Show notes
Our special guest this week is Lee Bird, CEO of AtHome, the Home Decor Superstore that has experienced phenomenal growth in recent years growing to nearly 250 stores in 40 states. Lee brings a wealth of experience to his current role, having held leadership positions at a few brands you might have heard of, including Nike, Gap, Old Navy, and Ford. We dig deep into AtHome's incredible transformation from Garden Ridge, a struggling regional chain, to a re-branded national powerhouse. Lee takes us through the testing and customer insight that drove the new vision and re-concepting, while detailing the foundational elements that have provided critical to their success. We also explore the lessons learned from the pandemic and how AtHome is navigating current challenges with the supply chain, inflation and labor shortages.But first we kick-off our jam-packed episode with some personal news, celebrating Steve's book being selected as a Kindle Monthly Deal. For a limited time only you can buy the ebook version of Remarkable Retail: How to Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption for just $1.99 in both the United States and Canada. We also congratulate Michael on his Voice of Retail podcast reaching the 300 episode mark.Then we briefly recap Steve's whirlwind tour of new store concepts in the DC area, including Bloomie's (Bloomingdale's new small store format), Amazon Fresh and the first Whole Foods Store featuring Amazon's "Just Walk Out" technology.We move on to dissect the hot retail news of the week, including Amazon's very disappointing earnings, "the death of irony"--also know as Meta's new physical store designed to sell the Metaverse--before pondering whether the merging of a slightly better than average retailer (Kohl's) with a struggling one (JC Penney) makes any sense whatsoever. About UsSteve Dennis is an advisor, keynote speaker and author on strategic growth and business innovation. You can learn more about Steve on his website. The expanded and revised edition of his bestselling book Remarkable Retail: How To Win & Keep Customers in the Age of Disruption is now available at Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. Steve regularly shares his insights in his role as a Forbes senior contributor and on Twitter and LinkedIn. You can also check out his speaker "sizzle" reel here.Michael LeBlanc is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience, and has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. Michael is the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus Global E-Commerce Tech Talks , The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois and now in its second season, Conversations with CommerceNext! You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn. Be sure and check out Michael's latest venture for fun and influencer riches - Last Request Barbecue, his YouTube BBQ cooking channel!
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.