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In 1980, Tye Story, at age 8 started on his future career path
with a Texas Instruments 99/4A computer. He showed both a talent
and love for the field. As years went by, he studied hard and
kept up with the ever changing software and hardware market. He
focused his education toward the computer field. In 1987, at age
15, Tye began stocking shelves at Golf Discount in St. Louis. In
1988 he started a career in sales as he continued his studies.
As Golf Discount expanded from 5 stores to their present size of
18 stores, Mr. Story’s responsibilities increased to include
initial computerization of the stores. With the increased
information flow from his store, Golf Discount’s management team
assigned Tye Story the responsibilities of researching the most
appropriate hardware and software for better managing inventory
and cash flow. We asked Tye to tell us about the business.
Tye:We are a full service, off-course
facility carrying everything from A to Z from starter sets
to top of the line graphite equipment. We have one of the
largest distribution bases in the US. Our average store size
is approximately 5,000 sq. ft. and we employ anywhere from
70 to 100 people including sales, office, and corporate
staff. We carry approximately 25,000 inventory items at each
store.
How long have you been using Retail
Pro?
Tye: We have been using Retail Pro for about a year an a
half. We fully implemented it in October 1995.
What did you use before Retail Pro for
POS and inventory control?
Tye: The manual system.
How has Retail Pro affected you POS
and inventory control operations?
Tye: Retail Pro allows us to control our inventory, which
we were not able to do before. Now we are aware of what we
have in stock, so we can put the right stock and amount in
each store. It tells us when we need to order and re-stock
our shelves. Basically, Retail Pro put us in control of our
stores by telling us our trends in the golf market. We can
react to those trends instantly.
What do you find are the most useful
aspects of Retail Pro?
Tye: I like the ’Best
Seller Report.’ This lets us see trends right away. Being
that we are in five different regions, we can tell what is
selling best, not only in each store, but in each region as
well.
 How
do your employees like working with Retail Pro?
Tye: At first they were a
little resistant because it was a brand new concept. Once
they got over the initial fears of computers, they loved it.
I think our employees have become more productive with
Retail Pro. It allows them to make better educated decisions
in buying and suggestive selling. They can look up the
customer’s information and see what they bought last time or
find the size. We also like the fact that we can find
another product at another store. This way we can
effectively utilize all the stock in all our stores.
What made you buy Retail Pro?
Tye: The ability to control our inventory. We envisioned
our product life cycles going from two years down to six
months and we knew we needed something to stay on top of it.
Our inventory was basically getting out of hand and we
decided that Retail pro was the best out there to give us
the control we needed.
Did you compare Retail Pro to other
systems?
Tye: Yes, I probably researched about 30 other systems.
What future plans do you have for your
stores?
Tye: Expansion is always a possibility. The subject of
’mail order’ has come up and may be in our future.
How do think Retail Pro can help you
achieve you goals?
Tye: Our efficiency
consistently improves with Retail Pro. With Retail Pro we
are providing more and better service to our customers with
access to every stores inventory. If we add a store or go
into the ’mail order’ business our ability to effectively
service customers will continue.
Do you think Retail Pro has
financially benefited your business?
Tye: Yes, I think Retail
Pro has financially benefited our business. It continually
improves our cash flow and buying decisions. Purchasing
Retail Pro has been cost effective for us. |
