The Art and Science of Building Stores That Matter: Sharla Paraskevopoulos, SVP Real Estate, Loblaw

The Myth that stores were going to go away and be replaced by eCommerce was just that: a myth.  Nobody knows that better than the person leading the team that built thousands of them. Recorded live at the third annual Loblaw Supplier Summit, Michael LeBlanc sits down with Sharla Paraskevopoulos, Senior Vice President, Real Estate at Loblaw Companies Limited, for a fast-paced, candid look at how Canada’s largest retailer decides where to build, what to build, and what a store should feel like when a customer walks in. Sharla’s path to real estate is a unique one: 18 years at Loblaw, starting in HR, moving to Shoppers Drug Mart as one of the first colleagues over after the acquisition, then five years leading operations for roughly 500 conventional grocery stores — including during the COVID era. Her takeaway from that stretch is a leadership lesson as much as a retail one: with no playbook and no textbook, you set clear objectives and anchor every decision to them. Then it’s on to the stores.  Sharla explains why Loblaw scrapped the old guardrail that kept banners five kilometres apart, and why its formats now coexist far more comfortably than anyone assumed. She unpacks the thinking behind the new No Frills design — the yellow frame as a beacon for value and volume, a simpler box underneath, and a deliberate refusal to signal discount through dim lights and shabby presentation. As she puts it, you shouldn’t have to feel discounted to shop value. She also opens up the data engine behind it all: the Market Analytics team sizing trade areas by population, income and cultural demographics; analogue stores used to forecast how a proposed location will perform; and data running through construction, value engineering, procurement, energy and CO2 measurement. AI is already live in maintenance — centrally dimming lights, managing climate, spotting a fridge heading for failure before it fails. And a preview of what’s next: Shoppers Drug Mart is being redesigned inside and out for the first time in 23 years, with more discovery and treasure hunting on the way. Store development, as Sharla says, is a blend of art and science. **About Your Host, Michael LeBlanc** **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.