Ken Keelor, CEO of Calgary Co-op and Ian Madell, President Level5 Strategy

On this episode we meet Ken Keelor, CEO of one of the biggest cooperative grocers in North America, Calgary Co-op. We start by tracing back and discovering the origins of where Ken gets his obvious enthusiasm for retail and the consumer, and the genesis of his strategic thinking around the Calgary Co-op brand and diversified business. We then talk about the huge changes to the business both pre-covid with their change in partners and launch of relentlessly relevant private labels, and then how the team dealt with and is adapting to the COVID era. Next a long time colleague and friend Ian Madell , Managing Partner, President of Level 5 Strategy and I catch up and talk brand strategy, what it means to be the steward of both the corporate strategy and important customer outcomes, the nature of the changing consumer and retail landscape, and wise advice for retailers on winning on brand in the COVID era.