Client Success: Success Stories

Women's Boutique
Management One® and it's inventory forecasting tools significantly reduce business debt.

I own a ladies clothing store in Clayton Mo. We celebrated our 6 year Anniversary in May 2009, which also was our most profitable month to date. We have been using an inventory forecasting company since day one. One year ago we switched to Management One® and Margo Kopman. In that year, our debt was significantly reduced, our business became profitable and we are now planning the opening of a second store - with very little out of pocket expense (about 1/6 of what the first store cost).

Margo not only understands retail, but she guides us through the maze of buying, mark-downs, cash flow, P+L, balance sheets, lease negotiations and how to make your money work for you. St. Louis is a very interesting market - especially for ladies clothing. She understands our business on a local and national level, something no other forecaster can offer. If you find yourself in a position with too much merchandise, scrambling to cancel orders, debt adding up and sick to your stomach over the future of your business, I strongly urge you to consider hiring Margo as your partner. It truly is a nominal fee for the amount of insight she provides and the positive cash flow results that will follow - if you follow the plan.

Laurie

Women's Boutique
Management One® improves merchandising and overall operation of the store.

This upscale women's fashion retailer in Chicago was faced with a change in her personal situation. The retirement of her partner meant he was able to travel and wanted her with him. She chose to implement Winning@Business™ to allow her to manage her business without the requirement that she be constantly in the store. Management One®set up a steering team to take the direction the owner set and identify the problems, opportunities and disconnects that the direction presented. They chartered teams to start working on the right issues.

The result was an increase in MMU of 4.5% with a sales increase of 7.8%. A markdown strategy was developed and key classifications were marked down to clear out goods to open the classification for greater growth. The staff was more attuned to generating and using metrics to make the right decisions for the business and the overall quality of the staff was improved. Problems were solved and merchandising improved so that the operation was successful. Profits paid for a complete remodel of the store!

Women's Boutique
Winning@Business™ facilitates creative ideas for successful merchandising.

A women's Boutique implemented Winning@Business™ and decided that the first team chartered would be a holiday planning team. This was always a problem for the owner since after many years in business it was always difficult to come up with a new and interesting idea to generate business and create the right atmosphere for the Christmas season.

The team went to work and in two weeks they presented 75 new and different ideas to the steering team. The steering team asked them to go back and rank their ideas, which they did. The steering team took their top 10 ideas, chartered the same team to now implement the top idea and reserved the next nine to cover the next decade. Christmas was a smashing success!