The Future of Shopping Centres & Real Estate

Amar leads thought leadership on health and wellness, home improvement, and Canadian retail. He creates insights that inform strategic decisions related to key drug, home improvement, discount, convenience, grocery, and digital channels. Amar is a seasoned brand, shopper, and advertising researcher. Before joining Kantar in 2018, he managed consumer insights at a leading CPG brand in Canada, which included brand management, packaging optimization, and product innovation. Amar has an MSc in marketing and consumer studies from the University of Guelph.

With over 25 years of experience in marketing and analytics, Seoni understands business needs and how data and analytics can help solve them. A Chartered Marketer, he has worked with organizations of all sizes to unlock the value of information in decision-making and business strategy. He specializes in helping organizations understand population trends, segmentation and performance benchmarking and appears regularly on CTV’s Canadian and U.S. federal election coverage as a commentator on voter demographics in key races.

Craig Patterson is the Publisher & CEO of Retail Insider Media Ltd., which includes Canada’s most-read retail industry publication, Retail Insider. He is also a retail analyst and consultant, Advisor at the University of Alberta School Centre for Cities and Communities in Edmonton, former lawyer and a public speaker. He has studied the Canadian retail landscape for over 25 years and he holds Bachelor of Commerce and Bachelor of Laws Degrees.

Michael 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. He has delivered keynotes, hosted fire-side discussions with C-level executives and participated on thought leadership panels worldwide.  

Michael is also the producer and host of a network of leading podcasts, including Canada’s top retail industry podcast, The Voice of Retail, plus the Remarkable Retail with author Steve Dennis, Global E-Commerce Tech Talks, all available on Apple, Spotify, Amazon and all major podcast platforms.

Lisa Hutcheson is a seasoned retail expert with a career spanning nearly 30 years having started on the sales floor. Lisa has held senior leadership roles for two of Canada’s largest multi-store retailers where she led internal teams of over 1,000 associates to accomplish major corporate strategic initiatives. Lisa’s expertise and focus today includes developing retail strategy for retailers, shopping centres and mixed-use properties as well as store operations and people.

Lisa is the Managing Partner of J.C. Williams Group, a highly sought after retail consulting firm specializing in retail and foodservice strategy, research and real estate planning. J.C. Williams Group is also the exclusive Canadian member of the Ebeltoft Group, a consortium of global retail experts.

Lisa is a frequent speaker on retail best-in-class retail and innovation and is frequently quoted and sourced for media interviews.

In addition to her extensive retail background, Lisa is a member of the Canadian Research Group for the International Council of Shopping Centres (ICSC) and a founding board member of the Canadian Retail Educators Association.