Retail Smart Guys, a consulting firm specializing in assisting independent retail stores and boutiques with inventory planning, marketing, and systems, announced today that Jonathan Schwartz has joined the company. Schwartz will be providing consulting services to specialty retailers in the metro New York-New Jersey area.
“I’ve known Jonathan Schwartz for more than 20 years, and it is a ‘dream come true’ for me to work with him,” said Dan Jablons, founder of Retail Smart Guys. “Jonathan has an incredible background in retail planning, operations, and systems. His experience, coupled with the services we provide, is exactly what will help the independent New York store to survive.”
Schwartz’s diverse career includes positions at many high-profile retailers, including CIO for Century 21 department stores, director of merchandise planning for Bugle Boy Industries and director of merchandise planning for the Izod Division of Phillips-Van Heusen Corporation. He was involved with store planning while at The Limited and director of store operations in his family’s retail department store in northwestern New Jersey. He has worked in his own consulting business as well as consulting for Pricewaterhouse Coopers and has been in charge of retail group for Arthur, a major POS/planning system. Schwartz has an MBA from George Washington University and a bachelor of science in business administration from Boston University.
Retail Smart Guys is dedicated to helping retailers grow their businesses, even in difficult times like these. The firm provides solid inventory planning and budgets to retailers, enabling them to lower their inventory investment, which has become even more critical in this economy. The firm also offers retail consulting in marketing as well as retail operations, to provide a complete suite of consulting services for retailers.
“My partnership with Retail Smart Guys enables me to give the kind of help and guidance to retailers that I know will help them improve their bottom line,” said Schwartz. “These are the exact services needed by independent retailers, especially in New York. I can’t wait to start helping these guys realize their true potential.”
Both Jablons and Schwartz agree that their consulting takes them deep into the retail organizations, as the planning they provide often points up other areas that need help. Often, the two find themselves assisting in sales training, vendor negotiations, financial planning, information technology, hiring/firing, and payroll analysis. Retailers typically find a return on investment of up to 15 times in the first year.
“There really isn’t an area of the retail business that we can’t help with,” said Schwartz. “We’ll do whatever we have to in order to help our customers. And if they need help in an area that we don’t know about, we know ten people we can bring in to help solve the problem.”
For more information, visit www.retailsmartguys.com.
ABOUT RETAIL SMART GUYS
Retail Smart Guys is a consulting firm, specializing in assisting retail stores with their inventory planning and open to buy. The firm was started by Dan Jablons, who has 30 years of experience working in and consulting with retail companies, from single-store mom-and-pop operations to major retail chains. He has also worked extensively with point-of-sale systems, including Retail Pro, QuickBooks Point of Sale, and Microsoft Dynamics. For more information, contact Retail Smart Guys at 818-720-2585 or visit www.retailsmartguys.com Retail Smart Guys is an affiliate of Management One, which provides planning and services for retailers around the country.
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