Integrated Solutions, Transparent Information for Decision-Making, and Improved Management Processes for Business Growth
Big R Holdings was founded in 1962 in Lamar and La Junta, Colorado and has been the dominant farm, ranch, and home retail chain in the Arkansas Valley of Colorado. The company's consistent success initiated expansions into other parts of Colorado in the 1990s and across state lines into Texas and New Mexico in the late 2000s.
What began as a small business venture with fewer than 25 employees is now the largest chain of its kind in Colorado. Big R has been successful because of the incorporation of best business practices, great employees, and faithful customers.
Since implementation of the Epicor business management solution, Big R has improved inventory management, ordering, and receiving. The company currently manages 26 locations scattered across the Western United States.
Epicor solutions are phenomenal. They assist us with our business improvement and growth goals.
Big R has been operating with Epicor solutions for more than 20 years. The company appreciates that the Epicor solutions have grown alongside the expanding business. “Over the years, Epicor has grown with our business,” said Adam Carroll, chief operating officer, Big R Holdings. “Epicor solutions have helped us better manage our business from inventory and order points, to receiving and promotions. Epicor solutions are phenomenal. They assist us with our business improvement and growth goals.
Big R relies on easily accessible information from the Epicor Eagle system to help make decisions that improve operations. “With one quick click of a button, we see up-to-the-minute performance of all of our stores,” said Carroll. “Prior to using Epicor solutions, we had to manually post all the daily sales and transfers from each store-extremely time consuming when you have multiple stores. Now, through the help of Epicor and the advancement of software, everything is integrated and automated. The system is seamless and easy and helps to provide huge time savings for our business. It captures more than enough detail, and management is comfortable with the data because they know it's the right data.”
Fast access to information and the ability to customize and share reports have also helped us make good decisions about which departments to expand. If I had to choose the single thing that's helped our business, it would be our Epicor Eagle system.
Reports and automated order points are significant features accessible through the Epicor Compass solution-allowing the Big R staff to make quick and smart decisions. “Out of all of the Epicor modules, Epicor Compass is my favorite,” said Carroll. “This solution is a crucial aspect of our business that makes analyzing much more fluid and accurate. It helps us automate the buying function. For example, orders are automatically sent to vendors instead of printing and faxing. Time and labor savings have really added up across our entire operation. It now takes five minutes to do what used to take five days. Compass helps us manage by exception to locate issue areas and solve them quickly.”
“Fast access to information and the ability to customize and share reports have also helped us make good decisions about which departments to expand,” said Carroll. “If I had to choose the single thing that's helped our business, it would be our Epicor Eagle system. It's not easy to run 26 locations, but with good people and reliable information, it's a lot easier.”
Epicor Advanced Receiving saves valuable time at Big R. “Advanced Receiving is a fast and accurate tool,” said Carroll. “Now when we receive goods, we have them on the shelves to sell in less than one day.”
“Buying products that sell quickly is one of the keys to a successful business,” said Carroll. “We rely on tools like Epicor Advanced Receiving and Epicor Inventory Planner to help in providing the information we need to understand exactly what we need to order and when-calculating our order points and keeping our in-stock levels just right. We also use these solutions to transfer inventory between all our stores instead of ordering additional products.
Mobile solutions have become a crucial aspect of Big R's business management. “I use Epicor Eagle Mobile Manager every day,” said Carroll. “It's a useful tool that lets me view daily sales at each store, see the top-selling items, and dollars profits. I also check customer accounts, scan items, and check sales history from previous dates. It's a quick instrument that gives us access to all the system data-only now we don't need to dial in. The information we need is available at the touch of a button. It's been really beneficial to have live information. I would recommend Mobile Manager to any business that wants to improve their management processes.”
