The Eva Roots Collection infuses a mixture of cultures into the heart of Texas. The Austin-based home furnishings store offers items as varied as the countries from which they originate. These include Moroccan and Italian pottery, Indian antiques and handmade cutlery from South Africa. Carolyn Long, owner of Eva Roots, and her husband opened the store in 1996 and started using Retail Pro® in December 1998.

Tell us a little about Eva Roots.

It's a home furnishings and décor store. We have everything for the home, such as scented candles, a selection of silk fabrics that you can have custom-covered-pillows, etc., and rustic furniture from India and Indonesia. The store is 1800 square feet and we have 2 employees. Most of the items are from India and Indonesia, but we have some pieces from China now.
   Our customers are about 35 years old on up. It's a higher end clientele. They're pretty discriminating people -- mostly professionals. A lot of our clients are building homes right now and they're furnishing their home with or without a designer.

When did you buy Retail Pro?

December 1998.

What did you do for your point of sale and inventory control before then?

It was just invoices. Handwritten invoices.

How many other POS systems did you review before you purchased Retail Pro?

We didn't look at any others, I don't think. Another retailer told us about it and he just swore by it.

What made you decide to purchase Retail Pro?

The reports-I really like the reports. I haven't really learned all of it yet. We're working on that now and figuring out what's selling the best, what's selling very well. I also like how the software will automatically do a purchase order when you're getting low on inventory.

How has Retail Pro affected your POS and inventory control?

It has helped enormously as far as keeping track of inventory. I feel much more confident that I know where my inventory is. For example, if something is selling really well, I know that now, whereas before it could slip through the cracks. Let's say I'm selling a billion of a certain type of candles, and somehow I miss that. Well now I know that so I'm going to concentrate on that. Or if there's a certain type of lamp and it's just flying out the door, I know now that I should order more of those and my inventory should be balanced more towards that end instead of towards something else.

What do you think is the most useful aspect of Retail Pro?

I'm still learning about the software. Right now, the most useful feature is the inventory control.

Do your employees find Retail Pro easy to use?

Yes.

Do you believe Retail Pro has been a cost-effective solution for your store?

I believe that when you get control of your inventory and you have access to the reports, you can make money with it. You can build your business. It's a real helping hand to a business owner as far as growing their business. I really think that it's so important for keeping track of what's going on.

How has the customer service been with your dealer?

It's fine. I call them all the time. I call them whenever I need help with something and they're very efficient.

Thank You.

INVENTORY TRACKING

"It has helped enormously as far as keeping track of inventory. I feel much more confident that I know where my inventory is”