Jest Sidloski grew up within the Peavey Mart brand from the storefront to the executive level. Now, as the Vice President of Marketing, Customer Experience & eCommerce, he tells the company’s compelling origin story and offers insider insights on how this western Canadian legacy is charging into the future. On this episode of The Voice of Retail, Jest and I talk about the role that Peavey Mart plays as a community staple to farmers, urban and rural, across the country.
Welcome to the The Voice of Retail , I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Jest Sidloski grew up within the Peavey Mart brand from the storefront to the executive level. Now, as the Vice President of Marketing, Customer Experience & eCommerce, he tells the company’s compelling origin story and offers insider insights on how this western Canadian legacy is charging into the future.
On this episode of The Voice of Retail, Jest and I talk about the role that Peavey Mart plays as a community staple to farmers, urban and rural, across the country.
We break down the challenges and opportunities that the pandemic has brought to Peavey Mart and dive into the company’s marketing strategy in the face of the great acceleration. Jest talks about the brand’s devotion to fostering community across customers and stores - and how that translates into meaningful storytelling.
Thanks for tuning into today’s episode of The Voice of Retail. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast so you don’t miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed this episode please consider leaving a rating and review, as it really helps us grow so that we can continue getting amazing guests on the show.
I’m your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company, and if you’re looking for more content, or want to chat follow me on LinkedIn, or visit my website meleblanc.co!
Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
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 and The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois. You can learn more about Michael here or on LinkedIn.
Michael LeBlanc 00:04
Welcome to The Voice of Retail. I'm your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:10
Jest Sidloski grew up within the Peavey Mart brand from the storefront to the executive level. Now, as the Vice President of Marketing, Customer Experience & eCommerce, he tells the company’s compelling origin story and offers insider insights on how this Western Canadian legacy is charging into the future.
Michael LeBlanc 00:27
On this episode of The Voice of Retail, Jest and I talk about the role that Peavey Mart plays as a community staple to farmers, urban and rural, across the country.
Michael LeBlanc 00:35
We break down the challenges and opportunities that the pandemic has brought to Peavey Mart and dive into the company’s marketing strategy in the face of the great acceleration. Jest talks about the brand’s devotion to fostering community across customers and stores - and how that translates into meaningful storytelling.
Jest Sidloski 00:51
This isn't like some of the retailers that can go, paper flyers are a thing of the past, for us it's not, we have to take a very cautious approach and ask and listen to our consumer in each segment and ask them what they want and time and time again, an overwhelming majority of the Peavey Mart customer has said that they still prefer the paper flyer.
Michael LeBlanc 01:13
Let's listen in now.
Jest Welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. How are you doing this morning?
Jest Sidloski 01:17
I'm good, thank you very much for having me.
Michael LeBlanc 01:19
Well, as we were saying off-mic, together, it's a real treat, I feel like I know you. We've conversed many times back and forth on, whether it's email or LinkedIn, it's great to hear your voice and looking forward to getting to know you better and chitting and chatting about Peavey. Yeah, thanks so much. I'm super happy to be here with you today.
Michael LeBlanc 01:37
Well, it's, it's great and, and what a story, what a story, what a career you've had and what a story Peavey has. So, let's just jump right in. Tell us a bit about your background, and your role at Peavey.
Jest Sidloski 01:51
Yeah, I guess you could say that I grew up with Peavey, I started my Peavey career back in high school as a part time clerk. And I'm not sure that if you asked me, I could imagine that I would be where I am today. But really, the journey has been incredible. So, I started in retail operations. And I could say that that's my first passion in retail is the operation side and I worked in stores, grew up in stores, and then got to manage my own store in Tacoma, Alberta. From there, I got to go to Southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba where I became an interim district manager to test the waters a little bit. It wasn't long after that, that they brought me into the home office to start the first training and development department, customer experience department and then today, the Vice President of Marketing, eCommerce and customer experience. So quite a journey, I've, I've learned a lot along the way.
Michael LeBlanc 02:45
And quite a big remit. I mean, the combination, I'm hearing of it more often putting together those things you describe right, the marketing piece, the e-commerce piece, customer experience. That's a big remit. And let's tell the folks who may not be as familiar with Peavey, I often find even if people are familiar with a retailer, they don't know its full scope and scale. So, it can be a bit of the origin story. As I said, it's a familiar name to many, but not everyone and talk about the brand and the businesses, you get different banners and have gone through a lot of interesting things over the past couple of years, so.
Michael LeBlanc 03:16
Yeah, I mean, it's one of my favorite stories. You know, I've been here 17 years, so you get to really learn the history and speak to it, and it's become a passion of mine. So, Peavey Mart, Peavey Mart for, historically was a Western Canadian retail organization that started back in 1968 as National Farmway stores. So, it wasn't an American owned retailer, originally early on, and then there was an opportunity in the 70s for a group of managers, the Canadian owners to purchase the company from the Americans. They did that, they renamed the company, Peavey Mart and it has existed as a Western Canadian legacy ever since. So, that was,
Michael LeBlanc 03:58
Well, you know, the, it, what's Pea-, was Peavey one of the founders, what's the origin of that name?
Jest Sidloski 04:03
You know, there's, there's a lot of history on the, the Peavey name and it's it's specifically reaches out to Minnesota, where the company had come from, and I think it was one of those things at the time where Martin retail was taking a hold, we had Kmart and things like that. And so, they utilize the name Peavey through the mark behind it. And that's how people have known us ever since. So, the name is great. There's a lot of history there. Actually, if you go downtown Minneapolis, there's the Peavey Square, and that had some connections to our company's history early on the company, the, the Peavey company, has existed since the late 1800s. And in the United States, in the northern states. There's still grain elevators and grain carts that have the Peavey logo on it. But that predates the real retail side of the business, and it predates Peavey Mart as a retailer.
Jest Sidloski 04:59
So, you know, the, the company had some modest growth from the late 60s on. And in 2016, one of the first major acquisitions, for Peavey industries, the parent company was to purchase TSC stores out of Ontario. So, your listeners in Ontario would be familiar with TSC stores, which had a remarkable similarity in history. They started in 1967. They were also originally Canadian owned, it was bizarre as the companies operated on both sides of Canada, they were almost a mirror image of each other in the service provided in the products offered,
Michael LeBlanc 05:34
Yeah, I have to say, you know, I spent a bunch of years of Black and Decker and you kind of get to know and I remember being confused. I'm like, are these guys the same company? Because the just interesting, right, one Western one Eastern Canada that just kind of grew up the same way servicing very similar client and
Jest Sidloski 05:51
Very similar, it was quite interesting story and, I mean, I think even prior to the acquisition, the companies worked very close with each other and, and shared ideas and concepts because we were to Western Canada, what TSC stores was to Ontario,
Michael LeBlanc 06:06
Yeah, you could share learnings that you didn't compete with each other. In fact, you probably had a lot of complem-, you know, a lot of similar relationships with similar vendors, complimentary I could, I could see how the two would come together, kind of, organically, for sure.
Jest Sidloski 06:17
Yeah, there was the great synergies, and then the opportunity came up for Doug Anderson and Peavey industries to, to make that acquisition. And fast forward to today. That is now Peavey Mart, Ontario. And so, I'll talk about that a bit later, later, because there, there's some obvious reasons on why a retailer would want to nationalize its brand. But prior to nationalizing Peavey Mart in 2013, I hope I got that date right there. So much going on.
Michael LeBlanc 06:50
So, I am calling on you and not as a marketer, as a retail historian here, so, I don't think that’s one of the things in your job title.
Jest Sidloski 06:57
We'll see if I pass, my president will be sure to tell me otherwise, if I didn't. We open Main Street Hardware’s, in the province of Alberta, and Main Street Hardware is where your small town footprint store meant to serve your everyday hardware, but they were able to open three locations, you know, pilot test models that have been extremely successful in Alberta and they were able to get the, the Peavey Mart pricing, the product selection, the great service with a different banner, different name a different square footage. That's a very fun channel of Peavey Industries. And then, more recently, 2020, a week before the pandemic was declared globally, we had acquired ACE Canada, from Lowe's and that, you know, is a great story and that story is still being curated and being told, but we have, we have those three retailer banners Peavey Mart, ACE Canada, Main Street Hardware and previously TSC stores in Ontario.
Michael LeBlanc 07:58
So, if you added them all up, you started, your origin started in the West, kind of, stretched across the nation. How many, about how many stores, amongst the banners, do you, do you guys operate and are you in most provinces now, between all the different banners, talk a little bit about that?
Jest Sidloski 08:13
Yeah, we're, we're right across Canada now. Coast to coast to coast. So, we can be found on Vancouver Island, up in the Yukon, all the way over to the Maritimes, the province of Quebec. So, we are, we're all across Canada, the combined total of Peavey Mart, Main Street and Ace Canada, bannered and non-bannered, we're looking at 200 plus locations and when you consider prior to the acquisition of TSC in 2016, that was closer to 30 some locations. So, it's tremendous growth in the last decade, something we're very proud of.
Michael LeBlanc 08:55
Yeah. All going in the right direction. Very interesting. Well, let's, let's talk about more recent times, this COVID era stuff now, I think many of your banners, I guess, I think most would have been able to remain open declared essential, most of the time and most of the provinces. So, you've got a really good, you know, handle on the COVID era, kind of, upfront and personal, so to speak and, you know, I think what we're all trying to figure out, I imagine you guys would be as well, is what, what COVID era has brought in terms of changes that are just temporary, you know, people adjusting to weird circumstances versus things that have, have changed permanently and I'm curious about how you're thinking about that, not so much heading into the holiday because it's probably done, but as you think about 2022 and beyond and how it's affecting your marketing and messaging and, and programming. How are you starting to think about that?
Jest Sidloski 09:49
Yeah, that's, that's a, boy is an incredible question and I'm sure we, I'm sure we could talk about that for hours, but as every other retailer knows, and every listener to your podcast. COVID was a rapid accelerator in many ways. We were fortunate, I guess you could say that to be declared essential by all of the governments in the provinces that we were in and we were declared essential and many, many in the public didn't realize this about us at the time, but we sell things like horse medications and supplements and things that farmers and agriculture relies on for their animals for their livestock. So that had to be something that they could get their hands on, should they need to, I mean, those rules change province by province, we had to close off section of our stores, just like other retailers, some of our locations had to close temporarily, couldn't sell toys in, in Manitoba, for example, leading up to last Christmas.
Jest Sidloski 10:45
So, the rules were varied. But, you know, we, we were able to stick with it and stay through it and one of the first things that we did at the very start of the pandemic was kind of took a step back and said, well, how is this going to look for us? And I don't think anybody guessed right. We all had, we all had thoughts on what COVID would look like and I think we continue to have those thoughts and what COVID has proven to us is that you got to have at least 10 thoughts, because any given day.
Jest Sidloski 11:15
Yeah, you're going to have to change your, change your messaging and your initiatives on demand, but the very first things we did was, we decided that we were going to lead with authentic and transparent messaging to our customers, but none of I would call it corporate jargon, we didn't really use scripted messages or responses, we spoke from our heart, we told the customer, we might not get this, right, this is what we're doing. This is why we're doing it, you know, please stick with us, we hope to, you know, we hope to do the right thing along the way.
Michael LeBlanc 11:15
Well put.
Jest Sidloski 11:50
And I think that, that really worked for us, and even today, that's how we're continuing to lead through the pandemic. I mean, we were a retailer that, that sponsors events and puts on our own events and we do it frequently and in the last two years, we haven't been able to do it like we would want to, but it was doing the right thing and, and, you know, that was I think, personally my biggest challenge as a marketer, it's, you want to get out there, you want to meet your customers, you want to have a great experience, you want to give back to the communities you're in, but you can't do it the same way you used to do it. So, you’ve got to start getting creative and the first part of that is connecting to those customers and communities through storytelling, I guess and then, you know, your question on the acceleration. Well, we launched a new website in April of this year, which we actually had signed off on just before the pandemic.
Michael LeBlanc 12:44
Now, we, were you guys’ eCommerce, well, talk a bit about your eCommerce history. Did you, were you online already, were you shop in-store, pickup in-store, give us a sense of that journey?
Jest Sidloski 12:54
Yeah, Peavey Mart historically wasn't really strong as an online retailer prior to the acquisition of TSC stores and TSC stores had started that quite a bit more in advance, they already had a decade of ecommerce learnings in their operations. So, when the companies merged, we had a Peavey Mart and a TSC stores website, but really, it was the same website offering the same experience just with different channels, because of course, we had two different brands and supply chains, but they knew what they were doing with ecommerce and we were able to take those learnings, put it over to Peavey Mart very quickly grow that business very rapidly and then the accelerant came with COVID, where now we were getting all kinds of new customers that were going, wow, this brand, this, this brand was, was built for this pandemic and I don't, I don't mean that in,
Michael LeBlanc 13:52
In a taking advantage of it way. Just,
Jest Sidloski 13:53
Yeah, absolutely not.
Michael LeBlanc 13:55
It all happened, right.
Jest Sidloski 13:56
I mean, it's just the way it all happens. We had, you know, growing chickens and offering feed, garden centers, work clothes, everything that all of a sudden, consumers were wanting to get into well spending their time at home instead of traveling. They, they recognize Peavey, this is the retailer that carries the stuff that we need to get us through this pandemic, and we opened our doors to 1000s and 1000s of new customers meeting our brand for the first time, but therefore they wanted a better ecommerce experience.
Michael LeBlanc 14:28
Right.
Jest Sidloski 14:28
So, we had to rapidly get that done and launch a new website. So, we, did we launched the new face of the website in April of this year. We had a massive, rebrand opening to celebrate Canada wide Peavey Mart with the Ontario change from TSC to Peavey Mart and we did that all during the pandemic following government mandates, rules and restrictions. So, if everybody's safe and all that grades, keep everybody safe, but you know that was a monstrous task, but it happened so fast and we were able to commit doing it so quickly and work so well together because of COVID in the situation it threw us into
Michael LeBlanc 15:07
I mean, it's, it's interesting because, you know, well, you've probably seen the same studies I have about this. This COVID era opened up, like in no way I've ever seen, people to new brands, right, because it shook up everybody's habits. You know, some brands are the beneficiary of those changes. I mean, it I guess if you had to plan it, a brand transition, ironically, it turned out to be a pretty good time to do it because everybody was just open to something new, right?
Jest Sidloski 15:31
I think, there was a, there was a level of openness, openness across Canada specifically on retailer, retailers and a lot of retailers got to be very creative in their COVID response and how they were going to commit to customers and get through the pandemic and we're still dealing with that today.
Michael LeBlanc 15:48
Yeah, I'm on the, I'm on the website now it's great website I've been on it before because I'm, kind of, checking out different categories, I mean, it's funny because it really highlights the breadth, right, you've got, you know, tips on how to get your tractor ready for winter, but at the same time how to cook a great Turkey for Easter, right, so it's, Easter or Thanksgiving. It's, it's an, it's a, again, it's a big remit for you though, right, you've got a very, your customer must, as you think about segmentation, must span from your, from your farm community all the way to prospective urbanites, right because you're in cities like London and places like that, that you're attracting both a mix of, a mix of customers walking through your doors, yeah?
Jest Sidloski 16:26
Yeah, I mean, traditionally our customer is that rural farm customer and, and that is what built, built our brand, and we're very proud of that and we're proud to call ourselves a farm store. Now, you know, prior to COVID, in certain pockets around the country, there was these new urban farming communities, I would call it that allowed backyard chickens and allowed beekeeping and, and we jumped into that as quick as possible, knowing our consumer wanted a retail option, but also because it speaks to our brand. So, we were able to capture that prior to COVID, but really dress it up and drive it home during COVID.
Jest Sidloski 17:07
And part of that, you alluded to it several times here, was the connected to the land initiative and that was an initiative that was actually reborn in the pandemic, which provides a hard magazine, blog articles, videos, walkthroughs, DIY guides, we've partnered with Canadian bloggers and educators from coast to coast, we actually even have our own podcast, so we're not going to try to compete with you or anything, but the concept there was to get Canadians the information they were looking for to make an informed decision on these new hobbies and experiences.
Michael LeBlanc 17:45
Yeah, it's really a robust marketing and other encourage anybody who's equally familiar or not, I mean, what, what jumps out at me, you know, you look at your homepage and just even how you're naming conventions for your categories, right, you call it homesteading and, and just the, the images you choose, I mean, it's really to me a clear idea of who you are, and very clear about who, who you can be and what, what to expect, yet, it still leaves a bit of latitude for exploration. So, it's pretty fun, actually. So, congratulations on that.
Michael LeBlanc 18:15
Let's, let's, let's delve into the marketing mix a little bit. So, we've talked about ecommerce. You know, you still even many retailers in your category would have flyer programs. And you've already just talked about a podcast and these, these different, kind of, ways. How are you thinking about the marketing mix today, you know, of course, the use of social media, for example, is accelerated as well and how do you think about this marketing mix as, as you plan forward or, and, you know, or is the flyer is still a big part, in your mind of what, what will make you successful and take me through that for a little bit?
Jest Sidloski 18:48
This is a great question and I think to really get to the nuts and bolts of it, we also have to understand our consumer and being one of Canada's only national farm and ranch retailers. There's some other great farm and ranch retailers in the country, but in the scope across Canada, we understand that, you know, our customer base is still primarily root. Now, we have a great mix of urban and rural, but the differences between those customer bases, and what they've told us that they want is very, very different. So, this isn't, this isn't like some of the retailers that can go up paper flyers are a thing of the past, for us it's not, we have to take a very cautious approach and ask and listen to our consumer in each segment and ask them what they want and time, and time again, an overwhelming majority of the Peavey Mart customer has said that they still prefer the paper flyer. So, with COVID, we did scale it back, TSC stores used to run a 52 week print flyer program. We no longer do that. We run about a 36-week flyer, print flyer program and then we, we have the remaining weeks as a digital flyer. So, we have
Michael LeBlanc 19:57
If I added up the number, just a tactical question, but if I added up the number of pages, are you down, up or sideways because you've, you've gone less fliers, but did you kind of enhance some of the flyer, yeah, yeah, page count, how's the page count is it about the same?
Jest Sidloski 20:14
No, that's a great call out, the page count has went down. So, why we did that is we knew that the consumer still wanted a paper flyer, but we were able to take that paper flyer and add digital pages to it. So, if you're getting that flyer in the mail, it's going to give you your bread and butter products that people are looking for, that we've done our market research on, but on our website, or on any of the major flyer apps, you will see additional digital pages and often those are built in relationship with the vendors that we have. So, we kind of have this always-on marketing approach, giving consumers what they're looking for wherever they're looking for it.
Michael LeBlanc 20:53
You know, it's interesting, because for my other podcast, The Food Professor we talk, we have the opportunity to talk to farmers and one thing you realize really quickly is farming is a very sophisticated, technologically oriented business, right, to be a modern farmer. So, I guess that that, kind of, imbues you with the let's put that flyer on the kitchen table. I still love it, by the way to kind of flip through the flyer, but at the same time gives you a bit of latitude to extend beyond the flyer and beyond into other media.
Michael LeBlanc 21:24
So, let's talk about that other media. I mean, the hottest thing today, for many retailers has been kind of figuring out how consumers shop and browse if we can differentiate browsing and learn and discover and all those things and social media is a big component, right, whether it's Facebook, Instagram, or even, even TikTok, how are you looking at social media and folding that into your marketing mix?
Jest Sidloski 21:47
Well, I just got to first of all say that I love social media, I love what it can do for business. I think it's often underutilized or misunderstood. Peavey Mart has been on social media, really, since social media has been a thing for business and well, and our engagement, engagement through those channels has always been extremely high punching above our weight. So, we had a good recipe though we, we, we don't lead social media with sales tactics. We do that through digital, we do that through Google, we do that with our online flyer and everywhere else imaginable, but social media, we wanted to ensure that we were continuing to tell that story that brand authentic voice, those connected to the land blog posts, and really attract consumers by sharing stories and storytelling versus constantly throwing sales in their face and I think it worked really well for us.
Jest Sidloski 22:40
So, Peavey is on all your social medias, your, your LinkedIn, your Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and then last year, we actually, oh, actually, I'm getting things mixed up because of COVID. It was this year, we launched
Michael LeBlanc 22:54
It's been a weird 18 months.
Jest Sidloski 22:56
It's been weird.
Michael LeBlanc 22:57
I don't know how any of us keep it straight these days.
Jest Sidloski 22:58
After, we re-listen to this podcast, I'm confident that I've got several things mixed up, but we did launch TikTok and we thought, here's an opportunity again, you know how we're trying to attract consumers differently, how we're trying to attract the younger consumer to the Peavey Mart brand, we weren't going to run that page. Instead, we have a contest every six month for a person with the Peavey Mart lifestyle to apply to be our TikTok brand voice and so twice, twice now we've picked a new personality to run that page.
Michael LeBlanc 23:33
Isn't that interesting. That's very clever. I mean, it's very savvy because you hit those words that I often talk about it and that's storytelling, right, social media storytelling versus a tactical performance-based marketing tool. I think there's two different there's roles for all of that, but I think some of the like TikTok isn't, you know, one data and these all get monetized in some way shape or form they turn into a mall, some of them more than others, but that ability to do storytelling. It's very savvy. That's a very innovative approach.
Jest Sidloski 24:00
Well, listen, Michael, nobody wants to see me recording myself talk about a Peavey Mart flyer on TikTok, I assure you of that and we, we, we got really great engagement from this younger demographic who lived the lifestyle, so we actually our first TikTok personality, one of her videos went viral and it had over a million views on it just by, by simply showing her lifestyle and, you know, we have disclaimers that, hey, you know, well this is Peavey Marts page. This is really taking on their voice because they're trying to educate consumers on their lifestyles and what that means to them as it relates to Peavey Mart.
Michael LeBlanc 24:40
Now, they, talk about grabbing that user generated content trend and run with it. That's fantastic. It's a great lesson, lesson for all of us and, you know, as we, we were talking off mic before we hit the record button that you had just been on a bit of a road tour. I'd seen some pictures, after a long hiatus of being on a road tour, talk about, you know, as the head of marketing and ecommerce and customer experience, you know, the role of visiting stores and the role stores have in your, your day-to-day life and you know, you grew up in them. So, nobody better to understand how important they are, but talk about how you conceptualize that now at your, at your level and with your role.
Jest Sidloski 25:19
Yeah, first of all, I mean, it's great to get back out there, our executive team makes a point of doing these bus tours, to see as many stores as possible over a week, and we do it routinely. Of course, with COVID, we've cancelled and postponed and cancelled and postponed, we want to make sure we're doing what's right as well, and not doing it when the time isn't right, but we had an opportunity recently to get out there and this one was in Ontario, and we visited 20 some stores in a matter of five days, but what it does is it allows us to talk to as many staff as possible, we don't go in to those stores with preconceived notions or determinations, we go into those stores to listen to our employees and I think, you know, you said it, I grew up with Peavey, right.
Jest Sidloski 26:10
That was something that is always admired by retail staff, you know, when you're getting in there talking to them, finding out what drives their engagement, what they believe is wrong with the organization or could be improved, or what's working really well in their market. Now, for me as a marketer, that opens up so many doors because, you know, with the Ontario brand change, there's pockets and regions for us that the, the customer, the demographic is so very different, and we learn from our stores. So, for me, it's, it's a purpose of learning, it's a purpose of engagement and also, we want to try to do our best to boost some morale and have a lot of fun with the stores on those visits as well.
Michael LeBlanc 26:51
And that would be your advice. I mean, you're, you're a bit of a unicorn, and that you grew up in the stores and now you're the head of marketing, but many people who are leading marketing didn't have that, kind of, pedigree, so to speak, who so what would be your one piece of advice to them, as they visit stores, those, you know, marketers who didn't grow up in the store, they grew up in different parts of the business what's, what's the one thing they got a nail if they want to, really want to take advantage of what you're describing?
Jest Sidloski 27:16
Transparency, I mean, I, it's, it's I think my theme throughout this whole conversation is the same way we speak to our customer, and are very transparent and talk with our heart, and we don't script things, and we don't use PR agencies, when you're talking to somebody, you're talking to somebody real. The same goes for the stores to use transparency and just listen, I mean, you know, it hurts a marketer’s ego, when you're told that something is not as good as you thought it was and so, you know, I often go and when I talk to the employees, I don't preface it with who I am in the organization. I say, hey, what do you think about this, and often I, I get,
Michael LeBlanc 27:57
Who ever thought of that idea, I tell ya.
Jest Sidloski 27:59
I get taken aback, just a little bit, on some of the comments I get, but, you know,
Michael LeBlanc 28:03
Full and frank, full, frank.
Jest Sidloski 28:04
Yeah. They're, they're very valuable and I think that that's how we have to do it, we just have to be transparent and listen to what the frontline employees are telling us because they're the ones that speak to the customers every day. They know, well, before I do, what's working and what's not, and what could be improved and I think that, that's tried, that's my mandate is listen as much as possible and react to what we're hearing.
Michael LeBlanc 28:27
Well, so much has gone on in the past 36, 48 months or even longer, but what is the future for, for Peavey for you and what's on the what's on the roadmap for the future, I mean, as you said, you just did a brand transition in the middle of COVID, that's pretty freshly laid out, but as you think about '22 and '23 and '24, what's, what's on the agenda as a brand and on your desk.
Jest Sidloski 28:51
Yeah, our CEO, Doug Anderson and COO, Dave Simmons, very ambitious gentleman, let's just put it that way and, and growth is on our radar. Doug, Doug has always been very clear to the company, though, that we don't grow for the sake of growing, we grow with intention, we grow with opportunity. So, we will be opening more Peavey Mart locations, you can expect that and hopefully across Canada, the ACE Canada division is looking to rapidly grow that division so you can expect a lot more ACE stores coming on board as well.
Jest Sidloski 29:23
We're going to, we're going to grow and we're going to try to crawl across Canada and get more customers along the way and, and take more market share. I mean, that's the purpose of any retailer, I think and for me as a marketer with that comes great challenges. I mean, we, we still have that brand story to tell in Ontario, whether or not we believe that you know, a province of so many million people knows who we are. The reality is, is that not everybody does. So, we have to continue fighting that, that brand voice to ensure that the people, the fine folks in Ontario, know exactly who we are what we stand for,
Michael LeBlanc 30:00
How you're different.
Jest Sidloski 30:01
how we're different and keep trying to get that market share. So, that's going to be a big priority for 2022 is solidifying that brand story across Canada. How we attract consumers in a post pandemic world, I should knock on wood, probably by saying something like that, mind you, we've used the word post pandemic many times in the last few years, just not going away.
Michael LeBlanc 30:25
It's a little too prematurely for all of us, but I think we can see the end zone the goalposts keep moving a little bit, but, you know, I think and I'm not sure that supply chain challenges will be out of our way until, for a couple of years, but I think there'll be some knock-on effects for sure, yeah.
Jest Sidloski 30:39
Yeah, I'm so glad that we're talking about marketing here today because the supply chain, oh, I,
Michael LeBlanc 30:45
What a mess.
Jest Sidloski 30:46
What a, what a mess and my heart goes out to anyone in the country in supply chain because we all know how much of a challenge that's been through COVID. Yeah, we're just, we're looking to grow. We're looking to grow organically the right way. I mean, this week, we opened a new store in Brooks, Alberta, we're opening our new store in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. We're building a flagship store right now in Red Deer, Alberta that should be opened by May of next year, building a new store up and Peace-, Peace River, Alberta, expansion in Vegreville underway, an expansion in cameras underway. We're looking at some locations in central Canada, perhaps to expand to, we're just, we're very excited about the opportunity to grow into more places across Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 31:30
Well, talk about a growth story, a story that great retailer in Canada, a story that needs and should be told and everybody should be aware of. It's a great story. So, thanks for joining me on the podcast to share your view, your glimpse of it, growing up with the brand and now taking it to new heights. Congratulations on, on your success and looking forward to seeing great things and in the years to come. So, Jest, thanks again for joining me on the podcast.
Jest Sidloski 31:54
I had a blast talking to you today and it's, it's one of my passions here and I really appreciate the invite and thank you so much for helping showcase our brand.
Michael LeBlanc 32:04
Thanks for tuning in to today's episode of The Voice of Retail. Be sure to follow the podcast on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you enjoy podcasts, so you don't miss out on the latest episodes, industry news, and insights. If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a rating and review as it really helps us grow so that we continue to get amazing guests onto the show.
Michael LeBlanc 32:23
I'm your host Michael LeBlanc, President of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc. and if you're looking for more content or want to chat, follow me on LinkedIn or visit my website at meleblanc.co
Michael LeBlanc 32:32
Until next time, stay safe and have a great week!
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
Peavey, stores, flyer, pandemic, mart, brand, retailer, customers, canada, consumers, bit, podcast, marketing, grow, TSC, Alberta, retail, ecommerce, province, storytelling