Veteran retailer, entrepreneur, investor and friend of the pod David Lui is back this episode with his new business partner, Canadian retail legend Joe Mimran in an exclusive interview to talk about buying Vancouver's Kit & Ace, a retailer with an origin story that goes back almost a decade to it's founding by Lululemon lead designer Shannon Wilson and son JJ Wilson. We talk about their impression of the brand today, what makes it great, and growth plans for this innovative apparel retailer.
Welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. I'm producer & host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is produced in conjunction with the Retail Council of Canada.
Veteran retailer, entrepreneur, investor and friend of the pod David Lui is back this episode with his new business partner, Canadian retail legend Joe Mimran in an exclusive interview to talk about buying Vancouver's Kit & Ace, a retailer with an origin story that goes back almost a decade to it's founding by Lululemon lead designer Shannon Wilson and son JJ Wilson. We talk about their impression of the brand today, what makes it great, and growth plans for this innovative apparel retailer.
About David
David Lui is an accomplished global brand and entrepreneurial leader.
With a wealth of experience in leading complex retail, digital and consumer environments, his impressive portfolio includes developing global award-winning marketing campaigns, scaling online e-commerce brands, and being named CEO of the twelfth Fastest Growing Company in Canada’s PROFIT100, First for Fastest-Growing Company in British Columbia, Canada, winner of the BDC Young Entrepreneur Award, and a Business in Vancouver Forty under 40. In 2022, he was also ranked 11th in the Global CEO Award.
David has significantly impacted the retail industry and community through his involvement as an investor and board member. He has served on the Board and Governance Committee for Hypertension Canada, the Retail Leadership Committee for the Canadian Marketing Association, the Marketing Advisory Committee for the Retail Council of Canada, and as a Board Member and Chair of the Marketing Committee for Theatre Calgary.
He holds an MBA from the Ivey Business School at Western University.
About Joe
Joe Mimran is a leading contributor to the fashion and design industry and is best-known for creating a succession of visionary brands and retail concepts, including Club Monaco, Caban, Joe Fresh, Joe Fresh Beauty and Alfred Sung. Recognized universally as having a sharp eye, impeccable attention to detail, and insight into emerging trends, Joe is always on the forefront of what’s next. Joe is also an avid investor and champions exceptional entrepreneurs. Joe also stars on the popular CBC show, Dragons Den, now in its 12th season.
Chronology of entrepreneurial ventures:
Joe’s community efforts have included Chairman of the Fashion Design Council of Canada and honorary Chairman of the inaugural Canadian Arts and Fashion Awards. Joe has been the recipient of many industry awards including the Canadian Style Award and the lifetime achievement award by the Design Exchange. in 2015, Joe was inducted into Canada's Marketing Legends Hall of Fame. A patron of the arts, Mimran’s philanthropic activities include support of the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, New Museum, New York and is a Luminaire for Luminato Arts Festival.
An avid traveler and art collector, Joe divides his time between Toronto and New York and is the father of four wonderful children.
About Michael
Michael is the Founder & President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and a Senior Advisor to Retail Council of Canada and the Bank of Canada as part of his advisory and consulting practice. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, Today's Shopping Choice and Pandora Jewellery.
Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. ReThink Retail has added Michael to their prestigious Top Global Retail Influencers list for 2023 for the third year in a row.
Michael is also the president of Maven Media, producing a network of leading trade podcasts, including Canada's top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail. He produces and co-hosts Remarkable Retail with best-selling author Steve Dennis, now ranked one of the top retail podcasts in the world.
Based in San Francisco, Global eCommerce Leaders podcast explores global cross-border issues and opportunities for eCommerce brands and retailers.
Last but not least, Michael is the producer and host of the "Last Request Barbeque" channel on YouTube, where he cooks meals to die for - and collaborates with top brands as a food and product influencer across North America.
Michael LeBlanc 00:04
Welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. My name is Michael LeBlanc and I am your host. This podcast is produced in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Veteran retailer, entrepreneur, investor and friend of the pod, David Lui is back this episode with his new business partner, Canadian retail legend Joe Mimran. In an exclusive interview to talk about buying Vancouver's Kit & Ace, a retailer with an origin story that goes back almost a decade. It was founded by Lululemon lead designer Shannon Wilson and son, JJ Wilson. We talked about their impression of the brand today, what makes it great and growth plans for this innovative apparel retailer.
Gentlemen, welcome to The Voice of Retail podcasts. How are you doing this afternoon?
Joe Mimran 00:42
Excellent. How are you doing?
Michael LeBlanc 00:44
Fantastic. Thanks, Joe. David, how are you?
David Lui 00:46
Awesome, Michael. Awesome. I'm sitting here in the backroom of a Kit & Ace store in Gastown, Vancouver, BC.
Michael LeBlanc 00:53
Well, wonderful. You're kind of sha-, foreshadowing the news. Well, listen, this is multiple times that you've been on the podcast, first time for you, Joe. So, David, welcome back and Joe, welcome. Welcome on board. I can't believe I've almost got to 400 episodes without having you on The Voice of Retail podcast. So, I'm glad you're here. There's not many people here in Canada who would know the two of you, but I've got a bit of an international audience as well.
So, Joe, let's start out with a little bit about your background and how you got to be you and what you do today. What’s a little bit about yourself?
Joe Mimran 01:25
Sure. Sure. Sure. So, I go back way back to the first days in the industry, where I started with a brand called Alfred Sung, we created that brand. We were manufacturing business right here in Toronto, and realized very early on that brands really controlled the industry as the retailers and the brands. So, we want to create a brand. We went to the US to try and find a brand and then realized we should create our own and so we hired, we hired one designer. She didn't last, she said she was off. We said wait a minute, don't leave we're gonna make you famous and she left anyway and then we went, we hired Alfred we said we're gonna make you famous make you a brand and within three years, he hit the cover of Maclean's magazine as the king of Canadian fashion that was 1983.
Joe Mimran 02:16
1984 We wrote a licensing agreement for fragrance. That was a 50-year licensing agreement for fragrance, and it ended up being distributed to 50 countries, 60 countries around the world. That was Reverie Concepts, then came up with a concept called Club Monaco in 1984. We opened our first store in '85. We, we expanded all over the world, and in 2000 sold it to Ralph Lauren, and now lots of ups and downs during that time and, but the, but the brand got extremely well known. Then I retired for a couple years I have also started a company called Cabana, which was a home, a home store, which, a lifestyle store and then I met, met up with John Lederer who was the CEO of Loblaws at the time, he said Joe, can you design some own products for President's Choice, I said yeah, I think I can do that.
Joe Mimran 03:14
Designed-, he said you know all I need is 20 products, but boy, you know, it's that's our jewel, President's Choice. So how we designed some home products that turned into a full-time gig. Then they asked me to create an apparel line and created a line called Joe Fresh. That ended up becoming the number one brand in Canada in both units and dollars within five years and then and then I retired from Joe Fresh. I did a few years of Dragon's Den, did a little bit of venture capital work with Gibraltar and Company. We invested in a bunch of different businesses and one of the businesses was Tilly, which we then, we now are reinventing, and we've just recently just made another acquisition. So yeah, that's, that's my history and about three minutes.
Michael LeBlanc 04:05
Well, two questions. One is: did you always want to be in retail or was it for you an accidental career, what, did you always say, this is where I can hang my hat?
Joe Mimran 04:16
I've always, I've always loved, I've always loved fashion as a 12-year-old boy, my mother was a couturier and so I would get her to make my clothes for me. It was kind of embarrassing at the time because I'd be wearing bell bottoms and yellow mohair sweaters, luckily, I was a tough kid and, and, and yeah, I was I loved the arts, I love fashion I actually in University took, took the, you know, I got my BA and had sociology and Fine Arts as my majors. Then I went on and got my, got a real degree which was in accounting and so I had both sides of the brain working, but I always loved the arts. I opened an art gallery when I was 19 years old and, and loved the blend that fashion brought, which was both. You had to have both the artistic side and the business side in order to be in that business and I love the way that comes together. So yeah, it's always been in my blood.
Michael LeBlanc 05:20
Well, and the other I guess wasn't a question, it was more a statement, it seems like the only thing you're not great at is retiring.
Joe Mimran 05:26
I've tried it a few times.
Michael LeBlanc 05:28
David, you and I have known each other going back probably 15 years. So, it's wonderful to get you back on the mic. Tell the folks a little bit about yourself. You've, you're described as a Canadian Tire executive, but you're Oh, so much more. Tell us a little bit about your background.
David Lui 05:42
Well, thank you, Michael. And it's always a pleasure to be on your podcast and you've been a dear friend of mine. So, the retail industry is pretty small. So, thanks for having me back and also, also with Joe. I mean, what a, what an awesome cast. I've tried to match his, his description but a little bit about me i i was born into retail, born into retail merchant family out in Vancouver, BC and went through school, well high school and then right out of high school I decided I wanted to venture on my own versus going into post-secondary so I, I made a trek overseas and being my first trip I was enticed with a very interesting brand called Theme and with the with the amount of immigrants coming into Canada, I thought it was an opportunity to bring something home to their new home in Canada.
David Lui 06:33
So, this was actually '89, is when I brought the brand over, over to Canada and established a 15 store chain between Toronto and Vancouver at a very young age, school of hard, school of hard knocks, of course, and went through that had a great run and over time, you know, just with the interesting scenario and partnerships. I eventually sold my stake, but really progressed in my career where I had the opportunity to join with several other international brands, went off on a spree, had an opportunity to turn around the brand at that time, revamping the retail store business as well as the B2B business that we had. Then from a spree, I did one to move to Germany. That was the opportunity, was to move to Germany. Another brand called NYGÅRD came, I went there as the head of retail.
Michael LeBlanc 07:29
Oh, I didn't know you were NYGARD. I didn't know you're there. Yeah, I forgot about that.
David Lui 07:33
Yeah. Very interesting school of fashion business, but I was head of retail, it eventually grew into marketing and that's what really got me excited about marketing and just throughout my career just from NYGÅRD, and then last, within the last eight, nine years, I spent time at Canadian Tire.
Michael LeBlanc 07:53
Yep.
David Lui 07:53
Where I was heading up the marketing and the whole, basically the e-commerce and digital branding, repositioning of the Marks brand into casual wear, as well as spearheading the repositioning of Sport Chek to a much more broader audience. So, it's been a really great and fun career in retail. I could not leave it, but the last three years I was the CEO of a semi-precious gemstone that was mined in one part of the world which was southern Alberta. Yep, and turning something that is purely Canadian only found in one spot and then turning it into a luxurious good, jewelry and fine art. But, but this now, you know, fast tracking to where I am today while I'm sitting here in the back door of the Kit & Ace store. Partnering with Joe and Frank Rocchetti on an exciting opportunity with, with Kit & Ace, and that's, that's where I'm at today.
Michael LeBlanc 08:47
Well, well it's a great overview and let's talk about that. So, it's exciting news, the Kit & Ace acquisition, but before we get there, let's start at the beginning this partnership of yours, David, talk about this new Co. That you form with Joe and Frank How did it come together, was it over a glass of wine somehow, or did you all kind of know each other before just a little bit of how it all came to be?
David Lui 09:09
This all came to be quite quickly. It came, it came through a coffee with George who was the previous owner here at Kit & Ace's, who ultimately bought it from Chip about five years ago.
Michael LeBlanc 09:20
Yeah.
David Lui 09:21
And we just had a, we, we had an interesting conversation where he was looking for advice, you know, as peers within the industry.
Michael LeBlanc 09:29
Sure.
David Lui 09:29
Which became, which became a lot more deeper discussion about the opportunity partner with him or, and it just, it just came about that. It may be, may be opportunities for me to invest and then when I connected with Joe, the same passion who had in our discussion about Kit & Ace was the same spirit of how I feel about the brand and this was I think about in March of this year, and we, we never turned back. This is, this is a bit of history of where, up until today. This is where we came from.
Michael LeBlanc 10:01
Now, Joe, this is to say the least not your first retail venture. And you've had lots of opportunities to work with all kinds of different people. What do you think the combination of yourself David and, and Frank brings that's unique and powerful. You've had a lot of partners and you know, the one plus one equals three, I'm sure it's one of those things you look for talk about what you, the three of you bring to the, to the table, so to speak, to make this and other ventures really successful?
Joe Mimran 10:27
Yeah, well, we hit it off with David right away, I love his love it as his attitude and his enthusiasm, but really, you know, at the heart, at the heart of it is, is really the fact that he's been in the business for quite some time, and he understands retail and still has a passion for it, I think that's probably the one of the most important elements is to have that desire and that passion and I think when you combine that with our capabilities, we have obviously design and development capabilities, sourcing capabilities, we understand retail, ourselves, I've been in it for, as you said, very long time, we've had some successful exits.
Joe Mimran 11:14
So, this is a brand that can really, I think, go much further than it has, and I and I think that it's got a very, very good base consumer. The consumer that, that Kit & Ace has sort of zeroed in on right now is one that can be grown, I believe, I think with the right amount of attention and we're also coming out of a post COVID moment, and I think people are ready to come back to shop at in retail stores, you're seeing a movement back into retail stores, we're seeing, certainly this desire for technical clothing continuing to grow. So, we see it as a, we see it as a, you know, as a growth category, but it's this, it's this. It's this loyal customer base that's been built over the last 10 years. That I think is very valuable and I just think that I just think a little more attention, it's got to be paid on, you know, some of the product offerings and some of the, you know, some of some of the certainly on the women's side more than on the men's side and, and between our capabilities, David's you know, willing to run this thing day to day, I've got lots of other things that I work on, in addition to Kit & Ac, so you know, the fact that he's willing to spend 100% of his time, and really dig in, which is what retail needs. Retail is a contact sport. It's, it's,
Michael LeBlanc 12:54
It's not a spectator sport, that's for sure. It's not a spectator sport.
Joe Mimran 12:57
No, it's not and it's relentless. It's every day, you've got to be on it, you've you know, and you've got to be committed to doing that and I think having hands on, that David brings is going to make, I think, a very big difference and then we've got, you know, some individuals who've been with the company for a long time now, George, which is, you know, the CEO, he was the CEO, I think having his experience and sort of learnings over the years is going to be very valuable, also from an operating perspective. So, you know, you combine all of that Frank, who's a wizard on, you know, all things logistics, organizational, he's a, you know, great, great partner to have. You know, he's talking about a lot of years of experience that's coming together. So hopefully, hopefully, the consumer will, will, will like what we, we do, we're not looking to change the base customer, we're looking to enhance, we're looking just to enhance it and to, also to fuel it, you know, to invest in it and to take it to the next level, which is what it requires.
Michael LeBlanc 14:09
Let me, let me follow on that kind of brand discussion and, and let's talk about the Kit & Ace brand for a bit. I mean, as a brand. It's gone through highs and lows. Right? I mean, tremendous expansion, tremendous contraction, it's not a heritage brand. I wouldn't describe it as a heritage brand. It certainly was a leader in a very specific category. So when, when you sat back even before you got into, you know, looking at having a piece of the action of the business, how did you what's your perception of the brand, it's not Tilley, which I think I'd call a heritage brand that you're modernizing, right. Yes, different, something different. Describe how you think about it.
Joe Mimran 14:22
It's a, it's a very different, it's very different in the sense that it was. It started as a technical cashmere brand. And that was the underlying premise for it and it morphed it, and it's, and the way it morphed was into being a technical commuter type product, geared to I would say, this very active millennial customer who, who goes to work gets on his bike, you know, goes out for dinner all in the same clothes. Right? And, and, and that's a lifestyle change that has occurred, where people have been dressing and have continuously dressed in this more casual way and Kit & Ace has sort of captured that spirit of it but have not taken it to have not taken full advantage of that positioning. That's, that's how I would, yeah, that's how I would position it and it's almost been neglected, I think it got off to such a fast sort of growth mode, that the expectations were too high and then when, you know, when demand wasn't there against the original expectation, I think there was, I think there was a pulling back, as opposed to, you know, letting the customer come to them. You know, they were sort of, it was more push rather than pull.
Michael LeBlanc 16:21
I mean, the industry might say their skis a little bit. We might, we might,
Joe Mimran 16:26
Over their skis, as they say.
Michael LeBlanc 16:27
Yeah. And you think, and you think with the current, it's interesting, because I'm going to fall in this point and, David, I want to get to you talking about the future, but you know, it's a small business relative to, you know, forwards for stores. So, but you think there's enough of a solid base of loyal customers?
Joe Mimran 16:43
Yes. I think what's missing, what's missing, Michael, is the, is that they have a very strong e-commerce business. So, their e-commerce, the e-commerce business is much bigger than, much bigger than the four stores and, and so the physical presence may not be there and that's, that's really where, why we're so interested in the business now, like you said, it's still a fairly small business.
Michael LeBlanc 17:09
Yeah.
Joe Mimran 17:10
But I would prefer, I prefer it being at this size right now. Trying to change a business with 100 locations is very-
Michael LeBlanc 17:21
Very, very, very difficult. David, you would, you would know how difficult that is, with the work you did it at Mark's. So, so David, let's turn our minds to the future state of the brand. I mean, you know, its day, it's day three. So, let's not get too far ahead of our skis in the conversation, but I think you've got in mind of how you're going to grow. I mean, on one hand, the categories are a little more crowded than it was, I would say Kit & Ace created a category some others have followed. What, what do you see as remarkable, remarkable about this brand that you can grow and leverage from?
David Lui 17:54
Well, Michael, I think the word you just used, 'leverage' is, is a core focal point of mine, I would kind of backup, what Joe had mentioned a little bit more stats, we do have a tremendous fan base today, if I look back at over the last three years, this is during the pandemic and 2020 up until the end of 2022, the revenue side that actually that's grown 10% per year. So very, very positive, and the fan base is tremendously strong, because 66% of our guests, who bought from us two years ago, are still coming back to us. So that's tremendous position that we, we currently have and quite frankly, that would that was a major attraction of mine to the bran-, brand, is that there was a lot of brand love that, you know, previous owners have built and quite frankly, underutilized. So, but going forward, we believe not reinventing the game, it's really further pushing along. The premise that it's built on over the last five years and the product is more of what I call movement friendly comfort. It is purely made to last even if you look at our navigator collection are currently on floor, our men's bottoms business is fantastic. The product fit the fabrications, easy to care, and ultimately made to last, I think that's that sets us apart from many other brands and-
Michael LeBlanc 19:28
David for those who may not be familiar with the brand, what's your kind of average price point give me a sense of what, what, what a purchase looks like at a, at a Kit & Ace just so people can kind of open their minds to watch what category you're playing.
David Lui 19:42
Yeah, I say we're more premium. We're not fast fashion. We do use quality fabrics. With it being easy to, easy to care and make it last say again a shirt of an average price point of say anywhere from $110 to $130 around there. Pants, our top selling pants are around $190 to $220 type of range and, and the fact that you don't need to dry clean the product.
Michael LeBlanc 20:14
That's great,
David Lui 20:15
and I slip it on with a lot of care and comfort. Literally, I was traveling China early part of this year, and I was wearing the product literally, almost other than sleeping in it. I was moving and I'm able to, to survive the hot weather in China. So, the, the product is, is tremendously well made.
Michael LeBlanc 20:37
Joe, you've scaled a lot of businesses before, you know what it takes to scale, what does scale look like is it I think you've already more than hinted at more stores. Certainly, in Canada, you see global expansion, David's expertise in e-commerce, what's the secret sauce, in your mind for sustainable growth, for 2023 and beyond for this brand?
Joe Mimran 20:55
For every brand I've ever worked on, I think, I think at the heart of it is amazing product and product development and if you, if you don't bring that proposition to the table, then you're gonna have a hard time growing. So you know, that's where we're going to focus a lot of, lot of my energy will be focused on, on the development of the product itself, and we will continue to evolve it, we will continue to bring incredible value, incredible fit, incredible product, all within the brand ethos, and within the brand identity, I think understanding who you are, and what you are, as a brand is super important to being successful and making sure that your voice is always true to that, now consumer, you know, consumer tastes change, they move around, sometimes, you know, brands have a very consistent voice, but then the consumer will move away from, from, from, from them, because of tasting, shifting, shifting tastes.
Michael LeBlanc 22:03
Sure.
Joe Mimran 22:04
But having said that, I think that's where, again, it's very important to stay on top of, on top of consumer sentiment, and, and really tweaking and adjusting without, without trying to make a harsh turn on, on the brand, brand identity.
Michael LeBlanc 22:26
It reminds me of the challenge as a department store Eaton's had, right? How do you grow but not alienate your existing base? You know, so-
Joe Mimran 22:35
I mean, I think I think sometimes you do have to alienate them a little bit, because, you know, depending on the age, Simpsons had this problem many years ago, when they had they had you know, the white hair set and is couldn't, the blue hair and they just couldn't they couldn't move away from, from them and then it becomes too late I and I think that happened to you know, I always say if Woolworth's Five and Dime had just lasted a little longer, they could have been the Dollar Store which became a phenomena.
Joe Mimran 23:07
So, I don't think, you know, things never change as much as people think the only huge step change was e-commerce, but even that now has become more of an omni channel situation and, you know, at the end of the day, it's still about amazing products. Having, being authentic, speaking with a real voice, you know, servicing your customer, listening to your customer, all of the same tenants still hold true today and you just, you have to be a slave to those tenants in order to succeed in our industry because it's so competitive.
Joe Mimran 23:48
Yeah.
Joe Mimran 23:49
And so, you know, like I said, if you're not ready for the battle, and if you're not ready to work hard, and to keep your antenna up and, and be humble. Because, you know, this is a game that will humble you. Every single day, if you're not careful.
Michael LeBlanc 24:08
You'll be, you're one quarter away from being very humble, right, all the time. David, you know, when we talk about trends-, last couple of quick questions. I mean, it feels like one of the big changes that came out of the COVID era or modern, our modern lives is kind of the change in work from home and the way we relate and travel around cities, it feels like Kit & Ace is right in that trend, like you would be a benefit, a beneficiary of that trend that, you know, I'm going into work today but maybe I live closer to where I work like Is that how you're thinking about it as well. When you think about growth and trends?
David Lui 24:43
Absolutely. I think we are in the right space where there's a lot of movement. People are on the move; the travel industries are already experiencing a massive rebound. Tourism here in Gastown has basically returned. So yeah, definitely in the, in the right spot of when people are moving around and I've being living the bit of the consumer journey of ours, here in Greater Vancouver, jump on the Skytrain.
Michael LeBlanc 25:13
Right.
David Lui 25:14
You come to work, right and then after you work, either grab a drink or you run off to play pickleball or something and I can, like the product that I'm wearing, it definitely allows me to do so comfortably.
Michael LeBlanc 25:28
Last question, Joe, to you, last question goes to your advice to retailers, advice time. The advice from both of you, actually, but let's start with you, Joe, two-starts and one-stop is my way to kind of frame advice to things retailers, in general, need to start doing today to be successful, and one thing they should-, shouldn't do anymore. Any, what do you think?
Joe Mimran 25:49
Well, I think they've got to listen to their customers. Number one, number two, I think I mentioned omni-channel, it has to be an absolutely seamless experience between your online experience and your store experience. I think if you don't have that going, you're going to be in deep trouble. So really, really take the time to ensure that, that, that's totally consistent and then finally, you know, be careful, don't over expand bricks and mortar. Make sure that you expand intelligently and, and, and, yeah, I think those are the, those are the key things right now and just be true to who you are as a brand.
Michael LeBlanc 26:29
And David, what about you, I mean, I when I think of this opportunity, I think what's the right pace for expansion and what's your advice to retailers who are trying to grow but don't want to, again, get ahead of their skis, two starts, one stop?
David Lui 26:42
Great question. I would just like to mirror what Joe said, but I would add don't silo yourself based on terminology, meaning direct-to-consumer doesn't mean it's just e-comm. Direct-to-consumer is also physical stores, right, so it's not B2C, B2B, B2C, it is the omni approach to serving your customers, wherever or however they want to buy and experience yourself, because we because you know, human nature, we can get into these silos and get stuck and do into buckets. No, no, it's holistic and think of everyone holistically.
Michael LeBlanc 27:21
All right, well, fantastic. Well, gentlemen, it's been a busy week for you, I'm sure. So, thanks, thanks a whole bunch for joining me on the podcast. David, I think one more time and you get the five-timer jacket. So, I have to get you back on and Joe you get the one timer jacket. So, thanks for, for joining me on the pod and listen, gentlemen, best of luck to you. I think you've got a great brand and, and sounds like great opportunity ahead so much continued success.
Joe Mimran 27:47
Thanks very much, Michael. It's been a pleasure. Thank you, Michael.
Michael LeBlanc 27:51
Thanks for tuning into this episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure to follow on your favorite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically each week and be sure to check out my other retail industry media properties Remarkable Retail podcast with Steve Dennis, and the Global E-commerce Leaders podcast. Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my YouTube barbecue show Last Request Barbecue with new episodes each and every week.
I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, consumer growth consultant, president of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, Maven Media and keynote speaker. If you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website meleblanc.co.
Safe travels everyone!
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
brand, joe, years, retail, business, kidney, david, product, work, podcast, grow, consumer, retailers, store, talk, michael, people, today, canada, great