Live & Interactive with MainStage keynote and Forbes contributing writer Steve Dennis together with Retail Strategist Carl Boutet, plus Retail Hall of Fame member John Torella

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of July 8, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.

In this episode, the “thee amigos”; myself, #STORE2019 main-stage keynote speaker and Forbes contributing writer Steve Dennis and retail strategist Carl Boutet mix it up in the Purolator Podcasting Studio after the Excellence in Retail gala awards. We talk tech, north-south retail, the collapse of the middle, bifurcation, success at the high-end, the world’s slowest liquidation sale, the customer trapeze, and retail success stories.

Then an interview with retail brand marketing legend and Retail Council of Canada Retail Hall of Fame member John Torella who between being the CMO for Eaton’s, then on the agency side, and finally almost 30 years advising retailers at the highest strategic level, reflects on a rich career and the changes and pace of chance in the modern retail environment.

Next we’ll cover off Retail This Week including Vancouver becoming a global launch pad for international retail brands, Empire fights back with innovation, swapping chairs at Giant Tiger, Korean brand Innisfree launches retail in Canada, Lululemon’s new 20,000 square foot Chicago store, Microsoft retail learns from 5th avenue for Oxford Circus store, Bad Boy getting bigger and badder, AI powered retail sustainability, and how green is your shipping.

But first, let’s listen in to my up close and interactive chat with Steve Dennis and Carl Boutet from Purolator Podcasting Studio right after the RCC Excellence in Retail award gala.

Thanks to Steve, Carl and John for being my guests this week, now let’s hit the highlights from Retail This Week eNewsletter, biggest retail weekly in Canada and you can subscribe on www.retailcouncil.org for free.

That’s a wrap on this edition of The Voice of Retail, if you liked this podcast you can subscribe on Apple iTunes or your favourite podcast platform, and be sure and recommend to a friend or colleague in the retail industry. You can also ask your favourite home devices, Amazon Echo, Google home to play the most recent edition.

I’m Michael LeBlanc, Founder and President of M.E. LeBlanc and Company Inc. and you can learn more about me on www.meleblanc.co or of course on LinkedIn

Until next time, have a great week!

The Voice of Retail podcast is presented by Hale, a performance marketing partner trusted by brands like ASICS, Saje, and Orangetheory to scale with focus and impact.

Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.

Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels, most recently on the main stage in Toronto at Retail Council of Canada’s Retail Marketing conference with leaders from Walmart & Google. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.

Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025, Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail, RTIH has named him a top 100 global though leader in retail technology and Coresight Research has named Michael a Retail AI Influencer. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.

Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.