Company Background  The Challenge  The Solution  The Result  Download PDF

Company Background

By Design Nine years ago, Robert Chusid, opened up his first retail store, named after his son – Kenneth David. With 45 employees, it has grown over five stores and growing across Fort Lauderdale and Miami, FL. Kenneth David Apparel manufactures and designs mens clothing, providing the uniqueness of quality, design, price and the service to customers. Kenneth David Apparel runs on Everest Software.

The Challenge

Chusid first started out with operating the stores like any business would actually run. And as the stores multiplied, he felt the need to start with an inventory program, to specifically cater to his unique business; he settled on a DOS-based program called Fifth Avenue, and simultaneously used QuickBooks for accounting. “Fifth Avenue didn’t give everything and it was just cumbersome. I knew there was a better way”. While running on these software, Chusid realized the real challenge was having easy access to information. Soon enough, Fifth Avenue’s company shut down, it was then Chusid decided to consider alternative software that would grow and get the best out of his business. Using the search engines to find a solution, Chusid took six months to research and compare numerous software with iCode’s Everest. It was amazing because actually at that time I was a comparing another software, which was priced around a $150,000,” said Chusid. “It didn’t take me long to make a decision based upon seeing the iCode’s vision and the good price point too.”

The Solution

Kenneth David Apparel purchased a twenty-user license of Everest Advanced Edition in 2000, to manage its chain of stores and 23,000 SKUs. Right from its e-commerce to point-of-sale running on Everest, Kenneth David Apparel now has greater visibility of what is happening in the business, which helps to maneuver the business more effectively. “We run everything on Everest, because of which everything is under control.” Chusid has stopped guesswork-order and is able to anticipate demand more accurately based on actual than historic. “Being that I am a manufacturer, I don’t have to guess while placing an order. Before I would order fifty

dozen of everything. But now I stopped ordering fifty dozen and started ordering based on stock requirements,” Chusid said. “We have information of what we are selling and what we have in stock, which is great.” The company can track its profitability improvements since having this insight and visibility. “I look at it this way, where it shows for profitability, I look at purchase figures, at inventory and costs and compare the two,” added Chusid. Kenneth David Apparel has saved 300% in accounts payable. “At that time, I looked back at what I owed and it was $489,000 (in the year 2002) because of constant purchasing, imports coming in, etc. And now at the end of 2003, based upon knowledge and decision it’s down to $140,000. It shows that having software like Everest actually gives me a chance to make a decision based on true knowledge instead of guessing,” said Chusid.

Kenneth David Apparel barcodes everything that goes out of the distribution warehouse. Earlier, employees would make mistakes while doing entries during transfer of items. “Now, in Everest, to try to scan something that’s not accurate is impossible.” For Chusid, Everest’s task manager is another big utility. “It is an excellent tool and has improved communication across the whole business,” he said. He has also been able to cut down and analyze operating costs. “We are much more fluent with cash than the previous year.” Another important insight for Chusid has been is to be able to look at the profitability of each store in real-time. “With Everest’s security features, I can check everything that everybody does at anytime – at any utility; I can see them make the mistakes. There’s so much to it, Everest is just constant,” said Chusid.

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