On this episode of The Voice of Retail, host Michael LeBlanc welcomes back Deb Craven to the podcast, President of Longo’s and Retail Council of Canada’s Distinguished Retailer of the Year for 2026, for an in-depth conversation about leadership, grocery innovation, Canadian retail growth, and what it takes to scale a beloved regional brand while preserving culture and customer trust.
Recorded on the cusp of Longo’s milestone 70th anniversary celebrations, Deb reflects on the remarkable evolution of one of Canada’s most respected grocery retailers. She shares insights into the company’s continued expansion strategy, including the upcoming opening of Longo’s 44th store in Welland, Ontario— the furthest geographic expansion yet. Deb explains how Longo’s has invested heavily in supply chain modernization, including doubling the size of its distribution centre, improving logistics flows, and introducing light automation to support future growth and operational consistency.
The conversation also explores the strategic advantages Longo’s has gained through its partnership with Empire Company Limited. Deb discusses how the relationship has created opportunities for shared learning, talent development, operational scale, and broader access to retail expertise while still allowing Longo’s to maintain its unique identity, culture, and guest experience focus.
Michael and Deb spend considerable time discussing the changing Canadian grocery landscape and how consumer expectations continue to evolve. From affordability concerns and value perception to the growing importance of protein, fibre, wellness, and GLP-1-driven shopping behaviours, Deb explains how Longo’s is adapting merchandising, meal planning, and customer engagement strategies to remain highly relevant to modern shoppers.
The discussion also dives into one of the most important emerging topics in retail: artificial intelligence and agentic commerce. Deb shares how Longo’s is actively working to understand AI-driven shopping assistants and personalized grocery recommendations, and how retailers will need to position themselves as consumers increasingly rely on intelligent digital agents to make purchase decisions.
Throughout the interview, Deb’s leadership philosophy stands out clearly. She emphasizes listening, curiosity, empowering frontline employees, and maintaining a “store-first” mindset — principles that have helped Longo’s consistently rank among Canada’s top grocery experiences. The conversation culminates with reflections on Longo’s recognition as Retail Council of Canada’s Distinguished Retailer of the Year and what lies ahead for the company as it balances growth, innovation, and its deeply rooted community values.
Please join us at STORE 2026 in Toronto June 2nd and 3rd, and for the Excellence in Retail gala to celebrate Deb’s achievement, the evening of June 2nd at the conference.
Michael LeBlanc is the president and founder of M.E. LeBlanc & Company Inc, a senior retail advisor, keynote speaker and now, media entrepreneur. He has been on the front lines of retail industry change for his entire career.
Michael has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions and participated worldwide in thought leadership panels. He brings 25+ years of brand/retail/marketing & eCommerce leadership experience with Levi's, Black & Decker, Hudson's Bay, CanWest Media, Pandora Jewellery, The Shopping Channel and Retail Council of Canada to his advisory, speaking and media practice.
Michael produces and hosts a network of leading retail trade podcasts, including the award-winning No.1 independent retail industry podcast in America, Remarkable Retail with his partner, Dallas-based best-selling author Steve Dennis; Canada's top retail industry podcast The Voice of Retail and Canada's top food industry and one of the top Canadian-produced management independent podcasts in the country, The Food Professor with Dr. Sylvain Charlebois from Dalhousie University in Halifax.
Rethink Retail has recognized Michael as one of the top global retail experts for the fifth year in a row, the National Retail Federation has designated Michael as on their Top Retail Voices for 2025 and 2026. Thinkers 360 has named him on of the Top 50 global thought leaders in retail. If you are a BBQ fan, you can tune into Michael’s cooking show, Last Request BBQ, on YouTube, Instagram, X and yes, TikTok.
Michael is available for keynote presentations helping retailers, brands and retail industry insiders explaining the current state and future of the retail industry in North America and around the world.
