Columbus Consulting announced that Carhartt became their 100^th customer last year. The Ohio-based retail-consulting firm also confirmed the addition of over 10 high-profile clients since then, including Charming Charlie, Francesca’s Collections and Karstadt.

“Columbus supported us through our end-to-end business transformation. They’ve helped evolve our planning & forecasting processes, organization and systems,” said Jeff Gragg, Carhartt's SVP eCommerce, Planning & IT. “We engaged Columbus to help us with omni-channel inventory management; aligning our Wholesale, Retail and eCommerce channels. Our business planning processes now include timely input from all key stakeholders throughout the design and development process. This helps ensure we are bringing the best products to market and producing them in the right quantities.”

Rick Amari, Columbus Consulting’s CEO and founder added, “The majority of work now being done by our company is similar to the work we’ve done with Carhartt. Successful retailers and wholesalers that have grown quickly are looking at their operational efficiencies and global brand strategies to captivate consumers and remain competitive & profitable.”

Rick added, “We are well-positioned for the future. The projects we are asked to perform reflect the industry trends. We are adding new accounts and expanding our relationships at existing clients…our growth has been fueled through the addition of great consultants with extensive expertise in their fields. We can’t wait for 2013!”

“Our goal for 2012 was to expand revenue and diversify our business. We planned to grow by 20% over 2011, and we doubled that number,” commented Jon Beck, President of Columbus. “Our 100+ consultants were engaged with over 45 retail companies in 2012 supporting over 110 different projects, spanning design, buying, planning & allocation, forecasting, supply chain, finance, business intelligence, and IT.”

About Columbus Consulting International: Founded by industry veteran Richard Amari in 2001, Columbus comprises a team of highly experienced specialists in retail business process and systems. The company works with many of the world’s largest and well-known retailers, including American Eagle, Big Lots, DSW, Guitar Center, New York & Company, Karstadt (Germany), and Mr. Price (South Africa). While Columbus is called upon to provide a variety of services, their primary focus is planning & allocation, PLM, reporting & analysis, data warehousing and IT strategy/leadership. Projects range from managing short-term, high-impact, executive-level advisory services to overseeing large, multi-disciplinary, multi-million dollar projects, lasting over a year. For more information, visit www.columbusconsulting.com.