Retail Holiday Shopping Forum

Michael has 20+ years of brand/retail/marketing leadership experience and is considered by many as a pioneer in the Canadian omni-channel and e-Commerce retail space. As an award-winning insight driven strategic marketer with a passion for holistic retail brand/customer experience, Michael has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career with brands such as Black & Decker, Levi Strauss & Co, Hudson’s Bay, CanWest Media, The Shopping Channel and Herbal Magic. After spending almost three years advocating and lobbying for the Canadian retail industry at Retail Council of Canada (RCC), Michael formed M. E. LeBlanc & Company to leverage this knowledge and experience back onto the front lines and regularly is invited to share his insights on the current and future retail industry in Canada and around the world.

Jean-Christophe Bedos is currently the President and Chief Executive Officer of Birks Group Inc., formerly Henry Birks & Sons, one of Canada’s largest luxury jewelry and watchmaking retailers, since 1879.

Before joining Birks, Mr. Bedos was at the high-end jeweler, Boucheron International (Kering), Paris. He served as President and Chief Executive Officer. In July 2018, Birks won the prestigious Brand of the Year Award. This annual event is the ultimate recognition of global brands. Maison Birks is the only brand to have received the award in the retail jewelry category, surpassing the impressive competition thanks to its dedication and passion that make the signature of the Maison Birks high jewelry brand. Mr. Bedos currently serves on the Board of Directors of Birks Group Inc., is a member of the Board of the Montreal General Hospital Foundation and a member of the London Business School’s Global Advisory Board. He actively participates in the committee for the project “The Future of Sainte-Catherine Street” and has co-chaired the fundraising campaigns of the McCord Museum and the Orchestre Symphonique de Montréal. Mr. Bedos holds a Master of Business Administration from the London Business School – Sloan Masters Fellowship Programme, with distinction in Marketing and Brand Management, a Bachelor of International Business Law from the University of Paris Panthéon-Sorbonne, a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in European Affairs from Trent University, Nottingham, England and a Bachelor of Business Administration from Toulouse Business School, France.

Luc Dumont is a senior member of Leger’s consulting team, providing strategic advice and client services.  His quantitative and qualitative research experience includes new product development and market assessment, corporate branding and marketing strategy development, customer satisfaction, stakeholder research, communications, advertising research, and usability testing. In addition to overall project administration and research design, implementation of discussion guides and questionnaires, ensuring timeliness of deliverables, presentation of the results, and insights  Luc also plays an important role as a strategic advisor for his clients.

Stephen is a passionate people leader known for straight talk and strategic choices that drive results for retail partners with best in class team engagement and work-life balance. As Stocard’s Canadian Country Manager, Stephen is connecting retailers’ best communication with Stocard’s 3mm mobile wallet users. Prior to Stocard, Stephen spent 20 years in Retail and Technology with time leading teams at P&G, Flipp as well as founding a digital music service.

Stephen holds a HBBA degree from Wilfrid Laurier University and is an active father of three. When not spending time with his family, he might be found perfecting homemade neapolitan pizza with a glass of red wine or avoiding trees mountain biking.

John Stevenson is a visionary senior executive passionate about helping companies revitalize their brands and seize the new cultural market opportunity. John brings Canadian and international multicultural research and strategy experience and has lead scores of successful marketing initiatives for leading brands such as Ford Canada, Loblaws, Sobeys, Holt Renfrew, and Intact Insurance.

Insatiably curious and with a continuous learning mindset, John thrives on uncovering consumer insights that increase customer acquisition, loyalty, and ROI. Prior to launching CulturaliQ, John was founding partner of EthnoDialogue Inc., a leading multicultural marketing agency in Canada for more than 10 years. John holds an MBA degree from the London School of Economics.