Larissa Wasyliw has a rich background in national and regional retail brand marketing. Now, as the Vice President of eCommerce & Marketing at specialty pet store Ren’s Pets, all of her skills are being tested. In a short amount of time with Ren’s, she’s seen the company through many stages of transition and growth right through the middle of the COVID era.
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.
Larissa Wasyliw has a rich background in national and regional retail brand marketing. Now, as the Vice President of eCommerce & Marketing at specialty pet store Ren’s Pets, all of her skills are being tested. In a short amount of time with Ren’s, she’s seen the company through many stages of transition and growth right through the middle of the COVID era.
In this episode, Larissa talks with me about both her work and career thus far, and the exciting road ahead - which involves an exclusive conversation about recent developments regarding Ren’s Pets and Groupe Legault’s Quebec based Mondu pet store.
Learn about the unique space that Ren’s Pets has made for itself in the pet retail industry, what it’s been like to keep up with the wave of “pandemic puppies,” and how Ren’s Pets is preparing it’s brand for some exciting expansion opportunities.
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!
Larissa Wasyliw
Results-driven ecommerce & marketing professional with 15+ years in the retail business. High growth leader that thrives when innovating in the fast paced retail landscape. Focused on growing online businesses & executing omnichannel experiences for a customer-centric organization. Inspired by big ideas & analytics.
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. This podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada.
Michael LeBlanc 00:10
Larissa Wasyliw has a rich background in national and regional brand marketing. And now, as the Vice President of eCommerce and Marketing at specialty pet store, Ren's Pets, all of her skills are being put to the test. Already, in short amount of time with Ren's, she's seen the company through many stages of transition and growth right through the middle of the COVID era.
Michael LeBlanc 00:27
In this episode, Larissa talks to me about her work and career thus far about the exciting road ahead, which involves an exclusive conversation about recent developments regarding Ren's Pets and Group Legualt's Quebec based business Mondou pet.
Michael LeBlanc 00:42
Learn about the unique space that Ren's Pets has made for itself in the pet retail industry, what it's been like to keep up with the wave of the 'pandemic puppies', and how Ren's Pets is preparing its brand for some exciting expansion opportunities.
Larissa Wasyliw 00:54
One of the things that we realized throughout the pandemic was that our loyalty group of members was by far the heart and soul of our company. And we talk about our rewards club being the engine that really drives the business. And so, we looked at this group of people, and we said, we need to talk more to them.
Michael LeBlanc 01:12
Let's listen in now.
Michael LeBlanc 01:15
Larissa, welcome to The Voice of Retail podcast. How you doing this morning?
Larissa Wasyliw 01:18
I'm wonderful, Michael, thank you for having me.
Michael LeBlanc 01:21
You know you and I've never met but I feel like we have because we've been chatting back and forth, whether it's LinkedIn or via email since, for years. So, it's a real treat to hear your voice. If not meet you in person that too shall come. But it's really great to hear you and thanks for joining me.
Larissa Wasyliw 01:37
Yes, thank you. I think we're virtual friends.
Michael LeBlanc 01:41
The new class of friends that's absolutely true
Larissa Wasyliw 01:43
Yes it is, (inaudible) at the RCC, at a flyer forum. And you were such an engaging person during that forum, I thought, 'oh my gosh, you know what, I gotta get to know this guy'. So, I remember sending you a note, I think it was on LinkedIn afterwards, just saying, "Hey, awesome, you know, forum that we had, it was great to see you there'. And I think it was right after that, that we became virtual friends.
Michael LeBlanc 02:04
Yeah, fantastic. Well, and I've been following your career with such great, such great moves. I mean, you, you couldn't have joined a company, in an industry, in a sector at a better time. I mean, you pinpoint accuracy. So, it's really, I'm really excited to hear about that. And well, as well, and what's going on with Ren's.
Michael LeBlanc 02:23
We've kind of jumped right in, but why don't we start at the beginning. Tell us a bit about yourself, your, your journey, a bit of background, what you did, professionally, and what you do now at Ren's Pets.
Larissa Wasyliw 02:35
Sure, yeah. So, I live in London, which is really great. I actually went to school here at Western loved us so much that I never left the city. And I've always loved retail. So, I'm definitely a shopaholic. I love shopping anywhere, especially online. And so, I always had this feeling I would end up in retail. And when you think about London, it's not Toronto,
Michael LeBlanc 02:57
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 02:58
What are the opportunities that I have here? So there is this company called TSC stores that had their head office located here in London. And I thought, 'Oh, my gosh, you know what, this is a great, awesome opportunity for me", they had an opening for a marketing assistant, and I applied. And I was always creative, always had lots of ideas, and got the job, which was pretty amazing, right out of school. And I actually spent 15 years,
Michael LeBlanc 03:23
Wow,
Larissa Wasyliw 03:23
With TSC stores, I know, it's,
Michael LeBlanc 03:25
Wow, yeah
Larissa Wasyliw 03:25
Amazing. And so, I kind of worked my way up, you know, from being a Marketing Assistant and doing a lot with the flyer program. I was the Marketing Manager, and then the Director of Marketing. And then this eCommerce popped up into the world. So, of course, that fell under our umbrella as well.
Larissa Wasyliw 03:42
And I was really lucky to work with a bunch of amazing people, in particular a group from Canadian Tire that actually came over to work with TSC stores, which was awesome. I learned a lot. And then recently, TSC was acquired by Peavey industries. So, I spent my last couple years with Peavey and TSC working on both of those brands. And then through the last year, Ace Hardware, which was really interesting as well.
Larissa Wasyliw 04:11
So, by the time I kind of left we actually worked with over you know, I'd say a couple 100 stores, some were corporate, some were dealers, they were French, they were English, it was Canada wide. And you know, we were really doing some amazing things in marketing and eCommerce in the business, which by the way was farming. So, farming workwear,
Michael LeBlanc 04:32
Yeah, yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 04:32
Lawn and garden, and of course pet which kind of spurred my interest in Ren's Pets, when this opportunity kind of came up.
Michael LeBlanc 04:39
Hmm, interesting. And Peavey is a great business. And I know the folks at Peavey pretty well at, and it's as you say, it's a fantastic business more, you know, more pets in terms of like horses and things. I think, right? I mean, like, how broad a span would you be in terms of marketing and product for pets? What, what kind of, I mean, not what, we'll get to talk about Ren's Pets soon. But just you know, the background of, of Peavey and TSC and TSC for the listeners it still exists as a separate entity in United States. But here in candidates it's Peavey Mart, right?
Larissa Wasyliw 05:13
Yes, correct back, back in the day when, when companies started, TSC was Tractor Supply, but they kind of separated long, long time ago.
Michael LeBlanc 05:21
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 05:21
And then TSC was kind of integrated into Peavey. So now, when you kind of drive around Ontario, you will see all the former TSC stores are now Peavey Mart stores. And what was awesome about that, though, is that we were very similar brand to each other
Michael LeBlanc 05:37
Right,
Larissa Wasyliw 05:37
Carrying very similar products,
Michael LeBlanc 05:38
Yeah, yeah, yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 05:39
Which was pretty awesome. But in terms of pet, what I would say is you think about a hobby farm or a farmer, everybody has a dog, if not multiple dogs.
Michael LeBlanc 05:49
Right,
Larissa Wasyliw 05:49
And then of course, cats. So we had TSC, Country Members, that was our loyalty club at the time. And we knew that I think over 60% of our customers actually owned pets, and not just one, multiple pets. So, I've always had an interest in this pet category. And what was awesome with this whole pandemic, of course, is everybody was getting pets. And so when I saw the Ren's opportunity, Oh, I thought something is here. This could be magic. I definitely was, had my interest piqued right from the get go with this position.
Michael LeBlanc 06:20
Well, and on a side note, you did you did TSC a favor. So, I spent a bunch of years at The Shopping Channel. TSC, so,
Larissa Wasyliw 06:30
Yes, absolutely. That was actually one of the most common problems we had was people from The Shopping Channel, calling our customer service team asking about our TV commercials and our infomercials. And we were like, what the heck, we sell farming supplies. We're not that TSC so that was pretty fun.
Michael LeBlanc 06:47
Yeah, could I get, could I get today's showstopper, please? And you're like, "What? Wait, what? Yeah. It was confusing for us too. It wasn't confusing for our customers. They'd find us. It was confusing for the vendors, because they'd look us up, you know, from America or somewhere and like, 'your farm supply, I'm prestige beauty. Why are we even?' and no, no, no, that's a different company.
Larissa Wasyliw 07:06
Yeah, we don't sell work boots and jeans.
Michael LeBlanc 07:10
But, you know, if you want them, we'll sell them, we're very customer. Alright, well, listen, we've, I've had Scott on the podcast a couple, couple times. Scott Arsenault, who's, who, who's, of course done a good job of talking about Ren's Pets. But for those who hadn't listened, who hadn't had the opportunity to hear those, that interview, and there's been a lot of change lately. Talk about Ren's Pets. What's the concept? What makes you different? There's a lot of tailwinds, so to speak. But it's a crowded category, too. So what makes Ren's, talk about Ren's, what makes you different?
Larissa Wasyliw 07:40
Sure. Yeah. So, I started in September with Ren's as the VP of Marketing and eComm. Super exciting areas of the business, so I couldn't wait to dig in. And what I loved about Ren's is our saying is that, 'We're here for your pets best life'. And what we really do is specialize in food, treats and toys for your pet's health and happiness.
Larissa Wasyliw 08:03
And so, when you walk into one of our stores, the first thing that you're going to see is aisles and aisles of premium branded food. We say that we speak diet, because really what's most important to us, and really, what makes us unique and differentiates us, is that we care about your pet and what they're eating. Because if they're eating a really good, strong diet that's best for them, they're going to have a great healthy life. And so, when you look at the brands that we carry, and the quality that we have, that's really what separates us from the rest of the pack. Like a PetSmart, for example, or even Walmart or grocery that, you know, everyone seems to be getting into pet since the rise of that puppy pandemic. But when you come into our stores, we are actually experts and specialists in the pet food industry.
Larissa Wasyliw 08:53
We actually have something called the Ren's Promise where all of our associates are trained to talk to customers, and really identify what your pet needs. And we guarantee that we will find you the best food for your pet and we help you try to find that food that you need. So, that's really what makes us special and differentiates us in this business.
Michael LeBlanc 09:13
So, you've got both dry and fresh food, right that that also makes you different. You walk in you see these large refrigerated cabinets full of a whole variety of different and that takes a lot of logistics, right? That's very different from carrying a dry pet food, right?
Larissa Wasyliw 09:26
Oh 100% Yeah, so if you come into our store usually see a bank of we call them walking freezers because you literally like a grocery store can walk in behind like they would stock milk in a grocery store. We stock our pet food. And it's raw and frozen food again from premium brands. And it's actually the fastest growing category right now at Ren's as people try to feed their pets really healthy and well. And what's awesome about it is that those are the customers that want to frequently visit your shop because they need to come in and keep picking up their food.
Larissa Wasyliw 10:00
And the other kind of neat thing about this all is we're just ready to actually launch DoorDash.
Michael LeBlanc 10:06
Wow,
Larissa Wasyliw 10:06
And so, if you had ever told me that I'd be planning a DoorDash event, so people could get their raw and frozen pet food delivered straight to home same day, I would have thought you were kidding. But it's something we've identified that customers want at this time, is an option to get that raw and frozen food like sent to their house directly to the doorstep. And so, it's, it's going to be pretty neat. But we're pretty excited to have DoorDash come on board with us in a couple weeks.
Michael LeBlanc 10:34
Well, tell me, tell me about that a little bit. How did you, and you've mentioned this a couple times, loyalty and data. You've, you've, you know, when you were with Peavey or TSC, you were, you knew exactly how many people owned what kind of pets. So clearly, you're steeped in data and appreciate it. So, what, what is it that triggered you to think of that as an opportunity? What, what, where did you pick up that sense, so to speak? See, I'm kind of, you see what I did there kind of like a dog thing? Where did you, where did you start thinking about that? Because to me, it, I, that wouldn't have been my first idea, but talk about that a bit.
Larissa Wasyliw 11:09
Absolutely. So, one of the things that we realized throughout the pandemic was that our loyalty group of members was by far the heart and soul of our company. And we talk about our rewards club being the engine that really drives the business. And so, we looked at this group of people, and we said, we need to talk more to them. And we started to do some surveying, which was really awesome in understanding what they need.
Larissa Wasyliw 11:34
And then the other thing that we're thinking a lot about is the health and wellbeing of not only the pets, but the customers. So, throughout the pandemic, we heard a lot from our customers about wanting different options for shipping and delivery. And basically, just wanting to be able to get their pet food whenever they wanted it, whatever way they want it. What was tough for us throughout the pandemic was that sometimes we were in essential business, and sometimes we were not.
Michael LeBlanc 11:59
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Larissa Wasyliw 12:01
So, sometimes our stores were open.
Michael LeBlanc 12:03
Sometimes they weren't
Larissa Wasyliw 12:04
Sometimes they weren't. And so you know, messaging wise, that was very difficult for the customer to understand, at some points. Can I go into the store? Is it just click and collect? And so our eCommerce business, ship to home, of course, took off. But we said to ourselves, we would love a same day delivery option, and of course, with raw and frozen food, and then in the end, we thought that would have shipping cold is pretty expensive. And so, when we started to look into the logistics,
Michael LeBlanc 12:33
Right,
Larissa Wasyliw 12:33
Of how do you do that safely, of course, too? We thought that DoorDash was actually the best option when we started to look into service providers that could partner with us. And of course, what was kind of nice is they actually work with PetSmart, too. And so the expertise in this category from that group is very high. And so, they were able to kind of give us some suggestions, so we knew that this would be a success for our customers.
Michael LeBlanc 12:57
Well, and that makes sense to me now that you kind of lay it out. I'm a eCommerce customer, so I get Origin delivered to the doorstep for Ziggy my, my dog who goes through good for you, he goes through a fair bit of food, being, being a big dog.
Larissa Wasyliw 13:12
Awesome, that's what I like to hear.
Michael LeBlanc 13:13
But you know, it's interesting, right? I mean, eCommerce and I remember the one of the original, original dot com back in the 2000s was in the pet category, and you've you somehow made it work. You know, that there's a lot of there's a big explosion of pets, pet food companies or whatever, in the early, early days of the internet. And yet some and you know, they just didn't last. They, they spent too much on acquisition, but it sounds like to me reading between kind of what you're saying is, you've "A" you've got a loyal customer base. "B" you've got the loyalty program, which kind of enables you to do a whole bunch of fun things and then that together with eCommerce seems to be the, a bit of the secret sauce, right. Then you can continue to sell that food, have it delivered to the doorstep and, and still, with accessories, right. So, is that the, is that the add-ons that make it worth, that make it play out well for you guys? So, talk about that a little bit. The merchandising mix, I guess is what I'm asking from an eCommerce perspective.
Larissa Wasyliw 14:09
Yeah, so you wouldn't naturally think that shipping pet food would be a good business would you? To think about those large heavy bags of food and trying to you know, get them through Canada Post or FedEx. But food is primarily what our eCommerce orders are for.
Larissa Wasyliw 14:25
And what's really sprung up over the last I'd say 12 months is our auto ship program. So, people love that convenience of being able to set up their pet food on repeat and just be able to have that reorder of their pet's favorites treats arrive at their house whenever they want it. So, you're correct, people do like to order food and then they like to have add on items. After food, treats are kind of the number two of what we sell people love their Greenies, they love their Benny Bullys.
Michael LeBlanc 14:54
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 14:55
And they love to give their pets extra things to spoil them. Especially over the pandemic where they've been home all the time with the pets, they want to do different things with them. So ,we saw a lot of add-ons come on, which was pretty cool. And then we also saw our auto ship program pretty much explode, which was pretty amazing to see. And then we expect, you know, with the fall, people returning to work, or routine, or school, we think that we'll see a huge piece of growth there too, as people kind of start to stabilize the schedule a bit more. Because now everybody has their pet, they need to kind of think of that next step, what are they going to do with them when life returns to a tiny bit of normal?
Michael LeBlanc 15:38
Yeah, interesting. It's kind of the next phase. The other thing that, that is I find interesting about Ren's is when you walk into one of the stores, particularly, you know, large format, you don't see other services, like grooming or daycare. And that seems deliberate to me talking about that a bit.
Larissa Wasyliw 15:53
Yeah, absolutely. You're 100%, right, it is deliberate. So, with the Ren's business, we focus on what we do really well, which is dog and which is cat. And so, you won't see us as having, you know, grooming services in our stores, or doing nail clippings, and different things like that, because we're really focused on our true customer.
Larissa Wasyliw 16:14
And where these pet professionals in the services come in, is that we actually have a great relationship with them to do a refer a friend program. So, we like to support let's say, a groomer, by selling them the products that they need, like, actually, it's funny, groomers mostly buy shampoo from us, I'm not sure if that's something that you would guess but shampoo is kind of the number one thing after things like clippers and blades. And of course, once in a while they need those huge tubs of the tables that we sell. But we then work with them to get them the products that they need that are high quality professional for their business. And then we have a program set up with them where when they refer friends, or clients, or people they work with to us, they get a monetary kind of something back that they can then use in our store, which is awesome. So, we almost prefer to be their friends, and work with them to support their business.
Michael LeBlanc 17:08
Right, right, as opposed to compete against them.
Larissa Wasyliw 17:10
Exactly, and then two, what's awesome, though, is that the customers and staff in the store kind of develop that awesome relationship of working together instead of you know, coming in, and there's too many things going on.
Michael LeBlanc 17:23
Right,
Larissa Wasyliw 17:23
It's really just about the customer and the pet. Because when we talk about things, what did we learn kind of over the last year. And I've wanted to say this for a couple of minutes now, one of the things we really realized is that our customers were amazing during the pandemic at switching over and needing to shop off the website because they had no choice. But as soon as those doors reopen, they all came rushing back. So, we definitely have a customer base that loves to shop online. We definitely can see those customers, you mentioned data and analytics,
Michael LeBlanc 17:53
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 17:54
We know that there's that group out there, and we know what they like to buy. But when you think about the pet customer, it's a little bit different than other retail customers, because they actually love that experience of coming into the store. And we hear all the time, oh my gosh, the people love to get their pets, put them in their cute outfits, get a new leash and collar, they bring them in. And that's actually like their outing for the day, especially when there's not many places that they could go.
Michael LeBlanc 18:20
Right,
Larissa Wasyliw 18:20
And they know it's safe. You know, we have all the safety protocols during the pandemics. And that's actually what they do. So, it's an interesting kind of different fact that we had to kind of think a lot about is we always talk about being omnichannel, which is amazing. But it's one thing to say that and then you have to actually kind of execute on when are you going to give your customer when they come to the store because our customers love coming into the store.
Michael LeBlanc 18:47
So interesting. Now speaking of stores, I've lost track because you've been opening stores everywhere, but tell me how many stores you now have and your geography? I think you're Ontario east, but, but you tell me the latest what, where are you now?
Larissa Wasyliw 19:02
Yeah, so that's pretty awesome. We actually have 35 stores right now, which is great. We've actually opened this year in Brampton, and in Milton, and then out in Fredericton on the east coast. Our stores are in Ontario, and you're right, in the Atlantic provinces too, which is pretty cool. And we have three more stores to go this year. The next one is actually in Liberty Village in Toronto. It will be our first urban concept store. So, we're pretty excited about that one. Because it's a smaller format store, it's about 5,000 square feet and our stores are usually about 7,500 and that's located right in the heart at 99 Atlantic, if you've ever been down to Liberty,
Michael LeBlanc 19:41
Yeah, yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 19:41
Amazing vibe, everywhere you go people are walking,
Michael LeBlanc 19:44
Dogs everywhere, and dogs and cats everywhere. Just dogs and pets everywhere, like
Larissa Wasyliw 19:48
Oh absolutely.
Michael LeBlanc 19:49
Yeah, It's like they run the place.
Larissa Wasyliw 19:51
They do own the place.
Michael LeBlanc 19:53
Yeah, yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 19:53
So, we were thrilled to kind of move right in there. And, in the store. We really focused in on the cat and the dog, of course. We're going to have some special iPad kiosk set up if people need to order some stuff in that's not you know, stocked necessarily in that store because,
Michael LeBlanc 20:09
Oh, I see,
Larissa Wasyliw 20:09
At that smaller, we redid all the fixtures and all the signage. And the brand has definitely more of an urban look in the building we're actually moving into it's amazing, has like vintage brick in it, this giant skylight. It's really suited to the area, which is great. So, we're pretty excited to open that one up mid September. And then later this year, we're also opening up in Thornhill, in Peterborough, which is pretty cool.
Michael LeBlanc 20:35
Well, and the excitement continues. So, you had some big news very, very recently. So, talk about Group Legualt and Mondou and your partnership.
Larissa Wasyliw 20:44
Oh, yes, so this is exclusive information, Michael. It's the first time I spoke about this one on air, so. So, we're pretty excited about the whole Legualt Group and everything that's recently happened. So, for anybody listening, Ren's used to be a family-owned company, and it was sold to a private equity firm about five years ago. And so, it was time for that private equity group to move on. And we were recently acquired by the Legualt Group, which notably has a store of retail chain of stores in Quebec called Mondou. And the fun thing that we've been learning a lot about recently is how similar Mondou and Ren's stores are.
Michael LeBlanc 21:26
Yeah, that's what, that's what struck me right off the top is sometimes, you know, when, when private equity folks decide to exit, which that's their plan, they exit businesses. They're not,
Larissa Wasyliw 21:36
Exactly,
Michael LeBlanc 21:37
They don't stay there forever. That's the plan eventually, some longer than others, but, you know, sometimes they, they sell to the best offer, not necessarily caring so much about what happens next. But this seems to really, even geographically, right, because then it connects you to, you know, connects you so deeply. Please, talk about Mondou a little bit. I'm familiar with it. But tell me a bit about the, its background. And it's stores primarily in Quebec, right?
Larissa Wasyliw 22:04
Sure, yeah, absolutely. So yeah, Mondou is a pet retail chain of stores, they are based in Quebec, they have 74 stores, which is amazing and very similar to us, they are on a big growth run, too. So, they have four stores left open this year, and another five to 10. plan for next year, too, which is just amazing. So, when you talk about, you know, similarities, there's one, you know, right off the bat.
Michael LeBlanc 22:28
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 22:28
Their stores are a tiny bit smaller than ours. But we do have that same urban concept and a large format store. And it's just like they do as well. And the biggest part I'd say is when you walk in, you see the same sort of idea of pet food being number one. So, there's a lot of synergies for us when it comes to brands, that we'll be able to hopefully, you know, work with our vendors on and see kind of how that goes. That's probably one of the biggest benefits and the biggest wins.
Michael LeBlanc 22:58
Yeah, you get to see the other deals with the, with the same vendors. That's always an interesting conversation.
Larissa Wasyliw 23:02
Yes, no, exactly. And we are going to keep the Ren's brand and the Mondou brand separate. So, they will run separately. It was pretty good, like you said, leaving us in good hands. Our private equity owners were very careful and very,
Michael LeBlanc 23:18
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 23:19
Happy to leave us with the Legualt Group. And we're very happy to be with them. Because of the similarities and everything that we're seeing so far. It just looks like a win, win for everybody.
Michael LeBlanc 23:29
Right on,
Larissa Wasyliw 23:29
And the funniest part, though, is when I think back to my TSC slash Peavey time,
Michael LeBlanc 23:33
Yeah, yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 23:34
It's a very similar situation, right?
Michael LeBlanc 23:36
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 23:36
So, let's, you know, and
Michael LeBlanc 23:37
You're back, you're back. You're very familiar with it, that's for sure.
Larissa Wasyliw 23:40
Yes, I think that's my gonna be my new career specialty is acquisitions kind of transition. I'm like, oh, my gosh, I've done this whole thing before. So, it was kind of funny to me that this is happening again. So, I have the expertise under my belt to be in this situation. But that's, I think, why I can see so much potential here.
Michael LeBlanc 23:57
Right, right.
Larissa Wasyliw 23:58
I, I know the great things that TSC, Peavey did and so I can definitely see where there's going to be a lot of really big wins for Ren's and Mondou kind of joining forces. And being able to share, you know, those tips and those tricks already.
Michael LeBlanc 23:58
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 23:58
You know, I've had some meetings with them, you know, their head of marketing to understand you know what they do. And then it was pretty actually cute, I giggled a lot for the things because they were very similar to what I did with our loyalty group, or with our marketing activities and grand openings and that kind of stuff.
Michael LeBlanc 24:29
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 24:29
It just really did seem like a match made in heaven to be a bit cheesy there.
Michael LeBlanc 24:34
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 24:34
But it was a really good I think pairing for us to kind of join forces together,
Michael LeBlanc 24:37
And the art and science and tradecraft of marketing. So, the, when you think back to your career, how has it changed for you? Well, what's been the difference, what's been the biggest differences over the course of your career in, in marketing and how do you, how do you see that different? Some principles probably stay the same, but other things have different, what's your perspective on that?
Larissa Wasyliw 24:58
Yes, that was one of the great questions that you forwarded me and I spent a lot of time really thinking about this one, about, you know, what's changed and what stayed the same. And, you know, I actually went to the what stayed the same first and it's the customer, you know, always needing to know who your customer is, because you want to target everything you do towards them.
Larissa Wasyliw 25:17
So, then when I thought about what changed, oh, gosh, I think it went back to when they started, you know, in marketing, and everything was all about print, and flyers and thinking, traditional radio, and all of that kind of really good stuff. That's, that's kind of where my mind went to everything. And then of course, I'd say midway through my career is really when the website, and digital and everything online kind of started to infiltrate into marketing.
Larissa Wasyliw 25:42
And I think that that was amazing, because I've actually had to do a lot of building and development and starting from scratch. If there's one thing I like to do is move fast. And so when eCommerce kind of came into play, it gave marketing this whole new angle, that you still need to be customer focused, but now you have all these other amazing ways to reach your customer. And so, to me, that's kind of where I think the art in the science comes in,
Michael LeBlanc 26:10
Right,
Larissa Wasyliw 26:10
And that you still have all these traditional marketing techniques. But, I think about a lot how you reimagine them, because everything almost old becomes new again, in a different way. And so, you know, we're not printing, but we still have flyers. And if we took those flyers away, oh, gosh, would our customers be upset. And so, there's things like that even you know, I was reflecting on this podcast, think about how big radio used to be. And now,
Michael LeBlanc 26:34
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 26:34
We're podcasting.
Michael LeBlanc 26:35
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 26:35
It's very different, or it feels like you know, catalogs, are making an amazing comeback, but online digital, highly interactive, tons of engagement. So, that's how I tend to think of different things.
Michael LeBlanc 26:47
Well, let's talk about the last 18 months because we've had this, this great acceleration and this unusual time, we'll talk about the 'pandemic puppy' trend and the tailwind a bit later, but just over the last 18 months, what, what kind of lessons have you learned, you just mentioned about flyers and not printing them? Is, is this now the time when digital flyers, you know, did, did the pandemic put the final nail in the coffin, the digital, or sorry, of print flyers? Or, or am I overthinking that and tell me about what kind of three things you learned over the past 18 months of this unusualness that that may be different from either a customer perspective, or how you're thinking differently and might change, you know, when you thought about your tactics in the before time to now, is there going to be anything you can do different?
Larissa Wasyliw 27:33
Mm hmm, absolutely. So, just as a side note, we were one of the groups that with flyer when all digital, no print during the pandemic, and our customers have loved it. They haven't
Michael LeBlanc 27:45
Didn't skip a beat, right?
Larissa Wasyliw 27:46
It didn’t matter at all to them. However, I actually grew up doing a lot of flyer work over my career and,
Michael LeBlanc 27:55
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 27:55
Working very closely with merchandising teams. So, I will always think that there is a role for flyer, I think it just matters maybe the method that we're delivering it to the customer.
Michael LeBlanc 28:04
Do you do worry about new customer, I mean for the existing customer, but do you worry about losing it as a tactic for new customer acquisition or even for partnering with the brands? Is it, where does it figure in your calculus that the print flyer?
Larissa Wasyliw 28:18
Yeah, our actually vendors love print flyers. They also love digital flyers. But I think we definitely still have vendors in the retail space that know the success that they've seen with a flyer. And they would hate to lose that. That's how they showcase their brands.
Michael LeBlanc 28:35
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 28:35
And they tell the world what we sell for them. So, I think that that flyers always going to have a role. And sometimes, like with us, we have five major flyers in the year. And those flyers are usually 24 pages each.
Michael LeBlanc 28:48
Wow,
Larissa Wasyliw 28:49
And we make sure to focus in on every brand that we carry when it comes to food. And so that's really the time for a brand, and a vendor, and us to tell their story. And so you know, back in the past, we probably just would have done product price. But now we're doing product price, telling a story, giving,
Michael LeBlanc 29:05
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 29:05
You some tips and tricks, and maybe suggesting that you go online to learn more. So, we've definitely changed the way people engage with our fliers, which is pretty awesome. But when I think back to the last 18 months to kind of circle back there, some of the things that I learned that will make our marketing be a bit different going forward. Don't ever doubt the power of social media and influencers. That, I think, was the number one biggest lesson because we had to have constant communication throughout the whole pandemic with the customer. And so, the easiest way for us to do that was through social media. And that was also an amazing way for customers to give us their feedback, too.
Larissa Wasyliw 29:07
And during that time, it was kind of interesting. So, like I said, I like to move fast. And you can imagine I started at Ren's during the pandemic,
Michael LeBlanc 29:39
Right,
Larissa Wasyliw 29:51
I had a lot of ideas,
Michael LeBlanc 29:56
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 29:56
I had a lot of things that I wanted to execute. So, we kept innovate during this whole time. So, we were, you know, dealing with a pandemic, making sure customers are satisfied, the business is running. And of course, we just went for it. And one of the things we actually worked on was our influencer program, because we knew how important people and their pets were to talk to other pet parents, which is pretty awesome.
Larissa Wasyliw 30:18
And I'm not sure if you've been on TikTok this week and heard about Luna the Pitbull. If you've seen anything with,
Michael LeBlanc 30:23
Come on,
Michael LeBlanc 30:23
No,
Larissa Wasyliw 30:23
That with Ren's. Oh my gosh. So, this just exploded and I think it will show you how important social media and influencers are. So, the other day my phone kept buzzing, and I couldn't understand what the heck was happening, why are people sending me all these Luna that Pitbull videos? So, it turns out we have an influencer in the Hamilton area and has a dog named Luna, the Pitbull. And didn't Luna the Pitbull, try and decide to call our Hamilton store. Denise, our store manager, bless her heart, answers the phone and has a wonderful conversation with Luna, the Pitbull who's looking for a specialty pet item. So, I won't tell you what that item is because it's pretty interesting. But anyway, this TikTok video right now this morning, when I checked had over 21 million views.
Michael LeBlanc 30:32
Come on,
Larissa Wasyliw 30:29
And 5 million,
Michael LeBlanc
Come on,
Larissa Wasyliw 30:35
People have liked it.
Michael LeBlanc 31:13
Wow.
Larissa Wasyliw 31:13
200,000 people have shared it. And so this was really cool, because it was natural. So organic, went viral. It's Denise and she's amazing. She's a store manager at one of our locations. And it's this dog, and they're having a nice chat on the phone. And it's just fun. But what was great to read through the comments, people are talking about Ren's, and how great we are. And they're talking about Luna and you know, what is Luna eat. And it's just an amazing kind of way to get together,
Michael LeBlanc 31:41
Buy you couldn't have built, you couldn't have built that campaign better?
Larissa Wasyliw 31:43
Oh, exactly,
Michael LeBlanc 31:44
Right
Larissa Wasyliw 31:44
When I think about, you know, how much money you'd have to invest in marketing to reach 20 million people. It's just amazing. And so, I think that just shows you how important social media and influencers could be. And one of the things that I think I've also learned is you have to seize the moment. So, that was a great example where we saw this happening, and we said to ourselves, 'oh my gosh, what the heck are we going to do next with it?' And so, on TikTak, TikTok, there's this great feature to do a duet. So, we have this next video, where Denise is actually watching the Pitbull video, and just commenting and she's laughing. And that's actually one of the best parts of the video is Denise's laugh, people were commenting how much like that was actually the star. And so we tried to capitalize on that opportunity and seize that momentum. And that's kind of what we were doing all throughout the pandemic is saying to ourselves, 'People are getting these pets, what are we going to do to make sure that they're shopping with us? Because we know our brand is so great for pet parents?'
Michael LeBlanc 32:42
Yeah. Well, that's a big, that's a nice segue into my next question is, is, you know, from the outside in, many might think it's easy to be a pet retailer these days because you had the 'puppy pandemic' and the net beneficiaries, you know, I know in my neighborhood, you know, I got, we got our dog just before the pandemic, but then yeah, suddenly there's dogs everywhere. But that being said, it's a crowded category. very competitive, as you said, right at the beginning, you know, everything from mass merchants to, to specialty stores, how did how did you succeed? What is it that secret sauce? Is it a mix of the merchandising and of course, great marketing? Is that, is that really what came together for Ren's to kind of create this, this growth and, and success?
Larissa Wasyliw 33:26
So, I'd say that our product selection was number one. We really do stock the best brands in pet food for you to pay to, to feed your pet. So, I would say that that's the biggest thing that was great for our growth. But then we were also able to take all of our marketing and digital and tell the story. And so that's what I found amazing over the last 18 months was all of a sudden, we had this momentum around the Ren's brand, what we do, how we sell things, and never I would say has the pet category been more relevant.
Larissa Wasyliw 34:01
We were booking like radio interviews like crazy. We did things with CTV London and CTV Atlantic, we were on Global News. The Retail Insider was amazing. We did Strategy Online. We even ended up doing some giveaways with Marilyn Dennis, which was pretty amazing. And then the Princess Margaret dream home, we actually got a puppy room made in the dream home,
Michael LeBlanc 34:25
Fantastic,
Larissa Wasyliw 34:26
And Sarah Baeumler was actually the one who designed it which was really cool. But all of a sudden there was all this attention on pet and on the brand. And it was really because I think if you go back to the heart of it, is we sell good quality product that we're very happy and proud to sell you and your pet.
Larissa Wasyliw 34:44
If you've been reading you know about everybody getting pets over the pandemic, it's part of their family. And you know people are saying that they would rather you know skimp on things from themselves and give things to their pets which is just amazing. So, we know how important a pet is when they kind of get adopted into a family. So, we really wanted to make sure pet parents were well taken care of along with their pets, which was pretty cool.
Larissa Wasyliw 35:08
Another thing I think that we did that made us win was we really, like I mentioned, kept innovating. So, we actually changed over the flyer platform that we use, we got a new digital advertising partner, we started some new programs, which is kind of funny in the middle of a pandemic.
Michael LeBlanc 35:26
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 35:26
With that amazing Ren's rewards loyalty program we had, we actually put in a VIP tier, because we know how important these customers are for us. So, we have a group that spend over 1000 bucks a year with us that are now VIPs. So, in addition to all the regular rewards, they get a whole other set of fabulous rewards. And then, obviously, with the normal rewards program, it's pretty fun, we added an a birthday bone treat. So, when it's your pet's birthday, we'll give you a free birthday bone for them to enjoy, one of those amazing cookies that we have in our store.
Larissa Wasyliw 36:00
And then we also did things like gotta gift cards on the website, did a lot of UX improvements, especially around inventory, because customers needed to see that we had their favorite pet foods in stock. And then we did a lot of work on search. And then auto ship, of course, too. So, I think you can see from that long list of things.
Michael LeBlanc 36:22
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 36:23
We were just moving. And we wanted to make sure that our pet parents again, were just well taken care of. And that we were making it easy and convenient for them to shop with us. No matter if it was online, or if it was click and collect or they wanted to come into the store. Whatever they needed us to do for them.
Michael LeBlanc 36:39
Yeah, well, clearly the lesson there is, don't rest on your laurels, even if there's great momentum in your category, right?
Larissa Wasyliw 36:46
Oh, absolutely. I think it's about seizing that opportunity, and taking the time to tell your story about what you're all about. And not always pushing the product too, that was one of the other big things. So, we were doing a lot of work. And it was more just about the pets and giving you tips and tricks on how to raise these new puppies. This was the first time a lot of people have, you know, a pet in their lifetime. And they've come to see how much they love it.
Michael LeBlanc 37:09
Yeah,
Larissa Wasyliw 37:09
But you know, like our staff are amazing at giving advice on actually what to do with them. A lot of customers, you know, when the doors opened again, could come in, and they didn't know how to pick out a harness or collar, right now actually, you probably think it was kind of funny. Number one thing, it's searched on our website, is life jackets.
Michael LeBlanc 37:29
Huh, for the cottage, right on right, on.
Larissa Wasyliw 37:30
Yeah, people are bringing in their dogs and they need our help to fit them with a lifejacket because you know, their kids scared about their safety if they're out on the boat or by the water. So, there's things like that, that we can really help with that aren't necessarily like a direct hard marketing sell. But they're more just about, again, your pet’s best life and what we can do to kind of help you with that.
Michael LeBlanc 37:48
Well, last question is kind of a funny one in the context of our conversation. What's next? I mean, it's not as if there has been a lot of what's next over the past 18 months. But you mentioned your opening a couple of stores, what's, what's on your agenda for the next 12 to 18 months? I guess the integration in all kinds of ways and forms with a Group Legualt and their Mondou business, but any anything else you want to call out?
Larissa Wasyliw 38:09
Yeah, so definitely with Legualt and Mondou, we see huge opportunity there just around new products, new brands, maybe looking more into private label, I think that that's an amazing opportunity for us. We're definitely doing more stores, you know, three on the books this year, probably, we think at least seven next year, which is pretty awesome. So, we're excited to do that. When it comes to eCommerce, we're definitely not slowing down. In September, we're actually switching over our ratings and review provider to Bazaarvoice. And also using their cur alate program to start doing social commerce. Because we really think that with all the growth we've seen in social, we'll be able to sell online through social channels extremely well, because we have tons of pet parents sending us pictures of their pets in our stores all the time and showing us that the products that they love. So, we think that that's going to be pretty awesome.
Larissa Wasyliw 39:03
And then just keeping a big kind of focus on customers and their pets and getting to know them. So, we're actually in October switching over our personalization and our loyalty platform that we use is something called Emarsys that we think will give us that sophistication and expertise to move our loyalty program over to the next level. So, you're right, we're definitely not slowing down at all and all these pandemic puppies are growing up. So, we need to be here to support our customers as best we can for their pet’s best life.
Michael LeBlanc 39:35
Such great success. Congratulations on everything you've accomplished and, and plan to do it's been, it's been a great discussion and masterclass in how to you know, leverage momentum and leverage social media and I think such a great discussion so Larissa thanks so much for joining me on The Voice of Retail. It's been great to, to have this discussion and, and delve into Ren's Pets and like I said congratulations on the new, the new deal and I wish you, I wish you much success moving forward in the future.
Larissa Wasyliw 40:02
Awesome. Thanks, Michael was always fun to talk about pets and marketing and eCommerce.
Michael LeBlanc 40:07
Thanks for tuning into today's episode of The Voice of Retail. Be sure and 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. 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 40:35
Until next time, stay safe. Have a great week.
SUMMARY KEYWORDS
pets, ren, stores, tsc, pandemic, customers, peavey, people, marketing, flyers, ecommerce, brand, pet food, amazing, business, bit, sell, dog, pitbull, thought