operating on three horizons: stability, incremental improvements, and long-term disruptions. We discuss the need for local solutions in Canada due to unique market requirements, the rapid pace of innovation in retail, particularly post-pandemic, and the role of AI in enhancing efficiency and customer experience. Michon advises retailers to foster a culture of experimentation and continuous learning and encourages women in tech to be curious and proactive in their career development. About MichonMichon was recruited to Walmart Canada as Vice President of Product & Delivery to steward their accelerated investment in technology in 2021. Promoted to Chief Technology Officer, Michon and her team are responsible for core systems strategy and delivery, technology infrastructure and operations, infosec and architecture across stores, pharmacies, supply chain, merchandising, core data platforms, associate tools and enterprise technology (including real estate). Michon is a long-time advocate of the environment and inclusion and leads programs in support of Green Technology and to promote and advance Diversity in Technology. About MichaelMichael is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He 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 Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail, Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.

Serial entrepreneur Chris Jones, Founder and President of CANNABIS XPRESS, a leading chain of cannabis retail stores started in Ontario, is back on the podcast to tell us his adventure of expanding his successful store concept to small-town New Brunswick, one of the most innovative markets in Canada. About ChrisChris Jones is an entrepreneur and cannabis industry executive. He is currently the Founder and President of CANNABIS XPRESS, a leading chain of 13 cannabis retail stores in Ontario and New Brunswick, Canada.Previously, he founded another cannabis retail company in Ontario and sold it after it hit a run rate of approximately $15 million via an all-cash sale to a public company. Before entering the retail industry, he was actively involved in and led multiple acquisitions and investments ranging from several million to over a billion dollars during his time at Origin House, later acquired by a top US-based multi-state operator - Cresco Labs.Chris has also developed and taught classes at George Brown College through their School of Continuing Education. One of them more recently was called Cannabis Business Strategy, which includes a lineup of coveted guest speakers such as Bruce Linton (Founder of Canopy Growth Corporation – which was previously the largest cannabis company in the world by market capitalization). He currently teaches a management course at George Brown called Management Fundamentals.Before that, he built his finance and business development experience at two global construction companies based in Canada: EllisDon and Aecon. Additionally, he led business development and negotiations for a boutique trial-focused law firm in Toronto.Outside of work, Chris travels, takes language courses in Spanish, walks his dog, enjoys the outdoors, and is undefeated in Muay Thai. He obtained his Master of Business Administration from McMaster University's DeGroote School of Business and a Bachelor of Commerce from Ryerson University's Ted Rogers School of Management.You can reach Chris at christopher.lloyd.jones1@gmail.com  About MichaelMichael is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He 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 Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail, Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.

In this episode, meet Bobby Sahni, a veteran of multicultural marketing with over 20 years of experience. Bobby discusses his journey from corporate roles in banking and telecommunications to his current role as a leader at Ethnicity Matters, a Toronto-based multicultural marketing agency. He emphasizes the importance of understanding Canada's demographic shifts and integrating multicultural strategies into mainstream business practices.Bobby highlights that multiculturalism is now mainstream and should be central to growth strategies, and is the growth strategy in Canada. He also shares insights into the diverse needs of newcomers and the critical role of first impressions in retail marketing. Bobby is set to speak at the upcoming Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing Conference, and he will preview what he will be discussing on the main stage. he will cover data-driven strategies and share examples of successful multicultural marketing campaigns. About BobbyBobby Sahni is a veteran and thought-leader in the multicultural marketing and advertising industry. Bobby was the Head of Multicultural Marketing at Rogers Communications and has been a pioneer in developing, executing and managing diversity and multicultural marketing initiatives for a number of best-in-class organizations. He is Co-Founder and Partner at Ethnicity Matters – a multicultural marketing & advertising agency dedicated to helping companies drive new growth and sales by engaging North America's fast growing, big spending ethnic and new immigrant communities. He is also Partner in Tulsea Sports Marketing, a US-based marketing consultancy focussed on the intersection of multicultural marketing and sports & entertainment. Bobby has earned national and international recognition for his work and thought leadership in multicultural marketing. Bobby also loves teaching, having guest-lectured at many universities/colleges and regularly speaks at industry events and conferences across North America. Bobby has also been on a variety of advisory boards and committees including Hockey Canada, Imagine Canada, Seva Food Bank, Road Hockey to Conquer Cancer, Cricket to Conquer Cancer, Indo Canada Chamber of Commerce, Reel Asian Film Festival and Credit Valley Conservation Foundation. Bobby earned his MBA from the global Kellogg Schulich Executive MBA program with cross-cultural studies in Hong Kong, Germany, Miami, Chicago and Toronto. He also holds a Bachelor of Science & Business degree from the University of Waterloo. About MichaelMichael is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He 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 Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail, Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.

Brain Rush!  Gen AI, AI Hallucinations and Retailers with Peter Cohan, an Associate Professor of Management Practice at Babson CollegeMeet Peter Cohan, an Associate Professor of Management Practice at Babson College, the founding principal of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm, and has completed over 150 growth-strategy consulting projects for global technology companies and invested in seven startups, three of which were sold for about $2 billion and one of which went public in 2021 at an $18 billion valuation.  Impressive numbers.Peter tells us about his 17th book, another impressive number, Brain Rush, and we get deep into GenAI, whether the current concentration of AI development amongst the most prominent tech players will help or hurt the development of valuable and safe AI, AI hallucinations and how retailers should think about their impact on customer service, AI flyers for the masses and much more!About PeterPeter Cohan is an Associate Professor of Management Practice at Babson College. He teaches strategy, leadership, and entrepreneurship to students in the college's undergraduate, Master of Science in Entrepreneurial Leadership (MSEL), MBA, and Executive Education programs. He is coordinator of Babson's required undergraduate strategy course and the creator and teacher of advanced strategy courses for undergraduate and MSEL students. Cohan is the founding principal of Peter S. Cohan & Associates, a management consulting and venture capital firm. He has completed over 150 growth-strategy consulting projects for global technology companies and invested in seven startups, three of which were sold for about $2 billion and one of which went public in 2021 at an $18 billion valuation. He has written 17 books, includingBrain Rush: How to Invest and Compete in the Real World of Generative AI andNet Profit: How to Invest and Compete in the Wild World of Internet Business. He is a senior contributor to Forbes and an Inc. contributor. He is a frequent media commentator who has appeared on ABC's Good Morning America, Bloomberg, CNN, CNBC, Fox Business News, American Public Media's MarketPlace, WBUR, WGBH, New England Cable News, and the Boston ABC, NBC, and CBS affiliates. He has been quoted in the Associated Press, the Christian Science Monitor, the London Evening Standard, the Times of London, the New York Times, Nikkei, USA Today, the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Portugal's Expresso, the Economist, Time, BusinessWeek, and Fortune. He also appeared in the 2016 documentary film We the People: The Market Basket Effect. Prior to starting his firm, he worked as a case team leader for Monitor Company, Harvard Business School Professor Michael Porter's consulting firm. He has taught at MIT, Stanford, Columbia, Tel Aviv University, New York University, and Bentley University.About Brain RushMy most recent book (the 17th I have authored) Brain Rush: How to Invest and Compete in the Real World of Generative AI, discusses both the benefits and challenges of implementing AI in the retail and eCommerce markets and some of the specific topics I could discuss on your podcast include:How can retailers distinguish the few high payoff generative AI applications from the many losing ones?Which generative AI applications are creating the most value for retailers?What are the most significant risks retailers could face if they introduce generative AI to customers and partners?How should retailers capture the benefits and minimize the risks of these high payoff generative AI applications?Peer pressure forces CEOs to tell Wall Street how generative AI will transform their business but at the same time, CEOs fear generative AI hallucinations could threaten their company's reputation. This fear is based in reality. For instance, Google's AI advised people to add glue to pizza,Forbes careers contributor Jack Kelly noted. And Air Canada's AI chatbot made up a refund policy for a customer — and a Canadian tribunal forced the airline to issue a real refund based on its AI-invented policy, Wired reported.This inconsistent battle has significant implications for business. Of 200 to 300 generative AI experiments the typical large company is undertaking, a mere 10 to 15 have been rolled out internally, and perhaps one or two have been released to customers.  Babson College Associate Professor of Management PracticePeter S. Cohan & AssociatesLinkedIn PageBooksForbes and Inc. columns About MichaelMichael is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He 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 Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail, Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.

Meet modern marketing phenomenon and upcoming RCC Retail Marketing keynote speaker Neil Patel as he shares insights behind his rise to one of the top marketing voices in the world and gives us a quick preview of his upcoming mainstage presentation. Neil is a New York Times Best-Selling Author and one of the world's most influential marketers, according to The Wall Street Journal and Forbes. He will join me in person at the upcoming Retail Council of Canada Retail marketing conference on September 12 in Toronto to explore the transformative potential of AI in retail marketing.   About MichaelMichael is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He 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 Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail, Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.

On this episode, popular guest Kristina Rogers, Global Consumer Leader, EY, is back on the podcast to discuss the latest global and Canadian consumer insights from the 14th edition of her seminal research project, The Future Consumer Index.  Launched in the early days of the COVID era, her research continues to track consumers' changing patterns and behaviours, with echoes of pandemic shopping impacts and changes in how we live, consume media, and shop. See the whole report here. About MichaelMichael is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He 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 Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail, Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.

Meet Jason Raddison, CEO and Founder of Movo, a Human Capital Management (HCM) platform that uses advanced AI to automate the process of hiring, engaging, and retaining today's frontline workforce with his innovative AI forward solution for retailers. About JasonJason Radisson is a serial unicorn breeder. His latest venture is Movo (formerly Shift One), where he is Founder & CEO, a platform that is helping solve the global shortage of skilled front line workers, with more than 300,000 users from nurses to solar technicians.  Jason learned startup skills early in life. He was born to a 16-year old single mom, and worked blue-collar jobs from short order cook to HVAC technician to fund school and climb out of poverty. From that inauspicious start, he went on to Harvard, a Fulbright Scholarship, and McKinsey & Company. Since becoming an entrepreneur, Jason has worked with more than a dozen first tier VCs, firms like Softbank, Accel, DST, Andreessen Horowitz, Monashees, and Sequoia. Together he and his teams have built and scaled multiple tech unicorns, platforms that today provide work and improved living standards to millions of workers, from Bogota to Boston.In the early days of Uber he was a launcher and Regional General Manager in the western US. From there, Brazil's 99-Taxis as Chief Operating Officer, where he grew the business 10x and sold it to Didi for $1B. He is also a member of the Rappi-Mafia, where he was an early investor and helped the Co-Founders build their Operations and Growth teams in the initial expansion across Latin America. Today, more than 20 venture-backed Founders are alumni of his earlier teams. Jason spends his time outside of work with his spouse and their small children. He's also a lifelong distance runner, cyclist and skier. About MichaelMichael is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He 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 Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail, Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.

Raj Grover, President and CEO of High Tide, is back on the podcast to update us about the state of the retail cannabis industry in Canada and his growing universe of retail brands together as Cana Cabana, now Canada's largest non-franchise cannabis retailer with over 170 locations.  Raj talks about this recipe for commercial success and his perspectives on global expansion to the U.S., Europe and beyond, leveraging the experience, skills and understanding of one of the industry's more experienced and accomplished retail teams.         About RajSince starting his first company at the age of 22, Raj has established himself as one of Canada's foremost business strategists and dealmakers. He is the founder of High Tide and its subsidiary companies Valiant Distribution and Canna Cabana and is the co-founder of High Tide's subsidiary, Famous Brandz.Through organic growth and strategic acquisitions, Raj has grown High Tide from one small shop of 2 employees in 2009 into Canada's largest cannabis retailer with over 170 locations and over 1,600 amazing team members and business interests spanning North America and Europe.While committed to building a strong, profitable, and sustainable business, Raj also believes passionately that those who enjoy success hold a particular responsibility to give back. In that vein, he spearheaded the launch of High Tide's CSR program, Rising Tide for Good which has supported many worthy causes both cannabis related and otherwise. On a personal level, Raj has also been a long-time supporter of Operation Smile, an organization that works to deliver free, safe cleft surgery to children in need, saving them from a lifetime of pain and isolation.                                             About MichaelMichael is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He 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 Secure conference with leaders from The Gap and Kroger talking about violence in retail stores, keynotes on the state & future of retail in Orlando and Halifax, and at the 2023 Canadian GroceryConnex conference, hosting the CEOs of Walmart Canada, Longo's and Save-On-Foods Canada. Michael brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael also produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in North America, Remarkable Retail, Canada's top retail industry podcast; the Voice of Retail; Canada's top food industry and the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor, with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail influencers for the fourth year in a row, Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer, and you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state of the retail industry in Canada and the U.S., and the future of retail.