Top 100 Retailers

When Top 100 retailer American Furniture Warehouse was looking to upgrade from its DOS system in 1991, the eleven-store retailer based in Denver, Colo., selected STORIS because, in the words of the company's information technology specialist, Jon Neuenschwander, "They are forward thinking."

He adds, "We ruled out a lot of other software companies because they just did not offer enough of what we needed across the board. They didn't seem to want to go where we wanted to go. We chose STORIS based on many different levels, and they have worked very well for us."

American, a full-line, all-price-point retailer established in the mid 1970s and owned by Jake Jabs, has grown tremendously since the early 1990s. Sales are "on pace" to total at least $330 million this year.

"STORIS has absolutely helped us grow," says Neuenschwander. "In today's business world, we couldn't operate without a good solid system, or a software company that wasn't willing to listen to us."

He points out that STORIS is also at the forefront of the latest technology. In place at American is STORIS' dynamic Advanced Warehouse Management (AWM) and Radio Frequency Bar Code applications. AWM provides online tools so that retailers can monitor the overall performance of employees and the operations of the distribution center. State-of-the-art technology, such as Radio Frequency Bar Code ensures that there is precision tracking of every piece of inventory, that backorders are filled instantly, and that newly received merchandise can be sold in real time. In essence, the hi-tech steps that STORIS has taken greatly reduce verbal communication and user entry time.

In fact, the strongest benefit of the STORIS system for American, according to Neuenschwander, is the fact that the Radio Frequency Bar Code application allows for new pieces to be available the minute they are scanned. "It's a real-time system," he says. "Everything you see in the system is as it is that minute.

"And, with Advanced Warehouse Management, computers on the forklift tell employees where to go and what to do," adds Neuenschwander. "It's our business philosophy to get inventory in and get it out. We move a lot of inventory in a short amount of time, and we couldn't do that without a good system in place. As a company, STORIS provides us tremendous Peace of Mind."

STORIS, in fact, is known for providing retailers of ALL sizes "Peace of Mind."

David Everett, general manager of the one-store Furniture Barn operation in New Castle, Del., says that STORIS was the best choice for them. Furniture Barn desired a "streamlined" system that tied the inner workings of the store together better than the former system they had in place.

"STORIS was it," says Everett. "This system was able to take the busy work out of our day and required less man hours to operate it. We have a 20,000 square foot store and sales are just under $5 million. Although we don't utilize everything they offer, we know what the options are and we have no doubt that if we do expand, that this system can handle it. It's a great system to have in place."

Everett adds, "Now we can concentrate on making money, and not on the glitches of an unreliable system. STORIS has helped us operate more efficiently.”