Weaver’s Store Knits Traditional Business Know-How with New Technology

Located just outside of Denver, Pennsylvania, Weaver’s Store, Inc. is a longstanding success story and local retail powerhouse. Started in Irvin Weaver’s basement 52 years ago, the store has grown into the regional resource for clothing, household goods, and high quality work shoes.

Far from a little ‘Mom and Pop’ general store, Weaver’s Store stocks over 150,000 separate inventory items to serve the needs of area residents. The owners and their 65 employees have placed a high premium on customer service; they know their market, they know their customers, and they provide exactly what their customers are looking for. Friendly sales floor personnel can be found everywhere in the store, ready to assist patrons.

The result? Customer loyalty that would make any big box store jealous. When a Wal-Mart opened seven miles away, most outside observers might have concluded that Weaver’s would fall victim to the retail behemoth. Instead, Weaver’s found their revenues increase as customers saw little reason to sacrifice excellent customer service and product knowledge.

But while business built on traditional principles can lead to success on the front end, Weaver’s back-end was suffering from an aging infrastructure, an inefficient inventory system, and a lack of product-specific sales metrics. Amazingly, Weaver’s sustained a successful business for half a century using pen-and-paper accounting and a stamped price sticker on every item in the store. The future was about to catch up with Weaver’s in a big way, from within the same loyal clientele that had sustained it for decades.

Enter Technology Solutions, LLC

Michael and Jason Groff of Technology Solutions LLC grew up in the Denver Pennsylvania area with Weaver’s as their department store of choice. With regional knowledge and expertise in accounting software technologies, they convinced the Weaver’s board of directors that it was time to change.

“It took a little convincing,” said Jason Groff, “but in the end they decided it was time to modernize their inventory, point-of-sale, and accounting systems.”

The process began in earnest in February of 2010, with the entering of 150,000 separate SKUs into TRAVERSE software from Open Systems. With the inventory modernized and tallied, the next step was upgrading their paper receipt cash registers into a modern point-of-sale system.

“For the first time, no one has to run around and make sure that each item on the shelves has a price sticker,” said Michael Groff. “They can scan the barcode, and the information is all there. The inventory is updated at the same time.”

Weaver’s also became capable of delivering itemized receipts with separate line item descriptions, something their business customers had been seeking.

The updated inventory system also served the separate function of providing real-time metrics for sales and monthly financial statements. Previously, the business office had only been able to generate periodic statements, hindering their ability to make decisions about product sales and inventory purchases. Weaver’s can now decide the most profitable path to take and are able to improve their already exemplary responsiveness to their customers’ needs.

Using Technology to Build on Success

What’s next for Weaver’s Store? With their new inventory control, point-of-sale, and back-end accounting system, they are expanding new stores in nearby communities. They have already opened a second location in Leola, PA that specializes in hardware. They are also looking to expand their business into e-commerce.

The basement success story of Weaver’s has become a regional retail powerhouse without sacrificing any of the business acumen that has kept them on the map for half a century. And with the help of local experts at Technology Solutions LLC, and technologies like TRAVERSE software, they have freed up even more resources to further their reputation as the customer service leaders in the area.