"How did you go bankrupt?" Bill asked.

"Two ways," Mike said. "Gradually, then suddenly."

- Ernest Hemingway, The Sun Also Arises

Why do so many companies defend the status quo even when it becomes increasingly obvious that their business model is losing customer relevance and remarkability? Why do others think they can cost cut and store close their way to prosperity? In this episode we look at the roots causes of how and why retailers sink into irrelevance and risk a mass extinction event. Then we flip these questions on their head to explore ways to defy conventional wisdom and create a culture of experimentation. Along the way we touch on why "the opposite is risky" and why quitting is often underrated (hint: it has to do with understanding opportunity cost). Nordstrom's Local strategy gets a shout-out, as does Apple's new Express concept. We also dub JC Penney the "world's second longest liquidation sale."

Our special guest is Deborah Weinswig, one of retail's leading analysts and thought leaders, and the founder & CEO of Coresight Research. Deb enlightens us on on how "New Retail" has challenged the status quo in China, what separates the winners from the losers when it comes to innovation, and how shopping festivals (or "Festivization") is bringing fun, joy and excitement back to retail at just the right time.

Learn more about Deborah here. Her firm-- Coresight Research--is a tremendous resource for all things retail and innovation, including industry deep dives and the legendary store tracker.

Steve's written a Forbes article that touches on "optimizing to extinction" and a blog post pointing out that quitting is underrated.

You can learn more about Steve on his website   here . His new best-selling book is available in hardcover, audiobook at ebook at  Amazon or just about anywhere else books are sold. 

Steve shares his insights in his role as a   Forbes senior contributor and on   Twitter and   LinkedIn. You can check out his speaker "sizzle" reel   here.

You can learn more about Michael here (   www.meleblanc.co) or here on LinkedIn (   https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaeleleblanc/ )

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About Us

Steve 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.