Staff and management of a legendary and once-successful athletic shoe and equipment store in northern Chicago, Illinois, accepted the challenge and reopened a similar store in their old location. They kept their high standards of personal service and customer involvement, but sidestepped inventory and purchasing pot holes that had hobbled the previous owner.

Surveys of other retailers and shoe stores revealed that Microsoft Business Solutions Retail Management System delivered the medley of stock-tracking and buying tools they would need. It also provided a stack of marketing tools to help show customers that Momentum is invaluable to enhancing the fun of their sport.

Momentum hits its milestones and stays ahead of the pack through a reputation for always having the right stock, and fitting each shoe to the runner and the need. In back, Microsoft Business Solutions Small Business Financials paces cash in and out.

Situation

Making a new business succeed in the exact location where a predecessor failed after 25 years, with nearly identical inventory, is an uphill climb. But Will Bridge and Richard O'Connor grabbed the baton when their previous employer suffered from over-expansion, and when a dip in the economy illuminated years of inadequate inventory management and incomplete customer records.

Their store, Momentum, today sells 1,200 SKUs (stock-keeping units) of "Gear for the self-propelled" to casual and serious athletes "…who walk, run, or swim." Clothing, shoes, and accessories for all types of running and triathlons crowd the shelves and walls of the street-level storefront in a vintage, red-brick building in northern Chicago's Clybourn Corridor, a mile north of the famous Chicago Water Tower.

Momentum outdistances competitors and athletic-gear Web sites with a staff of serious runners who bring years of athletic experience and equipment knowledge. "No one leaves here without a careful match of our shoes to their feet and the type of use the shoe will undergo," says O'Connor, Co-Owner and Chief Executive Officer of Momentum. "‘Click and mortar' [e-commerce] has a different focus. After a few miles in Web-order shoes, you might wish you'd stopped in to see us."

By contrast, Momentum's Web site attracts walk-in customers and fosters a sense of community through monthly Fun Runs and by advocating runners' rights and more safe venues for the sport. Runners in Mardi Gras Night donned beads at each stop, and Poker Night's winner collected the best hand by picking up a card at each stop. Runners' donations buy uniforms for local schools or benefit nonprofit organizations. Momentum also helps set up and staff water stations for runs in the Chicago area, and has a "rally station" to cheer on runners in the Chicago Marathon.

When Bridge, Momentum Co-Owner and President, managed the previous store in this location, he was hamstrung by an inadequate, off-the-shelf inventory system. "As we closed the doors, we found tons of women's size 6s and men's 14s. The high point of the bell curve for women's shoes had changed from 7s and 8s to 9s and 9½s. But the ordering hadn't adjusted because we didn't have the visibility to know that."

When the previous owner opened his second store, inventory tracking became impossible. Excellent service and good financial climes had buoyed the business. But when the economy softened, stores lacked marketing and inventory management tools to adapt.

"Purchasing was guesswork," adds O'Connor, "because we didn't know what we had, what we'd sold, or what was in the pipeline. The day I saw we had four size 14s in one men's model, and no 10s—yet we kept getting another 14 with each shipment—I knew the store had survived based on reputation, not good business sense or systems.

"Even when sales were good, we were always in arrears with some creditor because we couldn't track bills well. In hiring an accountant for our new store, I interviewed the accountant from the old store. I showed him our financial projections and expense budgets. He was really impressed by the concept that we were going to run a business by a budget!"

Solution

O'Connor and Bridge researched everything before they opened. They quizzed the Small Business Administration about how to set up a store. They did marathon

As president, everything is your business. Microsoft Retail Management System keeps me focused and not trying to be all things to all people.  Will Bridge Co-Owner and President, Momentum

visits to other retailers, asking about successes and failures. Primarily, they inquired what retail systems other owners used, and what were the pros and cons of each one.

"We knew we'd need a faultless and easy-to-use inventory system," says O'Connor. "But we were honor-bound to retain the reputation for customer service the previous owner lived by. Yet, because business changes, we needed personal marketing tools he never had. We wanted strong ties to each customer, to know their last purchases, favorite brands, and favorite runs."

O'Connor drew upon ten years with Anderson Consulting in advising banks and insurance companies. "Most running stores we talked to used archaic or simplistic solutions that wouldn't help us stay organized. Then we talked to a woman who owns a shoe store. She had resolved our same problems, and she loved [Microsoft® Business Solutions] Retail Management System. She showed us we really would need its extra power and that we'd regret trusting our business future—and investment—to a simplistic solution."

"We felt, then, like the last piece had finally fallen into place," says O'Connor. "We knew Microsoft would only put out a solid product, that they'd always keep it current, and support would always be there. Sales Catalyst was very professional and excited about our concept. They treated us like partners in a joint venture, not like sales prospects. When we saw the Microsoft Retail Management System demo, we were awestruck by its reporting, its ease of entering data, and its ability to track customers."

O'Connor specified Microsoft Business Solutions Small Business Financials to guarantee a complete financial toolset, seamless upgrades, and easy integration with Microsoft Retail Management System.