The Voice of Retail

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Frank Lavin has devoted much of his professional life to working in and understanding the Asian market, from top level roles in U.S. government including Undersecretary of Commerce, Ambassador to Singapore and other White House appointments, to much t...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Treana Peake has devoted her life to spreading the care that she experienced in her smalltown, Albertan upbringing around the world. As a philanthropist first, and a retailer second, Obakki has become a space for both utilizing and transforming the st...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. The retail cannabis industry in Canada is growing, well, as they would say, like a weed.  This kind of fast paced growth with new companies in an new sector calls out for experienced retail operators to help navigate and bring to the industry experien...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Tanbir Grover is an accomplished and popular retail leader recently drawn back to the retail industry that he has called home for so many years. Now after nearly a year as the Chief Marketing and Digital Officer at Canadian pet supply retailer, PetVal...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. From a kitchen lab start-up in a blender to a fully-fledged direct-to-consumer internationally respected beauty brand, Isomers Skin Care is a great example of a resilient and responsive independent brand and DTC retailer. Since 1988, Isomers has been...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. The resale economy is taking retail by storm. And, come September, this global fashion retailer will be jumping head-on into the surge - starting with the Canadian market. On this episode of The Voice of Retail, I talk with the Country Manager of H&M...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Neo Financial has accomplished a lot since its conception in 2019. This becomes especially apparent when compared to the hundreds-year-old financial institutions Neo is challenging in Canada. In the distinct and gridlocked Canadian banking system, Jef...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. On this special episode I am thrilled to be sharing a excerpt from the recent season three opener of my Remarkable Retail podcast, where my podcast partner Steve Dennis and I interview Brad Stone. Brad is the senior executive editor of global technolo...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.   On this special episode I am thrilled to be sharing a full episode from my all new Conversations with CommerceNext podcast featuring Daria Burke , Chief Marketing Officer at JustFab   I launched the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast with my U....

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.   Larissa Wasyliw has a rich background in national and regional retail brand marketing. Now, as the Vice President of eCommerce & Marketing at specialty pet store Ren’s Pets, all of her skills are being tested. In a short amount of time with Ren’s, s...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. URB-E is a compact container delivery network that is transforming the last-mile delivery process. From the mind of a former Porsche and Fisker engineer, these electric vehicles and collapsible containers are economizing retail delivery operations fro...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. My very special guest on this episode is Sir Ronald Cohen , a pioneering philanthropist, venture capitalist, private equity investor and social innovator and now with his new book, Impact: Reshaping Capitalism to Drive Real Change , a best selling aut...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. On this special episode I am thrilled to be sharing a full episode from Season Three of my Remarkable Retail podcast, a discussion with my podcast partner, Steve Dennis .  Steve is an advisor, keynote speaker and author of the best selling Remarkable...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Stewart Reynolds , aka Brittlestar almost daily captures the zeitgeist of Canadian culture online...and with millions of views on Youtube, Twitter and other top platforms is a savvy content creator, digital strategist, keynote speaker and social media...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. The Loss Prevention landscape is an ever-changing space. Veteran retail LP professional Rui Rodrigues , speaks to the importance of staying ahead of the industry and the need to continually learn and grow as a professional. In this episode of The Voic...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Ron Johnson is responsible for the iconic Apple Store and Genius Bar that are loved by retail specialists and consumers alike. After years of transforming the retail strategies for retailers Apple and Target, Ron is pioneering the next leap in the ret...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. It’s true, the resale trend is here to stay - but it doesn’t look like the resale retail spaces we might be thinking of.  Departing from dusty consignment-style stores, the resale space has a new look and feel. The founder of Mine & Yours, Courtney Wa...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Tim Mason is the CEO of Eagle Eye, an information technology firm that uses a data-driven digital marketing platform to enable retailers to connect all aspects of the customer journey. As the former deputy CEO & CMO of Tesco in the U.K., Tim calls on...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.   On this special episode I am thrilled to be sharing with you my interview with  Universal Standard Co-founder and Canadian retailer Alexandra Waldman with a special Conversations with CommerceNext podcast edition of The Voice of Retail.   I launched...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Over the last decade, the sleep industry has undergone some serious transformation.  Jeremiah Curvers , the co-founder and CEO of Polysleep, believes that the importance of sleep is “the next revelation” on the health front that consumers are going to...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Rob Moore has been on all four sides of the table. With decades of retail, political, communications and agency experience in his back pocket, Rob brings a unique perspective to the table as a Partner at the one of Canada’s top public affairs agencies...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Retail real estate has been fundamentally shaken up by the pandemic. Between lockdowns for non-essential services and accelerated eCommerce growth, investigating the health of retail through the lens of the real estate market offers a wealth of inform...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. Warehouse automation has reached new heights in the pandemic - and it doesn’t seem to be stopping here. While COVID-19 has created a host of supply chain challenges, it’s also underscored essential opportunities for innovation. From climbing robots to...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada. When brands are preparing to enter Chinese markets, Ashley Dudarenok tells them to “assume nothing.” Ashley, the founder of China-based social media marketing firms Alarice and ChoZan , reminds companies to not underestimate the complexity of the nati...

Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada, and this episode is brought to you by Fortinet,   Fortinet secures the largest enterprise, service provider, and government organizations around the world. Fortinet empowers its customers with intelligent, seamless protection across the expanding atta...