Island Pac Signs Two Retailers to Software Deals

August 23, 2011 Alex Woodie

Sports apparel company Fanzz and YM Inc., a chain of hundreds of clothing stores across North America, have licensed retail management software from Island Pacific.

Fanzz, which is a division of Larry H. Miller Sports and Entertainment Group that operates more than 60 stores in the western United States, has licensed Island Pacific’s IBM i-based Merchandising Suite. The company will be using the merchandising, financials, replenishment, promotions, and business intelligence components, the vendor announced this summer.

Lorin Hunt, general merchandise manager for Fanzz, says trust was a big component of her decision. “Beginning with their visit a year ago and throughout the sales process, I felt strongly that the IP culture would fit very well with our organization,” she states in a press release. “I can tell you today, I was correct on all counts and have never second-guessed my decision.”

Meanwhile, phase one of a new software implementation at YM Inc. is slated to be completed this summer. YM Inc. owns and operates more than 600 stores in the United States and Canada under several store names, including Stitches, Sirens, Urban Planet, Siblings, Bluenotes, and Suzy Shier.

The implementation at YM Inc. involves Island Pacific’s core IPMS suite. YM Inc. is planning on building its own components using IP’s service oriented architecture (SOA) framework. The resulting product is being referred to as Island Pacific SmartRetail.

The deep level of collaboration between YM Inc. and IP to create SmartRetail could result in new capabilities for other IP customers, according to IP CEO Davy Rosen. “We see Island Pacific and YM as one team,” he stated in a press release. “The YM contribution of resources and contributions of ideas for the features which result in a better application are appreciated.”