Interviews with Kaileen Millard-Ruff, Vice President of Retail at Lee Valley Tools & Willy Kruh, Global Retail Lead for KPMG and Retail Council of Canada’s 2019 inductee into the Retail Hall of Fame

Welcome to the Voice of Retail for the week of June 11th, 2019 I’m your host Michael LeBlanc and this podcast is brought to you in conjunction with Retail Council of Canada and sponsored by Purolator, Canada's Shipping Company for courier and freight, learn more at www.purolator.com In this episode two exclusive feature interviews both recorded live in person at the Purolator Podcasting Studio at RCC’s #STORE2019. First, I chat with Kaileen Millard-Ruff, Vice President of Retail for Ottawa-based international retailer Lee Valley Tools. We talk about Kaileen’s rich background in retail, the unique culture and history of the brand, their differentiating merchandising and in-store experience. Next one of Canada’s premier retail statesman, industry advocate and thought leaders Willy Kruh, Global Retail Lead for KPMG and Retail Council of Canada’s 2019 inductee into the Retail Hall of Fame. Based here in Toronto with KPMG for 36 years, Canadian retail lead for the past 20 and global lead for the past 15, we chat about Willy’s start on sales floor with Harry Rosen, through to Willy’s reflections on the state of modern retail, and the work still to be done, particularly in Canada, by retailers to effectively compete in modern retail.