Podcasts about Retail marketing

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

In this flavourful episode of The Food Professor Podcast, host Michael LeBlanc welcomes Shruti Priya Agarwal and Akshay Kalekar, the co-founders of Whipdd, a rising Canadian food startup transforming the humble butter into a flavour-packed experience. Born from a spark in a home kitchen in India, their story is one of culinary creativity, entrepreneurial hustle, and cross-continental ambition.Shruti, a trained chef with over a decade of experience in the pastry world, first started crafting flavoured garlic butter for friends and family. The rave reviews led to the idea for a scalable product. Upon moving to Canada during the pandemic, she reconnected with Akshay, a fellow business school alum and serial entrepreneur with a background in hospitality and fresh food delivery. Together, they brought Whipdd to life.What started as a kitchen experiment has become a full-fledged brand now carried nationally in Whole Foods Market locations across Canada, thanks to distribution support from Tree of Life and national brokerage by Sinn Solutions. Their product line features five standout flavours: Herb & Garlic, Smoked Chilli, Strawberry, Honey Cinnamon, and Real Strawberry — all crafted with high-quality Canadian dairy and clean, simple ingredients.Michael samples each on mic (yes, it's mouthwatering!) while Shruti and Akshay discuss the importance of natural ingredients, consumer feedback, and flavour innovation. They reveal how they're rapidly scaling up, with upcoming product extensions including a 250g herb & garlic butter brick and single-serve portion cups for airlines and hotels.Their vision goes beyond groceries. The duo is actively exploring foodservice partnerships, airline catering, and big-box retail listings with the likes of Costco, Farm Boy, and Sobeys. And with global interest bubbling up, the Whipdd team is positioning itself for an international takeoff. 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 encore episode we revisit an insightful conversation with Janet Hayes, CEO of Crate and Barrel Holdings as she shares her career journey and the brand's $5B growth ambitions. From their visionary Flatiron NYC flagship to enhanced digital design services and significant tech investments, the iconic 60 year old home retailer furnishings retailer is modernizing for a more remarkable future.”Janet shares leadership lessons from a remarkable career with brands like Williams-Sonoma, Pottery Barn, Nike, and Gap and, now, in her current role driving growth as the CEO of Crate & Barrel, CB2, and Hudson Grace. We delve into her perspectives on the role of technology, the changing nature of work, and more. We also get a glimpse into the drive forces behind their latest flagship store in New York's Flatiron District.  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.

This episode features an interview with Andrew Thomas, VP of Marketing at Archer Meat Snacks, a company that makes jerky, sticks and sausages, from real ingredients. Andrew has over 15 years of experience in the CPG food and beverage industry, with brands like Chicken of the Sea, Wilde Chips, and PepsiCo. He discusses Archer's recent rebrand, their go-to-market strategies, and the importance of social and influencer marketing. Key Takeaways:Awareness and creating memory structures for customers helps build a moat around your brand. Don't underestimate the power of a strong PR flywheel. Once it gets going, it has an outsized impact. Long-term partnerships are the way to go with influencers. Fewer, bigger, better is a more strategic and authentic approach. Quote:   We're the fourth largest meat snack brand in the nation. Our awareness is not the fourth largest. It's lagging quite a bit behind. And so what I'm trying to do is really build that mental availability, build a big ownable, distinctive brand that creates those memory structures in our consumer's mind so that when they go to the store, when they go to Costco, they go to Sam's, they go to Target, they go to Walmart, they recognize and see us because we have a pretty successful business today, but people are buying the grass fed beef mini sticks. They haven't necessarily been buying the Country Archer or the Archer grass fed beef mini sticks. And we want to create a moat around our brand. We want to generate a lot of that stickiness. Episode Timestamps: *(05:46) The Trust Tree: Being scrappy with social and influencer*(23:09) The Playbook: Leading a strategic rebrand*(45:43) Quick Hits: Andrew's quick hits Sponsor:Pipeline Visionaries is brought to you by Qualified.com. Qualified helps you turn your website into a pipeline generation machine with PipelineAI. Engage and convert your most valuable website visitors with live chat, chatbots, meeting scheduling, intent data, and Piper, your AI SDR. Visit Qualified.com to learn more.Links:Connect with Ian on LinkedInConnect with Andrew on LinkedInLearn more about Archer Meat SnacksLearn more about Caspian Studios

Có thể bạn không tin, nhưng tôi từng ghé vào một cửa hàng bán lẻ chỉ vì toàn bộ cửa hàng được sơn màu vàng bắt mắt. Tôi thậm chí còn không quan tâm đến sản phẩm hay tên cửa hàng là gì. Và đó chính là sức mạnh của “retail concept” – một khái niệm quan trọng trong ngành bán lẻ hiện đại, giúp chinh phục khách hàng ngay từ khoảnh khắc đầu tiên, đặt tiền đề cho việc mua sắm của khách hàng sau này.Vậy retail concept là gì? Tại sao retail concept lại quan trọng và làm thế nào để xây dựng retail concept hiệu quả? Hãy cùng khám phá câu trả lời qua những chia sẻ thực tiễn từ anh Nguyễn Quang Hiệp trong tập thứ 6 của Retail Marketing.

In this special summer edition of the Remarkable Retail podcast, hosts Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis return to the mic for a jam-packed Month-in-Review episode. With interviews from the CommerceNext Growth Show rolling out all summer long, the duo takes a break from the regular cadence to reflect on the key developments dominating retail headlines.Kicking things off, Michael and Steve catch up on their summer travels, from retail safaris to personal DIY projects, before diving into on-the-ground observations from recent store visits. They note intensified promotional activity, flagging department store performance, and struggling retailers like Kohl's—whose housekeeping and inventory issues speak volumes about the deeper structural challenges facing legacy banners.A major theme is the ripple effect of evolving tariff policies. Steve breaks down the shifting landscape of trade "deals"—or lack thereof—impacting everything from apparel to automobiles, including the end of the de minimis clause that could reshape the business model of players like Shein and Temu. While retailers have largely absorbed tariff costs for now, Q4 pricing and profitability are big question marks, particularly for cash-strapped players.The conversation turns to macroeconomic conditions and a surprisingly resilient U.S. consumer. However, Steve warns against viewing “the consumer” as a monolith, emphasizing growing bifurcation between income brackets. The luxury market underscores this divide—Hermès continues to thrive, while Gucci and more aspirational brands struggle, and Saks Global faces mounting losses and vendor tensions.The episode also unpacks Amazon's latest earnings, with standout 23% growth in ad sales, despite investor jitters around AWS and an uncertain outlook.Other hot takes include AI's expanding role in customer interaction, the controversy around American Eagle's “gene/jeans” ad featuring Sydney Sweeney, and the headline-grabbing soap opera surrounding Hudson's Bay's failed resurrection attempt in Canada.Looking ahead, Michael and Steve preview August retail earnings, the fall retail conference season, and the ongoing evolution of AI-enabled search.  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 of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc speaks with retail strategist, professor, and author Carl Boutet about his journey in academia and his latest book, Blind Spot: Navigating the Unforeseen Effects of Technology on Commerce.Carl discusses his evolving role in retail education, including his work at McGill University and teaching in Asia. He shares how his exposure to different global markets, particularly in Vietnam, has shaped his perspectives on retail innovation and emerging technologies.A key topic of discussion is Carl's take on NRF Big Show 2025, where AI and data-driven solutions dominated conversations. He reflects on the challenge of differentiation in a market saturated with AI-driven tools and emphasizes the need for retailers to focus on strategy, not just technology.The conversation also delves into the intersection of AI, AR, and emerging technologies. Carl suggests that while innovations like Apple Vision Pro and AR-driven retail experiences are gaining traction, businesses must strike a balance between digital adoption and human interaction.Michael and Carl also touch on ethical concerns surrounding AI, digital governance, and unintended consequences of rapid technological change. Carl argues that while the digital world is expanding, businesses must remain adaptable, curious, and prepared for industry disruptions.Finally, Carl introduces his book Blind Spot, which explores overlooked technological shifts in commerce. He encourages retailers to broaden their perspectives, seek inspiration beyond their immediate industry, and engage with the next generation of leaders.Listeners can purchase Blind Spot exclusively through Carl's website, StudioRX.world. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this deliciously inspiring episode of The Food Professor Podcast, co-hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois sit down live in person in Toronto at the SIAL Food Innovation show with Tamara Al Dip and Yazeed Yasin, the dynamic husband-and-wife duo behind NanaShake, a frozen treat brand making waves with their vegan-friendly, upcycled banana-based pops.Fresh off their win at the SIAL Canada pitch competition, Tamara and Yazeed share their entrepreneurial journey, rooted in a desire to find a healthy, asthma-friendly dessert for their son. What started as a scoop shop in Toronto has since evolved into a thriving CPG brand available in over 1,200 stores across Canada, including Metro and Sobeys. Their product? A naturally sweet "smoothie on a stick" that's dairy-free, low in added sugars, and made with their cashew milk. As they proudly proclaim, NanaShake is "shaking up the ice cream category"—literally.Throughout the episode, listeners will hear the heartwarming origin story of the brand, the family's immigration to Canada, and how their kids have played an active role in the business, including their daughter landing a major retail listing at just 12 years old. The couple's passion, purpose, and persistence shine through, particularly in their discussion of using upcycled bananas to align with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals for responsible consumption and production. 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 insightful summer bonus episode of the Remarkable Retail podcast, we welcome Stuart Hogue, Lands' End, Senior Vice President, US Consumer, for a fast-paced conversation recorded live at the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York City. Stuart brings a wealth of brand experience—spanning time at Nike and a passion for brand strategy shaped by none other than fellow podcast guest Scott Galloway—and shares how Lands; End is evolving while staying grounded in its heritage.Founded in 1963 as a sailing outfitter, Lands' End has evolved over the decades from a catalogue stalwart to a digitally savvy harmonized retailer. Stuart walks us through how the company continues to build on its legacy of quality, durability, and classic American style, while embracing modern retail strategies—from digital marketplaces and fashion drops to AI-driven customer discovery.Stuart details Land's Ends; successful expansion into platforms like Nordstrom.com and Amazon, where clever use of data helped make their Bedford quarter-zip sweater a top seller. He emphasizes the importance of aligning product selection with platform-specific customer mindsets, demonstrating a sharp and disciplined approach to marketplace strategy.We also delve into how Lands' End achieved surprising viral success through personalized tote bag pop-ups in Soho, which not only drove younger customer engagement but also created powerful emotional brand moments that were amplified organically through TikTok. The brand's strategic move toward monthly product drops has helped introduce newness while preserving customer loyalty around legacy franchises, such as Tugless swimsuits, no-iron chinos, and its legendary Squall jackets.Stuart shares thoughtful insight into omnichannel retail, calling it less about technology and more about being present at key customer moments across touchpoints. He highlights the growing influence of AI agents. He emphasizes the need for brands to prepare for a new era of product discovery, where brand authority and relevance across marketplaces become increasingly crucial for staying top of mind. 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.

Trong bối cảnh người tiêu dùng ngày càng kỳ vọng nhiều hơn từ trải nghiệm mua sắm, Shopper Insight đang trở thành “kim chỉ nam” cho mọi hoạt động tại điểm bán. Bởi khi insight đúng, trải nghiệm đủ, chuyển đổi mua hàng sẽ đến như một hệ quả tất yếu.

In this episode of The Voice of Retail, I'm thrilled to welcome back Chris Jones, Founder and CEO of Cannabis Xpress, for his third appearance on the show. Chris offers an insider's view of the fast-changing cannabis retail landscape in Canada. Since we last spoke, Cannabis Xpress has grown to 21 stores—14 in Ontario and 7 in New Brunswick—becoming the largest private cannabis retailer in New Brunswick.Chris shares how his focus on underserved communities and cost-efficient, compact store formats has created a sustainable and profitable business model in a sector plagued by high overhead, oversupply, and stiff competition. He explains why small-town locations, limited SKU count, and fast, expert service are at the heart of his winning value proposition.We explore the broader industry landscape, including how Ontario's cannabis market has peaked and is now in a correction phase, with closures and lease renewals looming. Chris offers a frank take on regulatory blind spots that allowed a flood of stores—sometimes side by side—without proper planning. He also speaks to the remaining dominance of the illicit market, and how changes to edible dosage limits, store hours, and licensing could help bring more consumers into the legal fold.Chris doesn't shy away from highlighting the pros and cons of the Canadian system compared to U.S. states like California and New York, where regulatory complexity and taxation have stifled growth. Yet, he remains optimistic about the future of cannabis retail—both in Canada and abroad.Looking ahead, Chris reveals plans to pursue more licenses in Atlantic Canada, potentially introduce private label products, and eventually sell the business. Despite a challenging retail environment, Cannabis Xpress is not just surviving—it's thriving, with over $10 million in revenue and 70 employees across Canada. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this sizzling episode of The Food Professor Podcast, recorded live at the SIAL Canada food innovation show in Toronto, co-hosts Michael and Sylvain welcome Pierre-Olivier Drouin, Co-Founder of Firebarns, the fast-growing Quebec-based condiment company that brings flavour-first hot sauces to shelves across North America.Pierre-Olivier shares his unexpected journey from banking at RBC to launching Firebarns after a revelatory encounter with spicy wings during a hockey game in Florida. Inspired by that moment, he partnered with longtime friend Frank to build what they dreamed would be the next Tabasco—made in Canada. Their goal? A bold brand that flips the script by delivering taste before heat.Launched in 2015, Firebarns quickly became Quebec's first dedicated hot sauce brand. Since then, it has expanded into a diverse product line that includes BBQ sauces, ketchup, mustards, and Sriracha—all made with Canadian ingredients and designed for broader family appeal. Their innovative packaging—30% recycled squeezable plastic bottles—has helped the brand stand out in crowded condiment aisles and reflects their commitment to sustainability.Pierre-Olivier discusses how Firebarns has scaled, with distribution now in over 1,100 U.S. stores and more expansion underway, including Texas-based H-E-B. He opens up about navigating international trade headwinds, such as tariffs, and how careful financial planning and food costing helped buffer against unexpected 25% duties. His insight offers valuable lessons for other CPG entrepreneurs seeking to expand across borders.The episode also dives into Firebarns' savvy use of influencer marketing and content creation to build a passionate community of fans, especially among younger consumers aged 25–45. Drouin emphasizes the power of authenticity—whether through engaging product demos or the story of Barney, the company's late bulldog mascot and original “CEO,” now succeeded by Barney Jr. 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 summer episode of the Remarkable Retail podcast, recorded live at the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York, we welcome Jeannie Yoo, CEO of Draper James, for a wide-ranging conversation on the brand's growth trajectory, the power of celebrity in retail, and the rise of human-centric retail experiences.Jeannie brings two decades of fashion retail experience to the table, from her early days at Michael Kors and Coach to leading the luxury house Adam Lippes. Now nine months into her role at Draper James, Yoo is steering the Southern-rooted lifestyle brand—founded by Reese Witherspoon—through its next stage of growth, marked by its 10th anniversary "decade tour" and a sharpened focus on customer connection.Yoo discusses how Draper James defies the "digitally native" label, thriving through retail stores, with licensing and pop-ups that foster personal, local, and sensory experiences. While the brand's celebrity origin story is foundational, Yoo emphasizes how its growth is now powered by inclusive pricing, joyful storytelling, and a culture of Southern hospitality. Reese Witherspoon remains involved, but the brand is scaling under Yoo's operational leadership and with the backing of Consortium Brand Partners.Central to the conversation is Yoo's take on "human-centric retailing"—a strategy rooted in community engagement, elevated in-store experiences, and product innovation informed by customer passions for gardening, books, and food. She describes how Draper James curates joy through both product and experience, emphasizing quality over quantity in an era of fashion abundance. Technology, particularly AI, plays a role, but not the leading one. The focus, she notes, is on enabling smarter, more efficient work—not replacing human intuition or creativity.Looking ahead, Yoo sees North American expansion—especially retail and licensing—as the brand's most significant opportunity before tackling global markets. She also reflects on her leadership style, which has been forged in both large organizations and niche luxury brands, allowing her to scale thoughtfully without losing the emotional resonance that makes Draper James special. 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.

The rules of the game have changed—and brands that want to win in 2025 need to play smarter, not just harder. With persistent inflation, rising tariffs, and shifting expectations, just repeating 2024 strategies won't get the job done. In this high-impact episode of Real Talk About Real Marketing, we explore how Adobe + Acxiom turn uncertainty into opportunity. You'll hear real-world examples and actionable strategies for driving loyalty, efficiency, and growth—even in unpredictable times. Thanks for listening! Follow us on Twitter and Instagram or find us on Facebook.

Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupWelcome to the DTC Podcast with Sarah Hoffman of Maker Wine — a deep dive into how Maker is rewriting the rules for wine. We cover:✅ Addressing canned-wine stigma with quality-first sourcing✅ Virtual tastings as a viral DTC engine✅ Omni-channel scaling from club to airlines✅ Smart SEO and content strategy for brand discoveryKey Takeaways:Premium sourcing & format matters – quality wine in cans changes perceptionStorytelling + education – QR codes, tasting notes, videos build trustSubscription evolution – customizable, exclusive member benefitsDistribution edge – club sales, wholesale rollout, United partnershipContent & community – blogs and events build brand and SEO credDid you know that 98% of your website visitors are anonymous? Instant powers next-level retention by identifying who they are and converting them into loyal shoppers. Book a quick demo by August 1 to get your first month free and unlock a new incremental revenue channel before Q4: instant.one/dtcTimestamps:00:00 Introduction & Maker Wine's Omnichannel Pivot02:00 From Beer to Wine: Sarah's Founder Story06:00 Why Most Canned Wine Fails (And How Maker Does It Differently)10:58 Virtual Tastings as a Growth Engine16:59 From DTC to United Airlines: Maker's Distribution Strategy22:55 Retail Marketing & Wine Club Strategy27:00 SEO, Creator Partnerships & Low Sugar Positioning32:50 Expansion Plans & NBA Arena Partnerships35:00 How Maker Showcases Diverse WinemakersHashtags:#dtcpodcast#makerwine#cannedwine#directtoconsumer#founderstory#beveragestartup#wineclub#virtualtasting#retailstrategy#seoformarketers#ecommercestrategy#winebranding#femaleentrepreneurs#omnichannelmarketing #independentwinemakers Subscribe to DTC Newsletter - https://dtcnews.link/signupAdvertise on DTC - https://dtcnews.link/advertiseWork with Pilothouse - https://dtcnews.link/pilothouseFollow us on Instagram & Twitter - @dtcnewsletterWatch this interview on YouTube - https://dtcnews.link/video

In this special live episode of The Voice of Retail, recorded at RCC STORE 2025, I sit down with two retail thought leaders: Simone Lumsden, Senior Vice-President, Triangle Customer Loyalty and Triangle Retail Media, Canadian Tire Corporation, and Sandra Duff, Founder and Principal at Another Story Consulting. Together, we explore what it takes to deliver loyalty, excitement, and differentiation in an increasingly parity-driven retail environment.Simone shares how Canadian Tire is evolving its Triangle Rewards program beyond the traditional notion of loyalty. From its iconic paper money origins to a modern digital currency used across banners, Triangle is now designed to be simple, flexible, and personal. Simone explains how Canadian Tire is using customer data to deliver meaningful value through personalized offers and experiences, while acknowledging there's still work to be done to make those offers more relevant and engaging.Sandra contributes powerful insights drawn from her years of customer research, highlighting the crucial distinction between "jobs" and "joys" in retail. She stresses that while table stakes, such as price and convenience, must be met, fun and inspiration are what truly differentiate. Together, we discuss how in-store experiences must move beyond transactions to create environments that delight and connect with customers on an emotional level.The conversation shifts to retail media, where Simone emphasizes the importance of striking a balance between monetization and the customer experience. She describes how Canadian Tire is introducing in-store and digital retail media in non-intrusive, contextually relevant ways, avoiding the cluttered, disruptive examples seen elsewhere. Sandra reinforces that strong customer insights should never live in silos, but should empower every team—from marketing to store associates—to deliver differentiated value.We also delve into innovation and experimentation—from new flagship formats at Sport Chek and Mark's, to coalition partnerships, and the rise of agentic AI in shaping the future of shopping journeys. Simone encourages retailers to stay curious and test new approaches without fear of past failures, while Sandra calls for more real-time feedback loops and smaller-scale pilot programs to learn what resonates most. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this live episode from the SIAL Canada show floor in Toronto, we welcome a very special guest: Laura Brehaut, Food Reporter at the National Post. With a thoughtful blend of experience in anthropology, media production, culinary training, and a deep journalistic instinct, Laura offers a compelling perspective on Canada's evolving food landscape and how stories around food intersect with culture, politics, health, and economics.Co-hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois flip the script by interviewing Laura, who is usually the one asking the questions. Laura shares how her journey began in anthropology and linguistics before transitioning into media, where her love for storytelling led her to online radio and digital journalism, long before podcasts were mainstream.As a seasoned journalist, Laura offers a behind-the-scenes look at the tradecraft of reporting in today's rapidly changing media landscape. Despite the pressures of multi-platform content, Laura remains grounded in the written word, driven by a sense of purpose and a commitment to serving her readers. Her curiosity and dedication to integrity shape her reporting, which spans a wide range of topics, from Canadian whiskey to protein trends and food sustainability.The conversation dives into key themes for 2025, including the continued momentum of the "Buy Canadian" movement, the impact of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic on food choices, and a renewed focus on fibre and functional ingredients. Laura also weighs in on the rise of alternative proteins and blended meat products, highlighting recent research showing their increasing consumer acceptance, especially among omnivores.She speaks candidly about the role of AI in journalism, the importance of authentic storytelling, and why she would never buy an AI-generated cookbook. Her advice for aspiring reporters? Stay curious, stay humble, and never assume you know how an interview will go. 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 insightful episode of the Remarkable Retail podcast recorded live at the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York, Sarah Henry, Vice President, Head of Content, Influencer & Commerce at Walmart, discusses how one of the world's largest retailers is at the forefront of digital innovation. Sarah shares her journey from classical pianist to marketing executive, charting her unique path into eCommerce and social media leadership.The discussion dives deep into how Walmart is meeting the evolving expectations of Gen Z and Gen Alpha consumers. Sarah explains how the boundaries between brand discovery, engagement, and purchase are transforming, particularly for younger demographics who now discover products on social platforms more than in physical aisles or via traditional search engines. She shares insights into Walmart's strategic shift, including the rollout of the "Who Knew?" campaign, which highlights surprising products and services available through Walmart, ranging from exclusive Pokémon cards to stylish fashion from brands like Free Assembly.A central focus of the conversation is "Walmart Creator", the brand's in-house platform launched to streamline influencer engagement and power social commerce. Sarah explains how this platform connects tens of thousands of creators directly with Walmart's ecosystem, enabling shoppable content that seamlessly bridges inspiration and transaction.The conversation also touches on the increasing role of artificial intelligence in commerce. Sarah emphasizes the balance between technology and human creativity, asserting that Walmart's approach is "tech-led and people-powered." She discusses how AI is being used to support creators, personalize experiences, and enhance the customer journey, while remaining cautious about authenticity and scale.Sarah offers a look at attribution and measurement, acknowledging progress while recognizing room for improvement. She also shares her excitement for the future of social commerce and the continued growth of the creator economy as a legitimate career path. Throughout the episode, she underscores the importance of adaptability and real-time testing in a retail landscape that is changing by the day. 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 of The Voice of Retail, I'm joined by James B. Smith, Founder and CEO of Rare Placement, for a wide-ranging conversation on modern leadership, executive search, and the future of talent in the retail industry.James brings an exceptional career journey to the mic, beginning in advertising with agencies like Grey and Ogilvy, moving into marketing leadership at Citibank, in leadership roles at Esquire and then Conde Nast Traveller—where he helped it become the top-performing title, even outpacing Vogue. His passion for growth and transformation led him to become a CEO, owner-operator, and eventually launch Rare Placement, a boutique executive search firm focused on personalized, human-centric talent solutions.In our conversation, James emphasizes the power of storytelling—not just for brands, but for leaders. He reveals that every candidate he's placed has gone on to become a client, a testament to his laser focus on culture fit, agility, and soft skills over just resumes. We dive into how executive hiring has changed, why modern CEOs need courage, humility, and the ability to say “I don't know,” and how COVID permanently reshaped leadership styles and expectations around flexibility and culture.James shares practical advice for current and aspiring retail leaders—from building a strong, concise personal narrative to investing in ongoing networking, not just when you're in transition. He stresses that succession planning should be an ongoing, layered strategy, and reminds executives that “people buy leaders, not logos.”We also explore the increasing importance of board roles—both fiduciary and advisory—and how executives can position themselves for these opportunities by knowing what they uniquely bring to the table.Whether you're a retail executive planning your next move, a CEO rethinking your leadership team, or a rising leader wondering how to stand out, this episode is packed with actionable insights. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this special summer bonus episode of The Food Professor Podcast, co-Michael interviews Ed Madronich, President of Flat Rock Cellars, recorded live at the Ontario Craft Wineries Conference in Niagara Falls.As part of the podcast's summer series highlighting thought leaders in the Canadian food and beverage industry, this episode delves into Ed's personal and professional journey through the wine industry and the evolution of one of Ontario's most celebrated wineries.Ed shares how a chance trip to France at age 19 sparked his lifelong love for wine—an encounter that led to a career built on passion, community, and a dedication to quality. He reveals the philosophy that drives Flat Rock Cellars: celebrating "place" by making wine that reflects the soil, slope, and unique geography of the 20 Mile Bench in the Niagara Peninsula, while breaking down the traditional, often intimidating barriers to wine appreciation.The conversation encompasses not only terroir and taste, but also strategy, particularly in terms of market access and retail. Ed opens up about his unorthodox but successful approach to distribution, including the brand's strong presence in Costco. He emphasizes relationship-building over aggressive selling and explains how Flat Rock positions itself as a true partner to retail and restaurant buyers. "We don't push product," he says. "We build long-term trust and deliver exceptional value."With a customer-first mindset and a refusal to compromise on quality or authenticity, Flat Rock has earned industry-wide respect. Ed discusses how the brand's low-margin, high-quality model has even challenged global competitors, and how his team constantly works to overdeliver, producing $25 bottles that sommeliers say rival the quality of $50 wines.From label design to customer education, the episode is packed with insights for anyone interested in craft winemaking, retail dynamics, or brand storytelling. Listeners will come away inspired by Ed's down-to-earth leadership and his clear commitment to helping consumers connect with wine, not through pretension, but through joy, passion, and a sense of place. 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 first of our 8-part summer series produced in partnership with CommerceNext, our guest is  Ken Pilot—retail executive, tech investor, and host of The Retail Pilot: Leaders & Legends podcast.Ken's legendary career spans decades and includes pivotal roles such as President of Gap Global, Factory Stores at Ralph Lauren, and leadership positions at J.Crew, American Eagle, and ABC Carpet & Home. He takes us behind the scenes of launching Gap Outlet, transforming a single underperforming store into over 100 high-margin locations in just 36 months, ultimately making it the most profitable division at Gap. The conversation then shifts to current macro challenges, particularly tariffs and global sourcing. Ken unpacks the "tariff math" few are talking about, warning that even modest increases could wipe out 10 points of margin, especially for smaller brands without pricing power or manufacturing flexibility. He anticipates a hit to Southeast Asia, outlines strategic moves by companies like Gap to diversify sourcing, and speculates on the economic implications for North American retail.Next, Ken delves into the retail tech landscape, providing a forward-looking perspective on Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), the emergence of natural language search, and how retailers must adapt both on-site and externally to remain visible and competitive. He highlights the companies he's advising and investing in, including "Curated For You" (an AI-driven occasion-based merchandising platform) and "Raspberry AI" (tools that help designers iterate visuals from sketches to campaign-ready assets). He also discusses the creative tension AI can introduce and how forward-thinking teams are adapting.Finally, we examine the potential of Retail Media Networks (RMNs) as an underutilized profit stream, particularly in a high-cost, low-margin environment. Ken balances caution with optimism, emphasizing the need for retailers to experiment, remain agile, and stay laser-focused on the customer and core product offering. 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.

We'd love to have your feedback and ideas for future episodes of Retail Unwrapped. Just text us!Special Guest: Greg Licciardi, Vice President of Sponsorships and Partner Programs at the Association of National Advertisers; Adjunct Professor of Marketing at Fordham and Seton Hall Universities.  AI may replace some marketing functions as a more precise, cost-efficient way to reach and retain customers. The challenge is to match AI's efficiency with the fundamental human connections that drive long-term brand value and loyalty. Join Shelley and Greg Licciardi, Vice President of Sponsorships and Partner Programs at the Association of National Advertisers, as they explore how successful brands are balancing hyper-personalization with authentic human connection. The CMO challenge isn't keeping pace with AI's velocity, it's staying strategically relevant for customers distracted by marketplace noise.For more strategic insights and compelling content, visit TheRobinReport.com, where you can read, watch, and listen to content from Robin Lewis and other retail industry experts, and be sure to follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In this special encore episode of The Voice of Retail, recorded live at the Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, host Michael LeBlanc is joined by longtime Remarkable Retail #podcast collaborator and retail thought leader Steve Dennis to celebrate the launch of Steve's latest book, Leaders Leap: Transforming Your Company at the Speed of Disruption.Best known for his bestselling book Remarkable Retail, Steve steps outside the retail-specific lens to explore a broader question: Why do leaders and companies fail to transform—even when they know they must? Drawing on personal experiences at iconic retailers like Sears and Neiman Marcus, Steve shares how legacy mindsets, fear of risk, and "timid transformations" can doom even the most well-intentioned strategies. He recalls a pivotal moment at Sears when, after 18 months of strategic planning and board approval, a colleague remarked that the new plan was “not a strategy to win—just a strategy to suck less.”From there, the conversation dives into the key themes of Leaders Leap, including Steve's concept of “leadership mind leaps”—seven fundamental shifts that leaders must make to truly drive meaningful transformation. These include “Crush Your Ego,” “Open the Aperture,” “Edit to Amplify,” “Start with Wow,” “Think Radically,” “Embrace the Risk of Inaction,” and “Accelerate with Urgency.” Each leap challenges conventional leadership norms and encourages leaders to rethink their roles in the face of fast-paced disruption.Steve and Michael discuss why merely optimizing the business model isn't enough in an age defined by exponential change, and how legacy brands can learn from disruptors like Uber, Airbnb, and Netflix—companies that pivoted boldly and often. Using examples from RH (formerly Restoration Hardware) and Vuori, the episode highlights how focus, differentiation, and bold thinking can enable even established players to reinvent themselves.This episode is a masterclass in leadership transformation for retailers and executives across sectors. Whether you're a C-suite veteran, a team leader, or an entrepreneur navigating disruption, this conversation offers both strategic frameworks and personal insight that can help you leap forward, not fall behind. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this insightful summer bonus episode of The Food Professor Podcast, co-hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois sit down with Keith Currie, President at the Canadian Federation of Agriculture, live from the floor of SIAL Toronto. Representing more than 190,000 farmers and ranchers across the country and an eighth-generation farmer himself, Currie provides a candid, wide-ranging view on the future of Canadian agriculture—and why it's time for policymakers to pay closer attention.Currie highlights that agriculture contributes more than $150 billion to Canada's GDP and employs 2.5 million Canadians, surpassing the combined total of the auto, forestry, oil and gas, and steel industries. Yet agriculture remains a "quiet success story," underrepresented in national economic strategy. He argues that improved connectivity between farm producers, food processors, retailers, and policymakers is essential for ensuring sustainable growth.Topics include the implications of carbon pricing on rural producers, where Currie underscores the infrastructure gap that limits farmers' ability to adopt greener technologies. He advocates for more innovative climate solutions—such as cap-and-trade and regionally tailored resiliency programs—that don't unfairly penalize producers while acknowledging that border carbon adjustments are rapidly approaching in trade policy.Currie also stresses the importance of regulatory reform, referencing Ontario's red tape reduction model as a blueprint. Trade remains a central pillar of his advocacy, particularly in addressing non-tariff barriers and ensuring that agreements are effectively enforced, especially in complex markets like India.On the issue of succession planning, Currie discusses tools now available to help multi-generational farm families transition wealth and ownership without heavy tax burdens. With rising land values and farm assets, he emphasizes the need for financial institutions and governments to support the next generation of agricultural leaders.Throughout the conversation, Currie brings passion, realism, and a long-view perspective on agriculture's unique position in the Canadian economy. He calls on policymakers to shift from viewing farming as a sector in need of aid to one of untapped potential and national strength.From food security to innovation and sustainability, this episode is a must-listen for anyone who eats, votes, or works in the food industry. 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 Season 10 finale of The Remarkable Retail Podcast, Steve interviews Vuori CEO & Founder Joe Kudla live on-stage during the closing keynote of the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York. Steve and Michael also are on-stage for a session gleaning the top retail trends of the year so far and set the stage for what's most important to focus on the balance of the year.Instead of covering the week's headlines, Michael and Steve zoom out to examine the trends that have defined the year thus far. Tariff turbulence remains the dominant storyline, with the July 9th extension deadline looming and limited trade progress made—raising uncertainty about supply chains, pricing, and margins. Retailers are already grappling with rising costs and making difficult decisions about whether to absorb the impact through vendor, consumer, or margin adjustments.They spotlight a troubling acceleration in store closures, forecasting 2025 as a record year for retail contraction, particularly in drugstore and department store categories. Meanwhile, growth continues to concentrate, with Amazon, Walmart, and Costco accounting for over half of all incremental retail gains. Smaller out-performers, such as Vuori and Abercrombie, stand out, but the middle is collapsing through a combination of unremarkable business designs and lackluster execution.The hosts also analyze the contrasting fortunes of Walmart's soaring apparel success versus Target's continued slump and reflect on emerging disruption from agentic AI—potentially reshaping how consumers search, shop, and connect with brands. With luxury contraction predicted for the first time in 15 years and labor dynamics in flux, retailers face a complex and volatile landscape.Then, it's over to an on-stage interview with Vuori CEO & Founder Joe Kudla, who joins Steve live for the closing keynote at the CommerceNext Growth Show in New York City for a candid and inspirational conversation about scaling a lifestyle brand with purpose. Joe shares how Vuori—rooted in the beachside town of Encinitas, California—pivoted from a near-collapse to a $5.5 billion valuation last year, thanks to an obsessive focus on product quality, fabric innovation, and deep community connection.Kudla walks listeners through Vuori's growth strategy: starting with DTC success, expanding to wholesale, and now operating over 80 physical stores—each serving as a local brand hub. He discusses how in-person retail drives stronger omni-channel customers and why authenticity in influencer partnerships is more important than ever in a crowded media landscape.As Vuori expands globally with new stores in London, Shanghai, and Seoul, Joe remains grounded in his role as the brand's chief product evangelist and men's fit model. His leadership lesson? Stay vulnerable, stay curious, and always lead with great products. 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.

Ever notice how most spray cleaners and detergents seem to be marketed straight out of the 1950s... and almost always to moms? Entrepreneur Sean Busch is on a mission to flip the script. Sean is a dad of two kids who LOVE to make messes, and he's the founder of Dad Mode, a new line of high-performance cleaning products designed specifically for dads. Sean joins us to talk about why it's important that dads meaningfully contribute to housekeeping, what “choreplay” means (and how it might just be the secret to more balance), and the potential risks and rewards of selling gendered products. Several of Adam's favorite recent episodes:Navigating Miscarriage and Grief as a Dad (Kelly Jean-Philippe)What Will Our Kids Be Saying About Us? (Pete Holmes)Dismantling Birth Care Stereotypes (Teddy the Doula)LINKSDad Mode (official)Dad Mode (Amazon)Dad Mode (Facebook)Dad Mode (Instagram)Dad Mode (TikTok)Dad Mode (YouTube)Caspar BabypantsSpencer AlbeeModern Dadhood (website)AdamFlaherty.tvStuffed Animal (Marc's kids' music)MD (Instagram)MD (Facebook)MD (YouTube)MD (TikTok) #moderndadhood #fatherhood #parenthood #parenting #parentingpodcast #dadding #dadpodcast

In this must-listen episode of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc is joined by seasoned retail strategist Jim Okamura, Partner at McMillan Doolittle and Co-Founder of the Global E-commerce Leaders Forum (GELF). Recorded live at the CommerceNext show in New York City, the two Canadians delve deeply into the current and future state of retail, blending global expertise with practical insights from the ground up.The conversation begins with Jim's background and a look at McMillan Doolittle's role in driving innovation across various retail formats. Known for their globally respected annual Retail Innovations report, Jim explains how international partners nominate the most forward-thinking concepts, regardless of whether they achieve commercial success. From trailblazing store formats, such as Printemps' architectural marvel in Manhattan, to localization strategies that shape international brand launches, Jim shares examples that reflect where retail is headed next.The duo then shifts to a frank discussion about the collapse of Hudson's Bay and what it signals for the broader department store format. Comparing North American challenges with the success of Japanese models that utilize a leased brand approach, Jim highlights how changing consumer behaviour—especially in beauty and apparel—has fragmented traditional retail categories. He argues that the decline of department stores is less a retail apocalypse and more a natural part of the lifecycle of formats.As the conversation moves to unified commerce and digital transformation, Jim emphasizes that success isn't just about tech—it's about culture. Companies that embrace a testing and analytics-driven mindset have a competitive edge. He also discusses the generational shift in expectations, including the normalization of paid same-hour delivery via platforms like DoorDash and Uber Eats.The episode wraps with insights from GELF's work helping global brands expand across borders. Jim reveals how localization, unified commerce strategies, and innovative partnerships with distributors are fueling cross-border growth—even amid global trade uncertainty. With AI, logistics disruptions, and rising tariffs reshaping the terrain, Jim calls for nimble thinking and sharper execution from brands and their ecosystems.This rich, wide-ranging discussion offers a panoramic view of retail's past, present, and future—making it essential listening for anyone navigating the changing commerce landscape. Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this special summer bonus episode of The Food Professor Podcast, recorded live at the SIAL Food Innovation Show in Toronto, co-hosts Michael LeBlanc and Dr. Sylvain Charlebois welcome two exceptional guests: Joanne McArthur, President of Nourish Food Marketing and co-chair of the SIAL Innovation jury, and Chantal Van Winden, CEO of Olimega and this year's SIAL Innovation Gold Medal winner. The episode dives deep into Chantal's award-winning product—Camelina oil with a buttery flavour—unpacking its health benefits, sustainable production, and commercial potential.Chantal shares the remarkable 18-year journey behind the development of camelina oil, a uniquely Canadian innovation. With 35% Omega-3, high antioxidant content, and an exceptionally high smoke point (475°F), the oil is a healthy, locally grown alternative to avocado and olive oil. Grown in cold climates with short growing seasons, camelina thrives in Northern Quebec and supports sustainable farming practices, including soil health improvement and pollinator partnerships with beekeepers.Joanne offers behind-the-scenes insight into the SIAL Innovation judging process, where over 170 products from more than 70 countries are evaluated. She highlights the rigorous selection process and emphasizes why Chantal's camelina oil stood out—not just for its health properties but also for its taste, innovation, and commercial viability. The buttery flavour was developed through natural aroma infusion and is particularly suited for applications like popcorn—a detail that excited the hosts and exemplifies the product's consumer appeal.Beyond its nutritional edge, camelina oil tells a compelling Canadian story—rooted in agricultural innovation, sustainability, and female entrepreneurship. Chantal recounts how the crop was initially planted to improve soil health on her family farm and later developed into a premium oil after discovering its omega-rich properties. With demand rising internationally—35% of Olimega's business is export-based—she now has a waitlist of Canadian farmers eager to grow the crop.Tune in to hear how this buttery Canadian oil may be the next pantry staple and discover what it takes to win one of the most prestigious awards in food innovation. 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 Remarkable Retail, Michael LeBlanc and Steve Dennis return with a their hot takes on the week's top retail headlines.The duo begins with a macroeconomic update, including political gridlock in the U.S. over the "Big Beautiful Bill," the Fed's inflation outlook, and uncertainty surrounding consumer spending. They then break down TikTok's extended 90-day reprieve, speculate on Amazon's motivation behind extending Prime Day to four days, and assess the e-commerce giant's recent shift in tone regarding AI impacts on future hiring needs The hosts also spotlight Walmart's surprising 23% growth in online apparel sales, consider the luxury sector's first contraction in 15 years, and dig into a new Profitero study that reveals digital channels now influence 64% of retail transactions—emphasizing the needs to break down silos and implement a harmonized shopping experience.Then it's over to this week's featured guest: Mark Irvin, Best Buy's Executive Vice President and Chief Supply Chain Officer. With more than 12 years at the retailer and a deep background in logistics, Irvin pulls back the curtain on what it takes to operate one of the world's largest and most complex retail supply chains. From visibility and speed to adaptability, Irvin outlines the three pillars of Best Buy's evolving logistics strategy. He explains how they leverage AI-driven sourcing to reduce delivery errors, digital twins to simulate future supply networks, and a growing control tower to dynamically reroute inventory in response to global disruptions—like the Panama Canal's low water levels or shifting geopolitical challenges.He also details Best Buy's commitment to sustainability, including partnerships for electrified freight and aggressive reverse logistics programs to refurbish or responsibly dispose of aging tech. The conversation wraps with a preview of his upcoming keynote at NRF's Big Show Europe in Paris, September 16-18., where he'll explore the future of retail supply chains and what it takes to deliver exceptional customer experiences by 2030. 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.

We're back. Sorry, it took a while! But we are back with a bang.We talk to Amy Harman, Head of Customer Marketing at Hotel Chocolat. We cover the idiosyncrasies of retail marketing, the value of Loyalty programs, the pitfalls of discounting and also mental health in the workplace. Audio-Visual assets:Imagery: Photo by Matthew Brodeur on UnsplashMusic: Hot Thang by Daniel Fridell. CLICK HEREMusic: Shangri-La by Basixx CLICK HERE

In this powerhouse episode of The Voice of Retail, I sit down with Sharon Gai, an international keynote speaker, AI expert, former Alibaba executive, and recent keynote speaker on the stage at the Retail Council of Canada's STORE2025, for an illuminating conversation on the future of retail in the age of artificial intelligence. Joining from São Paulo, Sharon offers a global lens on how retailers must rethink customer engagement, merchandising, and data infrastructure to remain competitive. We begin by tracing Sharon's fascinating origin story—from her Canadian roots in Vancouver and her education at McGill to an unexpected recruitment by Alibaba. She takes us behind the curtain of Chinese tech culture, describing a world of intense work ethics, hyper-growth, and an ecosystem where AI doesn't just support retail—it drives it. Sharon explains how AI has evolved beyond personalization into what she calls "agentic AI"—systems that not only predict behaviour but act on a shopper's behalf. She warns that retailers who don't maintain pristine product data and detailed PDPs (Product Detail Pages) risk being invisible in LLM-powered answer engines like ChatGPT or Claude. We delve into the differences between Chinese and Western retail, highlighting trends such as the viral "blind box" concept and video commerce that thrive in digital-first cultures. Sharon also shares her learnings from a cross-cultural brand project with Huggies, emphasizing the power of creativity, unpredictability, and localized storytelling.The episode also features insight into a recent Retail Council of Canada panel Sharon led, with Canadian Tire's chatbot innovation and Showcase's trend-driven merchandising model serving as prime examples of AI-enabled transformation at home.Sharon leaves listeners with practical advice: embrace AI not just for customer-facing features but also as a powerful internal tool for cost-cutting and productivity. And beware of the trap of sameness—when everyone is using AI to write duplicate emails and social posts, true differentiation comes from creativity and strategic insight.Whether you're a retail exec, digital strategist, or tech-curious brand builder, this episode delivers a rich, global perspective on what's next for commerce—and what it takes to stay ahead.https://youtu.be/0zdLv0mz29YSharon Gai helps organizations do more with less using AI. In her tenure at Alibaba, she advised brands and heads of state in crafting their digital strategy with programmatic marketing and AI. She has worked with TEDx, Singularity University, UBS, Deloitte, Walmart, LVMH, Nestle, Coca Cola, Lenovo, and many others. She is in the AAE list of Top Keynote Speakers in 2023. She has appeared on Bloomberg, Reuters, ABC, CBC, CCTV, TechCrunch, Retail Asia, Wired, and The Next Web. She is the author of the book, Ecommerce Reimagined. Sharon has an Honors Bachelor's degree in International Development from McGill and a Masters in Information Management from Columbia University. When she is not speaking, she is jamming on electric keyboards with her band, writing jokes for her stand up comedy set or sharing tips on how to get ahead in AI at sharongai.comLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sharongaiInstagram: https://instagram.com/sharong.ai   Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada's Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael's cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.

In this special summer bonus episode of The Food Professor Podcast, host Michael LeBlanc brings listeners straight to the SIAL Food Innovation Show floor for a flavorful conversation with Chef Jonathan Maters, co-founder of Smokin Jon's BBQ & Company. Born in Newfoundland and based in New Brunswick, Jonathan shares how a pandemic-era pivot turned his passion for barbecue into a growing food enterprise capturing the attention of retailers and food lovers alike.Jonathan walks us through his culinary roots, detailing how he started with a single signature sauce—Smoky Maple—bottled and sold from his backyard deck. With demand quickly outpacing his capacity, he moved into Class 5 kitchens and later secured a co-packing partner to scale his product line. Now, with a robust lineup of unique, clean-label barbecue sauces, hot sauces, and spice rubs, Smokin' Jon's is turning heads across Canada.From the Cuban-inspired Cubana BBQ sauce (orange juice, cumin, and oregano!) to the fiery Carolina Reaper sauce and low-sodium, filler-free spice blends, Jonathan emphasizes innovation, authenticity, and health-conscious ingredients. He shares how packaging design and colour-coded branding help his products stand out on crowded shelves.Jonathan also opens up about the hard realities of food entrepreneurship—from navigating CFIA and FDA regulations to the steep costs of national shelf space, and his evolving relationship with major retailers like Sobeys and Loblaws. He reflects on the role of local government support, challenges in accessing infrastructure, and the importance of marketing hustle, including a growing Instagram following built on grassroots cooking content.Listeners will appreciate Jonathan's frank insights on building a business from scratch, his strategic use of flavour storytelling, and his advice to fellow food entrepreneurs: “You'll hear ten no's for every yes—but that one yes is everything.”This episode is packed with practical inspiration, tasty ideas, and a genuine look behind the scenes of a fast-growing Canadian food brand. Whether you're a barbecue enthusiast, aspiring food entrepreneur, or retail insider, this conversation will leave you fired up and hungry for more.https://smokinjonsbbq.ca/ 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, 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.

Let's talk shop—literally. In Navigating Sexual Wellness Retail, the founder of Stimulate, Nicole Leinbach Hoffman and Cat get into the nitty-gritty of showing up on shelves (and staying there). If you've ever wondered what buyers actually look for, how to hire smart, or how to make your brand matter in-store, this one's your insider pass. Key takeaways: ✨Nicole is a self-described retail geek focused on sexual health and wellness. ✨Retailers often struggle with understanding the unique needs of the sexual wellness category. ✨Emerging brands should focus on smaller boutiques before approaching larger retailers. ✨Participating in trade shows like Stimulate can provide valuable networking opportunities.   About Nicole | Stimulate: Nicole Leinbach Hoffman is the Founder of STIMULATE, North America's only sexual wellness trade show and conference, as well as Retail Minded, a well-respected industry resource for merchants and vendors founded in 2007.  With a passion for both retail and sexual well-being,  Hoffman has made bold strides in supporting the growth of sexual wellness products in retail ranging – as Hoffman describes it – from “head to toe, young to mature, purpose to pleasure”. Hoffman is a frequent guest and contributor to various media outlets that have included The Today Show, Forbes, Fox News, Entreprenuer.com and countless B2B publications, as well has supported American Express's Small Business Saturday as a Spokesperson in America and is the Author of the book “Retail 101: The Guide to Managing and Marketing Your Retail Business” from McGraw-Hill.  In 2022, Hoffman was recognized as one of Women Wear Daily's “25 Most Inspiring Women in Retail” and has been on the list of the world's most influential retail leaders from Rethink Retail since 2015. In 2023, Hoffman was recognized by American Eagle on a billboard in Times Square in NYC for being a Global Change Maker for her work in sexual wellness and retail collectively, and in both 2023 and 2024, Hoffman's trade show and conference, STIMULATE, was nominated as one of Trade Show Network News best shows in the United States. In February 2025, Hoffman also received an award from China's SHE Conference for her work in helping to grow the sexual wellness category in retail.  Hoffman is happily married and resides in Denver, Colorado, where she is also a mom of 4, 3 dogs and a Professor at Columbia College where she teaches Retail Marketing. Hoffman proudly describes herself as a “retail geek”.    You can find Nicole and Stimulate here: Website Instagram Please support Nicoles's foundation of choice:   Planned Parenthood   Let's connect: Head South WebsiteHead South Instagram Sponsored By: This episode is sponsored by STIMULATE: A B2B Sexual Wellness Trade Show + Conference, which launched in 2023 and is heading into their third year this summer. Their event, which is held in Nashville on August 4+5 @StimulatetheShow   Head South Partners:  -The New Way to Wash Hair - Hairstory- 1st-time customers use the link for discount  -Non-Hormonal Birth Control- Natural Cycles-  Use link for discount -Receive 15% when you purchase Wonderlust Mindful Intimacy Deck with code: HEADSOUTH15

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 a world saturated with synthetic voices and emotionless assistants, Hume AI stands out as a genuine leap forward. Far from being just another text-to-speech (TTS) system, their Octave platform is a new breed: the first speech-language model built on a large language model (LLM), capable of understanding not just the words we write, but …

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.

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.

For B2B marketers, reaching the right decision-makers can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack. Traditional lead generation tactics often produce high volumes of low-quality leads that rarely convert, while valuable opportunities slip through the cracks. Account-based marketing (ABM) flips this model on its head by focusing your resources on a carefully selected …

Producing high-quality video content is already a big investment. But without a compelling voiceover, even the most beautifully edited video can fall flat. A powerful voiceover doesn't just explain your message—it adds personality, boosts viewer engagement, and drives action. Unfortunately, hiring voice talent is time-consuming, expensive, and often frustrating to manage. Talkia Talkia is advanced …

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.

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 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.