Toronto, Canada—Sheplers has selected MI9 Merchant, the industry-leading Merchandise Management System from MI9, to support their store, catalog and e-commerce businesses.

For 100+ years Sheplers and western-wear have been synonymous. From modest beginnings in Wichita, KS, it has become the world’s leading purveyor of apparel and accessories for a country/western lifestyle. Recognized for outstanding customer service, Sheplers provides a unique and convenient shopping experience in 15 US stores, on-line at Sheplers.com and via its catalog recently rated as one of the top ten for customer satisfaction in the US.

Sheplers and their investment partner, Gryphon Investment, chose MI9 Merchant after a careful evaluation of the leading merchandising solutions on the market today. Sheplers and MI9 share the vision that business intelligence should drive business decisions across the enterprise and deliver consolidated processes and operational efficiencies across all channels.

“We implemented MI9’s Business Intelligence in 2009 to deliver a 360 degree view of our 3 channels of retail: stores, e-commerce and catalog. With the implementation of MI9 Merchant we will be able to consolidate merchandising and operational functions into one highly efficient system for product management, pricing, and replenishment for our multi channel operation, ensuring the best service and assortment wherever our customers shop.” Jim Ritter, EVP and CFO, Sheplers.

Columbus Consulting, Inc. who spearheaded Sheplers’ Merchandising initiative was impressed by the sophisticated infrastructure intrinsic to MI9 Merchant. “MI9 provides a comprehensive Merchandising solution; but what really sets MI9 Merchant apart is its innovative design where Business Intelligence provides exceptional analytics that then powers business processes such as allocation providing closed loop processing.” Tom Harden, Principal, Columbus Consulting.

MI9’s CEO, Mike Burge, commented – “We are very excited to be moving forward with Sheplers in this next important step on their system roadmap initiative. We appreciate their continued commitment to MI9 and the strength of our partnership.“

About Columbus Consulting, Inc.: Founded by Richard Amari in 2001, Columbus Consulting comprises a team of highly experienced specialists in retail business process and systems. Its distinguished client list includes: American Eagle Outfitters, Ann Taylor, Saks, Big Lots, Guitar Center, CVS Pharmacy, and New York & Company. While Columbus Consulting provides a variety of services, their primary focus is planning & allocation, reporting & analysis, data warehousing and IT strategy/leadership. Projects range in scope from short-term, high-impact, executive-level advisory services to large, multi-disciplinary, multi-million dollar projects, lasting more than a year. For more information on Columbus Consulting, visit www.columbusconsulting.com.