Richard Armour is a deeply experienced omni-channel retail executive having cut his teeth at Travelocity and Gamestop. Now he is helping drive the digital transformation for Michaels Stores, one of North America's largest provider of arts, crafts, framing, and more for makers and do-it-yourself home decorators. 

We dig deep into the evolution of e-commerce, how the blurring of the lines between digital and physical makes everything harder and how Michael's has been able to accelerate its transformation. We also unpack Richard's provocative statement that "everything is table stakes now" and lean how Michael's plans to build on their momentum going forward by maintaining a "test and learn" culture. 

But first we take on this week's news, including Steve's admonition to "Buckle Up Buttercup" in the face of escalating inflation. Then we discuss Kohl's Investor Day presentation, which seems long on ambition, but short on truly being remarkable. Then we delve into recent earnings reports, which mostly point to the strong getting stronger as e-commerce growth decelerates and the continuing struggles of disruptor brands (Stitch Fix, The Real Retail) to get on a glide path to profitability.
 

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To record a question for us go to  speakpipe.com/remarkableretail
 

Kohl's Investor Day Presentation

Steve's recent Forbes articles related to our news segment 

Is Kohl’s New Strategy Merely A Slightly Better Version Of Mediocre?
 

The Profitless Prosperity of Disruptor Brands
 

The Stores Strike Back Again. Again.
 

Past podcast episodes referenced

Why Does It Take A Crisis For Retailers To Innovate?

War Comes to the Global Food Supply Chain

About Richard Armour

Richard Armour is SVP, Ecommerce at Michaels, responsible for all aspects of the ecommerce business, including revenue accountability, content strategy, search engine optimization, product management, analytics & more. His focus is on reducing friction across the digital ecosystem to create a seamless omnichannel experience.

Prior to Michaels, Richard was Vice President, Omnichannel for GameStop where he was responsible for the GameStop.com business and accelerating ecommerce growth and integrating the site and store experience.  He led several initiatives including the ecommerce redesign and replatform as well as launching an online advertising platform and program. 

Richard holds a BS in Business Administration from the University of Texas at Dallas and an MBA in Marketing and Information Systems from Indiana University. He is also a board member with James Avery.

About Us

Steve 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!

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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.