STORES Magazine - May 2008 - (Page 90)

NUTS AND BOLTS / POS SELECTION Invitation to Functionality Customized POS system makes quite an impression on printer BY MICHAEL HARTNETT tanley Adams, a Washington, D.C.-based chain of social printers, has several generations of experience in printing custom invitations and stationery for clients like the White House and foreign embassies. With the acquisition of another venerable printing company, however, what once seemed an opportunity to modernize internal systems became a nightmare that carried a heavy price tag. S Owner Mark Garrison takes pride in the quality of work produced by his company and the fact that he began learning the printer’s trade at age 14. He recently purchased the stores of Crane & Co., bringing to 19 the number of retail locations and giving the company a national presence with coast-to-coast operations. The transaction also effectively doubled the company’s size, and it seemed the appropriate time to replace Stanley 90 STORES / MAY 2008 Adams’ aging POS system with the custom software being used by Crane. Unfortunately, that system was so “custom” it just wasn’t compatible with Stanley Adams’ needs. To make matters worse, renewal on a costly, month-to-month lease was looming, creating a deadline that forced Garrison to install a new POS system for both entities in a matter of weeks just prior to the fourth-quarter holiday season. “It was a nightmare,” Garrison re- calls. “We looked at upgrading [Crane’s system] but the cost of that was enormous, and the cost of maintaining the old system would have been enormous.” The eventual solution was a single POS system for both sets of stores, which came in the form of The Assistant Manager (TAM) from Orland Park, Ill.based TAM Retail, a division of Lode Data Systems. For Stanley Adams, actual savings came from TAM Retail’s “lower cost of ownership” – it is saving $300,000 in licensing fees annually — and the time savings for managers who monitor inventory, because the data being provided by TAM is more user-friendly. Customization of its POS system inWWW.STORES.ORG http://WWW.STORES.ORG

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of STORES Magazine - May 2008

Stores - May 2008 Contents Executive Editor's Page President's Page Contrasting C-Level Compensation Across Segments What Shoppers Think 10 Things You May Have Missed Numbers Worth Counting Full Price/Markdown Retail People Cover Story: Concepts That Clicked Concept2Watch Kiosks Artificial Intelligence Tech Support Online LPinformation Data Synchronization Human Resources Site Selection POS Selection Communications Biometrics Networking Systems Credit Loeb Retail Letter Arts Update Point of View NRF News Retail Crossword Retail Industry Calendar Last Laugh

STORES Magazine - May 2008

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