Growing Retailers

STORIS Management Systems has already impacted retailers of ALL sizes nationwide with their powerful Vision R8 software offering. Kim Crouchet, Owner of Pippin McGee - a juvenile furniture store in Lafayette, LA., has experienced first-hand the power of the STORIS Management System for the past 14 years. Crouchet was instrumental in choosing STORIS as the system for her parents' Home Furniture, a five-store family business chain, before she decided to try her hand at store ownership a year ago.

There was no doubt, says Crouchet, that STORIS' Vision R8 would be the system for Pippin McGee, even though she knew she was starting small. "Vision R8 will help us grow quickly because we can analyze everything quickly," she says. "Vision R8 is an all-Windows version, so it's super easy. All the people at my store train quickly. It's just basically drop and drag. When a sale is made, it tells you what to pick for the truck, how to load the truck, how to pack the truck. There isn't much it doesn't do!" Crouchet quips, "Now, if the STORIS system could just sell for me!"

For the very reason that home furnishings stores find success with STORIS, Dennis Blankemeyer chose to partner with the software company as well two years ago for his 12,000-square-foot American Furnishings in Columbus, OH. His prior system, not specific to the home furnishings retailer, required that many operational procedures still be handled manually.

"With 75 percent of our sales being special orders, we needed a tight system," says Blankemeyer, whose store sells medium-high to high-end furnishings, 95 percent of which are American-made. "I looked at a lot of different systems before I decided on STORIS, and I found that many bigger companies were using STORIS successfully. This told me that if I grow into a bigger company, they can grow with me. I didn't want a short-term solution."

Blankemeyer adds, "They have so many different reports that I never had access to before. The system has enabled me to become a better buyer. There is so much the system can do that I don't feel like we've even scratched the surface." Blankemeyer says he plans to attend a Vision R8 STORIS conference soon to learn even more.

With locations in Furlong and Emmaus, Pa. Hendrixson's Furniture, is approaching a full year of integration which has allowed a 33% reduction in office staff. Additionally they have been able "to get a true picture of the inventory situation with the serial number tracking that STORIS provides," says IT Manager Damian Ford. "I can tell at anytime what our inventory levels are by vendor. This gives me the ability to set up controls for buying. STORIS has truly allowed us to see our business more clearly than we ever have before."

Ford considers Hendrixson's relationship with STORIS a true partnership, providing much more than just software. "The STORIS staff continues to be extremely helpful through our partnership. The management is open to suggestions and has helped us automate all of our special order and COM processes. It is comforting to know that STORIS will work with all of the unique aspects of our business."