News & Media
Retail Insights Series: Five Leadership Behaviors to Help You Win the War on Retail Talent
(Mar 3 /23)
In this edition of the "David Sobey Centre Retail Insights Series", learn about five leadership behaviors that will enable you to make your workplace a place that attracts and engages high-performance employees.
Retail Insights Series: How AI is Giving Digital Marketers a New Edge on Visual Design
(Jan 24 /23)
January's edition of the David Sobey Centre Retail Insights Series reveals Dr. Ethan Pancer's research and how you can start working with visual data today to optimize the performance of your digital content.
6th Annual David Sobey Centre National Retail Innovation Awards
(Jan 11 /23)
Join the David Sobey Centre as we celebrate the Canadian retail sector at the 2023 National Retail Innovation Awards featuring keynote speaker, Lane Merrifield, former “Dragon” on CBC’s Dragons’ Den and Tech Entrepreneur.
2023 David Sobey Centre National Retail Case Competition
(Jan 18 /23)
The competition allows students from across Canada to meet with executives and solve a real problem from a national retail company.
Retail Insights Series: How to Navigate the Risks of AI-Enabled Retail
(Nov 17 /22)
In this first of our new Retail Insights series, we reveal seven risks of adopting AI and steps you can take to mitigate them.
Diversity & Inclusion in Retail Symposium Report
(Oct 20 /22)
View the David Sobey Centre's full report on its Symposium on Diversity & Inclusion in Retail
2022 David Sobey Centre National Retail Case Competition
(Feb 11 /22)
Compete against students from across Canada, meet retail executives and solve a real problem for a multinational retailer.
Distinguished Retailer Speakers Series
(Feb 10 /22)
Join the David Sobey Centre for a Fireside Chat with this year’s Distinguished Retailer Speaker, Brian Hill, Founder and CEO of Aritzia.
5th Annual David Sobey Centre National Retail Innovation Awards
(Oct 12 /21)
Join the David Sobey Centre as we celebrate retail excellence and innovation from across the country.
Omnichannel Retailing: The Present and the Future
(Sep 17 /21)
Join us for an exciting lineup of speakers from national retail companies as they share their experiences from the last year and how they were able to use omnichannel retailing to adapt to changing shopping behaviours.
Symposium on Diversity & Inclusion in Retail
(Feb 22 /21)
Remaking Retail - Distinguished Retailer Speaker Series 2021
(Feb 1 /21)
A talk with veteran retail experts Steve Dennis and Jeff Leger. Part of the David Sobey Centre's annual Distinguished Retailer Speaker Series.
The Reinventionist Mindset: With Joe Jackman
(Feb 27 /20)
The David Sobey Centre's Distinguished Retailer Speaker of 2020.
National Retail Innovation Awards 2019
(Nov 1 /19)
Celebrating excellence in the Canadian retail industry, the National Retail Innovation Awards are the David Sobey Centre's flagship annual event.
The Future of Retail: With Rob Bigler, COO, eBay Canada & Latin America
(Oct 21 /19)
As part of the David Sobey Centre's annual Retail Month events.
Retail Panel with Sobeys Inc. Executives
(Oct 10 /19)
As part of the David Sobey Centre's annual Retail Month events.
Career Path to Retailer: With Ravi Krishnan, Canadian Regional Manager, Bath and Body Works Canada
(Oct 2 /19)
As part of the David Sobey Centre's annual Retail Month events.
RISE Executive Education Program 2019
(Apr 15 /19)
Last week's RISE Program 2019 was a great success as it left Retail Executives with valuable tools, skills and knowledge that they can use to implement new initiatives and strategies within their companies and beyond.
New Product Competition 2018 Results
(Apr 5 /18)
The team behind Surround Shower emerges as the winner of the 2018 New Product Competition, securing $10,000 in seed funding.
A Talk with Sobey's CEO Michael Medline
(Mar 23 /18)
The David Sobey Centre held one of its biggest speaker events to date, with the CEO of Empire Company Limited, Michael Medline, headlining.
Retail Live Case Competition 2018 Results
(Feb 2 /18)
Congratulations to the winners of the 2018 Retail Live Case Competition: Majed Askari, Alex Heighton, Shaheen Alasmar and Evan Higgins. This would not have been possible without our retail partners Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market and Charm Diamonds.
Retail Live Case Competition 2017-18
(Dec 12 /17)
Grab this opportunity to work on real challenges facing a local retailer. Decent cash prizes up for grabs, and experience that would look great on your resume.
Retail Week 2017
(Oct 7 /17)
From October 2nd to 6th, the David Sobey Centre marked the National Retail Week, celebrating alongside the Ted Rogers School of Management and the University of Alberta. Students used this opportunity to network, learn and be inspired.
MoU Signing with Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market
(Jul 19 /17)
The David Sobey Centre formalized its partnership with the Halifax Seaport Farmers' Market on the 19th of July, 2017
Endowment Committee Meeting
(Jul 11 /17)
The Centre held its annual meeting with its Endowment Committee to provide a report on the past year's achievements, and plans for the coming year.
New Product Competition 2016-17 Results
(Mar 30 /17)
The creators of the inventory tracking technology, Blu Shell, emerged as the winners of the 2016-17 New Product Competition
Distinguished Retailer Speaker Series - David Segal
(Mar 23 /17)
Co-founder of DavidsTea, David Segal, spent time at Saint Mary's University on March 23rd talking about his entrepreneurial journey and the many lessons learned along the way
Retail Concept Competition 2016-17 Results
(Mar 17 /17)
Congratulations to the winners of the 2017 Retail Concept Competition: Pallav, Parth, Ana, Santiago and Sheeba!
Retail Live Case Competition 2016-17 Results
(Feb 6 /17)
The winners of the 2016/17 Retail Live Case Competition are Ryland Hatton, Imee Lorenzo and Aryn Sanojca. Thanks to our partnering retailers, Nova Scotia Liquor Corporation and MacQuarries Pharmasave.
Retail Live Case Competition 2016-17
(Jan 7 /17)
This is an opportunity to work on ongoing challenges facing the two participating retailers. Beyond the experience, cash prizes totaling $5,600 are up for grabs.
Retail Concept Competition 2016-17
(Dec 15 /16)
The Retail Concept competition is targeted at entrepreneurially inclined students, with this challenge: to develop a business plan around an innovative retail idea.
Competition Announcements
(Nov 10 /16)
The Centre will be kicking off the Retail Concept Competition and the New Product Competition later this month
Advisory Council Meeting
(Oct 17 /16)
The second Advisory Council meeting held on the 17th of October.
Retail Executive Education Program 2016
(Jul 10 /16)
The program is appropriate for those in director level and senior executive roles. In some cases, high potential individuals in managerial roles can be considered. This is an open-enrollment program for mid to large retailers
New Product Competition 2015/16
(Mar 31 /16)
The Spark Zone New Product Competition gave students in Halifax the opportunity to create physical products from their ideas.
David Sobey Centre Advisory Council meets
(Mar 7 /16)
The first-ever meeting of the David Sobey Centre Advisory Council saw a roomful of retail luminaries gather at Saint Mary's in early March, 2016.
David Sobey Retail Case Competition 2015/16
(Dec 17 /15)
IBM/Sobey Retail Hackathon 2015/16
(Oct 2 /15)
IBM, in partnership with Sobeys Inc., held a hackathon at Saint Mary’s University
David Sobey Centre Annual Speaker Event 2015/16
(Oct 2 /15)
Mr. John Betts, CEO of McDonald's Canada, was the guest speaker at the David Sobey Centre Annual Speaker Event 2015.
Business Luminaries Gather to Celebrate the Launch of the David Sobey Centre
(Mar 10 /15)
In celebration and appreciation of David Sobey, for whom the new David Sobey Centre for Innovation in Retailing and Services was named, over 150 Canadian business luminaries gathered on the Saint Mary’s campus on March 10, 2015.
David Sobey Retail Case Competition 2014/15
(Jan 23 /15)
The first annual David Sobey Retail Case Competition held on January 23, 2015. Eleven teams comprising of four students from the Sobey School of Business were presented with a challenge/opportunity currently faced by retail and service companies.
