Dirt Cheap

When Dirt Cheap brought in Michael Goldman as Vice President Head of Stores, he realized the company was underutilizing its existing technology stack. Worse, they were up against major challenges, all of which directly impacted store performance and profits. “When I got here eight months ago, stores were an abomination. We had issues within our chain of getting the right product. We’ve had merchandising issues, we’ve had allocation issues,” says Goldman. Additional issues he observed included:

• Inconsistent in-store management
• Lack of company-wide cohesion and consistent communication directives
• Insufficient execution compliance rates
• Mismanaged inventory to include product quantity, pricing, and assortment
• Increasing customer complaints about store appearances and lack of on-shelf inventory

These challenges negatively impacted both the chain and individual stores. This resulted in lost opportunities and a disconnect between operational goals and floor initiatives. Michael knew that something had to change if the brand was going to survive – and that’s where ReStore for Retail came in.

Implementing widespread change is difficult for any retailer, especially one as large as Dirt Cheap. With ReStore for Retail’s virtual store management platform, Dirt Cheap implemented the platform to improve the six critical pillars of operational success with the goal to streamline operations, boost store performance, and close the gaps between strategic directives and in-store execution.

Dirt Cheap optimized the platform to meet their unique needs, challenges, and preferences. To facilitate and sustain the required change management, Dirt Cheap’s operational leaders implemented hands-on training sessions to ensure system familiarity and establish an open and constructive communication process.

Dirt Cheap store and district managers, along with retail experts from ReStore for Retail, partnered to ensure efficient knowledge transfer.

In the words of Michael Goldman, “Right now, we are meeting close to 100% compliance every single week on store directives. That doesn’t mean that the directives were done perfectly in every store. But since every leader is looking at the same consistent dashboard, as a team we are getting nearly 100% compliance on all the initiatives that we are putting out.”

And that is not the only noticeable change.

“Customers have also noticed a major change in the look and appeal of the store,” says Goldman. “And they comment they will buy more as we get more, high-quality products.”

Luckily, ReStore for Retail has also helped the company better manage inventory across its chain. Operational leaders and in-store management have a direct line of sight on what products are coming into each store, how they should be priced, and where the product should be displayed on the floor. ReStore’s virtual store management platform enables Dirt Cheap’s execution teams to quickly approve or modify store plans, maintaining cross-chain consistency, and ensuring each store aligns to the defined company brand standards.

Effective use of the ReStore for Retail platform enabled Dirt Cheap to improve communication and achieve faster reaction times. With ongoing inventory management support, particularly in terms of product mix and allocation, the company expects to see a positive impact on sales as well.