Hertford, 14th September 2005. Accessories and clothing retailer Tie Rack has begun deployment of Retail-J's POS and Store Management software for implementation in 330 UK and Worldwide High Street and airport locations. POS, EFT, Store Back Office, Estate Manager and Sales Audit software has already been rolled out to the entire UK estate.

Tie Rack is a member of the Frangi Retail Group that also includes the Naturally Cashmere, Rolling Luggage and Coccinelle brands in both high street and airport locations and is soon to open an Emporio Armani store at Heathrow Airport. "Retail-J was a central part of our programme to implement a common operating strategy across all our fascias", commented Tony Hammond, Business Systems Director at Tie Rack. "We were looking for a POS solution that could support a diverse set of requirements across all stores while delivering online updates of trading data to users throughout the business - and Retail-J offered the best functional fit out of the box."

Tie Rack's requirements were multi-faceted: to trade in a range of store types including tax free sales in airports; to control and manage stores in all countries from the same set of central servers; to support country-specific requirements such as direct from supplier deliveries; and to deploy a wide range of functionality in store including Time and Attendance, Cash Management and online reports.

Retail-J's Inventory Management software has also been deployed. With sales and inventory updates taking place in near real-time from across the store estate, buyers can respond much faster to trading conditions and make management decisions rapidly. "We can realise greater profits by controlling and replenishing stock quickly and accurately", continues Hammond.

Tie Rack has adopted a single POS environment in all stores with POS, Back Office and communications to Estate Manager run from a single terminal. Operators can toggle between POS and Back Office functions, all of which are hosted within the standard POS user interface. The same device can also host a 500 track music and video media database which runs promotional videos and messages on customer-facing screens.

Stores are linked to Head Office using Retail-J's native data communications. Online updates of trading information, credit card authorisation, email, system monitoring and software version control are all managed from Estate Manager using this infrastructure.

"Retail-J gives us the potential to exert greater control over trading and improves communication with both customers and staff. Feedback from the stores has been excellent, with staff embracing the changes and finding the system easy to learn and use", concludes Hammond.

About Tie Rack
Tie Rack is a specialist designer retailer with a focus on high quality ties, scarves and fashion accessories. Tie Rack opened its first store in London in 1981 and now operates 300 shops in 24 countries. The company took a major step forward in 1999 when it was acquired by Frangi SpA, based in Como near Milan, Italy. Frangi SpA is a longstanding supplier of neckwear to many of the world's leading designer brands and has worked closely with many of the top fashion houses. Tie Rack's collections have subsequently benefited from a true sense of the Italian style and flair.

About Retail-J
Retail-J was formed in 2000 by a team of leading retail systems architects to develop a modern, integrated and network-centric suite of in-store and central applications for medium and large-size retailers. Using the Java 2 Enterprise Edition open platform and standards, the Retail-J system offers true on-line retailing, greater functionality and resilience, giving retailers lower cost of ownership, flexibility and choice. Retail-J software is distributed in the UK, Europe and North America through a network of specialised dealers. For more information about Retail-J, readers can visit the company’s web site at www.Retail-J.com.

Interviews, photography and further information are available from Tony Hammond.

Retail-J
Tel: 01992 538074
tony.hammond@Retail-J.com

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