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In the latest episode of the Remarkable Retail podcast, co-hosts Steve Dennis and Michael LeBlanc return with Part Two of “The Analysts," which featues three of the retail industry's most respected thought leaders—Sucharita Kodali (VP & Principal Analyst, Forrester Research), Neil Saunders (Managing Director, GlobalData Retail), and Simeon Siegel (Managing Director, BMO Capital Markets).But first, Michael and Steve unpack a news cycle packed with volatility. They begin by exploring the ripple effects of renewed Middle East conflict and its impact on oil prices, inflation, and economic sentiment. From there, the duo tackle the Trump administration's intensifying immigration enforcement and its chilling effect on the U.S. labor force—particularly in agriculture, hospitality, and retail. Shoppers are anxious, workers are disappearing, and companies are bracing for cost spikes.The episode then zooms into earnings season, with fresh data from RH (Restoration Hardware), Inditex (Zara), and Victoria's Secret. RH defies expectations with revenue gains despite a sluggish home goods sector, while Zara and Victoria's Secret warn of tariff-related turbulence ahead. Steve and Michael also sound the alarm on a string of cyberattacks, including the Victoria's Secret hack and a Whole Foods supplier breach, painting a stark picture of retail's digital vulnerabilities.Then it's time for “The Analysts” segment. Sucharita Kodali explains the hype—and the misunderstanding—around Agentic AI, warning retailers of its disintermediating potential if shopping bots take hold. The panel weigh in on the future of department stores, urging traditional retailers to rethink their value proposition, especially as beauty shifts to standalone players like Sephora, Blue Mercury, and Ulta.From TikTok's uncertain future to retail media network fatigue, the lightning round keeps the insights flowing with wit and depth. The panel also lifts up up-and-coming remarkable brands like Vuori, Alo Yoga, and Eleventy as ones to watch. Here is a 10% off code for the CommerceNext Growth Show exclusive to Remarkable Retail listeners: REMARKABLE. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this encore episode of The Voice of Retail from January 2025, I'm joined by Sergeant Craig Reynolds and Arezo Zarrabian, Senior Crime Analyst at the Vancouver Police Department, for an exclusive look inside Project Barcode—a pioneering effort to combat organized retail crime in Vancouver.Sparked by a staggering 260% increase in retail theft involving weapons, Project Barcode was launched in 2021 and has evolved into a city-wide operation. Combining targeted police action, strategic analytics, and cross-agency collaboration, the project has become a blueprint for combating retail crime across Canada—and beyond.Craig and Arezo take us behind the scenes of Barcode's design and deployment. With more than 1,400 arrests, 166 repeat offenders apprehended, and $1.4 million in goods and criminal assets recovered, Project Barcode is delivering measurable results. Arezo's data-driven insights guide every phase—from identifying hotspots by time and geography, to profiling offender patterns and predicting retail theft surges. One key innovation? Deploying officers based on real-time trends, such as peak theft hours or common entry points into the city.Yet the team doesn't just tackle frontline offenders. A major focus is upstream—targeting fences and organized resellers who drive demand for stolen goods. With the help of anti-fencing units and civil forfeiture laws, Project Barcode has disrupted the black-market supply chain while building stronger partnerships with the retail community.Craig and Arezo also share deeply human perspectives on the systemic issues behind the crimes: homelessness, addiction, lack of mental health support, and underfunded social services. They stress that many offenders are exploited and desperate—often stealing not out of greed, but obligation to pay off debts. They advocate for wraparound solutions that go beyond law enforcement, including judicial reform, community policing, and better data sharing.The episode closes with a look ahead: more coordination, smarter deployment, and a renewed call for nationwide efforts to recognize retail crime as a serious threat to public safety and economic stability.If you're a retailer, policymaker, or security professional, this is essential listening on how cities can combine compassion, innovation, and accountability to fight retail crime—and win. 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.

The Food Professor Podcast closes out its fifth season (sort of) with a sizzling, two-guest double feature and a feast of food industry insights.Co-hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois kick things off with a robust news round-up, starting with the Competition Bureau's lawsuit against DoorDash. The case alleges deceptive pricing practices that could set a major precedent in Canada's rapidly evolving food delivery sector. Next up is a conversation about GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, and their surprising ripple effects across the food and restaurant industries. With major players like McDonald's flagging GLP-1's impact on consumer demand, the hosts unpack how appetite suppression could force chains to rethink menus and marketing.Turning to politics, the duo dives into the return of Bill C-202, which aims to legislate permanent protection for supply-managed sectors like dairy. Sylvain, fresh from testifying before Senate, challenges the notion that legislation ensures economic security, arguing that this approach stifles innovation and shrinks global opportunities for Canada's dairy sector. The conversation highlights deeper questions about food affordability, trade readiness, and long-term resilience in Canadian agriculture.The episode then shifts to the guest segment, welcoming Daniel Vaughn, Texas Monthly's Barbecue Editor and the man behind the publication's iconic “Top 50 Barbecue Joints in Texas” list. Daniel shares his personal journey from Ohio to Texas BBQ fanatic, reveals the meticulous tasting process behind the prestigious list, and highlights innovations shaping the future of craft barbecue—from smoked lamb to Vietnamese fusion. He also reflects on the human side of the industry, including stories of pitmasters overcoming illness, personal loss, and economic challenges, all while pursuing culinary greatness.Wrapping the episode, Ransom Hawley, CEO of Caddle and presenting sponsor of the podcast, joins to share exclusive insights from a new back-to-school consumer study. He reveals that two-thirds of Canadian parents begin planning in late spring, and that private-label grocery products are increasingly popular—especially among families with younger children. He discusses emotional purchase behavior, the importance of online research, and how grocers and retailers can tailor promotions for maximum impact.With bold opinions, brisket, and back-to-school tips, this finale serves up equal parts smoke and strategy. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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.

This landmark episode launches "The Analysts," a periodic new feature segment, bringing together three of retail's most respected thought leaders in a new format . Part One features Sucharita Kodali (Forrester Research), Neil Saunders (GlobalData Retail), and Simeon Siegel (BMO Capital Markets) who cut through industry chaos to reveal what really matters.News of the Week Highlights: The episode opens with Steve Dennis and Michael LeBlanc's signature news analysis, which covers the Trump-Musk political tensions and their potential retail implications, including leadership chaos and economic uncertainty. They examine surprisingly resilient U.S. job market data, showing 4.1-4.2% unemployment despite rising layoff announcements, with a particular focus on AI's emerging threat to entry-level positions as companies like McKinsey dramatically reduce their hiring.A significant development has emerged, with Chinese retailers Temu and Shein experiencing dramatic 50% U.S. sales declines following tariff implementations, although both companies are pivoting aggressively to European markets. The hosts analyze this as validation of tariff impacts while noting potential "brace for impact" implications for international listeners.Eangs season wrap-up reveals telling mixed signals: Lululemon's shocking 23% stock decline despite maintaining profitability, driven by weak guidance amid increased promotional pressure; Dollar General raising guidance despite tepid 2% comp growth; and standout Five Below achieving impressive 7% comps while expanding to 1,826 stores across the U.S. The continuing collapse of second-wave DTC darlings gets spotlight treatment, particularly Rent the Runway's staggering 97% stock decline. Here is a 10% off code for the CommerceNext Growth Show exclusive to Remarkable Retail listeners: REMARKABLE. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this exclusive interview, I chat with Peter Hlynsky, CEO of MEC (Mountain Equipment Company), one of Canada's most iconic outdoor retailers. Peter shares his remarkable journey from CFO to CEO over five years at MEC, detailing his passion for the outdoors that initially drew him to the company rather than retail specifically.MEC's origin story is captivating - it began in the early 1970s, when University of British Columbia students drove to REI in Washington, bought climbing gear, and sold it from their van on campus. This evolved into Canada's premier outdoor retail cooperative with 21 stores by 2020, becoming what Peter describes as "a candy store for the outdoors."The company's unique employee culture sets MEC apart in the competitive outdoor retail landscape. Staff members genuinely live the lifestyle they sell through "Rad Days" - paid outdoor adventures where employees test gear and bring back real-world experiences. This authentic product knowledge enables staff to provide honest recommendations, sometimes even steering customers away from products that don't fit their specific needs.Peter discusses MEC's significant transformation from a member-owned cooperative to a private company, maintaining the "member" terminology and benefits that resonate with Canadian consumers. The recently relaunched membership program includes purchase-based discounts, exclusive access to popular store events, and MEC's legendary "rock solid guarantee" - one of the industry's most comprehensive return policies.A significant development is MEC's return to Canadian ownership after being acquired by private equity in 2020. Peter and Chief Merchandising Officer Chris Beyer joined the new Canadian ownership group, led by Tim Gu, bringing manufacturing expertise that is particularly valuable for MEC's private label products, which comprise one-third of their business alongside branded products from Patagonia, Arc'teryx, and Yeti.The merchandising strategy balances premium branded products with MEC's highly-regarded private label offerings, providing similar quality at lower prices without wholesale markups. This combination creates a compelling value proposition that competitors struggle to match.Looking ahead, Peter sees significant growth opportunities as competitors exit the market following the COVID-19 pandemic. Atmosphere closed standalone stores, and regional players shuttered operations, creating organic growth potential. MEC plans opportunistic store expansion in underserved Canadian markets, capitalizing on available real estate from retailer closures.Peter's retail advice emphasizes focusing relentlessly on core competencies rather than chasing trending business models. For MEC, this means maintaining its specialty outdoor retailer identity through exceptional in-store service, curated product assortments, and a consistent customer experience across all channels.The episode highlights how authentic brand positioning, employee engagement, and customer-centric policies can sustain competitive advantages in challenging retail environments. MEC's successful transition from a cooperative to a company while preserving its brand values demonstrates effective change management in retail transformation. 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.

This episode of The Food Professor Podcast, recorded live at the SIAL Food Innovation Show in Toronto, opens with co-hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois breaking down the week's top food and retail stories.First, they tackle the evolving Canadian political stance on supply management. Prime Minister Carney's reversal in support of Bill C-282 suggests renewed government protectionism in agricultural trade, potentially complicating future international deals. Sylvain, who testified against the bill, argues for a smarter, more competitive dairy sector rather than entrenching status quo inefficiencies.Next, they examine the return of Trump-era tariffs, including a 50% levy on aluminum. This move could squeeze margins in the canned food and craft beer sectors. Sylvain praises the Canadian government's decision not to retaliate immediately, calling it a strategic pause rather than knee-jerk nationalism. Then they discuss NielsenIQ data revealing that Canadians are cutting back on U.S. goods—not necessarily out of patriotism, but due to anti-American sentiment—while failing to significantly boost local Canadian brands.The final news item highlights the surprising global shortage of black pepper, linked to poor climate and farming shifts. As Sylvain jokes, barbecue fans like Michael may want to stock up on their secret weapon: 16-mesh pepper!The spotlight then shifts to special guest Vince Sgabellone, Food Service Industry Analyst at Circana Canada. Vince shares compelling insights from the frontlines of Canadian food service. A major trend? The explosion of global cuisine. Whether it's falafel shops, Nepalese momo dumplings, or Ethiopian cafés, Canadians are craving authentic international flavors—even from mainstream chains like Recipe Unlimited.Vince attributes much of this shift to immigration and younger generations of diners. One-third of all restaurant visits now come from people of color, and that number is even higher among Gen Z. These consumers are reshaping the restaurant landscape, fueling growth in fast casual dining and independent eateries with strong ethnic roots.He also reveals that dining out remains resilient in Canada, especially compared to a softening U.S. market. Delivery and takeout are climbing again, even as lunch remains the industry's weakest segment due to remote work. The growing popularity of solo dining, driven by changing social patterns and younger demographics, is creating new design opportunities for restaurant operators.This episode is rich in data, spiced with insights, and ends with a wild story about an elephant raiding a grocery store in Thailand—a perfect reminder that food always finds a way to surprise us. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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 edition episode, Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis address the unprecedented challenges facing retailers with Steve's "10 Tantalizing Tips for Tumultuous Times." Steve rates current market turbulence at a 9 out of 10, comparing it to COVID-era disruption but noting the added complexity of legal uncertainties around tariff policies.The news segment covers significant retail developments, starting with ongoing tariff turmoil. A U.S. court ruled Trump's tariff policies illegal, creating additional uncertainty for retailers already struggling with implementation. Steve explains how this legal challenge, combined with the administration's failure to secure the promised "90 deals in 90 days," has intensified market turbulence.Earnings season revealed stark contrasts in retail performance. While Abercrombie & Fitch, Costco, and Dick's Sporting Goods posted strong results, Target's struggles were particularly alarming—down nearly 4% compared to Walmart's 4-5% growth, highlighting a major and continuing performance gap between direct competitors. Department stores including Macy's, Dillards, and Kohl's continued their downward trajectory, with most posting negative comps. The episode also covers Hudson's Bay Company's final closure in Canada, with Canadian Tire acquiring the historic brand's IP for $30 million.The second segment focuses on ten essential tactics for survival and growth. The first foundational tips emphasize radical commitment to reality and transparency, urging retailers to honestly assess their situation and act accordingly. Steve advocates for embracing uncertainty and building agility into operations, followed by maintaining innovation through continuous testing despite budget pressures.Customer-focused strategies include choosing your passionate core of fans (inspired by Seth Godin's work), being human-centered while digitally enabled, and prioritizing storytelling over purely functional benefits. Steve emphasizes that people buy a brand's story before they buy the product.Strategic excellence tips include "editing to amplify"—narrowing customer and offering focus to boost signal amid market noise—and conducting comprehensive friction audits of the customer journey. The hosts stress distinguishing between table stakes (necessary but non-differentiating capabilities) and true differentiators that create competitive advantage.The final tip, "cash is king," proves particularly relevant given tariff impacts on cash flow. Throughout the discussion, the hosts acknowledge that guidance must be tailored to individual circumstances—strategies for Walmart differ significantly from those needed by smaller specialty retailers. The episode serves as both a reality check and practical roadmap for retailers navigating what Steve describes as an era of unprecedented uncertainty, volatility, and competitive pressure where strong players are aggressively pursuing market share opportunities. Here is a 10% off code for the CommerceNext Growth Show exclusive to Remarkable Retail listeners: REMARKABLE. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this 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.

This episode of The Food Professor Podcast is steeped in insights, storytelling, and smoky Texas flavour. Hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois kick off with a deep dive into the state of Canadian agri-food policy, tariffs, and food inflation before welcoming a very special guest: Tonia Jahshan, Founder and CEO of Sipology.Broadcasting remotely from Texas, Sylvain shares updates from his new role as head of the prestigious Masters in Agribusiness program at Texas A&M University—ranked #1 in the U.S. and #3 globally. He offers behind-the-scenes insights into the world of American ag education, donor-funded infrastructure, and his leadership plans. Amidst meetings with deans and exploring campus, Sylvain visits a Texas institution of another kind—Buc-ee's, the legendary convenience store-meets-theme-park known for its brisket, wall of jerky, and award-winning bathrooms. The hosts revel in Buc-ee's cult status and then Michael highlights the newly released Texas Monthly Top 50 BBQ list, the Michelin Guide of Texas barbecue. Sylvain, a BBQ enthusiast, is already planning future brisket pilgrimages.  Congrats to our guest on the #pod from earlier this year Chuck Charnichart from Barb's BQ for making the list!!From Texas to Toronto, the episode pivots to policy with an analysis of Prime Minister Mark Carney's new mandate letter. Sylvain critiques its lack of clarity for the agri-food sector, calling for a shift from farm-gate thinking to value-chain strategy. The hosts then turn to the thorny issue of tea tariffs, which are hitting Canadian importers hard despite recent government reprieves. With tea being a $1.3 billion market in Canada—and nearly all of it imported—these tariffs are creating real cost pressures. The duo also revisits the long-running bread price-fixing investigation, discussing Loblaw's recent $500 million class action settlement and why the Competition Bureau's probe remains unresolved.In the second half of the episode, Tonia Jahshan joins the pod live from the SIAL Canada show floor. The inspirational founder of Sipology (formerly Steeped Tea) shares her origin story: how a single sip of loose-leaf Earl Grey in Nova Scotia after a miscarriage led to a wellness-focused tea empire. From launching a side hustle to pitching on Dragons' Den, growing to 8,000 consultants, and creating Health Canada-approved products like menopause relief teas and fizzy matchas, Tonia's entrepreneurial journey is one of resilience, reinvention, and remarkable growth. Now expanding globally and embracing an omni-channel model, she's brewing up a bold new future for Sipology.With a rich mix of policy insights, business strategy, entrepreneurial inspiration—and a side of Texas BBQ—this episode is a flavourful must-listen. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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.

Joining us for a fascinating interview is Neil Blumenthal, co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, one of the most successful and innovative "disruptor brands" to emerge in the past two decades. Neil shares the brand's origin story, what makes Warby Parker remarkable, why they've aggressively invested in brick-and-mortar locations, the critical interplay between digital and physical, and a whole lot more.As usual for our encore episodes, we open with Steve giving us an update on the progress Warby Parker is making on their business. About NeilNeil Blumenthal is a co-founder and co-CEO of Warby Parker, a transformative lifestyle brand that offers designer eyewear at a revolutionary price, while leading the way for socially conscious businesses. In 2015, Fast Company named Warby Parker the most innovative company in the world.Prior to launching Warby Parker in 2010, Neil served as director of VisionSpring, a nonprofit social enterprise that trains low-income women to start their own businesses selling affordable eyeglasses to individuals living on less than $4 per day in developing countries. He was named a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum and one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business by Fast Company. He serves on the board of RxArt and on the United Nations Foundation Global Entrepreneurs Council. A native of New York City, Neil received his BA from Tufts University and his MBA from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. Neil lives in Greenwich Village with his wife, Rachel, the founder and CEO of Rockets of Awesome, and their two children. Here is a 10% off code for the CommerceNext Growth Show exclusive to Remarkable Retail listeners: REMARKABLE. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this episode, 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.

This episode opens with alarming news about Canada's food inflation reaching crisis levels. Charlebois reveals that Canada now has the highest food inflation rate among G7 countries, primarily driven by countervailing tariffs that have backfired on Canadian consumers. The hosts explain how Prime Minister Carney quietly eliminated most food-related tariffs on May 7th, though this decision received little public attention during the election. The discussion highlights how these tariffs made alternatives to American products more expensive, creating a perfect storm for Canadian grocery shoppers.The conversation shifts to emerging issues like "maple washing," where Charlebois shares specific examples of pricing discrepancies between products marketed as Canadian on the shelves versus imported products, urging grocers to exercise greater caution in their merchandising practices.A significant business development takes center stage as Quebec's Excel chicken processing cooperative faces a potential acquisition by Saputo subsidiary Sofina. This $6 billion deal could reshape Eastern Canada's supply chain under supply management systems, potentially leading to higher chicken prices and operational challenges.The interview segment features Dan Sullivan from Rosehall Run Vineyards, one of Prince Edward County's premier wine producers. Sullivan shares his 25-year journey transforming a 150-acre farm into one of Ontario's largest family-owned wineries in the region, producing 9,000-14,000 cases annually. He discusses how Prince Edward County evolved from a drive-through destination to a four-season wine tourism hotspot, emphasizing the region's focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay varietals.Sullivan explains how social media marketing has revolutionized wine sales, moving away from traditional critic-driven recommendations toward peer influence and community building. He describes their dual distribution strategy, selling premium estate wines directly while maintaining LCBO presence with entry-level products that serve as consumer introductions to the brand.The episode explores recent Ontario government support for the wine industry, including Premier Doug Ford's $35 million funding commitment over five years. Sullivan expresses optimism about current market opportunities, particularly given recent trade disruptions that have created space for Ontario wines on retail shelves.We also discuss innovative celebrity food collaborations, highlighting Selena Gomez's partnership with Oreo to create a horchata-flavored cookie. They note Gomez's remarkable success as one of the youngest self-made billionaires at 32, worth $1.3 billion, mainly through her Rare Beauty brand and strategic collaborations. The discussion extends to other celebrity food ventures, including Ryan Reynolds' successful breakfast collaboration with Tim Hortons, which generated impressive lineups and sales.These segments underscore broader themes of food security, consumer choice, and the complex interplay between government policy and market dynamics affecting Canadian food producers and consumers.Premier Doug Ford photo credit: Photo by Ernest Doroszuk /Toronto Sun The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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 Remarkable Retail podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis begin with a news segment covering recent market developments, notably the "tariff turmoil" between the US and China. They discuss how the US has partially de-escalated its stance, with tariffs dropping from a proposed 145% to 30%, creating a 90-day window for retailers to import products. However, they emphasize that smaller retailers remain disproportionately affected due to limited resources compared to giants like Home Depot.The hosts also cover recent retail earnings reports, including Walmart's strong comp store sales growth despite withdrawing Q2 guidance, and their strategic pricing approach to tariff impacts. Other earnings news included On Running's impressive 40% sales growth, while American Eagle, JC Penney, and Burberry reported significant losses. Additional news touched on refinancing challenges at Kohl's, potential bankruptcy concerns at Saks, and Dick's Sporting Goods' surprising acquisition of Foot Locker.The featured interview with Stephen Yalof, CEO and President of Tanger, explores his extensive career spanning retail real estate, including roles at New Plan Realty Trust, Gap, Ralph Lauren, and Simon before joining Tanger in 2020 – humorously noting he arrived when "every one of their 3,000 stores was closed" due to COVID.Yalof provides a fascinating historical perspective on outlet centers, explaining how they evolved from manufacturers' sales of returned items and factory seconds to a strategic retail channel. He details how the Tanger family themselves were shirt manufacturers who realized they were "selling more stuff out the back door than out the front door" before creating the first outlet center in Burlington, North Carolina.The conversation explores how vertical retailers like Gap transformed the model, creating consolidation stores for excess inventory before establishing dedicated outlet locations. This evolution progressed from pure excess inventory management to serving aspirational customers who understand brands but can't afford full price – what Yalof describes as bringing customers "into your ecosystem."In response to competition from online and fast-fashion retailers, Yalof explains Tanger's strategy shift from purely "power shopping" to full-service experiences with improved food, entertainment, and amenities. He compares this to how stadiums have evolved despite at-home viewing advances, stating, "We're the general merchandise managers of our shopping centers... it's about picking the right uses, right experiences, the right amenities."The interview concludes with insights into Tanger's digital engagement strategies, including how they leverage customer data to create targeted marketing campaigns and provide stackable discounts through retailer partnerships, guided by their vision of "using customer insight to inform the future of shopping." Here is a 10% off code for the CommerceNext Growth Show exclusive to Remarkable Retail listeners: REMARKABLE. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this 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.

Tessa Needham v. Merck & Company Inc.

In this insightful episode of The Food Professor podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Sylvain Charlebois explore Canadian food politics and industry developments before sitting down with Adam Grogan, President and COO of Maple Leaf Foods, for a revealing conversation about the company's evolution and future.The episode begins with a discussion of Canada's new Liberal cabinet, focusing on Heath MacDonald from PEI as the new Agriculture Minister replacing Kody Blois. The hosts express mixed feelings about the appointment, noting MacDonald's farming background as a positive sign. They also analyze Chrystia Freeland's surprising role as Transportation Minister and its implications for agricultural logistics.Another highlight includes the new interprovincial trade deal between Manitoba and Ontario, which aims to reduce trade barriers. Charlebois emphasizes that such provincial initiatives will drive meaningful change, not federal promises, potentially opening new markets for small and medium-sized food producers currently limited by licensing requirements.The hosts then discuss American food inflation dropping from 3% to 2.8% despite tariffs, questioning why U.S. consumers haven't experienced price increases despite trade restrictions with Canada, China, and Mexico.The feature interview with Adam Grogan reveals Maple Leaf Foods' transformation beyond being merely a protein company. Grogan describes the organization as a "CPG powerhouse" with numerous brands, including Tender Flake lard, Sunrise, Larson, Burns, Mitchell's, Schneiders, Prime poultry, and Greenfield natural meats. He also discusses their $1 billion investment in processing facilities in London, Winnipeg, and Brampton to enhance global competitiveness.On plant-based proteins, Grogan shares a nuanced perspective, noting they are "the largest share of refrigerated plant protein in North America" with three dedicated brands and manufacturing plants. While acknowledging recent market challenges, he remains optimistic about the future, citing changing consumer preferences and Canada's position as the world's largest producer of pulses and legumes.Sustainability forms a cornerstone of their strategy, with Grogan stating, "Animal production is one of the largest emitters of carbon anywhere, and big food needs to do more." Maple Leaf Foods was the first Canadian company to align with science-based targets from the Paris Agreement and the first major food company to declare carbon neutrality in 2019.The episode concludes with discussions on Newfoundland's ineffective sugar tax, which has collected $30 million without changing consumption patterns, and the controversial government-funded Aspire Foods cricket farm in London that recently entered receivership despite $9 million in public funding.This episode offers valuable insights into Canadian food policy, sustainable protein production, and the evolution of one of Canada's largest food companies under progressive leadership. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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 Remarkable Retail podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis begin by dissecting the week's most important retail news, highlighting the Trump administration's UK trade deal. They discuss the more consequential negotiations with China befor examining how Chinese e-commerce giants Temu and Shein are experiencing sales drops of 17% and 23% respectively after implementing pricing changes.April's surprising 7% jump in US core retail sales indicates consumers are pulling forward purchases ahead of expected tariff impacts. The hosts discusss positive earnings news from Tapestry (Coach's parent company), which increased profit guidance despite economic uncertainty, and Warby Parker, which delivered its first profitable quarter in its history. They conclude the news segment with Skechers' unexpected $9 billion acquisition by private equity firm 3G Capital, noting that the footwear giant operates in 180 countries with 5,300 stores.The interview segment features Josh Friedman, Senior Vice President of Digital and E-commerce at Ulta Beauty. Friedman brings extensive experience from previous roles at Dell, JCPenney, and Neiman Marcus. He discusses Ulta's 35-year journey and upcoming expansion into Mexico and the Middle East, emphasizing their mission to be "all things beauty, all in one place."When asked about Ulta's success factors, Friedman points to three key elements: comprehensive brand assortment, their powerful loyalty program with 44 million members, and Ulta's collaborative company culture. Personalization is a major focus for Ulta, built on their loyalty program foundation. Friedman explains how Ulta leverages search and virtual try-on technology to help deliver relevant customer experiences. Under new CEO Kecia Steelman Ulta is recalibrating its structure and focus. Friedman shares details about their upcoming curated marketplace launch, emphasizing it will be invitation-only and focused on carefully selected beauty and wellness brands that complement their existing offerings. The marketplace will allow Ulta to test new products and extend into additional categories while maintaining quality control.  Here is a 10% off code for the CommerceNext Growth Show exclusive to Remarkable Retail listeners: REMARKABLE. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

Williams Building Company, Inc. v. Secretary of State

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 Season 5, Episode 35 of The Food Professor podcast, co-hosts Michael LeBlanc and Sylvain Charlebois deliver an information-packed episode with significant developments in both personal and industry news.Sylvain Charlebois opens with a major announcement about joining Texas A&M University on August 1st to lead their #1-ranked Masters in Agribusiness program while maintaining his position at Dalhousie University. Speaking from Saskatoon, Sylvain shares insights about his keynote on AI in the food business and briefly touches on the political climate following recent Canadian election results.The second Canadian Food Sentiment Index reveals continued concerns about food inflation, with many consumers pessimistically expecting double-digit inflation rates. The report highlights growing consumer trust in independent grocers, likely driven by the strengthening Buy Local movement. Sylvain notes that grocery retailers like Loblaw are becoming more transparent about strategic challenges they face.The featured interview showcases an in-depth in-person conversation live at SIAL Canada between Sylvain and Gilles Froment, Senior Vice President of Government Relations at Lactalis and President of the International Dairy Federation (IDF), marking the podcast's first solo interview by Sylvain in five years.Froment, only the third Canadian to head the IDF in its 120-year history, explains the organization's role in establishing global dairy standards through its network of 1,200 experts worldwide. The discussion covers critical industry topics including the challenges of plant-based alternatives using dairy terminology, global dairy demand outpacing supply, and the projection of a significant global milk shortage by 2030—potentially equivalent to three times Canada's annual production.Both experts agree this shortage represents a missed opportunity for Canada due to supply management limitations, despite the country's excellent reputation for dairy quality and safety standards. The conversation also explores sustainability challenges facing the dairy industry, with Froment detailing his four-pillar approach: economic sustainability, social impact, environmental responsibility, and nutritional value.Climate change initiatives discussed include carbon sequestration research, genetic selection for lower methane-emitting cows, and the controversy surrounding feed additives. Froment emphasizes the need for carbon measurement at farm level and incentive-based approaches rather than punitive taxation.The episode concludes with Michael and Sylvain discussing Weight Watchers' bankruptcy filing—attributed to the rise of GLP-1 weight loss drugs—and Tim Hortons' new partnership with Canadian actor Ryan Reynolds, debating whether this celebrity endorsement will effectively attract their target demographic of younger women to the coffee chain.. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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 the latest episode of the Remarkable Retail podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis continue their conversation with retail media expert Andrew Lipsman, founder and chief analyst at Media, Ads and Commerce, exploring the evolution and future of retail media networks.The episode kicks off with an in-depth news segment covering significant economic developments. The hosts discuss the recent GDP drop in the US, which they note is primarily driven by increased imports and inventory buildup as retailers front-loaded inventory ahead of tariff implementations. They analyze the recent disconnect between poor consumer confidence numbers and actual retail spending patterns. The hosts also examine tech company earnings, with most reporting strong results except for Apple, which is facing challenges related to tariffs and China exposure. Apple's response to tariffs—shifting manufacturing to India and Vietnam rather than the US—highlights unintended consequences of the trade policies. The news segment concludes with a discussion of Amazon's earnings and the surprising termination of Kohl's CEO Ashley Buchanan over an improper vendor relationship.In the interview segment with Andrew Lipsman, the conversation centers on the mechanics of successful retail media networks and future trends. Lipsman explains his concept of the "retail media flywheel," noting that when this flywheel takes off, it produces exponential rather than linear growth. He emphasizes that while Amazon pioneered this approach, other retailers can build their own flywheels tailored to their specific assets.A significant portion of the discussion addresses concerns about whether retail media might compromise customer experience. Lipsman acknowledges this concern but believes it can be managed with thoughtful execution and relevant advertising. He points to Trader Joe's as an interesting counterexample—a retailer explicitly rejecting retail media to focus on merchandising excellence.For retailers considering or developing retail media networks, Lipsman advises realistic expectations, particularly for mid-size and smaller players who may benefit more from joining aggregated networks rather than building walled gardens. He cautions that many retailers overvalue their first-party data and underestimate what's needed to monetize it effectively.Looking to the future, Lipsman predicts that while on-site search advertising will continue to drive significant revenue, the big growth opportunities lie in streaming TV advertising and in-store media. He estimates in-store advertising represents a potential $20-40 billion opportunity, noting that physical stores account for about 5% of all media time spent but currently capture only 0.1% of ad spending. While acknowledging implementation challenges, he points to successful examples outside the US, particularly in the UK and Asia, as evidence of the model's viability. YouTube episode Photo by Nathan Cima on Unsplash Here is a 10% off code for the CommerceNext Growth Show exclusive to Remarkable Retail listeners: REMARKABLE. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

n Season 5 of The Food Professor Podcast, Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois take listeners inside the bustling SIAL Food Innovation Show in Toronto, bringing fresh insights on global food trends and the shifting dynamics of agri-food trade. The episode kicks off with their live reflections on the show floor, surrounded by global exhibitors from Brazil, Peru, Jamaica, and Italy. They note a growing demand for diverse flavors and ethnic cuisines, as well as a strategic pivot by companies to balance foodservice and retail sales post-pandemic.Sylvain highlights how COVID reshaped supply chains, pushing businesses to avoid overreliance on single sectors and prompting innovations that blur lines between restaurant and retail offerings. They discuss ongoing tariff challenges, food inflation stabilizing, and the complex impact of retaliatory tariffs on Canadian importers and exporters.Shifting gears, the duo analyze Canada's post-election political landscape, unpacking what Mark Carney's new government could mean for agri-food policy, carbon taxation, and Canada's trade relationships with the U.S. and Mexico. They speculate about potential reforms to supply management and agri-stability programs, while exploring Western Canadian frustrations over political representation and federal agricultural policy.The second half features an exclusive interview with Martin Lavoie, President & CEO of Groupe Export Agroalimentaire Québec-Canada, Canada's largest agri-food export association. Martin shares how his organization supports over 450 Quebec food exporters through trade shows, market intelligence, and export services. He explains how diversification strategies are evolving amid global tariff volatility, why intra-Canada trade holds untapped potential, and how government procurement could boost domestic food producers.Martin also addresses the challenges of breaking into international markets like Europe, where food economies remain hyper-local, while noting rising demand in Asia and Mexico. He underscores the importance of reducing interprovincial trade barriers to unlock growth and reveals the criteria behind Group Export's annual Export Gala awards.Wrapping up, Michael and Sylvain reflect on Michael Medline's upcoming retirement from Sobeys, discussing his leadership legacy and impact on the grocer's national growth and industry advocacy. They also celebrate T&T's continued U.S. expansion and the launch of Loblaws' Maxi stores outside Quebec.Tune in for expert insights on the evolving agri-food export landscape, retail's competitive shifts, and the policies shaping Canada's food industry future. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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 Season 10, Episode 16 of the Remarkable Retail Podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis open with a deep dive into the latest turbulence in the retail world. They tackle the U.S. administration's wobbly trade policies, slowing home sale, and rising inventory risks stemming from ongoing tariffs. They also dissect challenges facing the luxury sector, with Kering posting disappointing numbers and growing concerns around the Saks/Neiman Marcus deal amid financial instability. Meanwhile, Barnes & Noble bucks the trend, announcing 60 new stores in 2025, reinforcing that physical retail remains far from dead.The second half of the episode features a compelling live interview from Shoptalk in Las Vegas with Neil Tenzer, Vice President, Customer Loyalty, Insights and Engagement at Tractor Supply Company (TSC). Neil provides a masterclass in building a robust loyalty program with real impact. He shares his unique journey—from a Nordstrom associate to a strategy consultant to a senior executive at TSC—and how these experiences shape his approach to customer engagement.Neil walks through the evolution of Tractor Supply's Neighbors Club, which now boasts over 39 million members and accounts for 80% of company revenue. He highlights how spending time on customers' properties—understanding their lives firsthand—informs everything from reward program design to personalization strategy. Neil also discusses how TSC thinks differently about loyalty economics: rather than banking on reward breakage, they aim for full reward utilization to deepen customer engagement.Listeners get a firsthand look at TSC's approach to micro-segmentation, omnichannel loyalty, and personalization efforts that bridge online and in-store experiences. Neil offers insights into experimental tactics, the application of agentic AI for personalization, and the cultural commitment at TSC to putting the customer first—literally in every loyalty and personalization decision. The episode closes with Neil's advice to fellow retailers. About NeilNeil Tenzer is Vice President of Customer Loyalty, Insights & Engagement at Tractor Supply Co. where he is privileged to lead the Neighbor's Club - one of the largest and fastest growing loyalty programs in retail! With 38+ M members and $12+ B in sales, the program leverages robust analytics and data science to connect each customer with the most compelling marketing and uniquely relevant offers. Neil has 20 years of experience employing data and analytics to lead multinational organizations through growth and turnaround strategy across the healthcare, consumer, and retail spaces. Neil holds a Bachelor's Degree in Business Economics from Indiana University and an MBA from the University of Oxford. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this 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.

In Season 5, Episode 33 of The Food Professor Podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois deliver a dynamic episode split between urgent food policy news and an in-depth interview with Jake Karls, Co-Founder and Chief Rainmaker of the powerhouse better-for-you brand Mid-Day Squares.Kicking off with the news segment, Sylvain and Michael break down Canada's approaching election and the glaring lack of meaningful agricultural policy across party platforms. While the NDP pushes for price freezes and a windfall tax on grocers, the Liberals and Conservatives offer little in the way of innovation or supply chain resilience. The hosts also tackle the impact of Ottawa's retaliatory tariffs, which drive food inflation and force Canadian grocers to de-Americanize sourcing. This effort comes with significant costs to consumers. They also discuss the potential discontinuation of the glyphosate-based herbicide Roundup and the increasing scrutiny of petroleum-based food dyes like Red #40, calling science and public perception into question.The second half features an electrifying interview with Jake Karls, who updates listeners on Mid-Day Squares' journey since his last appearance. From humble condo kitchens beginning to producing over 130,000 chocolate bars daily, Jake shares how building an in-house manufacturing facility—rather than relying on co-packers—enabled product consistency, brand authenticity, and rapid scaling. He dives into the challenges of being a media-first company, the evolution of its storytelling strategy, and its pivot into new product categories beyond chocolate.Jake opens up about battling cocoa price surges, securing supply chains, and staying BRC-certified. He also previews Mid-Day Squares' upcoming expansion to triple output capacity, pushing the brand toward $225 million in potential revenue. The conversation closes on a powerful note about the importance of storytelling in entrepreneurship and building brand trust at scale.Whether you're a CPG entrepreneur, policy wonk, or retail trend-watcher, this episode offers an unfiltered look at macro-level food system dynamics and the bold entrepreneurial journey reshaping the snack aisle across North America. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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 the latest episode of the Remarkable Retail podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis deliver a powerhouse episode split between urgent retail news and a highly anticipated interview with returning guest Andrew Lipsman, Founder & Chief Analyst Media, Ads + Commerce, one of the world's foremost authorities on retail media networks.The episode opens with a comprehensive review of the week's most pressing economic developments. The retail industry faces mounting challenges as tariffs continue to disrupt supply chains and pricing strategies. Cross-border tourism is in sharp decline—down 37% from Canada alone—impacting major cities like New York, Miami, and San Francisco. Chair of the Federal Reserve Jay Powell warned that proposed tariffs could trigger slower growth and higher inflation, further rattling markets.The retail response? Stockpiling. Sales of big-ticket items like furniture and autos are surging as consumers rush to beat looming price hikes. Shein and Temu are already raising prices and cutting back on U.S. advertising, signalling early effects of lost de minimis exemptions. Meanwhile, luxury brands such as Hermès are increasing prices. The news also covers Ulta's paused Target expansion, sluggish leasing activity in retail real estate, and IKEA's increasing bet on small-format stores.Shifting gears, the second half of the episode features the first part of an in-depth conversation with Andrew Lipsman, who offers a masterclass on the growth and complexity of retail media networks. Andrew traces the emergence of retail media as the “third wave” of digital advertising—following search (Google) and social (Meta)—and explains how closed-loop measurement and first-party data are transforming the economics of media buying.He explores how retail media isn't just stealing share from traditional platforms but unlocking new advertiser segments, particularly among third-party sellers and challenger brands. Andrew also tackles common criticisms, including the effectiveness of point-of-purchase ads and the often-misunderstood ROAS metric.With retailers like Amazon and Walmart now generating billions in high-margin revenue through media, Andrew argues that retail media is not just an ancillary channel — it's fast becoming a core growth engine.This episode is a must-listen for retailers, marketers, and media professionals seeking clarity on the headwinds of today's economy and the structural shifts reshaping the future of retail. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

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.

The episode kicks off with breaking economic news: while Canada's overall inflation slowed to 2.3% in March, food inflation surged to a staggering 3.2%—a monthly jump not seen since 1983. Sylvain attributes the spike to Ottawa's counter-tariffs, rising ingredient costs, and shifting sourcing strategies as Canadian grocers de-Americanize their supply chains. This backdrop leads into a discussion on recent Caddle research indicating that 61% of Canadians are willing to pay more for local products—an unprecedented level of national loyalty that presents both opportunity and urgency for domestic producers.Listeners also get a sneak peek at the upcoming release of the Canadian Food Sentiment Index, sponsored by MNP, which shows growing trust in Canada's food industry. Michael and Sylvain then pivot to the controversial topic of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, raising critical questions about childhood obesity, pharmaceutical influence, and the implications for food industry giants like Nestlé and Mondelez.The second half of the episode features Elysabeth Alfano, CEO of VegTech Invest and host of two sustainability-focused podcasts. Elysabeth unpacks how her ETF invests in publicly traded companies that are accelerating food systems transformation—emphasizing impact, liquidity, and innovation over startup hype. She shares candid takes on the realities of lab-grown meat, the risks of insect protein, and why countries like Singapore and Israel are leading the charge in food security and innovation.Elysabeth also weighs in on the role of policy, pointing to rising geopolitical instability and trade tensions—especially in the U.S.—as a catalyst for investment in food innovation. From precision fermentation to biosecurity risks, she outlines why now is the time for bold moves in food tech and ESG investing.With both news and expert insights, this episode offers a comprehensive look at the forces reshaping what we grow, invest in, and consume.About Elysabeth Elysabeth Alfano is the CEO of  VegTech™ Invest , the Advisor to a publicly traded Food Innovation ETF.  Run by sector experts, VegTech™ Invest drives capital to those companies innovating for a resilient, sustainable and less damaging food supply system through its educational tools and financial product. It, thus, positively impacts Climate Change and biodiversity loss.Elysabeth is an expert in investing in food systems transformation and speaks internationally on the intersection of investing, sustainability, and our global food supply system. She has spoken at the U.N. Global Leaders Compact Summit, the United Nations Climate Change Summit, SXSW, COP27 and COP28, Yale University and Northwestern University, several Bloomberg Intelligence events and has done a myriad of TV interviews including Bloomberg TV and Ameritrade TV. Elysabeth began her career with Kellogg Company working on Special K and Frosted Mini-Wheats before acting as Chief Investment Officer for a small family office. A graduate of Northwestern University and the Thunderbird School of Global Management, Elysabeth consults and advises C-Suite Executives on the sustainable food industry landscape, direction and whitespaces.  Lastly, Elysabeth hosts the  Plantbased Business Hour , a podcast which features the CEOs and business leaders in the industry.  The Plantbased Business Hour is considered “The Gold Standard” for those who want to understand, participate in, and capitalize on the growing Plant-based Innovation sector. She is the voice of sustainability in the invment community hosting the Upside & Impact: Investing for Change on Advisorpedia.Elysabeth contributes to ESG Clarity, WGN Radio, Vegconomist Magazine, CAIA, ETFCentral.com Advisorpedia and FinTechTV on a regular basis. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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 Season 10, Episode 14 of the Remarkable Retail podcast, co-hosts Steve Dennis and Michael LeBlanc deliver a jam-packed episode that blends sharp commentary on today's global retail turbulence with a thoughtful five-year retrospective on Steve's landmark retail strategy book, Remarkable Retail.The first half of the episode centers on the mounting global trade tensions, specifically the deepening tariff war between the U.S. and China. Steve breaks down the financial ripple effects of Trump's temporary tariff pause, from bond market volatility to persistent inflationary pressure. Despite a temporary reprieve, tariffs remain four times higher than pre-war levels, impacting major retail players like Nike, RH, and Lululemon. Smaller retailers are particularly vulnerable, lacking the scale and capital to weather uncertainty.The hosts also tackle other pressing news stories: consumer confidence plummeting, the fallout from the looming de minimis policy change affecting Chinese factory-direct models like Temu and Shein, and the ripple effect this may have on Canadian exporters to the U.S. They highlight luxury retail turbulence as Prada acquires Versace and Saks Global—parent company of Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus—faces vendor shipment cutoffs and empty shelves as seen in a Las Vegas store visti. A brief silver lining emerges in Dallas, where a threatened Neiman Marcus flagship gets a temporary lifeline.The second half of the episode is a deep dive into Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption, five years after its original release and four years since the COVID-updated second edition. Steve reflects on what inspired him to write the book—observing the collapse of retail's middle and the rise of bifurcation—and how the Eight Essentials framework continues to shape thinking in the industry. He shares which essentials remain relevant, which are now mere table stakes, and why “radical” as a term can be misinterpreted.Steve and Michael explore whether new tech, especially AI, can level the playing field—or merely amplify the advantages of already powerful retailers. Steve hints that if there were ever to be a third edition, it would put more emphasis on human-centered retail and leadership adaptability. The episode closes with reflections on the podcast's role as an evolving extension of the book, helping retail leaders stay agile and ahead in a rapidly shifting marketplace.Here is a 10% off code for the CommerceNext Growth Show exclusive to Remarkable Retail listeners: REMARKABLE. About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this 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.

Rebecca, Tori, and returning guest, Louise, delve into the 2018 production of Shakespeare's King Lear, discussing our personal experiences with the play, character dynamics, and the performances of the cast. We discuss various interpretations that arise from different adaptations and how Eyre's choices of what to cut cause confusion in some of the action. We gush over the performances of (most) of the cast, particularly Thompson, Watson, and Pugh's portrayals of the three sisters.MusicApache Rock Instrumental | by Sound Atelier; licensed from JamendoRemember the Way | by Mid-Air Machine; Free Music ArchiveRecord Scratch: Sound Effect free on PixabayPrint SourceAnderson, John. 2018. 'King Lear' Review: A Timeless Tale with a Modern King; Anthony Hopkins's Lear is a Frightening, Ego-Driven Autocrat in 21st-Century Britain. New York, N.Y.: Dow Jones & Company Inc. https://www.proquest.com/blogs-podcasts-websites/king-lear-review-timeless-tale-with-modern/docview/2112753139/se-2.SourcesKing Lear: a mesmerizing Hopkins in a disappearing script | The Book HavenKing Lear review: Anthony Hopkins stars in a murky adaptation | The Independent | The IndependentKing Lear Amazon Review: Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson CaptivateKing Lear Amazon Review: Anthony Hopkins Is DevastatingShakespeare Oxford Fellowship | LearAnthony Hopkins' King Lear, reviewed.

In this power-packed episode of The Food Professor Podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois bring listeners up to speed on one of the most complex and fast-moving stories in the global food and agriculture sector: the unfolding international tariff war. Appropriately titled “The Global Tariff War Edition,” this episode features a timely and incisive interview with Mark Warner, Managing Director at MAAW Law and one of North America's leading experts on trade, investment, and competition law.The conversation kicks off with Michael and Sylvain diving into the latest developments in U.S.–China trade tensions, which have seen tariffs skyrocket to 125% on inbound U.S. goods into China. They explore the ripple effects on key commodities like soybeans and canola, discuss the surprising resilience of commodity markets, and examine why Canada isn't positioned to step in as a major alternative supplier.The hosts also explore cultural signals from the food world, including the increasing trend of Americans packing lunches and the declining use of doggy bags in restaurants—signs Sylvain suggests may point to growing economic insecurity and workplace anxiety.In the second half of the show, Michael and Sylvain sit down with Mark Warner, who brings deep legal and historical context to the tariff debate. Warner unpacks how the Trump administration is using the rarely-invoked International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to sidestep traditional trade channels. He outlines the risks and potential rewards for Canadian agri-food exporters navigating this new landscape, and why subtle diplomacy—not headline-grabbing bravado—may serve Canada better in the long run. From trade agreements and geopolitical strategy to supply management and softwood lumber, Warner's nuanced take is essential listening for anyone working in, or watching, the agri-food space.And there's also a moment of celebration: Dr. Sylvain Charlebois shares his recent honour—receiving the prestigious Charles III Coronation Medal from the Lieutenant Governor of Quebec. In a heartfelt reflection, he dedicates the medal to his wife, Janelle, recognizing her essential support in his research and public policy work. It's a well-deserved acknowledgment of Sylvain's national impact on food policy and scholarship.With sharp insight, humour, and a dash of royal recognition, this episode offers listeners a blend of timely news and expert analysis that defines The Food Professor Podcast.Tune into Bite Sized!Corus Entertainment is excited to add a brand-new topical program to its Talk Radio lineup on April 12called Bite Sized, which explores the business of food in the country. 640 Toronto Saturdays at 2 p.m. ET980 CFPL Sundays at 9 a.m. ET680 CJOB Sundays at 2 p.m. CST770 QR Calgary Sundays at 3 p.m. MST880 CHED Sundays at 3 p.m. MST730 CKNW Sundays at 1 p.m. PSTAbout MarkMark is an Ontario and New York attorney who has practiced trade, investment and competition law in Toronto, New York, Washington, D.C and Brussels and as counsel to the OECD in Paris.  He advises natural resource clients through Pilot Law LLP and fintech and financial Services clients through Atlantis International. Mark has also recently been appointed as a Fellow of the US Canada Institute in Washington, D.C.Mark is a former Legal Director of the Ontario Ministries of Economic Development & Trade, Research & Innovation and Consumer Services. He led Ontario's legal team for trade negotiations (including the Canada-EU Trade Agreement and the Canada-U.S. Agreement on Government Procurement), trade disputes (including the Green Energy Act and softwood lumber) and various NAFTA Chapter 11 investor-state disputes and for the insolvency / restructuring of General Motors and Chrysler.Mark was also co-author of the Second Edition of a leading Canadian trade law treatise (with the Hon. William C. Graham and Professors Jean-Gabriel Castel and Armand de Mestral). He has been listed in the Euromoney / International Financial Law Review Guide to the World's Leading Competition lawyers and in 2015 was elected a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation.Mark earned a BA (Joint Honours) from McGill, an MA in Economics from the University of Toronto, a JD from Osgoode Hall Law School and an LLM from Georgetown University Law Centre. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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.

The episode, recorded live at Shoptalk in the Berns Communications Group media room, opens with Steve Dennis and Michael LeBlanc surveying a broad sweep of headline-grabbing developments in the retail world. They highlight continued uncertainty around recently imposed tariffs and resulting economic ripples, as major international trade disputes stoke inflationary concerns. Stock market volatility factors heavily into the conversation, with the co-hosts noting how certain retail sectors—particularly home furnishings and high-end goods—may feel the pinch as shoppers tighten budgets.  Target's declining foot traffic draws focus as the hosts weigh whether brand controversies or stiff competition might be to blame. Next meet Barrie Scardina, President, Americas Retail Services at Cushman & Wakefield, who brings a fresh perspective born of decades in the retail industry. Her vantage point on commercial real estate challenges the traditional narrative of a “retail apocalypse.” She explains how, despite headlines about store closings, overall U.S. vacancy rates are incredibly low—largely because new construction has slowed and new types of tenants (from wellness providers to entertainment concepts) are snapping up available space. Barrie describes a rising tide of “experiential” retail, with everything from boutique fitness and medtail services to immersive brand pop-ups fueling a renewed sense of purpose in physical locations. She underscores how mixed-use developments and adaptive reuse—especially of outdated mall anchor spots—are revitalizing communities and increasing foot traffic. By blending residential, office, dining, and retail, these centers offer a lifestyle-oriented experience that resonates with modern shoppers. Ultimately, Barrie's insights challenge conventional wisdom, suggesting that success in retail real estate hinges on tapping into evolving consumer demands, fostering a community connection, and creating spaces that balance function with memorable experience. AboutBarrie Scardina joined global real estate solutions firm Cushman & Wakefield as Executive Managing Director and Head of Retail Services, Americas, in November of 2019, leading brokerage teams to deliver optimal solutions to retailers and brands. In 2022, Barrie was elevated to the role of Regional President, Northeast, leading brokerage and services across all service lines. In 2023, she took on the challenge of President of Americas Retail Services, Agency Leasing and Alliances, partnering across office, industrial and retail to provide nuanced client solutions. Barrie is consistently focused on delivering value to clients by serving as a trusted advisor and incorporating data, analytics, and business valuation as part of her strategies. This unique approach to client relationships ensures that the firm delivers against client goals, optimizing outcomes and mitigating risk. Barrie is results-oriented and remains focused on transforming the real estate landscape by strategically driving revenue, identifying operational efficiencies, and growing profitability. Prior to her appointment at Cushman & Wakefield, Barrie spent three decades leading vital retail initiatives across a variety of world-class organizations, including Polo Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne, The Children's Place and Tory Burch. She brings more than 15 years of executive experience to her current role with the firm, including expertise in creating long-range strategies, business forecasting, omni-channel inventory management, and system implementation and integration. Most recently, Barrie was with Calvin Klein, where she led the company's North American Retail Division as President, setting strategic direction for merchandising, consumer experience and operational improvements. Throughout her career, Barrie has focused on mentoring and developing talent and creating cultures that foster collaboration and equality. She is the executive sponsor for Cushman & Wakefield's Women's Integrated Network and serves on two diversity committees focused on improving the employee experience.AffiliationsGraduate of the Wharton School of Business' Philips Van Heusen Global Leadership Program (2017)Board Member of Safe Horizon (2017-2019)Member of Women's Retail Leadership Circle (WRLC)Member of the International Council for Shopping Centers (ICSC)Member of CHIEF Private Women's NetworkExecutive Sponsor of Cushman & Wakefield's Women's Integrated Network National ChapterMember of CREW NY; Participant at National levelRecognized by Globe St. as a Woman of Influence (2020) About UsSteve Dennis is a strategic advisor and keynote speaker focused on growth and innovation, who has also been named one of the world's top retail influencers. He is the bestselling authro of two books: Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption and Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior retail contributor and on social media.Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fourth year in a row, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In 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.

This episode of The Food Professor Podcast brings together global trade drama and local wine opportunity. In the opening news segment, Michael and Sylvain react to the latest trade bombshell from Donald Trump: sweeping new tariffs aimed at dozens of countries, with Canada & Mexico left off—for now. They dig into how this could reshape the Canadian food sector, focusing on dairy and the persistent challenges of supply management. Sylvain calls out the inefficiencies of Canada's quota system and urges a national strategy, comparing our lack of vision to New Zealand's Fonterra success. The conversation also covers the real reasons behind “Buy Canadian” sentiment—whether driven by tariffs or values—and highlights the implications of avian flu outbreaks on Canadian poultry supplies.In the second half, Michael and Sylvain welcome Michelle Wasylyshen, President and CEO of Ontario Craft Wineries. With a public affairs background spanning government, industry, and advocacy, Michelle brings a sharp perspective on the role of VQA (Vintners Quality Alliance) wines in the current climate. She explains how VQA signifies wines that are 100% Ontario-grown, produced, and bottled, and why that matters for consumers and the local economy.Michelle details how the removal of U.S. wines from LCBO shelves has created a rare and significant opening for Ontario wine producers. Early data already shows a 30% jump in VQA sales, with some members seeing growth as high as 70–80%. Her team is capitalizing with cheeky, targeted campaigns like “Screw the Tariffs, Pop the Cork,” and partnering with groups like Restaurants Canada and Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters to amplify the message.She also addresses a long-standing pain point: interprovincial trade. Michelle shares the absurd reality that it's currently easier to sell Ontario wine to Sweden or Denmark than to Quebec. She expresses cautious optimism that the current tariff climate might finally create the political will to tear down these barriers.On the topic of consumption trends, Michelle acknowledges the growing “sober-curious” movement but remains confident that Ontario wines, especially given their quality and local value, remain a compelling choice. She concludes with policy priorities including sustained shelf presence at the LCBO, education on VQA labels, and increasing restaurant availability of local wines.The episode wraps with lighter banter on the possible revival of Hooters and a shoutout to Quebec-based food brand Mid-Day Squares, capping off a wide-ranging conversation rooted in both disruption and opportunity. The Food Professor #podcast is presented by Caddle. About UsDr. Sylvain Charlebois is a Professor in food distribution and policy in the Faculties of Management and Agriculture at Dalhousie University in Halifax. He is also the Senior Director of the Agri-food Analytics Lab, also located at Dalhousie University. Before joining Dalhousie, he was affiliated with the University of Guelph's Arrell Food Institute, which he co-founded. Known as “The Food Professor”, his current research interest lies in the broad area of food distribution, security and safety. Google Scholar ranks him as one of the world's most cited scholars in food supply chain management, food value chains and traceability.He has authored five books on global food systems, his most recent one published in 2017 by Wiley-Blackwell entitled “Food Safety, Risk Intelligence and Benchmarking”. He has also published over 500 peer-reviewed journal articles in several academic publications. Furthermore, his research has been featured in several newspapers and media groups, including The Lancet, The Economist, the New York Times, the Boston Globe, the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, BBC, NBC, ABC, Fox News, Foreign Affairs, the Globe & Mail, the National Post and the Toronto Star.Dr. Charlebois sits on a few company boards, and supports many organizations as a special advisor, including some publicly traded companies. Charlebois is also a member of the Scientific Council of the Business Scientific Institute, based in Luxemburg. Dr. Charlebois is a member of the Global Food Traceability Centre's Advisory Board based in Washington DC, and a member of the National Scientific Committee of the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) in Ottawa. 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.