The RCC Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year recognizes a retail leader who has led their company to outstanding business success and innovation and consistently demonstrated community commitment and support. In this episode, I'm thrilled to welcome back to the podcast Paul Wood, President and CEO, Giant Tiger, the 2022 Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year Winner.
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
The RCC Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year recognizes a retail leader who has led their company to outstanding business success and innovation and consistently demonstrated community commitment and support.
The recipient is seen as a role model because of their exceptional leadership within the corporation, Canada's retail industry, and the community through personal and corporate philanthropic activities.
In this episode, I'm thrilled to welcome back to the podcast Paul Wood, President and CEO, Giant Tiger, the 2022 Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year Winner.
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven’t already, be sure and click subscribe on your favourite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week, and check out my other retail industry media properties; the Remarkable Retail podcast, the Conversations with CommerceNext podcast, and the Food Professor podcast. Last but not least, if you are into BBQ, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbeque, with new episodes each and every week!
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company & Maven Media, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co! Have a safe week everyone!
About Paul
Mr. Wood joined Giant Tiger in 2003 from Collins Barrow Ottawa LLP. He moved into increasingly senior roles on the accounting team and most recently served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, overseeing finance, real estate, warehousing and distribution, supply chain and merchandise planning. His extensive knowledge of the business, customer-centric approach, and passion for the company’s core values make him the ideal person to lead Giant Tiger.
A Chartered Accountant, Mr. Wood holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Carleton University.
About Michael
Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide. Michael was recently added to ReThink Retail’s prestigious Top 100 Global Retail Influencers for a second year in 2022.
Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. Most recently, Michael launched Conversations with CommerceNext, a podcast focussed on retail eCommerce, digital marketing and retail careers - all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon Music and all major podcast platforms. Michael is also the producer and host of the “Last Request Barbeque” channel on YouTube where he cooks meals to die for and influencer riches.
Michael LeBlanc 00:05
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:10
The RCC Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year recognizes a retail leader who has led their company to outstanding business success and innovation, and consistently demonstrated community commitment and support.
Michael LeBlanc 00:22
The recipient is seen as a role model because of their exceptional leadership within the corporation, Canada's retail industry, and the community through personal and corporate philanthropic activities.
Michael LeBlanc 00:32
In this episode, I'm thrilled to welcome back to the podcast Paul Wood, President and CEO, Giant Tiger, a 2022, Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year winner. Let's listen in now. Paul, welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. How are you doing this morning?
Paul Wood 00:47
I'm doing very well. Michael, thank you for having me back. Glad to join you.
Michael LeBlanc 00:51
Well, yes, exactly. I should say, have you this is your second time, the last time we were in person. Where was it, in New York at the NRF show? That seems a little while ago. We've chatted in between but it's great to have you back on the podcast.
Paul Wood 01:04
Yeah. Thanks so much. Great to be back with you.
Michael LeBlanc 01:06
Congratulations, RCC Distinguished Retailer of the Year award. Very, very, very excellent. Congratulations.
Paul Wood 01:13
Yeah, thank you very much, Michael. It's certainly an honor to be recognized by the Retail Council and the the industry in general in Canada, but absolutely a testament to the, the strength and success driven by the team that I'm privileged to lead on a daily basis. So, certainly, thanks to thanks to them.
Michael LeBlanc 01:33
Yeah, well, it's a it's a long, great history of, of great leaders from all sorts of businesses. So, once again, congratulations on that and we'll be able to, I'll be able to (inaudible) you sort to speak in person on May 31st, in Toronto at the awards. So, once again, congratulations. All right, so we jump right in let's, let's talk for the folks who may not know of you or know enough about you give us a little bit of background about yourself and what you do for a living.
Paul Wood 02:01
Sure. So, I am currently President and CEO of Giant Tiger. I've been working at Giant Tiger now for 19 years. Time flies, certainly my career began in the financial accounting world, I completed my Bachelor of Commerce at Carleton and, and, and articled and worked at one of the, the firms here in, in Ottawa and Giant Tiger was a client of the firm at the time. And so, not an atypical path for someone associated with a client account to be asked by the client eventually to come and join their team.
Paul Wood 02:44
And for me, while I enjoyed the time and the foundation in the public accounting world, and the, the learnings that I was able to gain there, it wasn't something that I wanted to pursue for the rest of my working career. And so, the opportunity to get into the industry and to be involved in supporting and running and, and leading the strategy of a business eventually, was something I certainly wanted to pursue and I'm thankful that the opportunity has materialized with, with Giant Tiger. I've been familiar with the was familiar with the brand for a lot of years.
Paul Wood 03:20
I grew up in small town, Ontario in Smiths Falls and there was a Giant Tiger there that was part of the weekly shopping routine and so but didn't have any inkling in the in those days that I'd end up in the position I'm in at, at this point, but it's been quite a ride and I certainly see lots of forward opportunity for the company and the brand in this exciting world of retail that's ever changing and changing at an increasingly rapid pace.
Michael LeBlanc 03:48
Yeah, it's a lot of change in 19 years if we think about the retail landscape and even if you think about the mass merchant landscape, you know, so much change brands come and go but Giant Tiger has been what is it now? 61 years, am I, have got that right?
Paul Wood 04:02
That's correct. 61 years we just celebrated our 61st anniversary at the beginning of May and absolutely has been a journey continues to be a journey of growing up really for Giant Tiger from that humble beginnings of the initial store on George Street in the ByWard Market in Ottawa. That location is still, still there that store number one, and we've grown out over time from, from there. I think when I first began working as an external auditor to the, the company the there were about 87 stores in the mix back in the so that would have been in late 90s, when I joined Giant Tiger in 2003. We were around 113 stores and we are now at 264 and continuing to, to grow that number, so some pretty substantial growth over that 20 year period, but a lot of change and development and improvement as well both in just the quality of merchandise the, the breath of our offering. But all while maintaining the price leadership position, the everyday low prices and really sticking to our values of staying, you know, connected to our community and, and serving our, our customers in, in the best way possible, doing what's right for them and keeping things simple, making it easy and fun for them to shop smart and to save smart everyday when they show up with Giant Tiger.
Michael LeBlanc 05:43
Well, I sure can testify to the brand's heritage. As, as you know, I grew up in Ottawa, I'm a Carleton alumni. So, we'll have to take Carleton for this interview. And I know number one very well. But so, yet Giant Tiger I grew up with the brand. So, it's been fun to watch all the various people. In fact, I went to school with someone who at one point, I think was, was the CEO there, Jeff York. So, loved lots of fun, different connections. Now we've touched on it a little bit. But for those who may not be familiar with the scope and scale of the business, you've talked about how many stores there are, it's a it's a is it purely at this point franchise, or is there a mix of franchise and, and corporate owned stores and talk about that for a little bit, -
Paul Wood 06:26
we like to say or I like to say if we stopped growing and people stopped growing older and retiring, eventually we would be fully franchised. And we're a franchise system is key to our success, we believe surely contributes to some of what makes us different.
Paul Wood 06:44
But at the same time, the model is a little bit atypical in that we don't market the franchises for sale on the open market, we're not looking for financial investment, people to buy franchises where we would have that initial transaction and kind of let things go off and, and be run according to a manual. And in kind of a separation, it's more of a sort of a more of a business partnership that we enter into with capable retailers, capable merchants that demonstrate their ability to operate the Giant Tiger system to lead in their communities and will grant them a franchise for a very low nominal financial transaction, and they build their equity in over time.
Paul Wood 07:32
And so we do have certainly a mix of corporate owned stores and franchise owned stores in our mix. But that's simply a function of the lifecycle and the churn of a retail business, we open a store corporately, with a goal of converting that to be franchise owned with a, a partner that we can work with, well into the future and our you know, desire as they stay in that location or move to another location of their choice, and have a long prosperous career in that, in that relationship with us. And at the end of the day, we buy it back and start the cycle over again, own it a couple years as a corporate while someone gets their sea legs, so to speak, and then roll it on out again.
Paul Wood 08:19
So, the, the mix of stores is more a function of just the lifecycle and where it stores out in its in its history and where its leader is at in, in their career. And given our growth, and given that churn, there's always a mixture, but the way the stores operate, the way we support and operate and work with the stores is consistent, irrespective of who technically owns it at any given point in time.
Michael LeBlanc 08:46
Right. And not to get too far into the weeds in this because I'm sure some people are listening to this are thinking, man, this could be a great opportunity at the at the end of your tenure, so to speak as a franchisee you, you, you can't sell that on that goes back to corporate, right? When you decide that you've, you've had a great career and it's time to, to wind it up that, that goes back to you so to speak at corporate right, it's not something that they can put on the market. So, just to be, you know, 100% clear, right?
Paul Wood 09:11
Yeah, they I mean, they, they sell it back and it gets it gets purchased. But we have first right of refusal on that buyback. And so we always exercise our right to buy our stores back and to roll them on to the next the next person and that way we continue to grow and, and manage the brand and the direction and keep everyone aligned really to the values and the approach we take to, to the business.
Michael LeBlanc 09:43
Let's get into the modern retail. I mean, we've just been through the COVID era and you and I have had the chance to speak a couple of times at least during the COVID era and different things, including with our friend, Dave Poirier, and all kinds of different things. Let's talk about the Giant Tiger playbook for the situation we're in now we're in a post-ish COVID world supply chain disruptions, the global supply chain disruptions continue. They flare up. We've got disruptions in Europe, we have a war in Europe, we've got price inflation. What's the, how are you adjusting your mix, in terms of how and where you source? Are you, are you rethinking anything around supply chain in terms of lead times or in terms of boy, maybe we should ask the vendors and you have private labor yourself? Maybe more continental strategies? How are you thinking about that at head office around what the world is today? And what the world might be for the foreseeable future?
Paul Wood 10:36
Yeah, great question. It, it, it's certainly a regular topic of conversation, all things supply chain and really has been for the last two years, our team has done a fantastic job of adapting and adjusting and, and rolling with the punches, so to speak, to do their utmost to ensure that the flow of products of great everyday needs for our customers continue to make their way into our stores.
Paul Wood 11:03
And, and as you mentioned, there's been no, no shortage of disruptions from the initial log jam of containers and container ships coming in from overseas and the delays of those cause to that finally beginning to open a bit. And then we had the significant floods in BC, kind of disrupting a significant portion of road and rail infrastructure coming through Canada.
Paul Wood 11:32
You know, in more recent times, certainly the, the significant increase in the price of fuel the rolling lockdowns in China in certain cities and ports that have blocked things. So, for us, change has been the constant and, and agility has been the requirement and continues to be and we don't see that lightening up in any way.
Paul Wood 11:57
Absolutely, we have had to lengthen our expected lead times. And certainly everything feeds off of when we'd like product in the store for the customer, particularly seasonal items. And so, that creates churn and compression for our merchants, doubling up on their, their efforts to accelerate the timing of their buying calendar and the analysis of their assortment. And as they go out and find those great items.
Paul Wood 12:23
So, it has been continued will to have will continue to have an impact on our on our business for the foreseeable future. And our buyers do consistently look for alternative sources. And, and really, you know, with a goal of finding the best product providing the best value for our customer on our, our home products or fashion goods, and with grocery. And within those different categories of our business, the pressures are different, the sources of supplier already different and some are very centralized just from a worldwide production capacity perspective, that there are commodities that are only produced overseas in any significant quantity. And so we, we don't have ready options for some things. We certainly pursue other avenues for those things that we can certain areas of the business certainly are more broadly distributed across the world, whether it's into other areas of Southeast Asia, whether it's moving into, into Africa, into South America, etc. So, (crossover talk), -
Michael LeBlanc 13:36
Mexico? Are hearing, are hearing of, of the vendors talking about Mexico and other places like that, like when you when you sit down with the vendors and they certainly it's not an isolated problem for them. They're trying to figure it out as well. Are you are you hearing more discussion about changes like that?
Paul Wood 13:51
Yeah, ab-, ab-, absolutely. It's, it's something that, that I think many across the, the world in the industry continue to explore and the challenge is the ability to kind of light it up overnight it's not easy. And it's not something that's going to switch on a on a dime, I don't believe or turn on a dime.
Paul Wood 14:13
But I do believe it's, it's something that, that everyone is really paying more attention too, you, you just see the, you mentioned the, the war in, in Ukraine and, and the, the impact there the, the world is so interconnected. The consumer is so aware that even from a, a consumer perspective on where products are sourced when some of these geopolitical things rear up or, pr raise their raise their head that has implication on what customers are comfortable buying, they pay attention to where things are sourced and so, you know, that does become definitely a consideration just for how you best insulate your, your business to some of those risks or potential risks further out down the road. So, absolutely a area of constant discussion and exploration. Unfortunately, not one with many easy solutions. But, (crossover talk), -
Michael LeBlanc 15:12
I think the world of immediate I think the world of immediate solutions is kind of past us. And, and I'm talking to leaders like yourself about okay, what is what does it look like in five years, right? Is there a path, you know, to get pa-, you know, get past the, you know, today it's baby formula tomorrow it will be something else, right. But in general, you know, what, what does that path look like?
Paul Wood 15:32
Yeah,
Michael LeBlanc 15:33
Yeah, I mean, let's, let's talk about eCommerce. So, industry took a bit of note when you hired Simon Rodrigue, who I, who I know well from different you know, he's been in different organizations, a very large scale, and, and I was, I had a little chuckle to myself, you did a post on, on LinkedIn, he's looking for like, what is it, 125 people? No, I'm kidding, (crossover talk), -
Paul Wood 15:55
Not quite that many but yes, a few.
Michael LeBlanc 15:57
He's hiring. I mean and you're hiring. So, let's talk about eCommerce in the role. It's, it's not new to Giant Tiger eCommerce, but what's your what's your vision? And what's your perspective on, on eCommerce and a value based retailer like yourself and the system you're in with franchisees? It's that's an added layer of complication. But how are you now thinking about the role of eCommerce in Giant Tiger?
Paul Wood 16:18
Yeah, e-, eCommerce for, for us is just part of what retail is and what retail needs to be for today and tomorrow for our customer and I've mentioned, we've been involved in eCommerce for several years, a number of years, but really haven't fully executed on the ability to have it take hold and really become that integral part of our overall operation. And, and that's, you know, Simon's mandate is to really take that forward, we were pleased to be able to have him join our team with his experience in that area, and has certainly, off to a great start there. And, you know, we just had some, some things we had to sort out and, and improve and, and correct on our operational side. But its well really, you know, clarify and simplify the, the user interface with our customer. And so we see it as, you know, just opportunity loss today where customers are buying online and not choosing or exploring Giant Tiger for items they perhaps used to buy in our in our stores. And, an so we we'd like to get our quote unquote fair share of that business, but it is still in support of our overall retail business. And we can't lose sight of the fact that even you know, even achieving industry average or above average percentages of, of customer spend on, on eCommerce, it still pales in comparison to the total volume achieved through the bricks and mortar network.
Paul Wood 18:02
And so, it has to be, (crossover talk), complimentary, supplementary, but it also to us opens the, the door for customers who are familiar with the brand. But perhaps we have yet to find the right bricks and mortar location in a neighborhood near them. And so, we are, are really focusing on ensuring that our online presence at gianttiger.com, really replicates the store and the values of Giant Tiger, the community connections and all of those things.
Paul Wood 18:33
So, we're working on some exciting developments there to really cement the consistency of the Giant Tiger experience into an online world and then have that knit together with our, our store network and, and be supported across the board. And, and you know, you raised the comment about the franchise system. And certainly we've, we navigate that in a way that this will support and work with them as part of the overall Giant Tiger offering to our customers. It'll be another vehicle through which we can capture new customers and bring them into the brand and, and certainly steer them into our bricks and mortar stores as well.
Michael LeBlanc 19:21
So, during the COVID era, you, you were building a new head office I think the plans are already set before COVID hit y-, you no doubt kind of adjusted those plants. So, I just want to talk about hybrid work because it you know, located in Ottawa, pros and cons one of the, the downsides, I guess you could say is, is the access to the labor pool is somewhat smaller. Talk about how you're rolling out the new office building what it looks like today and, and what's your thinking is on, on the modern workplace?
Paul Wood 19:53
Yeah, this certainly is top of mind for many folks as we've tried to navigate this post-COVID environment, and yes, we're pleased to have been able to get our, our new office construction completed during COVID. Actually, the construction teams did a great job and continued to work throughout. And so, our employees have a, a wonderful new space to come back to as they begin to explore what coming back to the office looks like.
Paul Wood 20:26
But at the same time, the pandemic forced us to or created the opportunity for us to reevaluate just how we work and how our team's work. And, you know, we were able to keep things rolling in an online world and converting very quickly to a work from home environment for most of the support office staff. And our business is a mixture, obviously, the frontline staff and, and employees in stores, team members in stores and in the distribution centers, were in those roles in those locations all throughout, and we, you know, took all the precautions necessary.
Paul Wood 21:05
But now as things settle out, and, and kind of the work from home, mandates have been lifted, we migrate into what we're calling, "work your way", allowing more of a team by team, function by function, ability to find the, the right mix of that person to person collaboration, face to face collaboration, and the flexibility to support our team members and, and their needs and, and requirements on, on their own side.
Paul Wood 21:05
On the office side, it's been, you know, again, kind of function based, there's been need for merchants dealing with supplies and the marketing team with photography at sample, using samples to produce the copy and the, the ads and, and the like. And so, there's been a mixture throughout.
Paul Wood 21:59
And so. I think it's, we are going to end up in and pursue a hybrid model, we're seeing numbers of folks coming back into the, the office. And I think what gets reignited very quickly in those scenarios is the energy and the opportunities of being around other folks and working with other team members. And where it's not a case of Zoom meeting, the agenda is finished and that one shuts off and the next one lights up. Those more informal connections and the chats about ideas get fostered and, and the energy that is generated from that amongst the, the team is, is palpable, it's noticeable and so, we're excited for that. We're excited for them coming back into the, the office.
Paul Wood 22:47
But this, this, you mentioned Ottawa as a location, the, the onset of our more hybrid approach is actually broaden the labor pool for us, as we've been able to hire, attract, retain folks from outside the Ottawa area that will join us and work and make their way here when they need to be here and are able to be in a different location for other days when they're, they're working remotely. And so that's actually been an added bonus for us through this because before there was always that challenge of folks with partners that are working in one of the other larger cities, Ottawa is certainly a great city to live in. But population wise, we're still relatively small. And, you know, that has actually opened open things up for us. So, we're excited by the prospects that brings and it does force a different a different management style on our people, leaders and, and require them to really work with their, their teams and find, find the right balance that, that works. So, we're, we're (crossover talk), beginning to explore that and I think it'll work its way out over time.
Michael LeBlanc 24:05
Well, it feels to me one of the one of the challenges of our time in terms of business and work is how to readjust this pretty tectonic change between everyone in the office. It's not exactly new, but not at the scope, right. And, and I guess the, you know, you've got a very particular culture at Giant Tiger. So, I guess that must be foremost in your mind around how to maintain that culture. You talked about, you know, the kind of great interactions between people, but is it your perspective, perhaps that, you know, the, the key is culture and adhesion to the brand? And then how do we make sure whether it's in the officer or a third place, that, that culture, you know, informs, you know, all those decisions and, and the support of all the franchisees and all the operators out in the field, right?
Paul Wood 24:51
Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, we have to be even clearer and more intentional as we onboard folks and bring them into the mix to be sure that we are communicating those key attributes and values that, that you know, were established way back in the, in the beginning when Mr. Reed began the company and it really endured and, and need to continue to endure and be fostered as we go forward. And really unpacking the difference between how things are actually done and, and more adhering to doing things in the in the right way, and keeping them simple and, and being proudly frugal and, and those kind of core foundational elements, you know, become part of, of everything we, we do, and everything we talk about, and kind of reinforcing that.
Paul Wood 25:44
And then you be intentional about ways to continue to foster the engagement and the connection, whether that's, you know, periodic, scheduled, in person get-togethers, or town halls or meetings within the groups or we've, you know, we've done webcasts with our stores, we actually probably communicated directly with our stores more regularly over the last two years than we would have been normal cadence, there would have been more face to face random visits, if you will, prior to COVID, but collective regular communication and updates, and so you have to find those different ways to deliver the message and, and build that, that connection in, in a different world. But the, the connection remains key to really fostering the, the alignment, the adhesion and the camaraderie across the, the company.
Michael LeBlanc 26:38
Last couple of questions, let's talk about what's next, let's talk about growth. First of all, and you've already indicated that, you know, an opportunity, for example, in eCommerce is to reach consumers who may not have access to a physical store, maybe like, you know, I can think of a downtown Toronto, for example, where there's vast amounts of people with, with less so to speak access is that that's one opportunity is historic growth. What other opportunities are you seeing in terms of category growth? Or, you know, what's the playbook so to speak, to continue to grow the business organically? Or, or otherwise?
Paul Wood 27:11
That's the proverbial million dollar question for sure. We it's kind of an all of the above, Michael, we've spent a good part of the last couple of years shoring up some of the foundational components of the business really reigniting some of the disciplines and, and drive that, that need to be always on and make sure that they were in the kind of the condition they need to be to support our forward growth, organic growth with you know, more sites and more locations, kind of as they are is certainly still on the radar. You know, the, the availability of, od real estate and, and sites that we would typically go into is probably not as broad as it had been over the last number of years. So, but we still pursue that, opportunities within the four walls, within the merchandising areas, the category for category growth and agility across categories. There, I think we still see lots of opportunity within that in addition to just physical location, and then couple that with the, the digital expansion and the growth on the eCommerce side.
Paul Wood 28:21
And then beyond that, it's, it's you know, that's the next frontier we continue to explore is are there other, you know, other opportunities for, for growth, we still see certainly plenty of white space in Canada itself. And, and so we'll we're working on a few i-, ideas, a few options on really how to continue to tap into the Canadian consumer and get them you know, more of them visiting us more often and spending more money. It sounds simple, and it sounds kind of a cliché, but we do see opportunity for that to continue to happen and teams are working on fine tuning our, our strategies, and our approaches to, to be able to go ahead and, and achieve that.
Michael LeBlanc 29:08
Well over 61 years, you've been in businesses you've seen a lot of different types of economic cycles, and you've, you know, done well in all of them. We may be heading into one where value based retail has a moment, another moment but you know, as I said, you've operated the business in all kinds of different economic situations. There's always a market for well priced, great value product, right. So, that doesn't, that doesn't very.
Michael LeBlanc 29:32
Last question for you, a-, advice to the retailer's listening with all your experience and what you've seen and how you're thinking about it too. I'm going to frame it in a two starts and one stop. Two things they should start doing and one thing they should stop doing. The stop is kind of like, well, we used to do this and it's not working anymore. And that could be, you know, it could be, you know, social media that could be influencers or whatever on either side of those starter stops. Well, how do you think about two things retailers should start doing and maybe one thing they should reconsider doing.
Paul Wood 30:04
Thanks, Michael, it's a great, great question. I'll start with the kind of the two starts. And, you know, again, I don't claim these to be innovative in any way, or necessarily things that aren't already being done. But certainly over the last couple of years, the, the, the importance of, of both of these, I think, has been, been elevated. The first one would be the, the, the connection to the customer, and,, and really staying abreast of their needs and wants, they are changing, they're evolving. You know, it's our, they don't really care how we have to go about doing something, but they're looking for that great service, and those great products and great value every day. And so, you know, our, if it was easy, everybody would be doing it. And it'd be, it'd be, an easy thing for everyone to, to do. And it's, it's not on the delivery side. But you know, winning is only associated with, with getting that customer's heart and mind and, and making that, that connection.
Paul Wood 31:09
The second thing that I think really came to bear over the, over the last little while, and continues to be a, a core tenant of what we do. And that's the kind of the human side of, of things, the connection into the communities into the, the areas of support there's so much need across the, the country in so many different ways. It's really finding that niche and that ability and the ways in which you can contribute and support the communities in which we operate the communities that produce our employees produce our customers. And for Giant Tiger, the community connection and the, the in-, involvement and support there at a grassroots level across the country has been critical. And to me something that we will maintain and continue and I just see the, the need is not getting smaller by any means. And so that would be another area that I would encourage continued focus and an emphasis on.
Paul Wood 32:12
On the stop doing part. One of the team could, could tell you very well, that one of the things that probably is one of my, my biggest pet peeves is where the response to the response to potential innovation or question or challenges. Well, that's not the way we've always done it. And I think striking those words from our language is absolutely necessary to be able to continue to innovate and to drive success and solutions forward both for the customer, for our teams, for our stakeholders, you know, we have to be clear on, as I've said, clear on our, our values clear on our foundational components of our, our respective strategies, but we do have to be open to ways to continue to innovate and to, to modernize our, our business and to take advantage of ways to improve it. And so, that would be my, my stop doing.
Michael LeBlanc 33:14
Well, it's fantastic advice from an experienced retailer within an organization that's stood the test of time, and whether you're just a startup or whether you're in the same situation. I think it's great advice. Paul, thanks so much for joining me once again, on The Voice of Retail.
Paul Wood 33:30
Well great, Michael, thank you so much for having me and I really look forward to connecting with you and seeing you in person later this month as well. Thanks again for having me today.
Michael LeBlanc 33:30
Once again, thanks for becoming RCCs 2022, Distinguished Canadian Retailer of the Year winner for I know you said (inaudible) on your skills and on behalf of the team. It's, it's a great achievement. So, congratulations, and thanks for joining me on The Voice of Retail podcast. It was great to catch up and look forward to seeing you in person very soon and, and continuing our dialogue.
Michael LeBlanc 34:00
Thanks for tuning into this special episode of The Voice of Retail. If you haven't already, be sure and click an subscribe on your favorite podcast platform so new episodes will land automatically twice a week.
Michael LeBlanc 34:10
And check out my other retail industry media properties, the Remarkable Retail podcast, Conversations with CommerceNext podcast and The Food Professor podcast with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois.
Michael LeBlanc 34:20
Last but not least, if you're into barbecue, check out my all new YouTube barbecue show, Last Request Barbecue with new episodes each and every week. I'm your host, Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company and Maven Media. And if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.co.
Have a safe week everyone.
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